Question Phenom II x4 975 - Need a cheap/free upgrade

[thedoublej]

I put Apex Legends on my kid's computer with a Gigabyte something-or-other MoBo (All free to me) only to discover that the Phenom II x4 975 in there is missing some instruction set to play that game. Free game, 9 year old chip, no upgrades, no workarounds that actually work.

Turns out that her MoBo has an AM3+ socket though, so I think I can put an FX-4xxx chip in there instead. Her phenom is rated at 125 watts, none of the quad core Bulldozer chips is higher, so her 750 PSU and MoBo should be about to supply enough horsepower to run the chip at stock clocks.

Wikipedia says every FX-4xxx chip has the same or higher clock speed, so whatever I get should perform better, although the bottleneck in this system will always be the CAD optimized GPU (Also free to me)

Am I missing anything, or can I just get an FX chip, slap it in, and she can join up and play some Apex with us old people?

Edit: EA says I need an FX-4350 minimum, which looks to be 2 years newer than the FX-41xx chips, but same AM3+ socket. Thoughts?

 

[Karadjgne]

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FD6300WMW6KHK / FD6300WMHKBOX
FX-6300, 3.5 GHz, HT 5200 MHz, L2 6x1 MB, L3 8 MB, TDP 95 Watt, Vishera, 0.032 micron, Rev C0 Bios Revision: F5H Most bios only required F1, so make sure it's updated prior or it won't recognise the 6300.

 

[thedoublej]

Why are these 8 year old chips so expensive? They should be 20 bucks tops but they're breaking 50 consistently. I need to find somebody that wants to trade for the Phenom I've already got.

 

[SamirD]

Why are these 8 year old chips so expensive? They should be 20 bucks tops but they're breaking 50 consistently. I need to find somebody that wants to trade for the Phenom I've already got.

Some parts sometimes have a strong following, so they end up retaining their value. As far as finding a trade, post a listing in the classifieds forum.

 

[thedoublej]

Found a 4100 under a desk at work, problem solved. Running Apex at 11 fps!

Sticking a bigger GPU in the system right now, but I need to OC this 4100 up to about 4.2 if possible, or whatever I can get on the stock cooler. Anyone aware of a tutorial?

 

[Karadjgne]

If there's any left around, they'll be over at Asus ROG forums, those guys live for OC. The theory is identical, only the names and numbers change. So you may have to Google specific references as what one bios calls Northbridge voltages will differ from another bios, just doesn't change the fact both refer to the Northbridge voltage etc.

But I would recommend a better cooler, those old stock coolers were abysmal, didn't handle heat well at all and amd were the worst for noise. Something like a deepcool Gammax 400 is really cheap, but can keep that 4100 under temps, even at 5.0GHz. (I've seen 5.2GHz out of the 4100)

Dig yourself up a copy of AMD Overdrive. Learn how to use it correctly. Do NOT rely on actual temps as the FX cpus do NOT have a sensor in the cores to read an actual temp, so any regular temp software is totally bunk and full of s.....

 

[thedoublej]

I ran a real bench stress test and HW Monitor, but you're saying the temps showing aren't correct? I turned off all the hippie green stuff, added .050 volts and changed the clock from 3.6 to 4.0. I'll check out that ROG forum, but here's what HW Monitor was showing:

Well, I can't insert an image, I get an error that says to contact an administrator. Anyway, I'm making 4.0 at 1.376V with a reported max temp of 54, which if correct or close, tells me I'm running out of cooling ability pretty early. Wish I hadn't sold my EVO 212.

 

[Karadjgne]

You need to upload the pic to a 3rd party site. Toms doesn't allow direct uploads, too many viruses and Trojans. I use postimages.org. Very easy, choose the pic, use 'hotlink for forums' it saves the link to clipboard and just paste here.

Ready to overclock my AMD 8350: What voltage/multiplier should I start at?

I am ready to give my AMD 8350 a go at overclocking. What voltage and multiplier is a good, safe place to start at (on the average) for this cpu?

forums.tomshardware.com

I'd say your voltage was fine, well within the 1.55v absolute max for those FX cpus, but to's are going to be your major stopping point, not voltages. You might not even have needed the raise, unless windows was unstable.

 

[thedoublej]

Was attempting to post the pic from Google drive, that's what I use to host all my pics since photobucket got too big for their britches, but no luck.

I threw in the .050 based on a tutorial I saw online. That guy had a bigger cooler and was going for big numbers, like a 5, but landed at 4.8/1.52V. If I can hit 4.2 with good volts and temps I'll be happy, that's the base requirement for the game my kid wants to play. I'll leave it at 4 until I round up a little bigger cooler and then push 4.2 and maybe pull the voltage back a bit. Got any recommendations for an affordable cooler that isn't so tall as the 212? Big coolers and GPUs put pressure on the mobo that I don't like when they're tower mounted.