Should I change AthlonX2 6400+BE with Phenom II 965?

Omid_m_19

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2010
20
0
18,520
I'm not sure if I should change my Athlon X2 6400+ with a phenom II 965 BE.What I mean is I mostly play games with my system,and I wanted to know that changing my CPU will have any impact on games or not;And if it does,how much I should expect?Also I should mention that I play in 1920x1200 resolution.The only thing that bothers me with my current CPU is it's heat,it's being unable to overclock(Can you believe a 100Mhz OC for a black edition CPU?I've tried everything,it just doesn't stabily OC),It's power consumption for a dual core CPU and etc...

My system specifications:

Mainboard: Gigabyte MA780G-UD3H AM2+(140Watt CPU supported)
CPU: Athlon X2 6400+ Black Edition @3.3Ghz
CPU cooler: Cooler master air cooler(I don't remeber the Model!!!)
Case: NZXT Tempest
RAM: 2x2GB UMAX DDR2800
Graphic: Sapphire radeon 5850 1GB DDR5
HDD: 2500 GB(500+500+1500 non-raid)
Power: 600 watts real
 
Well most games are GPU-limited but getting a X4 965 will give you a boost in games which benefit from a faster CPU like HAWK,GTA IV and some RTS games.
Also it will give you a boost in apps like PhotoShop,3D rendering etc.
So if it doesn't cost you much,go for it IMO
 

Omid_m_19

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2010
20
0
18,520
How much it will boost games?
does it worth changing it?I don't mean the price,I mean should I wait for now or it is worth changing and I will gain A lot of performance?
 

Yes it will give you a good boost in performance.Those were some of the improvement it will bring,check Toms CPU charts too
 

DarkMantle

Distinguished
Aug 6, 2008
131
0
18,690
I would honestly like to recommend Tom's CPU charts but they are really messed up. Those 2 processors can’t even be compared using the same Chart. Tom’s really need to keep working on that Chart system and re do some of the old benchmarks with the old processors, using the new benchmarks and the old processors. Or at least to have an option to compare the new processors with the old ones on the same page using the benchmarks they have in common.
 

bige420

Distinguished
Dec 29, 2008
717
0
19,010
Not to bash Toms, but I think anandtech's bench tool is very good. They should take hint and make something similar or improve upon it.
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
I went from a AMD X2 6000+ to an i7 860 and my games showed lots of improvement. GTA IV was like a whole new game. I'd say you should go for it.
 

Omid_m_19

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2010
20
0
18,520
Thanks for your answers,but I was wandering if CPU has so much impact on high resolutions,considering my setup(1900x1200),and also how much difference it will cause,considering the move from 3.2 Ghz Dual core athlon to 3.2 Ghz Phenom II quad core.I know in clock for clock comparison phenom II is much more faster,but what about the resolution I mentioned?

And I'd appreciate if you have any alternative suggestion besides 955 BE and 965 BE considering my configuration...
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
I'm using 1920x1200 resolution and it makes a difference. It does depend on the game of course. With a 5850 and X4, you should be able to max out almost every game at that resolution.

The 945, 955 and 965 are all great options. Look at prices to make the final decision.
 

As i said there are some games which benefit a lot like GTA IV,Prototype,some RTS games and more.
Well my recommendation would be either 955BE or 965BE in AMD CPUs,other alternatives would be Core i5/i7 but with intel you need to change your motherboard and RAM too
 

randomkid

Distinguished


Your rig seems pretty decent even at 1920x1200. I used to play L4D and Prototype in a X2 5200+ and HD4890 combo at 1920x1080 and I only notice some lag in prototype during the most intense fight scenes. In L4D none at all.
Do you notice any similar lags in your games so that you are considering for the upgrade? I think there should not be...

Meanwhile it will be interesting if you will open a thread why your 6400+ can not be OC'd and perhaps you could solve the problem thru there.
 

loneninja

Distinguished
6400 won't overclock any further because as zipzoomflyhigh mentioned, it's already maxed out. It's an old K8 90nm processor, it just has no head room left. It would be like AMD releasing a 3.8Ghz C2 Phenom II when very few could even hit 4.0Ghz stable. lol

I personally would recommend the upgrade to a Phenom II X4, but go for the 955 if your gonna overclock, it's the same as the 965 only cheaper.
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
My 6000+ only got to 3.3Ghz no matter what I did. It was a 90nm Windsor. I upped the voltage to 1.65V and got a crazy cooler, but nothing helped. They can really only get up to 3.4Ghz on air and 3.5-3.6Ghz on water. Even then you'd be lucky.
 

randomkid

Distinguished
But even at 3.3Ghz dual core, I think it should be pretty decent even for 1920x1080 gameplay. The only problem that might hold up the gaming if ever will be the lack of L3 cache but try "ebooster" and assign some of the RAM capacity as extra cache.
 

Dougx1317

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2008
919
0
19,010
Even at 3.3Ghz on my 1680x1050 monitor, it was holding GTA IV back. But then again, my i7 860 probably does that. It's just hard on the CPU. It depends on the game, though.