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?