Overclock vs. CPU upgrade

[Dougmeister]

I have this MB/CPU right now:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (unknown rev #)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz Processor

Here is an old thread that I had last summer. I made some progress with overclocking, but nothing earth-shattering.

1) Would I be better off buying an AMD Athlon II X2 265 (link) for $70?

2) Is THAT CPU overclockable as well? A quick Google tells me that it is. which would be better?

 

[bart1975]

Why not get the x3 445 instead?

 

[Arachnotronic]

I'd get the Athlon X3 II 450 for ~$78 or the Athlon II X4 640 for $99.

 

[Dougmeister]

I was told that the x3's would not work with my MB. They were wrong?

Edit: I *think* it's because the MB specs did not explicitly say X3:

Support for Socket AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 processors:
AMD Phenom™ FX processor
AMD Phenom™ X4 processor
AMD Phenom™ X3 processor
AMD Athlon™ X2 processor
AMD Athlon™ processor
AMD Sempron™ processor

Is "X3 Phenom" the same as "x3 445"?

 

[bart1975]

I was told that the x3's would not work with my MB. They were wrong?

Edit: I *think* it's because the MB specs did not explicitly say X3:

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2758
X3 445 is the best deal and it should OC to 3.4 at the very least.
For $5 more than the Athlon II X2 265 you get an extra core which is a great deal.

 

[sm625]

I have this MB/CPU right now:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (unknown rev #)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz Processor

Here is an old thread that I had last summer. I made some progress with overclocking, but nothing earth-shattering.

1) Would I be better off buying an AMD Athlon II X2 265

I've wrestled with the same question. The answer is definitely yes. The athlon II is a much better chip. It runs very cool; even overclocked it doesnt go over 44C. I bought a 240. I see no reason to spend extra on a 265 because the 240 overclocks well enough for me. But a 265 should hit 3.6 easily enough. The extra power you save will pay for the chip if you run it a couple years.

I still use my old x2 65nm chip on a 3rd backup / lanparty rig (same motherboard) and it seriously runs hot compared the X2 240. I want to chuck it in the garbage. (cant wait for llano)

 

[veri745]

The extra power you save will pay for the chip if you run it a couple years.

I'd like to see you work out the actual numbers on that one...

 

[cparker]

For the more recent cpus you will need to upgrade the motherboard bios to one that would match the cpu you want to upgrade to. Also, that motherboard can be problematic when overclocking recent cpus like Athlon 2 or phenom II series. I would be sure that the cpu is listed on the allowed cpu list (link was presented earlier) and just get one of these allowed cpus that runs at 3.2 ghz or less and don't overclock. Also be sure that the cpu is rated at 95 watts or less. I have the same motherboard and did an extensive search and found stories of people who overclocked these more recent cpus and wound up with a fried motherboard. So I've been very careful with mine.

 

[sm625]

I'd like to see you work out the actual numbers on that one...

I have 2 PCs that both have the same motherboard (Gigabyte MA-69GM-S2H) and power supply (TR2-430W). The one that has the X2 240 upgrade runs all the time 24/7. It goes to sleep after 45 minutes idle and shuts the monitor off after 5. It is actually running for about 10 hours a day on average. The average idle power is 30 watts less at the wall and load power is about 60 watts less. (verified with kill-a-watt -- yes it really is that much difference at the wall**). Here is the math for 40 watts average power savings at 11 cents a kwh for 10 hours a day for 2 years:

0.11 * 10 * 0.040 * 365 * 2 = $32

Add the money you get from ebaying the old chip and like I said, it pays for itself. Much moreso in my case because the heat generated by the old chip forces the AC to run more.... (It is a vicious cycle.)

** X2 4200 Brisbane @ 2.7GHz vs X2-240 @ 3.3GHz

An athlon II X2 245 is currently $45 shipped from newegg with promo code that expires 6/15.

 

[Dougmeister]

So the X2 245 will save me $ in the long run.

What is the best "bang for my buck" CPU? Still the X2 245?

What is the fastest CPU that my MB will handle?

