AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

[Nevakonaza]

Hey guys just joined!

Right im thinking of upgrading the Cpu,ram and mobo in my pc..it currently has a Q6600,Asus P5Q Se P45 & 4Gb DDR2 ram....and to be honest,Id like faster now!

I was thinking of the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4Ghz 8mb cache
MSI NF750-G55 nForce 750a SLI Socket AM3 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 Dominator Memory CL9 (9-9-9-24)

What do you think?Is this a good upgrade?
What is the 965 comparable too intels processor?

Thats about in my budget which is around £400..

This is what i already have to go with the upgrade...

Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition 1Gb GDDR5
Seagate Barracuda 250Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Western Digital Caviar 500Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Ocz Mod-Xstream pro 600W (Modular)
Creative Soundblaster X-FI Extreme Fidelity
Coolermaster 690 (Modded)
Windows 7 Home X64 bit

Thanks for any help guys

 

[enzo matrix]

Yeah that's an upgrade. It's like upgrading from a 2.6GHz phenom II to a 3.4GHz phenom II.
Most people, myself included, would recommend the 955 instead. It's 200Mhz slower but increasing the multiplier to make it 3.4GHz is not hard. Of course, go with the 965 if you are not comfortable with this.

As a general rule, a phenom II 200Mhz higher than the intel core 2 counterpart will perform the same as said intel counterpart.

I ask you though, what specifically would you like it to be faster doing? If you could explain that, I might be able to suggest parts accordingly.

 

[Nevakonaza]

Thanks alot for reply

thats good to hear,basicly i just want the system more responsive...my q6600 machine isnt as fast as id like it to be.

Its not only a step up in processor then going to a 965...but also id be going to 1600mhz ram,where atm im only running 800mhz

How easy do you think it would be to oc a 955 black edition to 965 or even more speeds....i had 3.6Ghz in mind?
and no i dont mind overclocking

 

[Guest]

It's a simple as going into the bios and increasing the multiplier by a couple of notches. 18x multiplier = 3.6ghz.

 

[JDFan]

It's a simple as going into the bios and increasing the multiplier by a couple of notches. 18x multiplier = 3.6ghz.

Yep - save the $30 and get the 955 instead - also on the RAM look for some better latencies cas 9 is a bit slow you should be able to find some cas7 or even cas8 for around the same price and you'll get better performance !

Also is there a reason for the SLI MOBO - IF you have an ATI video card you'd be much better off with a crossfire board and the chipsets on the 785 or 790 based boards are better than the Nvidia chipset IMO. IF you want to stick with MSI something like the MSI 79X-G45 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249 )

 

[Nevakonaza]

what about voltages?..i hate playing around with them,and especialy checking the stability.

but has it got easier to Oc AMDs? heard of some software called AMD Overdrive utility?

 

[JDFan]

With the 955 Be the black edition processors have the CPU multiplier unloacked so for OCing you can just increase the MUltiplier by 1x more (ie. 14 to 15) to increase 200mhz (asssuming you are using the stock 200Mhz.bus speed) and it should be able to run at 3.6Ghz. (or x18 mult) without having to mess with the voltage in most cases seeing that is only a 400mhz. OC over stock

 

[enzo matrix]

Better to do the overclocking in the bios. Easier to reset it there are problems and it applies as soon as you press the power button.
I find it likely you will be able to get to 3.6GHz possibly higher without increasing the voltage. I'm running an Athlon IIx4 2.6GHz at 3.2 without any voltage increase on stock cooling.

If it's just general system responsiveness, then you might consider a solid state drive and put your operating system on it Kingston currently has a 40GB one for just over $100.

 

[warmon6]

Hey guys just joined!

Right im thinking of upgrading the Cpu,ram and mobo in my pc..it currently has a Q6600,Asus P5Q Se P45 & 4Gb DDR2 ram....and to be honest,Id like faster now!

I was thinking of the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4Ghz 8mb cache
MSI NF750-G55 nForce 750a SLI Socket AM3 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 Dominator Memory CL9 (9-9-9-24)

What do you think?Is this a good upgrade?
What is the 965 comparable too intels processor?

Thats about in my budget which is around £400..

This is what i already have to go with the upgrade...

Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition 1Gb GDDR5
Seagate Barracuda 250Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Western Digital Caviar 500Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Ocz Mod-Xstream pro 600W (Modular)
Creative Soundblaster X-FI Extreme Fidelity
Coolermaster 690 (Modded)
Windows 7 Home X64 bit

Thanks for any help guys

Hmmm....... Well, if you're know how to overclock, i would overclock the q6600 to like 3ghz. Just get a new aftermarket cooler to handle the extra heat if you dont have one.

To make a the system feel snappier and faster, I would get an SSD and put the os on that.


Overall, you got a get system already. You wouldn't notice much gain from a the build your wanting.

 

[Raidur]

+1 on overclocking the Q6600. If you get it up to 3.2ghz it will perform nearly the same as a stock Phenom II 955.

