Diff between the 710 and 720 and other questions

[kipliq]

Hello, I currently running a windsor 3800 x2 , yes its old. I don't run into problems with my computer I play a few games like wow and sims 2 and do photoshop and email. Not a big gamer like in the past. Would it be a big upgrade to upgrade to one of the processors or should I upgrade my memory first. Im running ddr2 800 2gb. Trying to keep the spending low, as i just upgraded my mb casue my other one died on me.

 

[nenforcer]

Is your motherboard Slocket 939, AM2 or AM2+?

There still isn't enough of a performance increase to move to DDR3 on AMD platforms (AM3) so you would be much better getting just the AM3 processor if your motherboard supports it.

 

[heyheybooboo]

200MHz - and the Phenom II X3 720 has an unlocked cpu multiplier.

 

[kipliq]

I have a ASUS M3A78-EM, would that work? not a big OC, prob just use it out of the box but its only a $30 so I was looking at it.

 

[heyheybooboo]

I'd say you are good to go - You may hit 3.3GHz+ with the Phenom II 720 at stock volts simply by raising the cpu multiplier ***


edit: *** with good Karma

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: nenforcer
Is your motherboard Slocket 939, AM2 or AM2+?

If he is running DDR2 it can't be 939

 

[kipliq]

I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

 

[richierich1212]

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

pretty darn big if u are one of the lucky ones who can unlock a core

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: kipliq
I have a ASUS M3A78-EM, would that work? not a big OC, prob just use it out of the box but its only a $30 so I was looking at it.

if you dont o/c its really up to you if you can tell the 200mhz difference. the m3a78 should support it fine.

 

[Face2Face]

Just save the cash and get the 710. You won't be able to tell a 200Mhz Difference. And you can spend the money you saved on more ram if you want it.

 

[kipliq]

Originally posted by: Greenhell6
Just save the cash and get the 710. You won't be able to tell a 200Mhz Difference. And you can spend the money you saved on more ram if you want it.

If I do decide to purchase the 720 and oc to 3.0 ghz, would that be a big jump. I'm not the type to push my cpu to the limit because I'm looking for more life out of the chip around 5 years. I read that if you push them to the limits they don't last very long.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

I'm thinkin' big. Really. Big.

The X2 3800+ was THE budget dual core (Manchester IIRC) of 2005. All for the tiny price of $300+ dollars 'way back then'. The die-size of the Manchester with 2 cores is probably 3 times the size of the Phenom II X3(4) 720, yet the Phenom probably has 5 times the transistors of the X2 3800+.

All this - and it consumes less power than the X2 3800+.

Moore's Law dictates that processing power doubles every 2 years or so. We may safely assume that the Phenom processes at a rate roughly 3 to 4 times that of the X2 3800+.

Is that big enough ??

 

[kipliq]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

I'm thinkin' big. Really. Big.

The X2 3800+ was THE budget dual core (Manchester IIRC) of 2005. All for the tiny price of $300+ dollars 'way back then'. The die-size of the Manchester with 2 cores is probably 3 times the size of the Phenom II X3(4) 720, yet the Phenom probably has 5 times the transistors of the X2 3800+.

All this - and it consumes less power than the X2 3800+.

Moore's Law dictates that processing power doubles every 2 years or so. We may safely assume that the Phenom processes at a rate roughly 3 to 4 times that of the X2 3800+.

Is that big enough ??

Sounds awesome, I think about which one I would like to buy . Should I upgrade my gpu I'm still running a x850 xt? I only play wow, sims 2 and AOE III. I work with photoshop stuff and video editing more. I figure the cpu would work better for my situation. Oh and would my Artic Freezer pro 64 work with the PII x3 ? Thanks a bunch!

 

[Marty502]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

I'm thinkin' big. Really. Big.

The X2 3800+ was THE budget dual core (Manchester IIRC) of 2005. All for the tiny price of $300+ dollars 'way back then'. The die-size of the Manchester with 2 cores is probably 3 times the size of the Phenom II X3(4) 720, yet the Phenom probably has 5 times the transistors of the X2 3800+.

All this - and it consumes less power than the X2 3800+.

Moore's Law dictates that processing power doubles every 2 years or so. We may safely assume that the Phenom processes at a rate roughly 3 to 4 times that of the X2 3800+.

Is that big enough ??

