When does a phenom become "worth it"

[fk49]

I'm in the market for a CPU upgrade and of course, intel is undisputed in terms of pure performance. The only con is that it would require a motherboard overhaul and being much more expensive overall.

On the flipside, the CompUSA nearby is reaching the ends of its clearance sales, and the only CPUs left are two phenom 9500s at $145 (as of sunday). I didn't buy it on the spot because I didn't know right away if the motherboard was compatible and I hadn't planned on buying a phenom. ( Still don't know if the mobo Biostar Tforce 550+ is compatible which would make this moot)

Assuming there will be at least one of them left when I check back tomorrow, would at sub $150 quadcore, with the low clocks and TLB bug, be worth it? Thanks

 

[Tempered81]

an ip35e, and e2160, and 2gb hp 667ram can be had for less than $145.

 

[Viditor]

Originally posted by: fk49
I'm in the market for a CPU upgrade and of course, intel is undisputed in terms of pure performance. The only con is that it would require a motherboard overhaul and being much more expensive overall.

On the flipside, the CompUSA nearby is reaching the ends of its clearance sales, and the only CPUs left are two phenom 9500s at $145 (as of sunday). I didn't buy it on the spot because I didn't know right away if the motherboard was compatible and I hadn't planned on buying a phenom. ( Still don't know if the mobo Biostar Tforce 550+ is compatible which would make this moot)

Assuming there will be at least one of them left when I check back tomorrow, would at sub $150 quadcore, with the low clocks and TLB bug, be worth it? Thanks

1. Unless you're doing virtualization, the TLB only has like a .0001% chance of affecting you in desktop (if that much).
2. Be sure you need quad core...most software will see no difference between quad and dual core systems.
3. It is a very good price on the CPU.
4. While the mobo is compatable, it isn't really a good choice at this point (unless you already own it).

 

[rchiu]

Originally posted by: Viditor

Originally posted by: fk49
I'm in the market for a CPU upgrade and of course, intel is undisputed in terms of pure performance. The only con is that it would require a motherboard overhaul and being much more expensive overall.

On the flipside, the CompUSA nearby is reaching the ends of its clearance sales, and the only CPUs left are two phenom 9500s at $145 (as of sunday). I didn't buy it on the spot because I didn't know right away if the motherboard was compatible and I hadn't planned on buying a phenom. ( Still don't know if the mobo Biostar Tforce 550+ is compatible which would make this moot)

Assuming there will be at least one of them left when I check back tomorrow, would at sub $150 quadcore, with the low clocks and TLB bug, be worth it? Thanks

1. Unless you're doing virtualization, the TLB only has like a .0001% chance of affecting you in desktop (if that much).
2. Be sure you need quad core...most software will see no difference between quad and dual core systems.
3. It is a very good price on the CPU.
4. While the mobo is compatable, it isn't really a good choice at this point (unless you already own it).

Even tho Phenom is AM2 compatible, it is still up to the mobo maker to get the bios updated to have the mobo compatible with Phenom. Not many AM2 mobo maker have update their bios so far, and I highly doubt the OP's mobo will be compatible.

For OP, if you want cheap, go with cheap AM2 CPU, if you want to spend a little more, go with Intel, especially if you are going to overclock.

 

[fk49]

So if I go for a $50-60 AMD x2 instead, how long would the CPU be viable for? Before I have to do a complete overhaul of mobo and cpu?

 

[toadeater]

Originally posted by: fk49
So if I go for a $50-60 AMD x2 instead, how long would the CPU be viable for? Before I have to do a complete overhaul of mobo and cpu?

Viable? For everyday tasks it will be viable for years. Unless you're a gamer or developer, it really comes down to how fast of a system you would like to have, and how much you multitask. There's nothing new happening to software that will require significantly more powerful CPUs within the next couple of years.

I guess you can run Vista if you want an excuse to buy a more powerful CPU?

The stuff that is CPU-intensive, like games, is about the only thing that might force you to upgrade again, but not this year.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: fk49
So if I go for a $50-60 AMD x2 instead, how long would the CPU be viable for? Before I have to do a complete overhaul of mobo and cpu?

It depends entirely what you do on your PC. Since you were considering quad core, I take it that you were actually planning to use multithreading software? If that is the case, then a cheap X2, whilst being much faster than your current A64, wouldn't be nearly as 'future proof' as a Phenom.

 

[zsdersw]

Originally posted by: fk49
So if I go for a $50-60 AMD x2 instead, how long would the CPU be viable for? Before I have to do a complete overhaul of mobo and cpu?

Viability is determined by what you do with the computer, not by any of us.

 

[amenx]

Phenom supported Motherboards

Just dont ask Intel vs AMD questions over there, hardcore AMD fanboy site.

