AMD Phenom II x6 1090T vs AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE which to get?

DGalacticMan

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Jan 5, 2017
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I've bought an Asus M4A77T/USB3 which is an AM3 motherboard that supports both of the above mentioned CPUs. I want to use the CPU for recording, video editing/rendering, playing some CPU heavy games such as Team Fortress 2, GTA 5, CSGO, etc. The obvious decision would be to the the hexa core but the problem is I'm on a budget and the six cores most of them go over my budget, looking on eBay, and I was wondering would it be worth spending that much money on the 6 core instead of the quad core.

PS I've already purchesed the ram for it ( 2x4 GB DDR3-1333) I only need to get the CPU and the cooler.
 
Solution


I have both of these CPUs. I'm not at home right now but if I recall the 965 has no Turbo while the 1090T turbos to 3.6 so it is at...

clutchc

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Well... the 965BE has an unlocked multiplier, so it could possibly get some good numbers. Mine is at 4.1GHz. Unfortunately, your motherboard is not suited for serious OC'ing. I would keep the 965BE at stock on that board if that was my choice. Or OC very lightly, and then only with a good after-market cooler.
Otherwise, use this benchmark comparison to find which CPU best fits your needs and if the difference is worth it to you:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/146?vs=102
 

l1ghtm4st3r

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Mar 3, 2012
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The 1090t also has an unlocked multiplier also.
I would advise for the 1090t, but as you state it's out of your budget I would say get only what you can afford. The differences are not majorly significant (although the 1090t will be faster).
I don't think the X6 will make a huge difference when actually running applications, you'll mostly notice the difference when doing things like rendering.
For gaming I can't see there being any difference between the 2.
 

razamatraz

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Feb 12, 2014
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I have both of these CPUs. I'm not at home right now but if I recall the 965 has no Turbo while the 1090T turbos to 3.6 so it is at least al ittle faster in almost every situation. That said, the prices for them are ridiculous; 965s regularly go for less than $50 and the 1090T/1100T often go over $200. This is a case of rarity and being the absolute best CPUs that go on 700 series AMD chipsets...basically if anyone wants to upgrade this is the top of the upgrade path.

In terms of your use, the 1090T is a significantly faster video render chip, will be far better for recording gameplay (if that's what you use it for), and will show a lot of improvement in GTA V depending on your video card, but less if any in TF2 and CS-GO. A 965 BE at stock with a GTX 670 has trouble holding 40 frames in GTA V in low-medium (at least mine does)

The problem is, 1090Ts are overpriced massively; for the price of a used 1090T by itself you can get into a new Skylake entry level complete setup...Pentium, H110 board and 8GB of RAM for around $200...maybe even into one of the hyperthreaded kabylake Pentiums like the G4560. Then you have tons of room to upgrade later into i5, or even i7. Anything you put into your current board is max..it cannot ever be upgraded beyond the 1090T (maybe 4% with an 1100T). That 1090T will outperform in video work...it probably won't in games versus a G4560. A 965 won't for either workload.



 
Solution

razamatraz

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Feb 12, 2014
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I guess, to follow up, since you already have the board and RAM get the 965, but not for more than $50 or $60 USD. If you happen to get super lucky and find a 1090T for $80 or less (including shipping) jump on it but at the $200 I've been seeing I wouldn't.

If you do get the 965 BE avoid the 140 Watt version, get the 125W. 140Watt chips tend to wear out mainboards far faster.

I have occasionally seen them at those prices on Craigslist or other classified sites, but that can be a little shady. Ebay they never go under $180 with shipping.