"Old" Phenom II x4 955 vs. "New" Phenom II x4 955

[makwy2]

I am just curious about something here...

I bought a Phenom II x4 955 Black edition in November and I was surprised to find that the model number has changed. I cannot for the life of me find the differences between them. If you could point out the differences and performance changes, if any, I would be most appreciative!

Old Model: HDZ955FBGIBOX
Newegg link:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

New Model: HDZ955FBGMBOX
Newegg link:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Should be a quick way to get 40 forum points before the end of the month for you AMD-heads out there!

Thanks in advance!

 

[makwy2]

the new one supports C2 stepping the other C3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Phenom_microprocessors

That answers half my question. The other half would be: "If you could point out the... performance changes, if any" It seems from the Wikipedia article you provide that the stepping is just a type of version number for architecture. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[welshmousepk]

Different base voltage, and thus overclocking capability.

the new CPU is a 125w TDP chip, as opposed to 140w. this means it runs at the same clockspeed but a lower vCore, allowing for more of a voltage boost (without hitting max safe TDP) when overclocking. the newer version basically has more chance or reaching a higher overclock. its no massive difference though.

 

[makwy2]

Different base voltage, and thus overclocking capability.

the new CPU is a 125w TDP chip, as opposed to 140w. this means it runs at the same clockspeed but a lower vCore, allowing for more of a voltage boost (without hitting max safe TDP) when overclocking. the newer version basically has more chance or reaching a higher overclock. its no massive difference though.

Nope, they both run at 125W. It was the 965's then went from 140 to 125W.

 

[welshmousepk]

oh, my bad. sorry, ignore me.

i guess that means there is no difference then?

i could have sworn I'd been told that there was now a 125w TDP 955.

 

[makwy2]

oh, my bad. sorry, ignore me.

i guess that means there is no difference then?

i could have sworn I'd been told that there was now a 125w TDP 955.

There is! The 955 have been and are currently 125w TDP. I still haven't got a good answer as to what if any difference there is! Maybe I have to wait until morning hits the states in another 6-10 hours

 

[makwy2]

"C3 stepping of the Deneb core has no microarchitectural improvements that could increase Phenom II X4 performance to a new level."

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/phenom-ii-x4-965-c3_3.html#sect0

Boom! Perfect, that is exactly what I wanted to know and when I Bing'ed and Google'd it I didn't find that article. Thanks, 40 pts to you ct1615!

 

[makwy2]

Best answer selected by makwy2.