Upgrading from X2 4000+ to Phenom X4 9850 (not Black edition)

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
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A few weeks ago, an acquaintance of mine was kind enough to send me a Phenom X4 9850. I had been running an X2 4000+ @ 3 Ghz, and was curious what kind of improvement I would notice moving to a lower-clocked quad-core.

Base system:
Biostar TF8200 A2+ motherboard
4 GB (4 x 1GB) DDR2-800 RAM
8800gt @ 700/1800/1000
OCZ 500w PSU
Enermax Chakra case w/25cm fan on the side
Vista x64

CPU:
AMD X2 4000+ @ 3 Ghz (10.5 x 286, memory running as DDR2-780)
AMD Phenom X4 9850 @ 2.75 Ghz, everything overclocked by 10%

Subjective:
Naturally, there isn't much of a difference between the 2 CPU's with MSOffice, Web browsing, etc. Some web pages do seem to render a bit more quickly. Photoshop CS3 runs about the same, although the smart sharpen filter and the Focus Magic plugin are just noticeably faster.

Currently, I'm using a Cooler Master HSF. It was just hanging around when I was building this machine, so I used it. It kept the X2 4000+ @ ~ 52C under Prime95, with the fan spinning at 60%. The PC was quite reasonably quiet. Using the same HSF with the Phenom, things are of course noisier. At max Prime95 load the fan is at 80% or so, with CPU temps of 61C. Pretty loud, but not really an issue if playing a game or spinning up momentarily while applying a Photoshop filter. At idle, the HSF is definitely more obtrusive with the Phenom than with the X2 4000+, but not much of a bother.

Some numbers:

Far Cry 2, all settings 1680x1050, DX10, Very High, no AA, short ranch benchmark

X2 4000+
avg - 38.92 fps, 60.65 fps, min 26.86 fps

Phenom
avg - 53.61 fps, 73.13 fps, min 44.37 fps

3DMark06, default settings

X2 4000+
10349 3dmarks, 2177 cpu score

Phenom
12592 3dmarks, 3739 cpu score

Miscellaneous:

I originally plugged the Phenom into my g/f's PC. She has a Biostar TA770 motherboard, 4 GB RAM, 3 HDD, Antec Earthwatts 500w PSU. The mobo recognized the CPU properly, but would hang while booting into Windows XP. Replacing the Phenom with the original CPU, an X2 5000+ BE, alleviated this problem. The Antec PSU has 17A on the two +12v rails, and a max combined power rating of 408w on the +12V, +5V, +3.3V rails. The OCZ PSU in my rig has 18A on the +12V rails and a combined power rating of 481w on the +12V, +5V, +3.3V rails. I didn't bother with any troubleshooting, just an anecdote FWIW.

I figured this might be some interest to folks looking to upgrade their AM2-based systems, especially if Phenom prices drop with the release of Phenom II (Son of Phenom?)
 

Andrew1990

Banned
Mar 8, 2008
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Is there anyway you can run a benchmark in CSS and or L4D? I have basically the same setup minus the motherboard and a few hundred MHz on the processor and was looking into a phenom upgrade.
 

Flipped Gazelle

Diamond Member
Sep 5, 2004
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I might be able to do L4D. My brother is bringing over an 8800gt this weekend, and I can plug it in my fiance's machine... she's running my old CPU now, so I can plug in the 8800gt and make some comparisons.
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
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Nice. From experience, my rig (below) runs FC2 at about 30-33 fps average, with a 43 fps max and 24 fps minimum. I also get horrible mouse lag if I don't set a framerate cap at 30-32, and even when my framerate drops below that mark the mouse lag rears its ugly head. I am thinking my processor is the culprit - it just isn't fast enough for my video card in FC2, since I only game at 1280x1024. Of course, it is the most demanding game I own, so upgrading for just one game is pretty silly to me.

But L4D benchmarks would also be useful. I really want to pick this game up soon.
 

