Difference between a Phenom II X4 840 and 965 BE

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LQ4594

LQ4594

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I currently have a X4 840 and its really not performing up to my standards. Constant freezing and stuttering while just browsing the web along with other annoyances, so if i were to upgrade me CPU to a 965 BE, would i really notice that big of a difference in performance, also is the 975 significantly better than the 965?
 
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nekulturny

nekulturny

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The 840 is not overclockable. the 965 is. The 840 also does not have an L3 cache, which can cause a the system to hang, in some cases substantially.

Yes, an upgrade to the 965 would be worth it, especially since they're only 120 bucks now, but I'd be curious what the rest of your system configuration is, as well as knowing whether or not you've tried to resolve any software issues that might be causing the lag and stuttering, viruses, low ram and older video cards could be causing the problems too.

As far as the 970,975,980 they're all the same stepping as the 965. Very easy just to turn up the clock on the 965 and get it to match the stock speed of the 980 (which is 3.7GHZ), and you can do that on the stock HSF that comes with it.
 
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LQ4594

LQ4594

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AMD Phenom II X4 840 @ 3.2 GHz
Gigabyte GA-M68MT-S2P Mobo
Galaxy GTX 570
1 TB HDD
8 Gigs of DDR3 @ 1333 MHz
Ultra X4 1050W PSU
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition

That's my rig right there, I'm pretty good with virus' and stuff and don't believe i have any so I'm really not sure what could be causing my computer to be as slow as it is performing
 
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nekulturny

nekulturny

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Yea, the lacking L3 cache of the 840 Propus is probably the most likely suspect.

The motherboard isn't as hot as it could be. You interested in upgrading that? You could get one with higher HyperTransport, and I would if I were running a GTX 570
 
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LQ4594

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My system is heavily upgraded from the original barebones kit i got it all together in. The only two parts i would actually upgrade is either the CPU and mobo, but i was thinking if I'm upgrading the mobo why not just get a Z68 with a 2500k? am i right?
 
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nekulturny

nekulturny

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Yes, you would be right.
 
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LQ4594

LQ4594

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I've actually seen this board a lot and when I'm upgrading my system, i will most likely be getting that one. As an AMD user with a processor similar to the one i am thinking of getting, would you recommend upgrading to the 965 or just save up and completely upgrade to the 2500k/Z68 combo? and i bought this bare bones kit last may for a steal
 
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nekulturny

nekulturny

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I would say it depends on you. Personally, I'm very content with what my 975 can do. Some people want the extra umph. Of course the extra umph costs more money.

In all honesty, with a GTX 570 card, you probably will not notice a difference in gaming performance with a 965 and a newer motherboard than a 2500k/z68 combo. On paper (in benchmarks) yes there is a difference, in terms of real-world playability, there isn't.

Contrary to much to the numerous debates on the forum about it. I can back that up simply by saying that we own a 2400 i5 paired with a GTX 460 and my rig in my sig. Both play the same games with no noticible performance difference.

However, having said that, in light of the fact that you have a GTX 570, which leads me to believe you have pretty high standards, I would consider spending the extra money for the 2500k and board. Its up to you.

Asrock/2500k combo- $342 (or so)

Or 965 w/ a decent board would be around 100 less.
 
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LQ4594

LQ4594

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its like you know me lol i do indeed have pretty high standards and i want games to run at max settings with 60 fps, a 2500k would do that a lot better I'm assuming, but since you said in real world performance i wont see much of a difference, would it make sense then to even bother upgrading my AMD mobo? I'm really not sure whether to just upgrade the cpu now or make the jump to intel from what you've told me :/
 
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nekulturny

nekulturny

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LOL, well, I assure you I'm not stalking you, I just know you didn't buy a 300 dollar video card to play farmville.

I honestly don't know for sure if upgrading the motherboard is necessary. I would be inclined to say so because of the lower HyperTransport bus speed that your board has, that may or may not be causing a bottleneck. I'm honestly not well-read enough to say for absolute certainty. Call it for all intents and purposes an educated guess.

As far as to make the jump to Intel or not, maybe some fanboy will show up and say "oh yea, dude definitely go with intel cus phenom ii failz bro!".. Even though I prefer AMD, I'd rather keep my opinions in check and present un-biased information to you. Unfortunately, that may leave you confused as to what to do, but at least you're getting objective information.

If its in your budget, sure, spend the money for the 2500k.
 
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LQ4594

LQ4594

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haha BUT FARMVILLE IS REALLY GPU INTENSIVE (extreme sarcasm) do you think you could do me a favor then? what would be a cheap mobo that supports SLI that would be reasonably cheaper than making the 2500k/Z68 jump? Thanks for the un-biased info though! That's rare to see, espeically on the internet lol
 
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LQ4594

LQ4594

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Well thank you so much! You've definitely given me the pro's and cons of both :p now time to save up for about 2 weeks and make a decision! Thanks a lot again! :D
 
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