cheap cpu upgrade am2+ vs am3

[flamingelephant]

Currently have a 785G motherboard (ddr2 memory) with an AM3 Athlon II X2 260 Regor 3.2GHz in it.

I've recently seen fairly cheap AM2+ chips (Phenom II X3 715 Hekas, Phenom II X4 940 Denebs).

IS it worth that step up? Stick with an AM3 down the road (is there a point since the motherboard can't take DDR3?)?

Thanks

 

[superccs]

Usually you can score a free Mobo with the purchase of a Phenom 2 with fry's combos. If you sell your DDR2 now you might be able to get good money for it also. I had my mobo die 6 months ago and sold my e8400 and DDR2 for enough to upgrade to a x6 and 890gx mobo.

 

[bigsnyder]

If you are wanting better performance and are not planning on upgrading to a new platform anytime soon, I say go for it.

 

[Rifter]

AM3 CPU's will work in a AM2+ board most of the time with a bios update so you should be able to jump to any phenom II you want, possibly even the X6's. The 1055 is pretty cheap right now.

 

[maniac5999]

unless you're selling used DDR2 to buy used DDR3 (and it's always a crapshoot to buy used, plus not many people are selling DDR3) I'd say that going for a processor based on it being AM3 alone isn't worth it.

That being said, purchasing a C3 stepping CPU like the 965/955 instead of a C2 like the 940 might be worth it. Generally C3 Phenom 2s can flirt with 4ghz on air, while C2s top out around 3.4-3.6. (plus C3s generally use lower voltages)

Personally, with a 780G/SB700 Board, I'm in the middle of going from a Phenom 1 X2 @ 3.0-3.1ghz to A Phenom 2 940 (x4) at what looks to be around 3.4ghz, and to be honest, if I'd been smarter 2 years ago and bout a SB710 board, and gotten a chip that unlocked to an X4, i would be waiting on 2nd gen. bulldozer right now.

 

[soccerballtux]

Currently have a 785G motherboard (ddr2 memory) with an AM3 Athlon II X2 260 Regor 3.2GHz in it.

I've recently seen fairly cheap AM2+ chips (Phenom II X3 715 Hekas, Phenom II X4 940 Denebs).

IS it worth that step up? Stick with an AM3 down the road (is there a point since the motherboard can't take DDR3?)?

Thanks

overclock the bus on that CPU, reduce the multiplier if you have to, changing the bus speeds up the processor like nobody's business. Night and day in Firefox responsiveness between 200mhz and 225mhz.