Phenom II x4 965 BE

[GlenMicallef]

Hi there,

Ive ordered the phenom II x4 965 BE and am waiting for it to arrive. Will I see atleast an improvement over by current cpu? and how will will this rig work on upcoming games?

Thanks



My specs atm are : mobo: MSI 770 C45 (AM3)
CPU: amd Athlon II x4 620
GFX: GTX 660 EVGA SC edition
RAM: 4 GB 1333MHz DDR3
Psu : OCZ 750 W
Resolution 1600x900

 

[Christian Angelo]

It's a pretty good improvement over what you have now, and can be overclocked further. That processor is the furthest you can go with the am3 socket without having to upgrade to am3+.

You should be able to hold up with games fairly well.

 

[GlenMicallef]

It's a pretty good improvement over what you have now, and can be overclocked further. That processor is the furthest you can go with the am3 socket without having to upgrade to am3+.

You should be able to hold up with games fairly well.

Thanks

 

[Maxime506]

965BE vs x4 620 is like a i5-3570k vs i5-3330, 965 has a potential of OC and higher freq and an additional 6MB L3-cache (but u may need a CPU cooler as well) while x4 620 don't have. Therefore u may see some improvement,especially after OC'ing, in some CPU intensive games like FC3, Crysis 3(need better CPU compared with its predecessor),GTA 4 but GPU intensive games like BF3, Crysis 2 won't see too much difference (but still there is improvement)

 

[Christian Angelo]

965BE vs x4 620 is like a i5-3570k vs i5-3330, 965 has a potential of OC and higher freq and an additional 6MB L3-cache (but u may need a CPU cooler as well) while x4 620 don't have. Therefore u may see some improvement,especially after OC'ing, in some CPU intensive games like FC3, Crysis 3(need better CPU compared with its predecessor),GTA 4 but GPU intensive games like BF3, Crysis 2 won't see too much difference (but still there is improvement)

Fortunately he has a good enough graphics card for the gpu intensive games.

You do make a good point, I had a phenon 2 925 and that thing ran pretty hot simply at idle on the stock cooler.

 

[exroofer]

I went the same upgrade path to stay on a tight budget and keep gaming while I upgraded. (975 BE was still available then)
If you get a decent cpu cooler, visit the AMD overclocking forums.
Even if you don't increase the ghz at all, bumping the northbridge up to 2600 ish on that chip will give you a large (20-25%) increase in performance, with very little heat penalty.

Nice thing I liked about this upgrade path is that when I could afford my new mobo, I could still use the same cpu, and go one step at a time at a cost I could afford.

Solid gaming performance with a low cost. This is a goodness thing.

 

[Maxime506]

I went the same upgrade path to stay on a tight budget and keep gaming while I upgraded. (975 BE was still available then)
If you get a decent cpu cooler, visit the AMD overclocking forums.
Even if you don't increase the ghz at all, bumping the northbridge up to 2600 ish on that chip will give you a large (20-25%) increase in performance, with very little heat penalty.

Nice thing I liked about this upgrade path is that when I could afford my new mobo, I could still use the same cpu, and go one step at a time at a cost I could afford.

Solid gaming performance with a low cost. This is a goodness thing.

+1, money issue drove me to AMD camp

 

[GlenMicallef]

Thanks all for ur submissions

 

[Kamen_BG]

The Athlon can also be overclocked. I keep mine at 3.12 24/7 but it can go up to 3.3 GHZ at stock voltage.
The Phenom's L3 cache makes it a significantly better processor for gaming. The cache alone can uprovide a 20% boost in performance (usually lower).
However I don't think that the upgrade is big enough.
Save up and go for a Core i5 or an FX 8xxx so that you really get a big boost in performance.

 

[exroofer]

Yes but I think the OP is looking at the fastest chip that will fit his current mobo. Since he would be able to use the same chip in a new AM3 board down the road, and then perhaps go 8350 or w/e, it is a smart decision on his part. That 965 is what , $100 and change now?

So to answer his original question, yes he will see a solid performance bump, though not spectacular. Overclock that same 965 to 4.0 ish, with a 2600 or so northbridge clock, and it will be quite a significant bump over his current cpu. Even just bumping the northbridge alone will yield solid benchmark gains and real world performance.

With his current mobo I would not try for spectacular overclocks. Just bump the northbridge, and be a happy camper for the money you spent.

Read the overclocking guide carefully in the AMD overclocking forum before doing this. Read it twice. Take notes. Don't even try it on the stock cooler.

In a perfect world the OP could dump five or six hundred in to his rig, and be blown away. But like a lot of people, me included, slow and steady is the path of necessity.
It is quite possible he will not see the gains he was expecting in real world performance. But I should think 20-30% gains in benchmarks are not unrealistic. And that is pretty good bang for the buck.