Phenom Question

[lonegunm4n]

Howdy,

I've been out of the loop on technology for the last couple of years. I stopped keeping tabs after the Core 2 Duo's were released, and when it was X1950s vs. 7900 GTXs.

Anywho, I recently purchased a one month old computer from a girl in one of my classes, and wanted to know more about the processor. The processor is a Phenom-8400 (T) 2.1 GHz.

I guess, for like of a better question, and even though it makes me sound like a n00b, how good is this processor exactly? Is it a cheapy bargin, or one of the better ones on the market?

Thanks for your help. I'm slowly trying to catch back up after the last 3 years or so.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

its an x3 processor.. its not the best on the market.. even for the x3's so id say its a bargain budget processor.. depending on what you do it should work on fine for you for a year or two..

here is a little info on the processor and the rest of the phenom I line of processors..
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3272

only one missing on the list is the 9950 which was released well after all of those were..

 

[lonegunm4n]

I do moderate gaming. The newest game I run is Call of Duty 4. What resolution and detail will I be able to play Call of Duty 4 at, in conjunction with an XFX 9800 GT and 4 gigs of ram?

 

[sirmonkey1985]

oh the processor will be perfectly fine with a 9800GT.. the only time you would run into trouble is running SLI on cards like the 9800GTX+(gts250) or GTX 260/280/285/295.. it will last you for a little while longer before you get the itch to upgrade to a newer processor..

 

[lonegunm4n]

Yea, thats going to be a non-issue, as my motherboard only has one x16 slot.

 

[sirmonkey1985]

Yea, thats going to be a non-issue, as my motherboard only has one x16 slot.

as long as its not an oem board.. and is a brand name board.. you can probably upgrade to the phenom II later on the down the road if you wanted..

 

[lonegunm4n]

Ironically, it's a brand name OEM board.

 

[Malakai]

In which case it probably does not have the power circuitry or bios support for 125W Phenom 2's

 

[lonegunm4n]

It can take "Phenom with Quad Core technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt)"

 

[Malakai]

It can take "Phenom with Quad Core technology (AM2+) up to 9600 (up to 95 watt)"

Do some googling and see if it can take a Phenom 2 720BE, its only 95w.

Otherwise I would replace the mobo too and go with a Ph2 flavor. I mean the P 1's were okay I just hate that the TLB bug and crappy cache made them so subpar compared to C2Qs. A P2 feels so much faster

 

[lonegunm4n]

Well, the case is an mATX, so I'll do some searching and see what I can come up with.