contemplating upgrading my processor

[toprat]

So i currently have a Athlon x64 7750 BE (2.7ghz) which was simply supposed to be a temporary card to replace my 9850BE that I fried due to a small shard from cutting my case falling into the socket unnoticed.

So my options are for an AM2+ (no regular AM2, and no AM3) and I am looking at one of the following:

Phenom II Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

or one that's almost identical to the one i fried earlier this year

Phenom 9950 BE Newegg.com - AMD Phenom 9950 Agena 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - Processors - Desktops

(current)7750 BE EXTREME Overclocking - AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition Review - Page: 1 - Tweaking PC Hardware To The Max

Based on price and specs, I'm leaning towards the Phenom II. (there's also a phenom II BE that's 3.0ghz, however, I don't want to spend much more then 150 on this cpu. Either one of the 2 above processors are twice as nice as my current one. I'm just looking for more opinions.

Or if you feel i should simply stick with the Athlon 7750 BE just let me know, I'm just looking for 3rd party input.

Lastly, I don't want to hear about Intel in this post lol. I'm aware the i7 is amazing, however i don't have the cash for a new MoBo etc at the moment lol.

[Richard_Rahl]

Is a 3+ GHz Athlon X2 not faster in practice? Don't forget that multithreading is not possible with a majority of programs, and games are (afaik) usually optimised for multithreading over 2 cores.

My Core 2 Duo of 3 GHz (the EPU on my motherboard automatically overclocks it to 3.15 GHz when it is at high load, as long as I run Windows) uses 65 Watts at max, while a Phenom like you linked to uses 125 Watts at max. Though in practice it won't be faster when playing games.

So it's a bummer that you cannot use socket AM3 processors, cause when thinking of that stuff in the paragraphs I wrote above this, the new Athlon II X2 chips look rather promising.

[toprat]

I agree completely about the new athlons. Well. My mother board had a bios update with support for it. I am affraid however to test it.

And your right about multi threading, however it will mean windows7 / ubuntu can assign more apps their own thread.

Im going to look into this more, if your currious my mobo is the: Foxconn A7DA-S i believe i will double check when i get home.

EDIT
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
is what my ideal upgrade would be

[Richard_Rahl]

Afaik, AMD cpus rarely require a BIOS flash to be working, and if it says "unknown AMD processor" doesn't that matter much I think. For the features like Cool & Quiet you need to install a driver from the AMD site in Windows 7 and Ubuntu has such a driver build in (so it is not BIOS-contrloed).
If AM3 is backward compatible with AM2+ it should work, else ask your motherboard manufacturer.

[toprat]

well i may check out the new 3.0ghz athlon II, it's only $76.00 and thats a risk Im willing to take. worst comes to worst
i fry my mobo

[Richard_Rahl]

Let me know how it went once you've done the upgrade.

[toprat]

sure thing. I'm actually pushing this 7750 a little hard at the moment, I'm using the AMD overdrive, normally i do all of this in the bios, but it's nice to have a gui interface as a change of pace.

[Slaymate]

I would try to find the 940.

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - Processors - Desktops

[toprat]

i was looking at it, but it sells for like 180, cheapest. though your probably right.