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Worth upgrading to Phenom II X4-975 or 1100T?

W

WAZ

Golden Member
Ok, let me start by saying my budget is really small and I have zero interest or ability to upgrade my entire system right now, so to "just get an Intel" is not really in the cards. 😉 My question is about improving the performance of my existing system:

  • Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P mobo -- AMD 790X with AM2+/AM3 -- LINK
  • Athlon II 7850 Black Edition (dual-core, 2.8 GHz, 65nm)
  • 8GB of DDR2-1066 RAM
  • AMD Radeon 6950 (2GB)
  • Corsair 750W PSU

Without touching another component or having to upgrade to a new mobo, RAM, etc, I can upgrade to a Phenom II X4-975 (quad-core, 3.6 GHz, 45nm) or 1100T (six-core, 3.3 GHz, 45nm) for about $140 to $200+, respectively. I can swap that into my existing AM3 mobo, and keep my 8GB of RAM and even my Zalman 9700 cooler.

Question is, assuming I keep this PC for another couple years and will not be rebuilding any time soon, is that a worthwhile upgrade to a quad-core for $140, or even further to the six-core for over $200? Main usage is games (Battlefield 3, Deus Ex:HR, Ghost Recon and a few others on the horizon) and graphic design (Photoshop, etc)... and I'm sure my dual-core Athlon II is a hell of a bottleneck at this point. Again, a full upgrade to Intel would probably be more like $350 + new RAM and a new HS/F, so unfortunately that's simply not an option. So any help on the value of upgrading the 975/1100T would be great. Thanks!
 
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I'd shop around for the best 4 core Phenom II deal you can find and OC it a bit, thinking a 955/960 for closer to $100-110. Looks like the 960T is getting hard to find (deactivated on newegg) but your mobo supports unlocking so if you can get a good deal on it you have a shot at unlocking the 2 extra cores.
 
What's your resolution? If you are at say, 7680x1600 then you are GPU bottlenecked and would be better off upgrading your GPU.
 
blastingcap said:
What's your resolution? If you are at say, 7680x1600 then you are GPU bottlenecked and would be better off upgrading your GPU.
Click to expand...
On an Athlon II 7850 Black Edition (dual-core, 2.8 GHz, 65nm) he will be bottlenecked on a card from generations ago.
 
DO NOT upgrade any existing AMD setup.

Sell your chip and motherboard.

then buy an i5 2500k or ivy equivalent.

You'll be glad you did.

This is the best plan
 
borisvodofsky said:
DO NOT upgrade any existing AMD setup.

Sell your chip and motherboard.

then buy an i5 2500k or ivy equivalent.

You'll be glad you did.

This is the best plan
Click to expand...

Nope, not for the money. Buying a 2500k, mobo, ram and cooler will be quite expensive compered to just buying a new amd cpu and cooler. In most games an OC 960 won't perform noticeably different than a 2500k.

OP, you don't need 6 cores for gaming really, so no need for the 1100t.
 
Thubans are hard to find and are fairly expensive. If you can find a good deal on a quad and try to unlock or overclock it, then go for it. But don't put too much money into it.
 
Even if you can get a Thuban, check compatibility with your board first.

or any Phenom II *T processor.
 
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The x6 isn't worth its price tag nor is the 975. Get the cheapest Phenom II 955 you can find (used preferably) and OC it, definitely don't spend more than $70 or $80 bucks for it though. It'll be a *MASSIVE* upgrade so it's worth the step up if you can find a cheap chip for that board.
 
Get the best Phenom II you can get for $100. There are some really good deals, I have seen plenty. You will definitely notice a speed difference. I would recommend a higher clocked quad over a lower clocked 6 core (like a 1035T).

Unfortunately the promo code for a 955 for $85 has expired. That is what I would have recommended last week.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the replies everyone.

I had seen that the 6-core 1100T was beating the 955-to-975's in benchmarking charts, but I guess those are kind of arbitrary and not necessarily applicable to everyday use, Photoshop, and videogames. And like others said, they're hard to find and sitting a little over $200 right now.

It sounds like the overwhelming consensus is to go for a 955 to 965 (that Newegg deal for $109 looks great)... but apparently not worth the jump from $109 to $135 for a 970 or 975, eh? The 975 is the fastest compatible one with my mobo so I sort of assumed that was the way to go... but if even that's not worth the extra $20, I may just go with that 965 deal or even a used one on ebay. 🙂
 
That's the biggest difference but also Thuban/Zosma have some IMC and uncore tweaks.

WAZ said:
Am I correct that this would be a 960 or 970, which would have 2 extra (possibly unlockable) cores? Is that really the big difference between those and the 965 or 975 Deneb?
Click to expand...
 
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