I'm a big fan of overclocking (or at least trying to!). NewEgg has a comment that someone unlocked a 4th core and L3 cache on an Athlon II X3 445? That would be cool... (adding to the "bang for the buck" factor!)

 

[hans007]

So the X2 245 will save me $ in the long run.

What is the best "bang for my buck" CPU? Still the X2 245?

What is the fastest CPU that my MB will handle?

I'm a big fan of overclocking (or at least trying to!). NewEgg has a comment that someone unlocked a 4th core and L3 cache on an Athlon II X3 445? That would be cool... (adding to the "bang for the buck" factor!)

an athlon ii x2 is probably the best bang for the buck. like a 240/245/250 is usually cheap in the $45-50 range if you look around.

sometimes you can get an athlon 220/215 (only 1mb total cache) or an athlon 5200 am3 (basically a 2.3 ghz athlon ii with 1mb cache total) but might not be worth it unless its like $30.

 

[Dougmeister]

Is it just 10.4% faster or are there other considerations when comparing the Athlon II X2 245 to the Athlon 64 X2 5000+?

 

[Dougmeister]

Any chance that it will really unlock into a quad-core or are they pulling my leg?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...D-NEW-45nm-Athlon-x2-5000-UNLOCK-QUAD-CORE-L3

 

[Dougmeister]

(bump)

 

[nanaki333]

Any chance that it will really unlock into a quad-core or are they pulling my leg?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...D-NEW-45nm-Athlon-x2-5000-UNLOCK-QUAD-CORE-L3

yes, there is a chance it can. don't base your purchasing decision on whether it will or not though. i had a phenom x3 and an athlon 2 x3 and neither would be stable with all 4 clocks. meanwhile, many others on this forum and others often report sucess. most motherboards support core unlocking these days.

 

[guskline]

Dougmeister: I just checked the cpu support for your board. If I'm reading it correctly, it will support the six cores with the correct BIOS. The Phenom II 955 is very overclockable at $119 from newegg.

 

[Dougmeister]

Dougmeister: I just checked the cpu support for your board. If I'm reading it correctly, it will support the six cores with the correct BIOS. The Phenom II 955 is very overclockable at $119 from newegg.

1) This one?

2) How overclockable?

3) How much faster will it overclock than my current CPU? I think I have my Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz up to 3.0 GHz or so with no additional cooling.

4) How would it compare to the other CPU's mentioned in this thread?
- Athlon II X2 245 ($50)
- Athlon II X2 265 ($71) ("should hit 3.6 easily enough")
- Athlon x3 445 ($75)
- Athlon X3 II 450 (~$78)
- Athlon II X4 640 ($99)


Thanks.

 

[veri745]

I have 2 PCs that both have the same motherboard (Gigabyte MA-69GM-S2H) and power supply (TR2-430W). The one that has the X2 240 upgrade runs all the time 24/7. It goes to sleep after 45 minutes idle and shuts the monitor off after 5. It is actually running for about 10 hours a day on average. The average idle power is 30 watts less at the wall and load power is about 60 watts less. (verified with kill-a-watt -- yes it really is that much difference at the wall**). Here is the math for 40 watts average power savings at 11 cents a kwh for 10 hours a day for 2 years:

0.11 * 10 * 0.040 * 365 * 2 = $32

Add the money you get from ebaying the old chip and like I said, it pays for itself. Much moreso in my case because the heat generated by the old chip forces the AC to run more.... (It is a vicious cycle.)

** X2 4200 Brisbane @ 2.7GHz vs X2-240 @ 3.3GHz

An athlon II X2 245 is currently $45 shipped from newegg with promo code that expires 6/15.

A) You appear to be using a 33% load ratio, which seems a bit high (I would estimate closer to 20%, possibly less)

B) I don't consider saving 32$ over 2 years to be "paying for itself in a couple years"

C) I find it hard to believe that the difference between an X2 4200+ and a X2-240 is 30W at idle without some other system difference. If it really is the case, that is quite amazing.

As a comparison, I ran numbers saving 100W at load and 10W at idle. That comparison only nets you $37 over 2 years if you run it 24/7 and it's loaded 10% of the time.