Need some help, again.

shadows5631

shadows5631

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Well my GTX 275 came in yesterday and needless to say it's amazing. But, it's not that much better than my old 8800gt I upgraded from. I have an AMD Phenom X3 @ 2.1 (mediocre cpu) and so obviously it's bottlenecking.

Well, my brother being the nice person he is decided to buy me a new CPU for Christmas (in return for me to buy him a new motherboard or headset).

The price range is around $100-$130.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...49&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-649-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...80&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-680-_-Product

These are the 2 I'm trying to pick between. The X2 is better at gaming (which would help the bottlenecking alot and should release the full potiental of the GTX 275) but the X3 is better in everything else, and only slightly slower in games. So which one to get? Right now I think the Dual Core is the best way to go because it's almost as good as the E8400.

Or...would it be easier to buy a new motherboard and overclock the one I have now? I doubt I could get much out of it even though it idles at 19-24c.

And I did some research and found that this motherboard will support AM3
 
Wow I didn't even know they made the X4's 95 watts, haha. It seems really good. The lack of it being a BE version is pretty disappointing :(.
 
shadows5631 said:
Wow I didn't even know they made the X4's 95 watts, haha. It seems really good. The lack of it being a BE version is pretty disappointing :(.
Click to expand...

Unless you're overclocking BE means nothing. And you can still get a pretty good overclock even with a locked multiplier.
 
Well, my motherboard doesn't support it until I upgrade this summer. But, with an unlocked multiplier it does give me the ability to overclock by just adjusting the multiplier and voltage through crappy AMD Overdrive.
 
Just remember....the reason it's an x2 or x3 is because of manufacture flaws and locking-off of bad areas of the chip.....for MAX performance (I know...$$$) go with an x4 (900 series= no flaws on chip).

I'm using a 955Black Edition (yes, I OC)...pretty cheap from newegg, and you may be able to pony-up the few extra dollars to cover the difference. WELL worth it, imho.

(basically an !up to Freakinghell. GG support, bro!)

Links around price range:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656
 
Angellas said:
Just remember....the reason it's an x2 or x3 is because of manufacture flaws and locking-off of bad areas of the chip.....for MAX performance (I know...$$$) go with an x4 (900 series= no flaws on chip).
Click to expand...

Well, this is kind of deceiving. Yes, the X2 and X3 chips are lower binned chips than the X4's. However, they are GUARANTEED fully functional as X2's or X3's. Some are even capable of unlocking the rest of the cores as well.

But yes, at this point in time, buying a quad core makes the most sense unless you are planning on getting a new CPU in the near future(year or maybe 2).
 
Actually yes, by this coming up summer I'm going to get a Core I9 if they're out by then. But, I'm giving the Phenom II to my brother when the time comes. The motherboard only supports up to 95 watts, so the larger X4's are out of the question.
 
If you plan on upgrading.....just go with the cheaper X3 or X2.
If you are going to overclock, go with the X3 as it will help bottlenecking and all that and in general be much faster if clocked to almost similar speeds. Clock for clock a x3 might be better than a x2 because of the extra core.

If your not gonna overclock, just get the X2 as the higher frequency will be better.

I recommend the X3 and overclock as far as you can out of it but if thats out of the question, get the X2.

I also plan on going i9 in the near future if they are as good as they seem.
 
shadows5631 said:
Well my GTX 275 came in yesterday and needless to say it's amazing. But, it's not that much better than my old 8800gt I upgraded from. I have an AMD Phenom X3 @ 2.1 (mediocre cpu) and so obviously it's bottlenecking.

Well, my brother being the nice person he is decided to buy me a new CPU for Christmas (in return for me to buy him a new motherboard or headset).

The price range is around $100-$130.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...49&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-649-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...80&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-680-_-Product

These are the 2 I'm trying to pick between. The X2 is better at gaming (which would help the bottlenecking alot and should release the full potiental of the GTX 275) but the X3 is better in everything else, and only slightly slower in games. So which one to get? Right now I think the Dual Core is the best way to go because it's almost as good as the E8400.

Or...would it be easier to buy a new motherboard and overclock the one I have now? I doubt I could get much out of it even though it idles at 19-24c.

And I did some research and found that this motherboard will support AM3
Click to expand...

It might be possible to unlock your CPU to 4 cores. Google it. My brotyher built a computer, he bought a AMD dual core processor @3.0ghz, it had a 50/50 chance of being unlockable. It unlocked to 4 cores and he got it for under 100 dollars canadian.
 
Yeah and I've heard many people who have unlocked it run into alot of stability problems. And some who can't tell a difference of it locked and unlocked. Doesn't really seem worth the trouble and I know my board won't unlock it.
 
Get the first one. Very nice overclock CPU and can even be a Quadcore if you have the right bios and motherboard that uses ACC "Advanced Clock Something " lol but yea
 
yea but its very rare that the two locked cores work perfectly and have no problems with it. It's worth a try as you have nothing to lose but just don't think "oo ill just unlock the two cores and make it the same as a phenom II x4"
 
^ Exactly what I was trying to point out.

I figured just getting the X4 would be better.
 
Here man.....microcenter sells processors for the cheapest guaranteed pretty much. They are much cheaper than newegg when it comes to CPU's.

Heres a Phenom II x3 Black Edition - http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0316182
only $99!!!!!!!!!!

Look around on Microcenter, most of their deals are in-store only though for processors.
They sell the Intel CPU's SUPERRR CHEAPPPP
i7 920 - $200
i5 750 - $150
i7 860 - $230
 
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