phenom ii x4 955 compatibilty

[rohit0524]

Hello,
i have a ASUS M2N68-AM PLUS motherboard with a Athlon 64 X2 6000 ....i hope to upgrade my cpu to a newer one.i had phenom ii x4 955 as an option.although my board supports AM3 cpu this particular cpu is not present in the compatible cpu list.but supposedly there is a 95W option which i can try according to the following page
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M2N68-AM_SE2.html ... pls suggest what to do.if there are other worthwhile cpus around 100 to 120$ mark pls let me know....

my board is compatible with the following cpus according to asus
http://in.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M2N68AM_PLUS/#CPUS

the board is new...i do not wish to change it...during starup it does show up a compatibility error....but bios loads anyway
Other components are as follows..
Nvidia 8600 GT...almost dead
1TB Seagate HDD
a low tech 450W PSU
2 GB RAM at 800Mhz
i know i need to upgrade...im takin one step at a time...he he..
Cheers

 

[rolli59]

The board suffers from the 95watt tdp limit http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M2N68AM_PLUS/#CPUS
I suggest that you get the 960T that is supported http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995

 

[rohit0524]

i see...sorry for the late reply....could you suggest any cheaper options...its a bit out of my budget...im frm india and this processor costs abt 190-200USD at current conv rates..
wat abt AMD PHENOM II 64 X 4 840???is it worthwhile...pls bear in mind that it would stay as my processor for 3-4 yrs..

 

[popatim]

TRry updating the bios, according to this website
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M2N68-AM_PLUS.html

you will see the 955 is supported in both 95w and 125w flavors.

 

[rolli59]

The 840 is a good buy as well but it is a Athlon II in disguise!

 

[rohit0524]

TRry updating the bios, according to this website
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M2N68-AM_PLUS.html

you will see the 955 is supported in both 95w and 125w flavors.

yes i agree...but upon looking further 955 and 1075T are the only ones with 125W tdp....the first comment points to the board having problems with 125W design and bios update did not seem to solve his prob...moreover it is not the official asus website....

 

[rohit0524]

The 840 is a good buy as well but it is a Athlon II in disguise!

how would you rate AMD Phenom II X2 Black Edn 555....its dual core although i believe better than my current processor...it has a design power of 80W...

 

[rolli59]

It is a fast dual core with a possibility to unlock 1 or 2 more cores if the board supports it but I would rather personally by an X4.

 

[rohit0524]

It is a fast dual core with a possibility to unlock 1 or 2 more cores if the board supports it but I would rather personally by an X4.

so effectively unlocking cores will make it a X3 or better X4!!!thats great news!!....so will the tdp rise upon unlocking????

 

[rolli59]

Yes it will. Unlocking though works on some not others.

 

[rohit0524]

so it will not work on my board because of 95W tdp limit(unlocking cores i mean)....are there any other X4 options left...are all of em' more than 95W ??

 

[rolli59]

Phenom II 925 and 945 are both on the list as well all the Athlon II X4's http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M2N68AM_PLUS/#CPUS

 

[rohit0524]

Phenom II 925 and 945 are both on the list as well all the Athlon II X4's http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M2N68AM_PLUS/#CPUS

those models are incredibly tough to find here(im frm india)...looks like i will have to settle for 840..

 

[rolli59]

It is not a bad choice http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/

 

[popatim]

wow, why wouldn' the 830 be listed? because its not a boxed processor?

 

[rohit0524]

wow, why wouldn' the 830 be listed? because its not a boxed processor?

What is a boxed processor???how is it different??

 

[rohit0524]

It is not a bad choice http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/

A rather technical(read dumb) question....what are L1,L2,L3 caches...and what is the effect of absence of a L3 cache ???

PS: In the link provided....pls have a look at memory copy graph....why is it so low????direct link provided
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/3.html......

 

[rolli59]

It is like a temporary memory (to store data likely to be used again) for the CPU for it internal processing L3 increases the capability of the CPU. Here you can see two at same clock one with L3 one without http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/81?vs=105

 

[popatim]

What is a boxed processor???how is it different??

boxed = retail and comes with a heatsink & fan.
an oem cpu comes with nothing other than the cpu itself.

 

[popatim]

A rather technical(read dumb) question....what are L1,L2,L3 caches...and what is the effect of absence of a L3 cache ???

PS: In the link provided....pls have a look at memory copy graph....why is it so low????direct link provided
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/3.html......

Cache is high speed memory. L1 cache usually runs at cpu speed, L2 is slower and L3 even slower yet but still faster than the DDR3 you use.

As for the low memory copy speed, your link doesnt work but its probably due to the lack of L3 on the 840, its listed as a phenom ii but is really an athlon ii. the 830 I mentioned is a real phenom II.

 

[rohit0524]

Cache is high speed memory. L1 cache usually runs at cpu speed, L2 is slower and L3 even slower yet but still faster than the DDR3 you use.

As for the low memory copy speed, your link doesnt work but its probably due to the lack of L3 on the 840, its listed as a phenom ii but is really an athlon ii. the 830 I mentioned is a real phenom II.

A mere 3-8 mb on L3 cache although faster than DDR3 is not a big issue then is it???

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Phenom_II_X4_840/3.html .....proper link here...extra stops = problem!!

EDIT: Jus visited a local retailer....offering 840 for approx 85$!! is it worth??

 

[rohit0524]

It is like a temporary memory (to store data likely to be used again) for the CPU for it internal processing L3 increases the capability of the CPU. Here you can see two at same clock one with L3 one without http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/81?vs=105

will a cpu with lower clock and sizeable L3 cache be any better than a cpu with a higher clock and no L3 cache???

 

[rolli59]

At some point clock speed takes the win but as you can see here even with 0.3MHz difference the one with the L3 is winning. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/188?vs=81

 

[rohit0524]

thank you all for helping me out....i've decided to be patient and wait for a X4 9xx...

already made a wrong decision of buying a CM Extreme power 500W psu....its an upgrade(compared to my chinese firecracker) but i've been berated by my friends and people online....