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Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > CPUs > Is it worth upgrading from a AMD Athlon processor to a Phenom?

Is it worth upgrading from a AMD Athlon processor to a Phenom?

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs Is it worth upgrading from a AMD Athlon processor to a Phenom?

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h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 02:32:56 AM

Currently, I have an AMD Athlon II x4 2.90 GHz. I'm looking at this processor right here: http://www.amazon.com/AMD-HDZ955FB [...] CTTAD3EM47

As you can see, it will be an upgrade from 2.90, to 3.2 Ghz. Is that worth the upgrade?

I do a lot of gaming, and am NOT going to overclock. Thanks.


Message edited by h0tangel99 on 01-17-2012 at 02:39:32 AM
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Brett928S2   01-17-2012 at 02:39:47 AM

Hi :)

I am a gamer and run AMD`s and the honest answer is no...almost no difference at all...

All the best Brett :)

Message quoted 1 times
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h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 02:41:03 AM

Brett928S2 wrote :

Hi :)

I am a gamer and run AMD`s and the honest answer is no...almost no difference at all...

All the best Brett :)



Really? I would've thought .3 Ghz would've made a difference. Also, by looking at some benchmarks, I saw much improvements. Thanks for your answer! Hopefully I can get some more perspectives.


Message edited by h0tangel99 on 01-17-2012 at 02:41:40 AM
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wurkfur   01-17-2012 at 02:55:58 AM

Get a coolermaster 212 Evo and you can easily bump the FSB up by 10% and be right there. I know you said you don't want to overclock, but this would be an easy tweak.

Message quoted 1 times
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zloginet   01-17-2012 at 02:56:31 AM

A pentium D @ 4.5 would be slower then your Athlon @ 2.9, its not all about the Ghz anymore...

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------------------------------ NZXT Switch 810 -- FX-8150 @4.7 -- Ultra Carbon X5 w/2x AeroCool Shark 120s -- Asus Crosshair V F -- Corsair Force GT 120GB -- WD Caviar Blue 7200rpm 32mb 1TB -- 2x HIS 7970 @ 1125/1575 -- Corsair 1200w Gold -- G.Skill 8GB
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h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 02:57:55 AM

wurkfur wrote :

Get a coolermaster 212 Evo and you can easily bump the FSB up by 10% and be right there. I know you said you don't want to overclock, but this would be an easy tweak.



Well, the main reason I don't want to overclock is because I would probably screw something up - even with a YouTube guide or something. Thanks for the answer, though.

Reply to h0tangel99
h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 02:59:11 AM

zloginet wrote :

A pentium D @ 4.5 would be slower then your Athlon @ 2.9, its not all about the Ghz anymore...



Hmm...I assumed it was. Well then how do you know if a processor is faster or slower if GHz doesn't matter anymore?

Reply to h0tangel99
Brett928S2   01-17-2012 at 03:01:35 AM

Hi :)

The reason i said no was you said you were gaming..... .3 will make little to no difference in games......

All the best Brett :)

Message quoted 1 times
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warmon6   01-17-2012 at 03:01:47 AM

Im going to agree, there not going to be much of a difference between the 2 cpu's.

For the majority of games, a better gpu will make a difference as cpu is minor factor in the equation.

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h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 03:07:47 AM

Brett928S2 wrote :

Hi :)

The reason i said no was you said you were gaming..... .3 will make little to no difference in games......

All the best Brett :)



Ok thank you very much.

Reply to h0tangel99
h0tangel99   01-17-2012 at 03:08:42 AM

warmon6 wrote :

Im going to agree, there not going to be much of a difference between the 2 cpu's.

For the majority of games, a better gpu will make a difference as cpu is minor factor in the equation.



Well I already have a pretty good gpu so I'm not looking to buy another one for a bit. My next one will probably be the GeForce 560 ti.

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warmon6   01-17-2012 at 03:13:59 AM

h0tangel99 wrote :

Well I already have a pretty good gpu so I'm not looking to buy another one for a bit. My next one will probably be the GeForce 560 ti.



Just thought i would mention it. ;)

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Brett928S2   01-17-2012 at 03:23:45 AM

Hi :)

You made a good decision to come here and ask...now you dont have to bother with the cost of that CPU and can put the money towards your graphics card which will give a huge improvement...in games...

All the best Brett :)

Reply to Brett928S2
Kronk42583   01-17-2012 at 04:52:21 AM

Hi, I was in a similar position as you last april. I wanted to upgrade, but not spend a lot of money and I was wary of over clocking. My solution was buying a Phenom X4 955BE for $100. Killer price. Overclocking was as simple as changing the multiplier from 16x to 18x. temps on the stock cooler was minimal but i got a nice 400mhz jump from it. I since added a Coolermaster Hyper 212 to make things quieter than stock, but it isn't needed. I do a lot of H.264 encoding so I liked the 4 core aspect of it. I now run a Radeon HD 6950 2GB and I play Battlefield 3 1080p at max settings and its playable. Great bang for your buck. I think it's even cheaper now. I liked the upgrade but there is a lot of merit to the posts recommending saving money for a vid card. Probably a bigger jump to be seen there as far as gaming, but playing games isn't the only thing i do.

on another note, I bought an SSD a few months ago and its the single greatest speed improvement I've ever seen in my years building computers. It doesn't help frame rates really, but load times are non existent, apps fire up instantly, from power on to usable desktop is 26-28 seconds... I won't build another computer without one. I went with a Corsair Force3 180GB.

Reply to Kronk42583
suddenstop   01-17-2012 at 04:52:22 AM

This would be worth doing if you overclock. the MHZ are really only comparable within a processor generation. After Athlons came the Phenom and then Phenom II which is a good chip. Phenom ii's have much beter power management and run cooler.

 

There is a lot more overclock headroom on a phenom ii, and they all will do 3.6 on stock voltages and many will do 4 ghz.

 

I did this upgrade myself, from an athlon ii running at 2.6 stock and i think i had it at 2.9 or 3. To the phenom ii x6 1055t at 4ghz.

 

It was a huge upgrade and everything was snappier. What you use the computer for does matter, and as the other folks said for gaming gpu is more important.

 

If you are not going to overclock don't get a black edition and get this:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103893

 

3.5 ghz phenom ii for $128. Whether it is worth it is something you will need to decide. I wouldn't spend any more than that.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by suddenstop on 01-17-2012 at 04:52:52 AM
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h0tangel99   01-18-2012 at 06:48:15 AM

suddenstop wrote :

This would be worth doing if you overclock. the MHZ are really only comparable within a processor generation. After Athlons came the Phenom and then Phenom II which is a good chip. Phenom ii's have much beter power management and run cooler.

There is a lot more overclock headroom on a phenom ii, and they all will do 3.6 on stock voltages and many will do 4 ghz.

I did this upgrade myself, from an athlon ii running at 2.6 stock and i think i had it at 2.9 or 3. To the phenom ii x6 1055t at 4ghz.

It was a huge upgrade and everything was snappier. What you use the computer for does matter, and as the other folks said for gaming gpu is more important.

If you are not going to overclock don't get a black edition and get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103893

3.5 ghz phenom ii for $128. Whether it is worth it is something you will need to decide. I wouldn't spend any more than that.



Wow, I can't even believe the great price of that processor! It seems too good to be true, though....What's the catch with that cpu? lol

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to h0tangel99
esrever   01-18-2012 at 09:33:32 AM

h0tangel99 wrote :

Wow, I can't even believe the great price of that processor! It seems too good to be true, though....What's the catch with that cpu? lol


theres no fan.

------------------------------ sllaw eht no nettirw gnihtemos saw ecno ereht
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