Phenom X4 Quad-Core cheap processors.. any good?

[yuppicide138]

.. am thinking building a new computer.. saw some of the Phenom X4's for $79.99 on newegg. Are they any good? One is 1.8Ghz, the other 2.4Ghz.

Is there any reason I'd want to up my budget a little and go for an Athlon II X4 or a Phenom II X4?

 

[hunter315]

The Phenom II and Athlon II lineups are based on a smaller design so they can run faster, and generate less heat. For slightly more you can move up to something like the Athlon II 620, the Athlon II series performs only slightly worse than the Phenom II series at the same clock frequency. I would suggest spending slightly more as it will make things faster and cooler both of which are good.

 

[CooLWoLF]

How much are you willing to increase your budget?

 

[loneninja]

Do not waste your time on an original Phenom, there is no reason to buy one with the Athlon II X4 only costing slightly more. Athlon II might not be much faster, but it's much more energy efficient and will clock much higher.

At all costs avoid the 1.8Ghz Phenom, it's the slowest quad on the market, incapable of playing most newer games or even keeping up with the low end dual cores.

 

[Cryslayer80]

Do not waste your time on an original Phenom, there is no reason to buy one with the Athlon II X4 only costing slightly more. Athlon II might not be much faster, but it's much more energy efficient and will clock much higher.

At all costs avoid the 1.8Ghz Phenom, it's the slowest quad on the market, incapable of playing most newer games or even keeping up with the low end dual cores.

Your statement is partially right. It is true that now, when we have Athlon II X4's, there is no point in getting an old Phenom, but saying that the original Phenoms were no good is just not right... Seriously, where the hell is that crap coming from? And they couldn't keep up with Intel's duals? If you put it that way, then they couldn't even compete with AMD's own duals...

Anyways, if your price range is about $70-100, I suggest you take a look at Athlon II X4 620.

 

[BadTrip]

Your statement is partially right. It is true that now, when we have Athlon II X4's, there is no point in getting an old Phenom, but saying that the original Phenoms were no good is just not right... Seriously, where the hell is that crap coming from? And they couldn't keep up with Intel's duals? If you put it that way, then they couldn't even compete with AMD's own duals...

Anyways, if your price range is about $70-100, I suggest you take a look at Athlon II X4 620.

Can you read? I mean seriously can you read? Where in this thread did anyone say anything about Intel dual cores. Phenom I was crap and everyone knows it. Everytime you post such stupidity, you lose even more crediabilty. Stop, read, research, think, then post something sensible.

 

[Malovane]

Can you read? I mean seriously can you read? Where in this thread did anyone say anything about Intel dual cores. Phenom I was crap and everyone knows it. Everytime you post such stupidity, you lose even more crediabilty. Stop, read, research, think, then post something sensible.

Phenom I was not "crap", though with all the misinformation out there... many people may "know" it was crap.

The first iteration was bugged, and was indeed "crap". You don't want to buy a 9x00 chip. However, the 9x50 series was actually a very serviceable chip, and competed fairly well in high resolution gaming compared to the Intel Quads at the time due to their high bandwidth. This was not shown in many common benchmarks, which focused on low res gaming (at levels nobody played at)... but check the high res benchmarks from that time and you'll see why Intel found it important to move to the integrated memory controller.

I ran my 9850 Black Edition at 3.2 to 3.4 Ghz. It was cheap, and a strong performer. I bought the Phenom II 940 as soon as it came out, and was able to push it up to 3.6 Ghz with relative ease. The performance difference between the two at equal speeds? Around 5 to 10% on pretty much every benchmark, which is somewhat minor. But the difference in public perception was (and is) relatively large.

That said, the 9x50 chips are good bargains right now, and you can build a pretty solid gaming system for cheap with them. It's a little less attractive with DDR2-800 memory becoming more expensive... but it's still good bang for the buck.

 

[C00lIT]

Can you read? I mean seriously can you read? Where in this thread did anyone say anything about Intel dual cores. Phenom I was crap and everyone knows it. Everytime you post such stupidity, you lose even more crediabilty. Stop, read, research, think, then post something sensible.

I run a Phenom 9950 and it is far from crap... They aren't really all that great next to what is available today but when i got it to max out my old M2N-E it gave me a Huge jump of performance.

Phenom's that do suck end by 00 such as 9500.... those with TLB Bug should get hit by the hammer.


Today... I agree that it's pointless or even stupid to buy a Phenom1 as an AthlonX4 clocks faster and to get a Phenom1, you need to get an older am2+ motherboard instad of AM3 but they are a perfect choice for an older AM2 motherboard that supports it.

In the end, it's all about what you do with your PC...

And as a gamer (Farcry2, Crysis, Company of Heroes...) My phenom @ 2.73Ghz (does 3Ghz easy but pointless) is just perfect with a GTX260...

An I5 wont make anything faster for my use..

 

[yuppicide138]

Okay, what's the difference in black edition and regular? I see the black edition is between $5 and $10 more, but has the same specs on NewEgg.

I think I'm going to go with one of these two:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ965FBGMBOX - Retail - $195.00

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail - $165.99

I'm trying to decide if $30 more is worth it for .2Ghz.

 

[BadTrip]

The BE means that the chip has an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking.

The 965 is not worth it, buy the 955 and overclock.

 

[yuppicide138]

I get paid this weekend and the girlfriend gets her tax return, so 955 here I come!

 

[yuppicide138]

Best answer selected by yuppicide138.

 

[Cryslayer80]

I run a Phenom 9950 and it is far from crap... They aren't really all that great next to what is available today but when i got it to max out my old M2N-E it gave me a Huge jump of performance.

Phenom's that do suck end by 00 such as 9500.... those with TLB Bug should get hit by the hammer.


Today... I agree that it's pointless or even stupid to buy a Phenom1 as an AthlonX4 clocks faster and to get a Phenom1, you need to get an older am2+ motherboard instad of AM3 but they are a perfect choice for an older AM2 motherboard that supports it.

In the end, it's all about what you do with your PC...

And as a gamer (Farcry2, Crysis, Company of Heroes...) My phenom @ 2.73Ghz (does 3Ghz easy but pointless) is just perfect with a GTX260...

An I5 wont make anything faster for my use..

I so like when actual users who actually HAD experience or read something put glue on a noob's mouth...