x2 6000+?

[Mr_S]

Hi, relatively new here. Ummm, I'm looking to upgrade my pc pretty soon, current specs:

Leadtek 7900GT
AMD x2 3800+
ASUS MPV-something or other
2gb generic ddr2 667 ram
and a cheapo 500w psu.

I'm thinking of not bothering to upgrade my mobo, but instead go for the 6000+, as it's only $300AUD. Will I get similar performance out of a 6000+ compared to say, an e6600? I am very budget limited here, and this is not to be a new system, I just need a bit more speed, and want a cpu that will not bottleneck the 8800/8900 G** that I plan on getting down the track.

I know most people would not have an amd chip at the moment, but any feedback from someone that has one, or knows a lot about them, would be appreciated.

 

[1Tanker]

Hi, relatively new here. Ummm, I'm looking to upgrade my pc pretty soon, current specs:

Leadtek 7900GT
AMD x2 3800+
ASUS MPV-something or other
2gb generic ddr2 667 ram
and a cheapo 500w psu.

I'm thinking of not bothering to upgrade my mobo, but instead go for the 6000+, as it's only $300AUD. Will I get similar performance out of a 6000+ compared to say, an e6600? I am very budget limited here, and this is not to be a new system, I just need a bit more speed, and want a cpu that will not bottleneck the 8800/8900 G** that I plan on getting down the track.

I know most people would not have an amd chip at the moment, but any feedback from someone that has one, or knows a lot about them, would be appreciated.

Yes, the 6000+ performs very close to the E6600. The only things that may hurt your performance, are the RAM(DDR2-800 is highly recommended for AM2), and the motherboard. GL

 

[m25]

The X2 6000+ goes head to head with an E6600 if you don't OC, so if you're not an OC-er, it's more or less just as a good CPU as an E6600 and you will see a lot of difference going from a X2 3800+ to the 6000+. So if the price is good for you, just grab it; it will perform well for you till you can upgrade to a K10 CPU early next year.

 

[Mr_S]

Ta

 

[Mr_S]

Just a few more questions. So the 6000 won't bottleneck an 8 series gpu? And also, what motherboard would you suggest?

 

[1Tanker]

Just a few more questions. So the 6000 won't bottleneck an 8 series gpu? And also, what motherboard would you suggest?

Well, my point wasn't to suggest getting a new mobo, just that yours features a VIA chipset....which won't perform as well as an nVidia chipset. I wouldn't worry too much about it. The 6000+ may bottleneck an 8800GTX @ high resolutions, but at normal res. 12x10, and maybe 16x12..it should be fine. In certain situations, even an Intel X6800 can slightly bottleneck an 8800GTX, so if they release an 8800Ultra it probably will be more CPU bound(still not a lot).In other words, your system will still rock.

 

[epsilon84]

You can always overclock your X2 3800+ to 2.6GHz+ you know, way cheaper than $300.

Anyway, the X2 6000+ is very close to the levels of an E6600 as others have already said. But I think the X2 5600+ is the better buy, especially if you are on a budget. It's about $AU70 cheaper than the X2 6000+, and we're only talking 2.8GHz vs 3.0GHz here. I don't think it's worth $70 for a 200MHz boost, which will only bring about a 5% improvement in performance.

 

[Mr_S]

I'm not totally against the idea of overclocking, just new to it. And the psu I have now really let me down. Is there a post on these forums that anyone is aware of, like a guide to overclocking? I know how to up the speed on my current proc, but I am unsure of the speed I should be able to achieve with it. And also, no idea about changing voltages and that sort of thing. I will most likely be buying this PSU to support the gpu I'm buying later.

Coolermaster IGREEN

Is it a heat issue preventing me from overclocking my current setup? Or more likely a power issue?

 

[Mr_S]

Stupid question, but overclocking a 5600+ to 3.0ghz, voids the warranty, correct?

 

[1Tanker]

Stupid question, but overclocking a 5600+ to 3.0ghz, voids the warranty, correct?

yep

 

[sailer]

Stupid question, but overclocking a 5600+ to 3.0ghz, voids the warranty, correct?

