X4 955 125w vs X4 945 95w

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WasntMe

[H]ard|Gawd
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So I am looking at the 2 processors below. One is a BE running at 125w while the other isn't a BE running at 95w. Which would be a better processor? This is mainly for a gaming PC. I am upgrading from a 6000+, so I am reusing my mobo.

Does the added wattage of the BE addition just provide better stability for OCs? Or is the wattage difference due to the stepping difference between the two procs? Generally, what's the better proc 95w or 125w?

Phenom II X4 945

Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

I do plan to OC, just not a huge amount. Going to use the Corsair H50.

Thanks for the comments/suggestions.
 
955 hands down.....so long as your mobo supports it.......


the difference isnt just the BE....better OC overall will occur, even though it is 125w, and the BE has the unlocked multi, making for easier/better overclocks......with that H50 you should be able to hit 3.7 GHz pretty dam easy
 
Get the 955 from Newegg. Not only is it BE but its C3 stepping so all and all you will have better quality silicon so better overclocks.
 
as long as you go with the C3 stepping the 955 isnt 125w TDP its actually something like 105-110w but they just left it in the 125w rating.. which is about the same wattage as you would get out of the 945 95w chip if you overclocked it to 3.2ghz.. if overclocking is something you plan to do and if you are running high end SLI or crossfire the 955 C3 is what you want.. the 945 will overclock to about 3.6-3.7ghz if you have a decent motherboard but the 955 will do 3.8ghz by just changing the cpu multiplier and voltage..
 
The 955 is a lot better. It has C3 stepping and it's BE. Plus, the 945 95w is more for people who want a htpc with a low-end psu.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
as long as you go with the C3 stepping the 955 isnt 125w TDP its actually something like 105-110w but they just left it in the 125w rating.. which is about the same wattage as you would get out of the 945 95w chip if you overclocked it to 3.2ghz.. if overclocking is something you plan to do and if you are running high end SLI or crossfire the 955 C3 is what you want.. the 945 will overclock to about 3.6-3.7ghz if you have a decent motherboard but the 955 will do 3.8ghz by just changing the cpu multiplier and voltage..
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+1

And don't think about something else. I upgraded from 955 C2 to 965 C3. Not much of a big difference, or maybe I just got a bad chip.

The 955 was capable of 3.8GHz @ 1.55v
The 965 is capable of 4.0GHz @ 1.525v
 
Well, I ended up going with the 965 BE instead of the 955. It was only a few dollars more for the 965, so I went with that.

Can't wait to see how high I can get this clocked with a Corsair H50 attached.
 
WasntMe said:
Well, I ended up going with the 965 BE instead of the 955. It was only a few dollars more for the 965, so I went with that.

Can't wait to see how high I can get this clocked with a Corsair H50 attached.
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good choice. have fun with the overclocking..
 
I ended up with a 965 BE as well. Haven't done much overclocking yet. Went from 17.0x to 18.0x and had no problem with it. I know what you're thinking... I'm a MADMAN with that overclocking. The biggest thing for me was enabling fan speed control on the motherboard as the fan was annoying at 100%.
 
Good choice as long as you got the 125w c3 965 and not the 140w c2 965.
 
Yeah, I have no idea why the 140W 965 is more expensive than the 125W version. Is there ANY reason why someone would get the 140W 965?
 
guachi said:
Yeah, I have no idea why the 140W 965 is more expensive than the 125W version. Is there ANY reason why someone would get the 140W 965?
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Only the people who are so clueless that they believe that more expensive=better. I believe AMD has stopped fabbing the C2 stepping, so Newegg and e-tailers will just keep it at it's original price till supplies dwindle down.
 
Some of Newegg's pricing is automatic based on supply/demand (maybe past demand since it shouldn't be high now..). Obviously they directly select prices for the initial release and sales but there are always quirks that appear.
 
I have an X4 955 with C2 stepping. With a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 on it I get 32C at idle and 45C while gaming. The highest its ever been was 50C. This is with a mild OC to X4 965 levels (3.4 Ghz). its also in a small Lian Li PC-A05NB case.

I can't imagine it running that much cooler if it were C3 stepping. I suppose if you want to milk the highest possible OC from a chip it might be important (according to conventional wisdom).
 
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