Q6600 is still a very capable CPU, and once OCed past 3.0ghz, will run nearly any GPU setup to its max capabilities.

 

[LePhuronn]

If you do decide to build a new system, the Dominator RAM is a little overpriced for what it is - you can get RAM that performs the same or better for less - I recently put a 4GB kit of Patriot Sector 5 Viper II in a Phenom II X2 550 for £80 and overclocked it to 1600MHz at CAS7 - very sweet indeed!

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

Hey guys just joined!

Right im thinking of upgrading the Cpu,ram and mobo in my pc..it currently has a Q6600,Asus P5Q Se P45 & 4Gb DDR2 ram....and to be honest,Id like faster now!

I was thinking of the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4Ghz 8mb cache
MSI NF750-G55 nForce 750a SLI Socket AM3 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 Dominator Memory CL9 (9-9-9-24)

What do you think?Is this a good upgrade?
What is the 965 comparable too intels processor?

Thats about in my budget which is around £400..

This is what i already have to go with the upgrade...

Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition 1Gb GDDR5
Seagate Barracuda 250Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Western Digital Caviar 500Gb SATAII 16MB Cache
Ocz Mod-Xstream pro 600W (Modular)
Creative Soundblaster X-FI Extreme Fidelity
Coolermaster 690 (Modded)
Windows 7 Home X64 bit

Thanks for any help guys

I would personally ditch the nVIDIA Chipset based motherboard in favor of an AMD based motherboard. nVIDIA doesn't have a stellar history or reputation when it comes to Chipsets (In my opinion they're crap).

 

[enzo matrix]

I would personally ditch the nVIDIA Chipset based motherboard in favor of an AMD based motherboard. nVIDIA doesn't have a stellar history or reputation when it comes to Chipsets (In my opinion they're crap).

+1^ Besides if you are using an ATI card, better to have an ATI chipset, to avoid any issues, use crossfire x or be able to use the integrated to power another monitor while using the dedicated to power your main monitor(s).

 

[someguy7]

Q6600 system is not snappy enough? Do a clean install of the OS and call it a day.

Not unless you want more speed in the apps you use a upgrade sounds foolish to me. A upgrade for the overall snappy feel is just foolish IMHO.

If you end up going with a new AMD I would get the 955 and a AM2+ board and reuse the ram.

 

[logainofhades]

PhII I do not think is enough of an upgrade for the money over a Q6600. If you can, overclock it and save your money till you have enough for a 1366/ i7 build.

 

[Nevakonaza]

Right well ive just overclocked my Q6600...to 3.5Ghz prime 95 stable.....much more snappy.

rams at 932Mhz too.

my major bottleneck is the hard drive,Ive been looking at the Intel MX-5 SSD 80Gb....and the WD velociraptor 150gb...the MX-5 is very quick from what i can see at read speeds,But is poor at write speeds.

I might just wait until some more SSDs come out and are more affordable/bigger in capacity,

for now looks like my system will have to do

 

[Nevakonaza]

screenshot

 

[logainofhades]

Nice overclock there. Gotta love how an overclock can save you money.

 

[warmon6]

Nice overclock there. Gotta love how an overclock can save you money.

+1

 

[Nevakonaza]

thanks guys,its very stable...i didnt think it would go that far.

those are my full load temps with prime 95 running for ages btw at the bottom of hte screenshot,are those good temps?

Asus Silent knight 2 cooler (All copper)!

 

[warmon6]

thanks guys,its very stable...i didnt think it would go that far.

those are my full load temps with prime 95 running for ages btw at the bottom of hte screenshot,are those good temps?

Asus Silent knight 2 cooler (All copper)!

yes, those are very nice temps!

As long as they dont get above 70C your fine.

 

[Raidur]

Gj! You now outperform any (including phenom II) stock cpu besides intel c2q extreme, i5 and i7!

Gotta love it

Awesome temps too! Hf with your free upgrade.

Like warmon said the Q6600's highest safe temp is 70c-ish so you are good to go for 24/7 use with those temps.

 

[Nevakonaza]

Its much faster,i honestly didnt think it would make such a difference!

and you say ...You now outperform any (including phenom II) stock cpu besides intel c2q extreme

Am i correct in saying this Cpu queen benchmark i done in Everest is saying my cpu now outperforms an QX6700 at stock..and thats running DDR3 1066?

Screenshot of bench....

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b125/shaneathome/qx.png

maybe im wrong?

 

[Raidur]

Your CPU will beat any stock 65nm QX6 series Core2Extreme (including QX6700), and a lot of if not all of the stock 45nm QX9 series C2Extreme. (and core2quad CPUs of course, at stock settings)

I may be wrong btw about the Phenom II remark btw, I forgot the 965 was stock at 3.4 with DDR3 ram. I think they'd trade blows though tbh and you wouldn't be able to tell a difference in a lot of things.

You are speaking correctly.

DDR3 really doesn't make a drastic difference, especially in games. And the QX6700 is pretty much a higher clocked Q6600 with an unlocked multiplier making it OC a lot easier/better.