Unlocking a Phenom ii x4 960T or keep a x6 1090T

[tyro1]

I want to take this time to thank all of you who participated in helping me out in my time of need, so I could make an informed decision on picking out a cpu & memory. [which I then apparently ignored]
And also about the hardware that I had already purchased, giving me peace of mind that they were compatible and not 'off the wall'.

So, last night I 'lost my mind' bought a new amd phenom ii x4 960t zosma 3.0ghz $106 s/h chgs. inc. to go with the new 1090t $192 s/h chgs. inc.
My idea is to try the 960t first and see if it will unlock and if not, then I'll sell it and use the 1090t.
However, if I'm fortunate and it does unlock, then I'll sell the 1090t.

I don't mind losing my mind once in a while, but to bare my ignorance in front of everyone is humiliating, so my question is which cpu is better; an unlocked 960t, or a 1090t?

There was a person selling a used 960t on ebay and claimed; "... Item has minimal use. Item used in system build, May 1, 2012. Customer elected to go with different processor after build was completed...". I e-mailed him & asked 3 questions;
1- was this overclocked? answer; no.
2- did you try to unlock the 2 extra cores? answer; no.
3- what processor did the buyer switch to? answer; amd fx-8120.

We corresponded some, after those answers. I told him I had a biostar ta990fxe am3+ mobo and wanted to try to unlock the 960t.
He said he had some experience in unlocking cores and my mobo wasn't well suited for unlocking, that he had better success using gigabyte & asus mobo's for unlocking cores.

Is his statement correct?

 

[ohyouknow]

unlocking is a gamble no matter how much you try to justify and agonize over details.

I ask you what are you going to be doing to justify using 6 cores? vid edit etc. or just gaming. If just gaming then ya.. return the 1090T and be happy with 960t.

 

[mocchan]

As the person said above me, unlocking cores is a gamble. Though, personally, I've never had problems unlocking cores on Biostar motherboards...usually they ended with success it's worth a shot if you already have the CPU's.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/286082-31-photo-shop-build-960t-1090t According to the benchmark in the first post, when unlocked, the 960T performs very close to the 1090T. So selling either one of the CPU's would ultimately depend on if the 960T will unlock or not, if it unlocks to all 6 cores stable, then I would sell the 1090T.

 

[wr6133]

Board brand doesn't really matter he likely wants to sell you a board. The thing is if the 960T unlocks to 1600T you need to stress test the hell out of it to ensure those 2 cores are stable. Simply seeing it unlock is meaningless. If it passes stress testing then its the same as the 1090T as in it is the same chip so should make similar OC's etc.

In short if the 960T becomes a stable 6 core and can get to or near 4GHz happy days keep it and sell the 1090T which has more resale value. If it doesn't keep the 1090T and toss the 960T on Ebay and let the next gambler buy it hoping for the extra cores

 

[thently]

Yup what wr said the 1090T is almost a guaranteed 4.0 and a bit more for some make sure your 960 will do that before selling it on.

Thent

 

[tyro1]

Though I don't plan on buying one, how does the amd fx-6200 x6 Core compare with the 960t unlocked to 1600t & the 1090t cpu's?
Do the benchmark ratings given on cpubenchmark.net have any basis in real life application?

 

[tyro1]

unlocking is a gamble no matter how much you try to justify and agonize over details.

I ask you what are you going to be doing to justify using 6 cores? vid edit etc. or just gaming. If just gaming then ya.. return the 1090T and be happy with 960t.

=================

I'm just trying to end up with a stable & long lasting system.
My "gaming" was restricted to 3D pinball space cadet, which to the real gamer's is like playing a game of chess on your pc.
If you check page 2 I have the whole story of what I have & trying to repair, plus keep the higher end components [for me] for a new build.

 

[tyro1]

Best answer selected by tyro1.