Rhoxed

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2007
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i will do FC2 and L4D benches in the morning with sig rig 9850
(i can even disable a 3870 for you, or throw in a single 4850)
 

Rhoxed

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2007
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AMD 9850BE @ 2.8
2 x HD3870 @ 840/1200
4GB Ram
Vista x64

Left 4 Dead
1680 x 1050 8x MSAA/16x Anisotropic all detail settings at highest levels (average of 3 runs)
2nd act last level

MIN - 49
MAX - 154
AVG - 85.76

Far Cry 2
Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 1280x720 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(4x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Optimal), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Very High), Terrain(Very High), Geometry(Very High), Post FX(High), Texture(Very High), Shadow(Very High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

MIN - 36.52
MAX - 85.49
AVG - 53.98

Settings: Demo(Ranch Medium), 1280x720 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(4x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Ultra High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Ultra High), Terrain(Ultra High), Geometry(Ultra High), Post FX(High), Texture(Ultra High), Shadow(Ultra High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

MIN - 29.40
MAX - 115.20
AVG - 57.64

 

Rhoxed

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2007
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if you would like me to do any custom settings/resolutions let me know, if you want me to do a single 3870 or single 4850 let me know

also if there are any other games you would like to see benched (i have most current)
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
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I wouldn't mind seeing the results in L4D and FC2 for a single HD3870 at 1280x1024, 4xAA and/or 2xAA , DX10 mode, everything Very High in FC2. That would give me the closest possible idea of what a CPU upgrade would do for me, since my monitor can't go to a higher resolution.

Here are some of my results. I did have stuff running in the background, like MSN messenger and Steam, but they were consistent across all tests:

1280x1024, DX10 mode, and no v-sync for all runs:
2xAA, everything Very High:
Average Framerate: 35.81
Max. Framerate: 52.05
Min. Framerate: 27.55

4xAA, everything Very High:
Average Framerate: 28.59
Max. Framerate: 41.52
Min. Framerate: 21.78

And strangely enough, running at just High settings gives me similar framerates to Very High:
2xAA, everthing High:
Average Framerate: 36.02
Max. Framerate: 54.59
Min. Framerate: 26.31

When I built this machine I planned on upgrading later and handing the processor and motherboard down in Q1 of next year, but if I'm not going to see a huge gain I would hold on to it for a bit longer.
 

Rhoxed

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2007
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sorry it took a bit, worked all weekend

9850BE @ 2.8
single 3870 stock clocks

Far Cry 2

Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 1280x1024 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(2x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Very High), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Very High), Terrain(Very High), Geometry(Very High), Post FX(High), Texture(Very High), Shadow(Very High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

* Average Framerate: 43.07
* Max. Framerate: 63.98
* Min. Framerate: 33.74

Settings: Demo(Ranch Small), 1280x1024 (60Hz), D3D10, Fixed Time Step(No), Disable Artificial Intelligence(No), Full Screen, Anti-Aliasing(4x), VSync(No), Overall Quality(Optimal), Vegetation(Very High), Shading(Very High), Terrain(Very High), Geometry(Very High), Post FX(High), Texture(Very High), Shadow(Very High), Ambient(High), Hdr(Yes), Bloom(Yes), Fire(Very High), Physics(Very High), RealTrees(Very High)

* Average Framerate: 32.47
* Max. Framerate: 51.49
* Min. Framerate: 24.72

Also running the game on high gives me +2 fps average, about the same as you.

Left 4 Dead
1280 x 1024 4xAA/4x anisotropic DX10 everything highest vsync off
Average Framerate: 68.65
Max Framerate: 96
Min Framerate: 50

1280 x 1024 8xAA/16x anisotropic DX10 everything highest vsync off
Average Framerate: 55.20
Max Framerate: 98
Min Framerate: 40
 

Rhoxed

Golden Member
Jun 23, 2007
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crossfire enabled

FC 2
1280 x 1024 2x AA everything on Very High
* Average Framerate: 54.00
* Max. Framerate: 86.71
* Min. Framerate: 36.02

1280 x 1024 4x AA everything on Very High
* Average Framerate: 53.19
* Max. Framerate: 84.10
* Min. Framerate: 36.06


very little performance drop going from 2xAA to 4xAA compared to single card

if you were to upgrade for gaming, a new video card would be more beneficial to you then a new processor probably (unless proc is quad at 3.2+)

i would recommend a 4850/4870 or a GTX260
 

cusideabelincoln

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2008
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Yeh, those crossfire results look pretty impressive, especially considering the HD3850 can be found for around $50. My board has an extra PCI-E connector, but it only runs at 4x speed. The reason for wanting to upgrade the processor, however, is because I know Source games are pretty CPU-limited and I run at a pretty low resolution these days. Also, the preliminary results of Phenom II just look so damn sexy to pass up and I wanted to hand down my Athlon X2 + motherboard to my mom's so that when I visit I can actually get a decent gaming experience when I visit. A Sempron 2500+ and Geforce 6200 just isn't cutting it these days, even for games like Counter-Strike 1.6.

Thanks for the runs, though. Your Far Cry 2 results are helpful, especially since your minimum framerate is 22% higher than mine - although some of this can be attributed to the slightly higher clock speeds of your HD3870.