Worth upgrading from a 960T?

[bobochez]

I am looking to maybe upgrade from an amd phenom II x4 960t @ stock 3.0 ghz. I say maybe upgrade because I am wondering if it is worth the extra money to upgrade to a nicer processor or whether I should just invest in a $25 heatsink (CM 212+) and overclock it to at least 3.4 ghz. Any help is greatly appreciated!
oh yeah, one last thing is that if I am to upgrade, I would be spending probably $200~ on the new cpu.

 

[bobochez]

get the CM 212+ and OC your 960T. there isn't an AMD processor for $200 worth "upgrading to"

ok thanks I would go for an i5 2500k but that would require a new motherboard
Also, for overclocking, does unlocking cores make a big difference in performance? The most "Multitasking" I ever do is a couple of browser windows and a game (TF2) running at the same time.

 

[antonisrsx]

why do you want to upgrade your cpu? in what do you use it for? for gaming? if it is for gaming get a good cpu cooler and overclock your cpu. if it is for something more professional that can use more than 4 cores get a new cpu.

 

[bobochez]

It is almost strictly for gaming. Dirtyferret, when you say "unlocking cores can effect what you can OC to" do you mean that unlocking cores limits how high I can overclock?

 

[bobochez]

why do you want to upgrade your cpu? in what do you use it for? for gaming? if it is for gaming get a good cpu cooler and overclock your cpu. if it is for something more professional that can use more than 4 cores get a new cpu.

I want to upgrade because I have had a lot of lag in random places coming from the cpu. mainly laggy in games but also in a couple other things. I am pretty sure it is the cpu causing the lag because my friend has the exact same gpu but an i5 2500k @ 3.8 ghz and has almost no lag were I have a lot.

 

[bobochez]

My CPU is a 960T... just overclock your CPU - you should be able to hit 4.0 GHz with any decent cooler, which will increase your performance in games by a LOT in any scenario where you are not GPU-limited.

ok! I think I will get a 212+ and OC to close to 4.0 ghz once I get my new monitor

 

[loneninja]

For what you list doing the extra 2 cores probably won't improve performance at all, but I would still see if they unlock just out of curiosity. I say get the new cooler, you're almost guaranteed to reach 3.8Ghz, and probably 4.0Ghz. I know some Phenom II won't reach 4.0Ghz, but it's been a long time since I've seen one that won't do 3.8Ghz.

 

[bobochez]

Think of it this way... it's a 33% performance increase for the price of a $30 CPU cooler and a few hours of your time getting it stable (assuming you chip can hit 4.0 GHz, which most Phenom IIs can).

Did you try unlocking the extra cores? If you got lucky and have functional extra cores, then that 33% performance increase easily jumps up amazingly in any well threaded application.

This might be a stupid question as I have never overclocked before, but how do I make my cpu stable?
Also, no I have not tried to unlock cores yet. I still need to scrape together the money for a decent cpu cooler first.

 

[wr6133]

To unlock you dont need another cooler.

You can hit a small OC on stock cooler too 4 cores @ 3.4GHZ and the temps stay safe.

If you get 6 stable cores whacking them up to 4GHZ may require a tiny voltage increase. Mine does 4 cores @ 4GHZ on stock volts. It makes 6 cores @ 3.89 on stock volts. To get 4GHZ stable for 12 hours+ on prime 95 with 6 cores it requires a small voltage bump as I see no tangible difference between 4GHZ or 3.89GHZ, I remain at stock voltage.

 

[chinchilla_bob]

I think you firmly have your answer, enjoy your overclocking and don't forget to ensure you get good air flow through your case to feed the CPU cooler by having enough suitable case fans. It's a minor point but sometimes glossed over and people wonder why they are not getting the best results despite a great CPU cooler.

 

[wr6133]

Did you just bump the multi or the FSB too? When i tried multi only i couldnt get 4GHZ on stock volts but when i bumped the FSB a little then the multi it made it on stock volts with 4 cores. I think it was 206X19.5

 

[bobochez]

Ok well thank all of you for your responses!! It might be a while until I get the money to get the cpu cooler I'm 13 I will go troll youtube for an OC guide

 

[thently]

If your budget is 200 then an option is water cooling think corsair h80 or h100... You will get the max overclock possible besides exotics. I got an H80 for $80 and am running a 1090T at 4.4

Thent

 

[megamanx00]

Get a good cooler, OC your CPU, game, be happy.

For that budget the Sunbeam core contact freezer is a better option, but it seems to have dissipated from the market recently. They Hyper 212+ is a good option though so just go with that and be happy

 

[bobochez]

@OP - Probably shouldn't announce your age to the world BTW... just sayin'

(Sorry, my inner parent is kicking in)

true probably not the best idea lol...

 

[bobochez]

Get a good cooler, OC your CPU, game, be happy.

For that budget the Sunbeam core contact freezer is a better option, but it seems to have dissipated from the market recently. They Hyper 212+ is a good option though so just go with that and be happy

I found one off of "Xoxide" and the site has good ratings. http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-corecontact-freezer-cpucooler.html
Its $10 more than the 212+ though. Is it worth it?

 

[megamanx00]

For $10 more, perhaps, but looks like it's on sale right now. You may want to check out reviews on Frosty Tech, those you may want to enable an ad blocker first simply because they seem to let any kind of annoying ads run on that site.

 

[cmi86]

I overclocked my 960T to 4.25 Ghz on a coolermaster hyper 212+ with 2X sickleflow 120mm fans in push pull my cores idle at room temperature and never exceed 30c under 100% load for 24+ hours. With the cooler, 2X fans and a tube of AS5 set me back about $55. This cooler also has the ability to keep the 960's temps in check if unlocked to an X6 even with an 800Mhz OC. AMD does not currently have a CPU worth upgrading to from the 960T.

 

[bobochez]

Best answer selected by bobochez.