Which processor should I choose?

D

Dfresh

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
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Ok, I'm finally building a new PC for the first time in about 10 years. My Athlon XP 1700+ is a little old. :) So I'm totally out of it when it comes to the CPU race any more.

Looking at newegg I decided to get a quad core CPU. I'm going with AMD mainly due to budget constraints but have always preferred AMD over Intel. I've narrowed it to these 3 choices, but I'm not sure which one would be best.

Phenom 9850 2.5GHz
Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz

I'm leaning towards the Phenom since it has a 2MB L3 cache. I'll be using it for a Linux/Windows XP dual boot system. Linux will just be used for stuff like DVD burning and SSH server. Don't play a lot of games, but will play some under Windows. Any help is appreciated.
 
I'd eliminate the Phenom 9850 since it can only use an older AM2+/DDR2 motherboard and cannot be used at all on (or will not even physically fit) a newer AM3/DDR3 motherboard. (Remember, Socket AM2+ has 940 pins while Socket AM3 has only 938 pins.) Plus, DDR2 memory is now virtually as expensive (on a per-GB basis) as DDR3 memory. Thus, if you must purchase a Phenom, look for the Phenom II series models (which will work on either an AM2+ motherboard with the proper BIOS version or an AM3 motherboard). AM3 CPUs will fit an AM2+ motherboard - but not the other way around.

And if you're going to use Windows XP, be advised that it is now one step closer to becoming totally obsolete. It has been on only "extended" support since April of last year, and as of July 13 of this year you will no longer be able to obtain any further bug or security fixes for Windows XP unless you update to Service Pack 3 (the last Service Pack released for WinXP). Any new critical bug fix and security fix released after July 13 will require Service Pack 3 installed before such a fix can even be installed.
 
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In addition to E4g1e's excellent analysis, the Phenom 9850 actually performs pretty much the same as the X4 620 despite the lack of the L3 2MB cache. So definitely go with the X4 620 at the very least.
 
I have the 620 oc'd to 3ghz on air and I love it. Upgraded from an e6600 and what a difference.
 
I'd get the X4 630 because you get .2Ghz more at stock over the 620 and it's only about a $1 more on Newegg. Like E4g1e said, ditch the 9850.
kimahri626 said:
I have the 620 oc'd to 3ghz on air and I love it. Upgraded from an e6600 and what a difference.
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Just curious, what CPU cooler are you using?
 
Wouldn't the Phenom II x 3 720 black edition be a better deal even though its only a tri core?
 
I will throw my vote in for the Athlon x4's. I have built 2 systems with them. One for my parents which was way more processing power than they need. The other system I built for a friends girlfriend. I overclocked that badboy to 3.2ghz with no problem at all. Even with the stock heatsink temps are just fine.
 
Danny Bui said:
Well the X3 720 BE isn't sold in many online stores for a reasonable price
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I agree with this. A Phenom II x3 720 BE costs nearly as much as the Phenom II x4 955 BE at current going prices. At those prices I'd take the x4.
 
In my opinion it is too late to be buying any C2 processor like the 720BE. Hopefully the C3 740BE materializes at the same time as the 95w 955 or thereabouts.
 
cabech984 said:
Wouldn't the Phenom II x 3 720 black edition be a better deal even though its only a tri core?
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I'm not sure that would be best. The reason is that applications are continuing to become more and more multithreaded. As a result, your abilily to process threads simultaneously may at some point become more important than raw clock speed.

If you are building a new PC, have you considered going the AM3 route and doing a processor like the Phenom II X4 955 or 965? The 955 is at Micro Center for $159 and the 965 runs $179. Both processors can overclock well once you upgrade the cooling solution. Best of all, those are black edition processors which have an unlocked multiplier. That means that you don't have to do anything like mess with the system bus speeds.
 
Yeah, I would go for the Athlon II x4 620 or 630, eliminate the Phenom completely. I'm assuming you're looking for something in the $100 range, so the Phenom II x4's are out. You can always try your luck at unlocking the Athlon II x4, if you're lucky, you can get a Phenom II chip with the full 6mb of L3 cache.
 
Both the Phenom II and Athlon II have backwards compatibility. The upcoming Phenom II x6 are supposed to have backwards compatibility also. At this point, all of AMD's chips are compatible with AM2/AM2+ motherboards.
 
If you want to take a risk, go for the amd athlon x2 5000 (37 dollars at superbiiz http://slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=925802&t=1973182 ), some people are getting it to unlock with 785 boards to a 6mb L3 cache quad core Phenom II chip. thats a lot of bang for your buck... you can put together a quad core powerhouse for less than 150 bucks (cpu+mobo+mem) however it is a risk, mine wouldn't unlock... only out 37 bucks though :) if you want something for sure, get the x4 620
 
Microcenter has a good deal going on where you get the mobo free with amd cpu purchase for like 100 bucks you can get a good deal
 
No not spamming I just saw that ad on OCN tonight for the first time and thought it was new sorry about that spamming thing I just trying to sell my laptop to get ddr3 for my i5 rig sorry bout that
 
drnilly007 said:
No not spamming I just saw that ad on OCN tonight for the first time and thought it was new sorry about that spamming thing I just trying to sell my laptop to get ddr3 for my i5 rig sorry bout that
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Well the post right above your was just a repeat of the post you made 20 minutes earlier. So yeah, you're almost spamming there.

Also just sell your laptop on Craigslist like everyone else. And stop posting multiple posts in the same thread saying the exact same shit.
 
Considering the original phenom is way outdated and AM3, I'd say "no".
Considering that in a lot of cases the lowest 2 athlon ii qc's are the same price, I'd get the faster one.
 
I left microcenter this morning with a new Phenom II x2 555 with the MSI board for $106 after tax. installed it in the case, turned on ACC and poof 4 core.Already passed 2 hours of lin stock 4 core. Waiting to post in the unlock thread until I'm certain it passes p95 12+ hours @ 3.520

I had bought one of the 5000+ from the ewiz deal - mine didn't unlock.

@Danny that deal is currently active at microcenter. they brought it back starting yesterday I believe.
 
Triage said:
@Danny that deal is currently active at microcenter. they brought it back starting yesterday I believe.
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The current deal, which runs through May 2, is to save $30 on any AMD AM3-compatible motherboard with the purchase of certain AMD processors. The processors which qualify for the combo deal are the Athlon II x4 630, Phenom II x2 555, Phenom II x3 720 and Phenom II x4 965.
 
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If you can, jump on the Microcenter dear. Chip + Mobo. I was able to unlock all the extra 2 cores. My everyday xp machine is much snappier. I had an Opeteron 165 set up which I had to part away :(
 
yea, the Microcenter deal is insane for the upgrade - Rock solid @ 3520, 1.3V all 4 cores - passed the prime overnight. bumped it to 3.7 and running OCCT lin test overnight - did have to bump it to 1.37, but hey thats stock :p, the CPU temp that I can see shows it peeking at 42 so I'm assuming its closer to 55 ish, using Shinetsu X and a 212+ for cooling. great match to some CellShock DB9GMH I had laying around, board i'm using is the ASUS M4A78-M and will give 2.45V to the memory$$

I can't seem to find out the difference with the ACC percentage options. System auto configured all 4 cores to -2% I may play with this later to see if it makes a difference.
 
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