Good Budget AM2+ Gaming Cpu

[sub mesa]

For gaming the Phenom X2 550 3.1GHz is the best choice i'd say. Newest fab process and highest clockrate will make single-threaded games run faster than AMD's triplecore of 2.8GHz.

Since most games are single-threaded, they use only one cpu core; so frequency is most important here. One extra core is nice to do additional windows stuff, for example part of the sound system during gaming can run on the other core.

RS780 is 780G chipset, while the newer 785G chipset offers more performance. Also the southbridge should not be older than SB750. This will help in overclocking the Phenoms.

 

[jesse899]

awesome, thanks for the info/tips.

 

[jesse899]

heres a pretty good deal too, x3 8750 for $60.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103711R

 

[one_with_shadows]

as far as the dual vs triple. yes, the dual will rock way better at gaming. gaming isn't my primary concern though. WOW isn't that demanding lol.(although i do think its optimized for dual core) I actually do a lot of video compression and occasionally video encoding. I do like the slightly higher clock speed of 550. It all boils down to what you most use your computer for. Either way, over the 9150 its going to be a WORLD of difference regardless of what you choose.

I did have a question though, does anyone have any experience overclocking the 720 on the foxconn board? not too familiar with the overclocking process..but I know I can get around 3.4ghz with just the multiplier I believe. How bad would this affect the wattage? 2.8ghz (without a tlb "fix" such as on the 9600) is going to be more than sufficient im sure....but, more is always better.

that does seem like a decent deal for that processor. however, you would be way better off with the 550 dual, 720 triple, or 945 (95 watt of course) not to mention that it would be a good investment for a newer computer or board a little down the road. my problem with the 945 i saw was of course not being a BE. I'm hoping that ill be able to grab a somewhat cheap board later that I can O/C on and set this all up for my wife. I'm waiting for the next set of processors to be released around april of next year before i'm going to even attempt a new build.

 

[jesse899]

i may look into the 550 than... i mostly use this PC for gaming.. alot of fps, and aion, etc.

 

[sub mesa]

WoW = single threaded. The dual-core optimization is fake. It just shifts the process from one core to another. But there is only one thread and the two CPU cores won't be used at the same time ever for WoW!

So clock speed is what counts here. Any additional core should make 0% difference. Only background CPU work can influence this, but a dualcore already has a spare core doing nothing, dedicated to background processes.

 

[jesse899]

yeah, think im going to order the x2 550. When i take out my 9150e, i bet it can fetch a good amount on ebay. Its basically a week old.

Think the 550 will work in the mobo?


also, one more question for the pros: my pc came with 4gb ddr2 800.
i purchased an additional 4gb, but of the fastest (ddr2 1066) for a total of 8gb.

Is this good/bad? or?

 

[jesse899]

going to give it a try, bought the x2 550 and a new heatsink.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185096
(hope this fits in my case, it should though)

 

[one_with_shadows]

yeah, think im going to order the x2 550. When i take out my 9150e, i bet it can fetch a good amount on ebay. Its basically a week old.

Think the 550 will work in the mobo?


also, one more question for the pros: my pc came with 4gb ddr2 800.
i purchased an additional 4gb, but of the fastest (ddr2 1066) for a total of 8gb.

Is this good/bad? or?

first you wanna make sure your board uses the 1066 (if it does, your doing better than myself cause my foxconn wont take ram that nice) also, if you mix the two I think it downclocks the faster ram to the speed of the older ram. at least thats what i was told by someone else. the 550 will work in your board, although you will probably experience the same problem I'm planning on having. It more than likely is going to read "unknown processor" it should work though. HAHA screw gateway, they can suck on it. don't need their bios update afterall. my 720 should be here within 2 days excited isn't the word I'm looking for.

Nice cpu cooler, although more than likely not super necessary if your using the foxconn rs780. I would like at least 3ghz from this 720 without endangering my crappy board...but, I dunno...

I have a good question, we have all figured out we don't need the bios update from gateway to run phenom 2 correct? However, with it saying "unknown cpu" even if we COULD get 200mhz more perhaps out of an oc with the 720 on the foxconn rs780...are we going to be able to if the bios/computer has no idea wth a 720 is?

 

[jesse899]

first you wanna make sure your board uses the 1066 (if it does, your doing better than myself cause my foxconn wont take ram that nice) also, if you mix the two I think it downclocks the faster ram to the speed of the older ram. at least thats what i was told by someone else. the 550 will work in your board, although you will probably experience the same problem I'm planning on having. It more than likely is going to read "unknown processor" it should work though. HAHA screw gateway, they can suck on it. don't need their bios update afterall. my 720 should be here within 2 days excited isn't the word I'm looking for.

Nice cpu cooler, although more than likely not super necessary if your using the foxconn rs780. I would like at least 3ghz from this 720 without endangering my crappy board...but, I dunno...

I have a good question, we have all figured out we don't need the bios update from gateway to run phenom 2 correct? However, with it saying "unknown cpu" even if we COULD get 200mhz more perhaps out of an oc with the 720 on the foxconn rs780...are we going to be able to if the bios/computer has no idea wth a 720 is?

