Power cunsumption phenom 9850/955/intell 2500k

[brandondiep]

Currently i have a phenom 9850, with a msi 785gtm-e45, 4gbs of 800mhz ddr2, 460 gtx sc all on a corsair vx 450W. I was wondering how much less power would the phenom 2 955 with that setup use. Also how much less would a intel 2500k witth ddr3 use also. Would there even be a difference, because i really wanna keeep stress off my psu. Thank You

 

[wribbs]

The Phenom II 955 is going to be nearly the same power as the Phenom 9850.
The Intel 2500k should draw around 25W less.
DDR3 will draw a few watts less than DDR2.

 

[1965ohio]

Your current Phenom 9850 draws 125w. The Phenom 955 draws 125w at stock speeds also. So no difference in a CPU swap.

If you change to a 2500k it only uses 95w and DDR3 memory will use about 10-15% less power than DDR2 (if using high end memory).

Neither of these setups will stress your PSU at all. Considering your video card and current board, (assuming your 4GB of RAM is 2 sticks and you have 2 HDs)... you will use about 390-410w with either AMD setup and about 360-375w with the 2500k setup.

If you need to run more devices than 2 hard drives and 1 optical drive, then I would suggest a PSU with 100 watts more breathing room. But currently you are within the limits and your PSU is a good one. You'll save a little electric with the Intel setup and gain much more performance over the AMD you are considering.

 

[endyen]

Your phenom has a TDP of 125w, while the other two are 95w. (the 955 was originally released @ 125w, but a 95w edition came out las fall. Intel and AMD dont set TDP the same way, but the difference amounts to about the same as using DDR3 on the Intel and DDR2 on the AMD chip.
What that means is , if you use your chip @ 100% all the time, you could save as much as 35 watts, by changing. If you are not @ 100% all the time, you would have to prorate to your demand. Most surfers would see a drop of about 3 to 5 watts, while heavy gamers might get to 15w.
I fold for team 40051 (shameless add for Tom's team) so I would actually see the full 35w. In terms of electric bill, that would save me about $2.00 a month.
It would take a long time to pay off the chip that way.

 

[1965ohio]

The most common revision is 955BE with C3 stepping and it is 125w. Unless you are referring to the non-BE version HDX955WFK4DGM, that one is 95w... but the black edition is still 125w and that is the one you will see for sale. Try to search to buy the non-BE version and you won't really find it. So for all purposes the OP would probably only find the 125w for sale. Also, why would anyone pay the same for a non black edition?

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-model-number-comparison.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Phenom_microprocessors#.22Deneb.22_.28C2.2FC3.2C_45_nm.2C_Quad-core.29

 

[brandondiep]

Yeah i was thinking of the BE since i have sufficient cooling to OC quite alot, but the 2500k upgrade is gonna cost about 500 bucks but it will last me quite a while since its a beast cpu and i can use the other parts for another pc.

 

[1965ohio]

I have been in your situation a few times... you can look at it from another view... if you really want that Intel CPU, just carry over your case and drives and have a new PC today. As you get a little more money, get another case, PSU and put your old system back in it. As you get new drives in the future, put the old ones back in the other system... and eventually you will have 2 great systems... if you don't need another PC in another room, at least you will have a great backup system in case of a problem.