- 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?)
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?)