EXACTLY what i was thinking, i hope that atleast AMD Overdrive recognizes it to be a black edition...

if not, ill still be happy with 1.8 --> 3.1

thanks for the ram info, i wonder if the 4gb of 1066 would be faster, but doubt it. Ill try booting with only the 4gb 1066 one day and check the voltage.

 

[one_with_shadows]

EXACTLY what i was thinking, i hope that atleast AMD Overdrive recognizes it to be a black edition...

if not, ill still be happy with 1.8 --> 3.1

thanks for the ram info, i wonder if the 4gb of 1066 would be faster, but doubt it. Ill try booting with only the 4gb 1066 one day and check the voltage.

unfortuneatly if you are using the same foxconn as myself the 1066 isn't going to work at all, its only rated for up to 800. (which is why I havent upgraded..667 to the 800 is meaningless speed wise, not worth the money) you should ask what happens if you put too high of ram that isnt supported on your board before trying though. honestly, i have no idea.

 

[Foques]

what processor did OP end up getting? any update?

 

[jesse899]

got the x2 550 in, works w/o bios update.

says it is unknown, but works! wow... fast.

 

[one_with_shadows]

OMG the x720BE AMAZING compared to the 9600. I went from 7-9fps in Dalaran (W.O.W) to 20+ with all settings on max. Most of the time I'm never going below 40-45fps (and as high as 79fps).

As stated before, the computer has no idea what processor this is. Though core temp is able to discern what it is. Under heavy load using amd overdrive testing it topped out at 60c though. (fairly sure I did the thermal right) at idle it sits between 29c-35c I'm not sure if thats very good or not, well..the load part anyway. 29-35c seems decent for idle. I'll be getting a new cpu heatsink/fan soon for sure.

Anyone who is sick of their crappy phenom 1s on the rs780 foxconn board ITS TIME TO UPGRADE!!!

 

[jesse899]

yeah, you cant do anything in AMD OD unfortunatly, but mine idles around 39-44, with shitty past/heatsink. new paste and heatsink will be here tommorow, so we will see.

also, the cool'n'quiet dosent work, but thats ok.

this thing runs aion maxed out easy now, with like 60+ constant fps. sick.

 

[jesse899]

update: running stable @ 3.3.

what should i safely go to when i put my new heatsink in? what else should i do in OD?

 

[one_with_shadows]

I'm also waiting for my new heatsink. However, i'm experiencing problems...lame. The computer is beginning to go slow. Things are hanging more and more. Also, windows update had some kind of failure. yeah, very gay. It ended up with a hardboot DURING install of a "critical" windows update. It just got stuck one 26% install of the update. yeah, then had to use a restore point just to get the computer to boot. I'm still working on it now. What would cause it to drop back in speed though? hopefully my board isn't dying...I mean, I need a new one anyway, but still. I want to put this computer back to stock and sell it when I get all the new parts I need for a ddr3 system.

Any ideas on what it could be? I mean, it's known that other people are having success with the same board.

Edit: Ok, can't get the windows update. It isn't really that important of an update as far as I can tell though, nothing involving security. Still though, I'm getting occasional slowdowns...don't know how to explain it. Right now its fine, but perhaps if I go to open something then it will lag for a moment...then turn on. I have been using it pretty heavy though. Temps look good, running WOW gets it at the highest (next to amd od stability test) at 55c max. So, processor heat isn't the problem as far as I can tell (has a max temp of 73c)

Edit#2 Alright, it seems to only be doing the not responding thing for a few seconds on things that are not commonly opened...not sure why. Any suggestions would be appreciated though.

 

[jesse899]

is the cool n quiet on?

i figured out that it is the green circle in amd OD, if a red circle is around it, it is off. (top right)

 

[one_with_shadows]

Yeah, I have used the green circle with the red around it in OD before. The cool n quiet is working (which is kind of a good thing because otherwise I would always be chillin at 50c or so at idle) Not sure whats going on. It was running absolutely fine before. Not seeing any problems right now at least. Yesterday I had played wow for like 7 hours in a row, it was around then that I noticed the computer going kinda sluggish on me. I just figured norton was trying to run a scan or that windows updater was killing me.

 

[one_with_shadows]

Alright, false alarm. It for sure isn't the processor as far as I can tell. (unless it is somehow related to the hard drive) It seems that the hard drive is having slower access times from user (me) input. Such as trying to check files that are not already loaded into memory. Windows media hangs the first time I open it from boot as well. It seems to be fine now, however it is only doing it when the hard drive in resource monitor is at at a very high amount of usage percentage. What could be causing this on the drive? I feel a bit better thinking that it was not caused by the processor(i hope)..but now I am annoyed about the system hangs. I don't think it could be temp related.

 

[touthoj]

i will be updating to the Phenom II x4 945 tomorrow, i will post my information, i have the same board i got a gateway dx4200-09 so pray this work for me.

 

[one_with_shadows]

i will be updating to the Phenom II x4 945 tomorrow, i will post my information, i have the same board i got a gateway dx4200-09 so pray this work for me.

I honestly ended up going with building a new computer. For quite some time it worked just fine having the 720 in my gateway...then I started having stability problem. Anything from sluggish performance, to not downloading windows updates properly. Just some of the strangest problems. You WILL notice a performance boost though over a phenom 1. I mean, wow. With my new computer I got to unlock the power of my 720 from 2.8ghz to 3.4 good luck to you!