They wouldn't have any idea that you overclocked it, unless you told them. The overclock is done in the BIOS, changing the FSB, and doesn't change the cpu itself in any way. Other than that, I'd let the cpu run for a week or so to burn in and make sure its good on its own, then I would start with gradual overclocks.

 

[m25]

Stupid question, but overclocking a 5600+ to 3.0ghz, voids the warranty, correct?

You don't need to overclock a X2 5400+ or 5600+ because all you'd get would be about +7% performance while, as a rule of thumb, any OC below 10% is not worth adn you really won't feel any difference from 2.8 to 3.0GHz unless you run benchmarks to check it or do 3D renderings that show the total lime at the end like I do
IMO, the best AMD CPU of the moment s the X2 5400; a lot of performance for only $180. As I mentioned before, the 6000+ gives you only 7-8% more but you have to pay +25% for it, and I'd get nothing with 2x1M L2 like the X2 5600+ because all it will give you is an overall 2% of performance for a 10% higher price over the X2 5400+.
So in conclusion, always IMO, the X2 5400+ is the sweet spot.

 

[lifewire]

That's great info MR_S for AMD but how about Intel chips? What would be your sweet spot for core2duos (besides e6600).

 

[tekzor]

why would your X2 3800+ bottle neck the 8800?
people just itching to waste money on CPUs these days.

 

[santistausa]

I don't get it, I know it's always cool to upgrade and all, but you are planing on changing your cpu because you don't want to bottleneck a video card 8800/8900 that you don't even know when you gonna get it??? Why not get the video card first and test it out? And even b4 buying a new cpu, overclock urs and c if u can improve it!!!

I have a computer similar to yours but on 939 socket, and it works awesome, it's fast and all. I play a bunch of games (oblivion, HL2, FEAR etc) I might not get 1000 FPS, but it plays nice. you know that no one can notice a difference between 50fps to 1000fps right? Just upgrade when ur computer is slow!!!!

Again I love to upgrade my computer too, but is better to save the money and just buy when u need it!!! BTW I wouldn't buy any dx10 card right now without seeing how they perform with dx10 games!!! I would just buy it if you really need a card right now!!!

Well hope u got some good information here from everybody!!! 8)

I have a X2 3800+ oc 2.2ghz
BFG 7900GT
1gb DDR Corsair (2X512MB)

X360 gamertag SantistaUSA

 

[m25]

That's great info MR_S for AMD but how about Intel chips? What would be your sweet spot for core2duos (besides e6600).

Intel now has the top performance and they make you pay an extra for that and my sweet spot Intel CPU would be a 3.0GHz OC-ed E4300/ 4400; why the heck spend money on an E6600 or 6700 if with Intel's great manufacturing process, you have so many chances of getting more than that out of an E4300

 

[Mr_S]

I don't get it, I know it's always cool to upgrade and all, but you are planing on changing your cpu because you don't want to bottleneck a video card 8800/8900 that you don't even know when you gonna get it??? Why not get the video card first and test it out? And even b4 buying a new cpu, overclock urs and c if u can improve it!!!

I have a computer similar to yours but on 939 socket, and it works awesome, it's fast and all. I play a bunch of games (oblivion, HL2, FEAR etc) I might not get 1000 FPS, but it plays nice. you know that no one can notice a difference between 50fps to 1000fps right? Just upgrade when ur computer is slow!!!!

Again I love to upgrade my computer too, but is better to save the money and just buy when u need it!!! BTW I wouldn't buy any dx10 card right now without seeing how they perform with dx10 games!!! I would just buy it if you really need a card right now!!!

Well hope u got some good information here from everybody!!! 8)

I have a X2 3800+ oc 2.2ghz
BFG 7900GT
1gb DDR Corsair (2X512MB)

X360 gamertag SantistaUSA

I see your point, but I am a FPS gamer (Call of duty 2) Unfortunately that requires me to have a constant, high framerate. Believe me, I can tell the difference between 50 frames and 125 frames in that game.