 

[fk49]

Okie my motherboard doesn't seem to support phenom so it doesnt even matter. I'll probably pick up a new board and something 45nm in the spring then. thanks for all the replies!

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Viditor

Originally posted by: fk49
I'm in the market for a CPU upgrade and of course, intel is undisputed in terms of pure performance. The only con is that it would require a motherboard overhaul and being much more expensive overall.

On the flipside, the CompUSA nearby is reaching the ends of its clearance sales, and the only CPUs left are two phenom 9500s at $145 (as of sunday). I didn't buy it on the spot because I didn't know right away if the motherboard was compatible and I hadn't planned on buying a phenom. ( Still don't know if the mobo Biostar Tforce 550+ is compatible which would make this moot)

Assuming there will be at least one of them left when I check back tomorrow, would at sub $150 quadcore, with the low clocks and TLB bug, be worth it? Thanks

1. Unless you're doing virtualization, the TLB only has like a .0001% chance of affecting you in desktop (if that much).
2. Be sure you need quad core...most software will see no difference between quad and dual core systems.
3. It is a very good price on the CPU.
4. While the mobo is compatable, it isn't really a good choice at this point (unless you already own it).

1. 0.0001% chance in what? in a day? a month? a year?...
2. Most software will see no difference on the SAME CLOCKED quad and dual core... a faster clocked dual core will usually be FASTER then a lower clocked quad core... So an x2 6400+ for 150$ will give you MUCH better performance in games, but slower encoding performance.
3. it is a very cheap phenom...

4. That I can agree with...

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: rchiu
Even tho Phenom is AM2 compatible, it is still up to the mobo maker to get the bios updated to have the mobo compatible with Phenom. Not many AM2 mobo maker have update their bios so far, and I highly doubt the OP's mobo will be compatible.

Keeping that in mind, if you already have a motherboard that you know will support it, I would go with the Phenom.

 

[taltamir]

oops, I didn't answer the actual question asked in this thread...
the phenom becomes "worth it" at less then 100$...
If you got 150$ to burn get an X2 6400+

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: taltamir
oops, I didn't answer the actual question asked in this thread...
the phenom becomes "worth it" at less then 100$...
If you got 150$ to burn get an X2 6400+

And in all seriousness if you are so destitute that all you can reach for is a $100 CPU then you should be paying serious attention to the impact of any given CPU on your monthly electricy bill as well.

A $100 CPU that adds $6/month to the power bill versus a $120 CPU that adds $4/month to the power bill ought to make a difference to the purchaser in these types of hypothetical musings.

So if you back out the NFV/NPV proposition of a more power hungry CPU then I suspect you should find yourself lowering that threshold below $100 commensurate with the elevated power bill over the lifetime of the CPU (user dependent of course).

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

And in all seriousness if you are so destitute that all you can reach for is a $100 CPU then you should be paying serious attention to the impact of any given CPU on your monthly electricy bill as well.

I've seen situations where a $25 extra cost routinely proved to be too much for a family monthly budget, whereas they could afford $2/month extra instead. Not saying that it's a good situation, but it does exist. (in this particular case it was the south, utility company trying to recover $ lost due to estimating rather than reading meters).

Whether or not someone in that situation should be upgrading the latest PC technology is a whole different question.

BTW, I'm enjoying my low-buck CPU mostly because it is so insanely cheap. Could I afford a $3500 skulltrail rig? You betcha, my basement is full of PCs and laptops which cost > $5000 in their day. Heck, my 386/33 weighed in at about that in 1989. And back then my income as a freelance just out of school coder was a fraction of today's. My point is, initial bang for buck may be a very big motivator in the day of nearly free commodity hardware yielding exceptional results.

I spent more time agonizing over component choices for a $500 PC build than I did plonking down more than that for a 340 meg hard drive back in 95 or so.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: v8envy

Originally posted by: Idontcare

And in all seriousness if you are so destitute that all you can reach for is a $100 CPU then you should be paying serious attention to the impact of any given CPU on your monthly electricy bill as well.

I've seen situations where a $25 extra cost routinely proved to be too much for a family monthly budget, whereas they could afford $2/month extra instead. Not saying that it's a good situation, but it does exist. (in this particular case it was the south, utility company trying to recover $ lost due to estimating rather than reading meters).

Whether or not someone in that situation should be upgrading the latest PC technology is a whole different question.

You hit on the critical question of course. If $25 is a deal-breaker then I can't think of a better deal than to go with an X2. Save on power bills and save on the price of the CPU.

I wonder if this isn't exactly what is happening. AMD's APS's increased for some good reason, and they did gain market share for good reason as well. Maybe these sub $100 chips at volume will be enough pocket change to keep AMD living to see many more days ahead. That would be nice.