So I changed my mind...Thoughts on AMD X3

marcdisa

Banned
Nov 21, 2009
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I had originally ordered a Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHZ for my budget build. However after some more research and thought I have swapped it out for a Athlon II X3 Rana 2.7GHZ. I plan to overclock it and from what I have read 3.4GHZ should easily be achieved. There is also a possibility of unlocking the 4th core on this chip so hopefully I am lucky and we will see what happens. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with the Tri-core AMDs?
 

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
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I have a AII X3 2.7ghz with an unlocked 4th core. I enabled ACC in the bios and the 4th core was unlocked. Took no effort whatsoever.
Ubuntu now reads it as Phenom II X4 B25 processor and lists processors 0, 1, 2, 3.
 

marcdisa

Banned
Nov 21, 2009
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I thought about doing a Propus 620 for like 25 bucks more but I decided I had to draw the line somewhere...since I went up another 20 bucks from my first choice. What processor does the X3 compare to when the 4th core is unlocked?
 

LoneNinja

Senior member
Jan 5, 2009
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If your core unlocks you'll have a 2.7Ghz Athlon II X4, it'll fall in between the Athlon II X4 620 and 630 models. Should have the same performance per clock as the Athlon II X4 does when overclocking as well.
 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
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if you overclock then get the 620 and oc it up will be faster than the 2,7 x3 for sure. but if you confident you can unlock that extra core then no need to spend extra however I got a x2 but couldn't unlock anything on it, it's hit and miss, maybe x3 rana have very good unlocking record.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
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I had originally ordered a Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHZ for my budget build. However after some more research and thought I have swapped it out for a Athlon II X3 Rana 2.7GHZ. I plan to overclock it and from what I have read 3.4GHZ should easily be achieved. There is also a possibility of unlocking the 4th core on this chip so hopefully I am lucky and we will see what happens. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with the Tri-core AMDs?

http://www.frys-electronics-ads.com...435-Processor-Gigabyte-GA-M68M-S2-Motherboard

Are you looking at that ad?

I don't think that mobo can unlock cores but I am not sure.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
106
I have a AII X3 2.7ghz with an unlocked 4th core. I enabled ACC in the bios and the 4th core was unlocked. Took no effort whatsoever.
Ubuntu now reads it as Phenom II X4 B25 processor and lists processors 0, 1, 2, 3.

How do you test for possible errors and data corruption in the unlocked core?

Prime 95 or linpack? Would either of these programs work for that purpose?
 

GaiaHunter

Diamond Member
Jul 13, 2008
3,657
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I have a AII X3 2.7ghz with an unlocked 4th core. I enabled ACC in the bios and the 4th core was unlocked. Took no effort whatsoever.
Ubuntu now reads it as Phenom II X4 B25 processor and lists processors 0, 1, 2, 3.

How long do you have that CPU?

Cause there was word that while some of the first Athlon II X2, X3 and X4 would be based on the Phenom II dies, newer ones would use the new dies.

Do you have the serial number and what not?

I'm asking this as information for my own buying decisions, not questioning that you do have indeed unlocked your CPU.

Thanks.

To the OP: Well the X3 is better than an X2 that is for sure - worth the extra IMO. If you get 4 cores and/or extra cache even better, but I don't think that for gaming you'll notice much difference between the X3 and the X4 except in a few titles. I would go myself for the X4, but as you said, you started at $50 and soon you'll be at $100. :)
 
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Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
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How long do you have that CPU?

Cause there was word that while some of the first Athlon II X2, X3 and X4 would be based on the Phenom II dies, newer ones would use the new dies.

Do you have the serial number and what not?

I'm asking this as information for my own buying decisions, not questioning that you do have indeed unlocked your CPU.

Thanks.

To the OP: Well the X3 is better than an X2 that is for sure - worth the extra IMO. If you get 4 cores and/or extra cache even better, but I don't think that for gaming you'll notice much difference between the X3 and the X4 except in a few titles. I would go myself for the X4, but as you said, you started at $50 and soon you'll be at $100. :)

Bought the CPU from Newegg about 2 weeks ago.
ADX425WFGIBOX
Serial number starts with 9B

I don't have the extra cache.

As for data errors in the unlocked core - haven't tested yet. I am running folding@home on the processor right now to stress it a little. After the month is over I'll run linpack on it (participating in the F@H race http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2024159).
 

GaiaHunter

Diamond Member
Jul 13, 2008
3,657
245
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Bought the CPU from Newegg about 2 weeks ago.
ADX425WFGIBOX
Serial number starts with 9B

I don't have the extra cache.

As for data errors in the unlocked core - haven't tested yet. I am running folding@home on the processor right now to stress it a little. After the month is over I'll run linpack on it (participating in the F@H race http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2024159).

I thought you had the extra cache as your processor read as Phenom II - it would have been nice to confirm that Athlon II X3/X4 were just Phenom II dies even this late, especially with cheap MSI motherboards coming with special option to enable Cores/Cache.

Any plans for OC the chip?

Thanks for the info mate.