Kinda sad that an enthusiastic gamer (yet far from hardcore) like myself is still rocking the 2005 budget dual core chip. And with an awful video card!

In a few months I should be rocking a Phenom II rig!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: kipliq

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

I'm thinkin' big. Really. Big.

The X2 3800+ was THE budget dual core (Manchester IIRC) of 2005. All for the tiny price of $300+ dollars 'way back then'. The die-size of the Manchester with 2 cores is probably 3 times the size of the Phenom II X3(4) 720, yet the Phenom probably has 5 times the transistors of the X2 3800+.

All this - and it consumes less power than the X2 3800+.

Moore's Law dictates that processing power doubles every 2 years or so. We may safely assume that the Phenom processes at a rate roughly 3 to 4 times that of the X2 3800+.

Is that big enough ??

Sounds awesome, I think about which one I would like to buy . Should I upgrade my gpu I'm still running a x850 xt? I only play wow, sims 2 and AOE III. I work with photoshop stuff and video editing more. I figure the cpu would work better for my situation. Oh and would my Artic Freezer pro 64 work with the PII x3 ? Thanks a bunch!

At the very least i would upgrade to a 4650. Its leaps and bounds faster then any x8xx series video card.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo

Originally posted by: kipliq
I think it said AM2+ and it said something like up to 125w in bold on the box. Would th 720 be a big upgrade from my 3800 x2? How big of an upgrade?

I'm thinkin' big. Really. Big.

The X2 3800+ was THE budget dual core (Manchester IIRC) of 2005. All for the tiny price of $300+ dollars 'way back then'. The die-size of the Manchester with 2 cores is probably 3 times the size of the Phenom II X3(4) 720, yet the Phenom probably has 5 times the transistors of the X2 3800+.

All this - and it consumes less power than the X2 3800+.

Moore's Law dictates that processing power doubles every 2 years or so. We may safely assume that the Phenom processes at a rate roughly 3 to 4 times that of the X2 3800+.

Is that big enough ??

I went from a 3800+ X2 to a Phenom II 940. Yeah.. it's that big. Just make sure you get a decent video card to match with it. I actually benched Crysis - with a 9600GSO, there was absolutely NO difference between the X2 and the Phenom II. When I put in a 4870, I went from 9fps to 35fps with the Phenom II.

 

[kipliq]

Not sure if I'm going to upgrade my gpu yet, as I will never play crysis. I prob only play I know it sounds sad but Sims 2 maybe 3 and wow a few times a week. I do more photoshop and slide show type things more. I have to decide what I want now that I have better incite on the PII power and it sounds like it would be a huge upgrade for me.

 

[Marty502]

Well, if you won't do big games and stuff, then you should just overclock that chip to the sky (2.6 Ghz is a good sweet spot and easily achievable on X2 3800 chips) get some decent cooling for it, 2 GB of RAM for a total of 4 GB, maybe a new video card (Radeon 4670 and 4830 are very fast and cheap), and call it a day.

A much cheaper solution, that will suit you just fine.

 

[chucky2]

Just make sure to flash to the latest BIOS prior to putting in the Phenom II.

Chuck

 

[A5]

Originally posted by: kipliq
Not sure if I'm going to upgrade my gpu yet, as I will never play crysis. I prob only play I know it sounds sad but Sims 2 maybe 3 and wow a few times a week. I do more photoshop and slide show type things more. I have to decide what I want now that I have better incite on the PII power and it sounds like it would be a huge upgrade for me.

Sims 3 will be much better with something better than a X850, and WoW does actually scale pretty well to better hardware...it's definately worth it if you have $75-$100 after the CPU upgrade.

 

[kipliq]

Originally posted by: Marty502
Well, if you won't do big games and stuff, then you should just overclock that chip to the sky (2.6 Ghz is a good sweet spot and easily achievable on X2 3800 chips) get some decent cooling for it, 2 GB of RAM for a total of 4 GB, maybe a new video card (Radeon 4670 and 4830 are very fast and cheap), and call it a day.

A much cheaper solution, that will suit you just fine.

I OC my 3800 to 2.4ghz on stock setting. I'll try and see if I can get it to 2.6ghz later today. I'm going to wait till the ATI Radeon RV740 video card hits the streets. I'm on a budget and would like to upgrade both my cpu and gpu. I have OC my x850xt card also and it runs around 55 degrees, that on the hot side?