Which processor
 

I'm planning on upgrading my AMD processor. Which performs better for video editing?

Opteron 185 (dual core)

Athlon 64 3800 (dual core)

The 185. It is the same speed as either the 4800 or the fx60 (sorry, don't remember). Opteron 185 is probably the best single-processor CPU option available right now. Now, if I had $5k I'd be looking at 2 285s.

Edit
 

I meant opty 165. Sorry, cant afford the 185, and I want dual core.

That is a tough question . . .

I have a feeling that the extra cache of the Opteron would offset the clockspeed advantage of the Athlon 64 x2. The Opteron would require a server motherboard (more expensive, but probably better quality).

I'd purchased an Athlon 64 x2 3800 half a year ago, and I've been happy with it.

I never even considered the Opteron. If I had to do it again, I'd give the Opteron a much closer look - especially if a dual processor dual core setup was available. I'm afraid that would be cost prohibitive. :-(

Not so, the Opty 165 is a socket 939 dual core which is clocked at 1.8ghz per core. The X2 3800 is also a dual core socket 939. I will be upgrading from a s939
3500. (single core) While the 3800 is clocked higher, the opteron is $30-$40 more expensive. The 3800 is clocked at 2.2ghz (i think), with a smaller L2 cache.

Another facet of the question, does overclocking work well with video editing? I know the 1.8ghz opty can make 2.2 easily.

That's an interesting question I would like to know an answer to too.

Many people have told me and I also read in several places that overclocking can be dangerous to the files you are working on. But I also read that there are well-made and badly-made overclockings. And good overclocking is taking the blame for all.

A final answer on this matter should be interesting.

If you overclock your processor too much, the chance of miscalculations goes up significantly. When you have these miscalculations happening, it will usually cause your programs to crash. There might be a small chance of these miscalculations corrupting your data.

If you do overclock, just make sure you test your system.

Prime95's torture test is good, although you want to do something so both cores are being used.
You could run prime95 and Folding@home or something like that. Or two instances of Prime95 (you need to configure prime95 to do that).
Overclock your computer until it's unstable, then back off. Read up on how to clock your RAM slower, this will let you push your CPU clock speed higher.

2- Making your processor cooler will help. Using thermal paste like Artic Silver 5 will drop temperatures a few to several degrees, and its like $10. Do read the AS5 instructions on the website... less paste is better!

3- Even if prime95 passes overnight, it may not necessarily detect all instability. RAM will sometimes get unstable if the CPU + video card is working hard and putting out heat. Prime95 is better than the RAM diagnostics programs (memtest86, and microsoft's version) for catching that... although you have to run prime95 overnight.

Prime95 also didn't catch random rebooting for me... overclocking increases the frequency at which my computer will freeze/reboot.

I've OC my 4800 x2 from 2.4 ghz to 2.9 ghz. I've had it higher but it is unstable.

It was fun to find the a stable setting for the OCing while keeping and eye on temps.

Anyhow, originally a 10 minute render now happens in 8 minutes.

I think OC is well worth it and fun. Todays Mobos and Cpus have to be OC in my opinion. They are designed for it.

OK. Render time goes down by (estimated) 20%.

What else can we get from OC?

What program did you get that lower render from?