AMD CPU Upgrade... Will I even notice?

[ttownpedro]

Hi all.

I see that Newegg has the AM3 980 Black Edition CPU on special this week for $145. Looks like its the last great Phenom II, and can pretty easily be overclocked to 4.2GHz.

I am currently running a Triple Core Rana at 2.9 GHz, that I was able to unlock to a Quad Core, and also unlocked 6mb of L3 cache as well. I got it for like $75 a year ago, and it has been running unlocked and stable at stock speeds all along.

So my question is, if I choose to jump on this 980 BE to replace my unlocked triple core, and am able to overclock it to 4.2 Ghz, will I see large gains?

I game on a 23" 1920x1080 monitor, games like Crysis 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur, with a Sapphire 6850 graphics card. With my current set up, I have no real complaints, but was wondering if the grass is greener with a 980 BE.

Any help is much appreciated!!

 

[Houndsteeth]

You probably would not see huge gains, but the ability to overclock would let you have a modicum more of overhead before you move up to a new mainboard/processor.

You might want to consider looking at the 960T as well. It is priced lower than the 980BE, has an unlocked multiplier, and has proven to be a decent overclocker, withmost folks getting in excess of 4 Ghz with slight voltage adjustments. It also has a core-unlock potential (you will most likely have to upgrade your mainboard BIOS to access this feature), and could net you the equivalent of a Thuban 1065T if you can get all 6 cores working.

 

[mattberrytr]

Don't think you'd notice to much of an upgrade.
If I were you I wouldn't bother, you're essentially got a quad core with 6mb level 3 cache.

I'd use the money towards a new gpu

 

[Cazalan]

That's a 45% performance gain.

Clock your current CPU down to 2Ghz and see if you notice a 45% difference.

 

[computernewb]

i have the phenom ii x4 980 BE at stock speed and its fast. With my radeon 6770, i play starcraft 2 and battlefield 3 multiplayer on high without any problems (never tried ultra settings). I cant say how much of an improvement it will be because i never had the triple core rana but you wont be disappointed. Going from 2.9 to 4.2 ghz seems like a pretty big jump.

 

[ttownpedro]

Ok, Now lets say I was able to sell my current MB (Asus M4a89GTD Pro USB 3) for what I paid for it 1 year ago (about $135) as well as the Triple core processor for the $70ish I paid for it a year ago.

I take that cash and put it toward the sub $200 core i5 2400 (according to a recent article on this sight to be the best sub $200 CPU currently) for $180 currently at newegg, and pair it with a $100 - $130 lga 1155 MB?

What then say you?

 

[computernewb]

the i5's perform better than AMD cpus in most gaming benchmarks. If you can afford it, its the better option. However, trying to sell your used mobo and cpu for the same price you paid might be hard.

 

[ttownpedro]

Best answer selected by ttownpedro.

 

[ttownpedro]

Thanks Houndsteeth.... I have been looking at all the feedback for the 960T since I read your comment, and it looks like a winner... I am now intrigued... but have yet another factor to consider Thanks to all who replied!

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey