Overclocked AMD gaming computer on-the-cheap?

[quadomatic]

I'm thinking about upgrading my current system from it's E2200 oc'd setup to a new Athlon II setup.

The Athlon II X4 620 is only $99 and it appears to overclock quite well. The Athlon II X3 435 looks really good too though - it overclocks really well and it's possible that unlocking the 4th core may work. Just to check, if I were able to unlock the 4th core, which processor would be faster?

What motherboard should I be looking to buy (I am looking to overclock quite a bit)? I'm interested in keeping cost low, so any suggestions for lower prices would be helpful.

Finally, any recommendations for cheaper DDR3 memory? I got my DDR2 memory for $3 a stick, though I'm not anticipating a deal like that again...

Thanks

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The 435 will be faster if you happen to unlock that extra core.

As for the motherboard, you'll want to make sure it has the AMD 710 or 750 southbridge (and not the 700 or 600).

 

[robertk2012]

What about this?

 

[quadomatic]

Well the X2 5000+ is only a dual-core processor. I'm not looking to upgrade my system to another dual-core processor, and I'm doubting that the X2 5000+ is significantly faster than my overclocked E2200, or if it is even faster at all.

Would it be worth the risk to try getting a 435 and unlocking the 4th core? How badly off would I be with an X3 435 overclocked to 3.7 Ghz (that seems to be common with these) against an X4 620 at 3.2 ghz (again, seems to be the average)? It seems like a lot of the games being ported from 360 to PC have decently better performance on tri or quad core. I'm not sure whether the 4th core makes a big difference, since the 360 is a tri-core system.

 

[quadomatic]

How much of a hit will I have if I continue to use DDR2 instead of DDR3? I'd save quite a bit of cash if I was able to just use DDR2.

Also, will these motherboards work for overclocking the X3 435 or the X4 620 (all are SB710, DDR2)?

Foxconn A76ML-K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813186166

ECS A780GM-A Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813135235

Biostar A785GE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813138156

ASRock A780GMH/128M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157154

 

[robertk2012]

That is a 5000 x2 from the past. Its a 45nm.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=235664

 

[cusideabelincoln]

You won't lose very much performance with DDR2.

 

[imported_Scoop]

DDR2 is just as good as DDR3. You won't notice the difference in any situation. I'm thinking if I would upgrade right now, I'd go with the X4 620 and hopefully OC it to ~3.2-3.3 with some cheap board and use the 4GB of DDR2 I have.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: robertk2012
That is a 5000 x2 from the past. Its a 45nm.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=235664

Hm, how exactly does that unlock? How exactly does this cpu with 4 cores unlocked at 3.2Ghz compare to an Athlon II X4 620 at 3.3Ghz? It sounds compelling...it would be $115, vs an X4 620+mobo would be at least $150 to $160. Some people are saying these are Phenom II X4 940s. L3 cache would be unlocked as well, right? The unlock would be hit or miss though wouldn't it?

Also, does it HAVE to be that motherboard? Or can it just be any motherboard with a 710 or 750 southbridge and ACC?

Scoop: would I be able to overclock the X4 620 to 3.3ghz with pretty much any amd motherboard with south bridge 710, like the ones I posted?

 

[BD231]

Phenom II X3 owns the X4 620 in gaming with the extra L3 cache. Add that to a far higher overclock potential and you clearly get more for your $$ than that extra core on the 620 IMO. It's not a sure thing unlocking a chip either, people are already posting threads with chips that won't unlock so its best not to bank on it happening.

My vote goes to investing cash in cache and make up for the lost core via overclock.

 

[eternalone]

Yeah I get the feeling the athlon X4 are really good for office multitasking but for gaming your better getting a X2 or X3 Phenom with the extra cache. Its up to you though, maybe overclocking does make up for the missing cache or maybe thats just hopeful wishing.

 

[JimmiG]

The Athlon II X4's are slower than the original Phenoms since they completely lack L3 cache. The difference isn't that great at lower frequencies but the gap actually widens at higher frequencies.

I would also go with the X3 720BE for gaming - it's unlocked so you can more easily overclock it. It's possible to unlock the 4th core, but if that does not succeed, it doesn't matter for games and other apps that don't really use four cores. The X3 actually has a higher cache to core ratio than the X4 so in some cases the X3 can be a tiny bit faster. For other uses than gaming (3d rendering, movie encoding etc.) it would be best if you could spend the extra money for a full Phenom II X4.

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: eternalone
Yeah I get the feeling the athlon X4 are really good for office multitasking but for gaming your better getting a X2 or X3 Phenom with the extra cache. Its up to you though, maybe overclocking does make up for the missing cache or maybe thats just hopeful wishing.

I feel like the extra cache may be important...the idea with the E2200 I had was that it's really overclockable, but it has 1/4th of the cache of the regular conroe's. It seems like that hurt performance badly in games like Crysis (snow and/or smoke would make it go real slow).

