Motherboard CPU compatibility.

[OceanWolf]

I recently decided to build my own computer and I've had Toms Hardware in mind for helping me do so for a while now.
So I was looking at the May 09 gaming computer
(http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-2-overclock,2310.html)
and I thought it was a good deal but considering that I was planing on spending a little more money(and after reading some comments) I started to look around for a better CPU and I stumbled across the AMD Phenom 9650 2.3GHz Quad Core.
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103288&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Processors+-+Desktops-_-AMD-_-19103288)
It seemed like a good deal so I was thinking about getting it.
So my question is will the 9650 work on the ASRock G41M-LE?
Also, what would be a better buy between the two, the AMD Phenom 9650 or the AMD Phenom II X2 550?

Thanks.

 

[joefriday]

So my question is will the 9650 work on the ASRock G41M-LE?
Also, what would be a better buy between the two, the AMD Phenom 9650 or the AMD Phenom II X2 550?
Thanks.

Sorry, but the G41M-LE is a motherboard for Intel CPUs ONLY. AMD and Intel have not shared the same socket since socket 7 way back in the late 90's. You will need to choose a board that is AM2+ for the 9650 and an AM2+ or AM3 board for the X2 550 (depending upon your choice to use DDR2 or DDR3 ram).

Between the two CPUs, the X2 550 is probably the better buy. Although only 2 cores, it is clocked substantially higher, and has 6MB of L3 cache to share between cores instead of the 2MB L3 cache used in the 9650. Also to mention, the power consumption of the 9650 is a bit higher, and it's overclocking potential is substantially lower than that of the X2 550, if overclocking is something you see yourself doing. Finally, there is a small chance of unlocking the X2 550 into a fully-fledged quadcore CPU, with the use of select motherboards (Asrock and Gigabyte) that utilize the SB750 (and to some extent the SB710) southbridge.