Is a Phenom 550 BE good enough for a GTX 460?

[killa4lyfe]

Hello,

I've been using a HD 4850 for almost 2 years now and feel that I should upgrade my GPU. However I think my CPU might pose a slight problem, I am using a dual core 550 BE @ stock clocks. How large will the bottle neck be with this CPU?

Will the upgrade to the GTX 460 be worth it?

Thanks in advance =]

 

[killa4lyfe]

Bump

 

[buzznut]

What is your monitor resolution? It seems like a worthy upgrade, but I don't know if its worth $200-that's up to you. Your question is a fair one, it might behoove you to have 3 or more cores available. You won't be bottlenecked as far as clock speed goes however.

Have you tried to unlock this CPU? How about overclocking? I wouldn't rush out and buy a new CPU, there are things you can do to get a little more performance outta the X2. I would try to unlock a core or two, and check for stability.

An X2 at 3.4Ghz can outperform a quad core at 3.0, but it is application dependent.

Some games use more cores than others, I believe left for dead and maybe dirt2 are well threaded. Other games might use two cores really well.

Overall, I don't think you need to worry too much about bottlenecking your new GPU. I think you could set your multi to 17X or 18X without any voltage and be in good shape.

 

[killa4lyfe]

I have tried unlocking the 3rd and 4th cores of the CPU but this is what happened:

Cpu boots saying I have a quadcore called like e50 or something (tried along time ago) but when I launched the CPU-Z thing, it only said I was running on one core. I am guessing that I cannot Unlock them. Also at the moment, I am not willing to shell out some money for a fan. (Need $$$ for SC2)

Is there anyway I can overclock with the stock cooler?

 

[killa4lyfe]

bump

 

[buzznut]

You may have unlocked the cores. I would try again, it may be possible cool and quiet may have been interfering with CPU-z readings. If you are certain though, we'll just leave that alone for now.

You can overclock with the stock cooler and it should be relatively safe. In fact, it would be safer to overclock before unlocking as the core temps sensors don't usually work after unlocking.
So I would simply the CPU multiplier to 16X (3.2GHz). Check for stability and then try a 17X multi. Check for stability and ensure core temps are below 55C at 100% load.
I recommend you dl AMD overdrive as you can make these changes in windows, monitor temps and run a stress test all with one program. Once you've dialed in settings that you like, you can exit windows and manually set these in the BIOS.

 

[jerreece]

Your Phenom II X4 955BE should be fine for a GTX 460. The PII X4's overclock fairly decently too, so if you use an aftermarket cooler (stock coolers suck) you could easily OC it a bit if you do believe there's any limitations.

 

[redgarl]

You don't need a X4 for a single GTX460. You will get really good performance. You don't need a new cpu for only one card.

By the way, you should put your voltage to 1.35V for unlocking cores, less than that and the system may get unstable, at least, this did the trick for me.

 

[killa4lyfe]

Best answer selected by killa4lyfe.