AMD Phenom II 940 "Xtremely" Benchmarked

[Just_An_Engineer]

It's not just DDR3, it's not just the HT link, it's also the 880G motherboards. That alone makes me want to wait a month or two.

Rumors about work in the press had me worried, but I can afford the upgrades after all, especially with the price cuts. A Phenon II 940 for the original price of a 920. I don't feel that anyone lost out buying early but I can understand how they'd be a bit miffed.

Aren't the 800-series chipsets not scheduled for release until Q3?

 

[dattimr]

Aren't the 800-series chipsets not scheduled for release until Q3?

That's right. AM3 will launch with 790FX/GX. 8XX will come around September.

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

That's right. AM3 will launch with 790FX/GX. 8XX will come around September.

That's what I thought. Do we have any idea yet what the new features of the 800 chipsets will be other than presumably USB 3.0 support?

 

[dattimr]

That's what I thought. Do we have any idea yet what the new features of the 800 chipsets will be other than presumably USB 3.0 support?

Here you go:

Basically, they will fix AHCI, increase the bandwidth of the link between the NB and SB, SATA3 will be an "option", add support to FUSION and God knows what the "integrated clock generator" is. No USB3.0, though. But it's not meant to launch with P55 also, so, who knows? But it would be kind of sad to have SATA3 and PCIe3 (according to the early rumors of RD8xx) just to have USB3.0 left behind.

 

[spathotan]

Pcie 3.0? SATA 3? So worthless.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Heres a nice oc. 4.2 on air http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=490528

 

[amdfangirl]

Pcie 3.0? SATA 3? So worthless.

It'll again be more about SSDs and dual GPU solutions.

 

[spathotan]

The bandwidth limit of regular PCIex16 is barely being reached, most of the time its not. PCIe 2.0 is nowhere near reaching its bandwidth limit, nowhere. This makes PCIe 3.0 completely and totally worthless for the forseeable years.

 

[EXT64]

I do like the integration of more components (if they do a good job). The board makers have to add too much stuff to the SB750 and it turns into a mess.

 

[dattimr]

I do like the integration of more components (if they do a good job). The board makers have to add too much stuff to the SB750 and it turns into a mess.

What's your opinion about that 940 of yours, EXT64? Have you ever used a Core 2 system? What about your gaming?

 

[EXT64]

Well, I love it. I have had a couple of issues, but I think they are the board's fault (I just started a new thread in the Motherboard section if you are interested). I am extremely biased however since I went from an old 939 X2 to this. Still, I think it is a good processor worthy of consideration (even in new builds). The only difficult gaming I've done is Medieval II Total War, but that is a single threaded game so the processor is limited. Still though, I was amazed at how much smoother it ran with very large armies than my old FX-60. That could be due in part to the faster HT and ram (DDR2 1066 vs DDR1 400).

 

[dattimr]

So, overall, your experience has been very positive, right? What about daily usage? Have you really felt any difference at all? What's your OS, BTW?

I'll be at the motherboard section in a second. Thanks for the info!

 

[EXT64]

Oh yes, I have enjoyed it. As for daily usage, I'm afraid it is my 'gaming only' computer so it never really experiences reality. In games though the difference was huge. I use Vista 64 Enterprise.

 

[dattimr]

Quite a beautiful AM3 board coming soon:

http://www.forumpcs.com.br/noticia.php?b=249848

 

[dattimr]

Oh yes, I have enjoyed it. As for daily usage, I'm afraid it is my 'gaming only' computer so it never really experiences reality. In games though the difference was huge. I use Vista 64 Enterprise.

That's nice. Thanks a lot for the feedback, buddy!

 

[spathotan]

Looks almost exactly like Gigabytes X58 boards. That is the first good looking AMD chipset board I have seen in years.

Good spacing on the PCI, nice cooling solution, angled sata ports, and good board coloration. That one is a keeper. But im not sure thats a 790FX, look at the very top port on the I/O, that looks like HDMI, which would make it a 790GX....but the board has 790FX printed on it right between the PCIe slots...hmm...

 

[dattimr]

Looks almost exactly like Gigabytes X58 boards. That is the first good looking AMD chipset board I have seen in years.

Good spacing on the PCI, nice cooling solution, angled sata ports, and good board coloration. That one is a keeper.

That's exactly what I was thinking... It makes me feel bad already for ordering a DDR2 kit from G.Skill last week. Oh, technology...

Well, it looks like it will be either a GA-MA790GP-UD4H or a GA-EP45-UD3R for me.

 

[EXT64]

Gigabyte already lists that board officially on their Taiwan site, I believe.

 

[EXT64]

Yep, here it is. Very nice indeed. I wondered why they never came out with a 790FX/750SB.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3005

 

[spathotan]

Nice find EXT. Board has a nice I/O, legacy mouse/keyboard, 8 USB...dual ethernet.....digital/optical....

Dammit, that board makes me want to snag a AM3 P2 now...

 

[dattimr]

Another one that also looks quite good, although not so much as the first:

That's the GA-MA790X-UD4.

 

[EXT64]

You might not have to wait long. If you look on the CPU Compatibilty section of that board, it lists many of the AM3's as already tested (it also lists stepping, power, etc.). Considering they didn't test my Phenom II in my board until after release, maybe these CPUs aren't far off. And I am constanly on the Gigabyte site looking for new BIOSes/drivers, so I can confirm this is quite new.

 

[amdfangirl]

I would so love to see some Am3 880G boards =)

 

[spathotan]

That board is AM2+ Datt. Still, never seen it on Newegg. I thought AMD abandoned 790X, whats the point of it now with 790GX.

 

[EXT64]

Gigabyte just released a bunch of Ultra Durable II and III AMD boards, even in the old 790X flavor. They all support DDR2 1200 (for whatever that is worth). They were just announce recently, so that's why they aren't for sale. Though I agree on the 790X, as 790GX seems fine to me and nearly as cheap.