AMD 940 vs 955

[Rifter]

Good morning all, i am upgrading my sig rig that i just built 2 months ago. I am doing this because i now have some more cash to play with and am going from a 720p display to a 1080p Display and my chioce in GPU and CPU when i built this was highly based on only needed enough for 720p. That said is the 955 just a higher clocked 940? I plan to OC to the MAX so if the 955 has anything better for OCing ill go that way but if not ill save the cash and get a 940. Will also be pairing it with one 4890 and of that doesnt do it ill get another one but im assuming either of the CPU i chose will power a pair of 4890s right? thanks guy!.

 

[dennilfloss]

Looks like the 955 overclocks a bit better than the 940. Plus it has more uncore speed at default.

 

[Rifter]

Thanks for the input, BTW is anything coming out in the next month or 2 cause thats when im looking to buy. Thanks!

 

[Gikaseixas]

Originally posted by: dennilfloss
Looks like the 955 overclocks a bit better than the 940. Plus it has more uncore speed at default.

what he said

 

[Spoelie]

nothing exciting no, but your current setup is more than enough to handle 1080p, especially if you enable DXVA.

Heck, my htpc with a Athlon X2 4850e and a 780G chipset is more than enough to handle 1080p when DXVA is enabled (not without).

Unless you mean encoding to 1080p of course, then you need all the power you can get.

 

[ElBurro]

There are a few differences
http://products.amd.com/en-us/...ide.aspx?id=532&id=509

 

[Rifter]

i ment gaming at 1080P not video playback. i think if i tried to play crysis(which im actually trying to play through) with my 4830 even with the massive OC it would choke, im only getting 25FPS average at 720P i dont want to know what i would get at 1080P.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: Rifterut
Thanks for the input, BTW is anything coming out in the next month or 2 cause thats when im looking to buy. Thanks!

The Intel i5 is coming out by this fall and will be a mainstream version of the i7. The 2.66 version without HT and dual instead of triple channel is supposed to be around $180.

As for your original question, the X4 955 paired with AM3 and decent DDR3 is about on average 5% faster clock for clock compared to using the same processor paired with DDR2/AM2. Since the X4 940 has a 200 meg lower clock speed, this might be enough to justify spending the extra money to get the performance boost that the higher clocked CPU paired with AM3 provides. AM3 mother boards and DDR3 RAM is now in price parity with AM2/DDR2 so the only higher cost is the processor itself.

Both the 940 and the 955 over clock about the same since both have unlocked multipliers. It really depends if you think the extra cash for the 955 is worth the minor performance increase of DDR3. If sticking with DDR2 for some reason, then the 940 is the way to go.

 

[craig3000]

The 955 broke the 7GHZ barrier for a quad core

Dont mean anything to us since we cant use liquid nitrogen etc

 

[Rifter]

I will stick to DDR2 as thats what i have, im just doing a CPU and GPU upgrade, keeping mobo and ram.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: Rifterut
I will stick to DDR2 as thats what i have, im just doing a CPU and GPU upgrade, keeping mobo and ram.

Then you should go with the 940 since it has a unlocked multiplier, can reach nearly the same clocks as the 955 and is on average $60 cheaper and is better supported by AM2 board makers BIOS than the 955.

Just throw that extra 60 towards your GPU and get the best you can afford.

 

[FuryofFive]

the price difference is what 20$? id go with the 955 purely on its already guarenteed to work at 3.2ghz i can see if it was 100$ in most cases it is. but the small price gap, id jump on the 955.. wait i did.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive
the price difference is what 20$? id go with the 955 purely on its already guarenteed to work at 3.2ghz i can see if it was 100$ in most cases it is. but the small price gap, id jump on the 955.. wait i did.

They dropped the price of the 940 to around $180 to clear inventory.

 

[FuryofFive]

thats the AM2+ , i was refering to the AM3 one's

 

[FuryofFive]

He mentioned 955. they only make that in AM3, assumed he was comparing the two

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive
He mentioned 955. they only make that in AM3, assumed he was comparing the two

At this time there is no such thing as a 955 made only for AM3.

The 955 can be dropped into either an AM2+ or an AM3 mobo, provided BIOS support exists for the CPU in whichever mobo you drop it into.

 

[Rifter]

I though the 955 would work with AM2+ mobos? the latest bios for my board said it added AM3 support.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Rifterut
I though the 955 would work with AM2+ mobos? the latest bios for my board said it added AM3 support.

Yup. As IDC stated, currently all "AM3 PhII's" will work in AM2+, provided there is BIOS support, and even that may not be necessary.

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Originally posted by: Rifterut
I though the 955 would work with AM2+ mobos? the latest bios for my board said it added AM3 support.

Yup. As IDC stated, currently all "AM3 PhII's" will work in AM2+, provided there is BIOS support, and even that may not be necessary.

ahhh ok. then the AM3 boards will support DDR3.. maybe that was my mistake

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle

Originally posted by: Rifterut
I though the 955 would work with AM2+ mobos? the latest bios for my board said it added AM3 support.

Yup. As IDC stated, currently all "AM3 PhII's" will work in AM2+, provided there is BIOS support, and even that may not be necessary.

ahhh ok. then the AM3 boards will support DDR3.. maybe that was my mistake

:thumbsup:

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive
thats the AM2+ , i was refering to the AM3 one's

Then you are refering to the 945 not the 940, which the op asked specifically about because he plans to drop in a replacement in an existing mother board.

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: soonerproud

Originally posted by: FuryofFive
thats the AM2+ , i was refering to the AM3 one's

Then you are refering to the 945 not the 940, which the op asked specifically about because he plans to drop in a replacement in an existing mother board.

alright another mistake sorry OP.