 

[ajfink]

I don't get it, I know it's always cool to upgrade and all, but you are planing on changing your cpu because you don't want to bottleneck a video card 8800/8900 that you don't even know when you gonna get it??? Why not get the video card first and test it out? And even b4 buying a new cpu, overclock urs and c if u can improve it!!!

I have a computer similar to yours but on 939 socket, and it works awesome, it's fast and all. I play a bunch of games (oblivion, HL2, FEAR etc) I might not get 1000 FPS, but it plays nice. you know that no one can notice a difference between 50fps to 1000fps right? Just upgrade when ur computer is slow!!!!

Again I love to upgrade my computer too, but is better to save the money and just buy when u need it!!! BTW I wouldn't buy any dx10 card right now without seeing how they perform with dx10 games!!! I would just buy it if you really need a card right now!!!

Well hope u got some good information here from everybody!!! 8)

I have a X2 3800+ oc 2.2ghz
BFG 7900GT
1gb DDR Corsair (2X512MB)

X360 gamertag SantistaUSA

I see your point, but I am a FPS gamer (Call of duty 2) Unfortunately that requires me to have a constant, high framerate. Believe me, I can tell the difference between 50 frames and 125 frames in that game.

Can you tell the difference between 100 and 125? I think not.

I say get a 5600+ and OC it 200Mhz.

 

[Mr_S]

So, I've read that you don't overclock the chip, you overclock the FSB. Well, I think I went into the bios one day, and had a stab, so technically my 3800+ is at 2.01ghz . I'm not looking to return this, so don't particularly care if i voided the warranty on this chip, but for future reference, I don't do this right?

 

[sailer]

So, I've read that you don't overclock the chip, you overclock the FSB. Well, I think I went into the bios one day, and had a stab, so technically my 3800+ is at 2.01ghz . I'm not looking to return this, so don't particularly care if i voided the warranty on this chip, but for future reference, I don't do this right?

Ok, first review what Vern said. Nothing you do here will ever be mentioned or thought of if you ever have to rma a cpu. IF someone ever asks about overclocking, you come up with an answer like "Overclocking? What's that? Oh, are you asking if I reset the clock for daylight savings time?". Got the idea?

Now, in the BIOS you should see something called CPU FSB Frequency. The standard number should be 200 on your AMD cpu. The 200 multiplied by your multiplier number gives you the running frequency in mhz. An example is a FSB of 200 with a multiplier of 10 gives a total frequency of 2000 mhz. If you haven't downloaded CPU-Z, its a good idea so that you can keep track of things while you're experimenting.

So, you raise the FSB to 210 and you have 2100 mhz, FSB 220 and you have 2200 mhz, and so on. I'm just giving examples here because I don't know the multiplier on your particular cpu. If you go much beyond a 10% overclock, you may have to increase the processor voltage a bit, but keep the processor voltage increases minimal. Again, for example only, I'm running my FX60 at 1.456 volts, compared to the standard voltage of 1.425V.

Heat may become a problem, so download Speedfan and monitor the cpu temp. If it starts running above 55c, get an aftermarket heatsink and fan. Now that is a short and simple primer to overclocking. In the forums section under Hardware, look to overclocking and the subheading of cpu's. There are some stickies that go into it in more detail.

Good luck in the adventure. Take things slow and remember that if an overclock failure occurs, you can pull the CMOS battery and reset the BIOS back to normal. Also, remember that overclocking is done at your own risk, no one else's.

 

[speedbird]

I agree with the comments above about trying the 8800 first then deciding if a CPU upgrade is needed. That's what I would do anyway

 

[lifewire]

I agree... We always see benchmarks comparing all high end gfx cards which helps folks with their purchasing decisions but how about CPUs.
I rarely see a comparison of CPU varieties (2cores) using a one medium like 8800gtx. Honestly I would rather see how each CPU differ in performance. What I want is a bottleneck refrence guide.