So, Phenom II X2 or X3 may be a good purchase then?

However, what about the Athlon X2 5000+? Lots of people seem to be unlocking it (which names it a Phenom FX-5000) with 4 cores and the L3 cache, and clocking it at 3.2Ghz even, for only $55.

So now, I'm thinking between these 3:

$55 - Athlon 5000+, unlock to 4 cores with L3 cache, overclock to ~3.2Ghz (Phenom II FX-5000?)
$100 - Phenom II X2 550, unlock to 4 cores, overclock
$120 - Phenom II X3 720, unlock to 4 cores, overclock

Honestly, the Athlon 5000+ seems like the best option, since it's bundled with the proper motherboard for only $115. But, can't I just unlock the 5000+ with any amd motherboard with a southbridge 710 chipset?

 

[imported_Scoop]

Originally posted by: quadomatic

Scoop: would I be able to overclock the X4 620 to 3.3ghz with pretty much any amd motherboard with south bridge 710, like the ones I posted?

That's why I said 'hopefully'

 

[quadomatic]

I found a combo for the Phenom II X2 550 BE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.272089

Comes with the Gigabyte UD3P motherboard, $160 after rebate...this is considerably pricier than the 5000+ route though....

There's another with the US2H motherboard for $160 as well, but the UD3P board seems better.

So now I'm deciding between:

$160: Phenom II X2 550BE+mobo, unlock to 4 cores and oc to ~3.8Ghz
$115: Athlon X2 550BE+mobo, unlock to 4 cores, oc to ~3.2Ghz

 

[BD231]

ASRock

X3 + Mobo = $163

 

[quadomatic]

That motherboard doesn't seem that great...

 

[robertk2012]

Quadomatic,

My second combo will be here tomorrow. Ill let you know if it unlocks also.

 

[jonstarks]

+1 for Phenom II 550 or X3

 

[quadomatic]

Originally posted by: robertk2012
Quadomatic,

My second combo will be here tomorrow. Ill let you know if it unlocks also.

Cool, sounds good

 

[quadomatic]

Another confirmed case for Athlon 5000+ unlock with the US2H gigabyte mobo:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/s...=23993817&postcount=35

 

[ElDonPedros]

Seems like a lot of effort/money for a minimal boost in performance (unless you do 3d rendering). From the benchmarks I've seen a 3 ghz core2duo will be faster or around the same speeds in most games except for GTA4 (heavily multithreaded). You are taking a bit of a hit with the 1 meg cache but its less than you think at real world gaming resolutions (which I hope u play at with a 9800GT).

I've just learned recently that the 945GC does support Wolfdale chips, so If I were you (I have the same 945 mobo) I would spend 120 for a e7400 and just pop it into your current setup. At mid 3ghz it will be just as quick or quicker than that athlon and you wont have to re-install your operating system..

Again, if you run 3dsmax than go for it.. Its a linear performance increase with Mental Ray as you add cores.

 

[quadomatic]

I guess outside of GTA IV and Crysis, I get pretty solid gaming performance in everything (playing at max settings, 1440x900, V-Sync, often 4x AA). Somehow I feel like that might change in the near future though.

The Athlon 5000+ upgrade seems like such a steal though...for $115 (including mobo), I'd get a 4 core setup at 3Ghz+ with 6MB of L3 cache...

 

[MangoX]

Why can't dual core cpu's just die already >_>

A few years ago it would have been dumb to justify spending the extra wad of cash on a quad core compared to dual core. These days quad cores are just so cheap enough that there's really no compelling reason to buy a dual core processor, even if it has a higher stock clockspeed. All if not most of the games that have out these days all can hit and use both 2 cores of a cpu (exception being GTA4...). And I think most people who game on their pc have many many background apps open. Say Winamp, MSN, and Firefox/IE/webbrowser with lots of tabs open in the background at the minimum. Plus with anti-virus programs, windows software firewall, and the other nifty things that windows will do in the background... the extra cores really DO help.

If you're going from a fast dual core to a slower quad core, your min/max framerates may drop a slight bit, but I will bet your gaming experience will be smoother. No more stutters or hic-ups because some background program stole some of your cpu cycles.

Sorry for the rant. Back on topic.

I'd go with the X3/X4 Phenom IIs like the others have mentioned, it's very futureproof and AM3 still has an upgrade path, while S775 is already EOL.

The performance can be minor-to-huge compared to your *cough* Pentium chip, mostly due to the L3 cache. It's the L3 cache that made the Phenom IIs so competitive with Intels Core2, and why the original Phenmon's lack of L3 cache made it sooo slow. Not to mention the PII's being very overclockable.

EDIT: fixed spelling mistakes...

 

[Patrickz0rs]

Amazing 720BE Combo w/ ASUS Mobo = $196.99