Is the AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE still relevant?

[nOOky]

Looking for a budget CPU to replace the E8500 dual core in my signature. This CPU can be had for $85 on Amazon. I already have memory available (2 x 4 gig ddr3 1600) so all's I'd need would be a cheap AM3+ motherboard. The machine is mostly used for web browsing, some minor photo touch-up, and simple Steam games (it has an HD6870 in it).
It would benchmark about twice as fast as I have now at stock speeds or close. The reason I am considering it is because I am putting a Corsair Force GT 180 gig SSD in it and Windows 8 and I figure I might as well do a cheap upgrade on the PCU/MOBO combo while I'm at it to freshen it up a bit.

Thoughts? Should I be looking at another cheap option?

 

[NTMBK]

It's a nice chip, and a good choice for a budget rig. (I have a similar chip in my main rig, see sig.) Might be worth looking at the 960T- similar to the 965 at stock, but with luck you can unlock it to a 6 core chip.

 

[MisterMac]

What about some Yorkfield Q8xxx chip be a cheaper upgrade?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Looking for a budget CPU to replace the E8500 dual core in my signature. This CPU can be had for $85 on Amazon. I already have memory available (2 x 4 gig ddr3 1600) so all's I'd need would be a cheap AM3+ motherboard. The machine is mostly used for web browsing, some minor photo touch-up, and simple Steam games (it has an HD6870 in it).
It would benchmark about twice as fast as I have now at stock speeds or close. The reason I am considering it is because I am putting a Corsair Force GT 180 gig SSD in it and Windows 8 and I figure I might as well do a cheap upgrade on the PCU/MOBO combo while I'm at it to freshen it up a bit.

Thoughts? Should I be looking at another cheap option?

It is still a decent chip. In fact it has now replaced the SB pentium as the lowest budget processor on TH best gaming cpus for the money. That said, I am not sure it is worth it to upgrade from an E8500. Take a look at Anand's bench. As you said, it is about twice as fast in multithreaded productivity benchmarks, but about the same in single threaded and in the four games tested. It probably would be faster in newer well threaded games, but if you are wanting to use it primarily on older poorly threaded games from Steam, you might not see much benefit.

 

[nOOky]

What about some Yorkfield Q8xxx chip be a cheaper upgrade?

From what I've seen new these are over $250 new, and still expensive sold used. I think the Intel socket LGA775 is basically a dead end, that's why I was looking at the AMD AM3+.

Perhaps I should up my price a bit and look at a 6300...

 

[Hubb1e]

Are you planning to overclock it? You would need to in order for it to match your E8500 at 4.2ghz in single or dual threaded games and Apps.

It's still a good CPU and it can be found for $75 on sale. The FX6300 is faster but it's $140 which is a lot more coin. Both will require a decent motherboard in order to overclock because they both use a lot of power.

I would say to wait unless you are running into specific apps or games that need 4 cores such as BF3 MP.

 

[nOOky]

I always overclock!

 

[codyray10]

I would have to say yes, it is still relevant. Still running one in my main rig @ 4ghz. Will probably hang on to it for another year or so before I need an upgrade.

 

[nenforcer]

The difference isn't all that great except in multithreaded benchmarks

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=55

I would consider getting an FX-4300 Vishera for $129 or the FX-6300 Vishera for $139 for a true upgrade.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=699

 

[HydroSqueegee]

im still rocking a Phenom 2 x2 that i unlocked to an x4. still plays modern games just fine. for a web surfing box with light gaming the chip would be just fine, if not overkill.

 

[Denithor]

If you're considering an FX chip for $130-140 you should get a used i5 2400 instead (eBay, Amazon both have these around $135 right now). Drop into a cheap H61 board and you'll have better performance with lower power consumption at the same price point.

 

[nOOky]

Well I was exploring the option of dropping in a Q8400 and overclocking that. Not much of an upgrade I guess. If I go AMD I may as well go AMD FX6300. To buy a new mobo and then the older cpu doesn't make sense as I research it more. I'd need a new mobo for around $110 so that ends up being $139 plus $110 or $239 total. I'd like to stay around $250 total.
I guess I'll research what's required for a decent budget overclocking AMD board nowadays.

 

[nemesismk2]

I used to have a 960T and it's a really good cpu

 

[Blue Shift]

I'm still using my 965... It works.

I would definitely not recommend buying one today, though. Once you're already dropping $250 total on a CPU and motherboard, you might as well spend an extra $50 and get a better processor.

But then again, it works. The 965 BE would probably meet your requirements.

 

[crashtech]

Although I think LGA775 is still a viable option and that an i5 may be a cost-effective contender, the OP seems clear about his desire to move to an AMD platform. In this case, I would agree with nenforcer that the FX-6300 is a good choice, as it not only has six cores, but exceeds the performance of both the E8500 and the X4 965 in single threaded benchmarks.

 

[BeauCharles]

I have an X4 980 BE (from a C3 X4 955 to 980 they're all basically the same) and its still fine, but given what you're using the PC for and given your stable (and good) OC on the E8500 I wouldn't bother.

 

[nOOky]

Although I think LGA775 is still a viable option and that an i5 may be a cost-effective contender, the OP seems clear about his desire to move to an AMD platform. In this case, I would agree with nenforcer that the FX-6300 is a good choice, as it not only has six cores, but exceeds the performance of both the E8500 and the X4 965 in single threaded benchmarks.

You're right, I'm going to try AMD this time around, not that there isn't a reasonable Intel alternative. I do like to play around with this hobby a bit

 

[Face2Face]

You're right, I'm going to try AMD this time around, not that there isn't a reasonable Intel alternative. I do like to play around with this hobby a bit

Go for it I thought the Phenom II had higher IPC than Bulldozer? I still have mine, which is about to be moved to my server. I can't say it has a hard time playing any game I have maxed out.

 

[FlanK3r]

no, in practice is PD better, in games now too. Remember at Nehalem at begining? Nehalem was worse than Core Quad. But after some years Nehalem outperform Core Quad in gaming too.
The same now with PD...PD improve some bugs over Bulldozer (zambezi core) and in games is much better at same clock. In practice too, there is no so long FPS drops as at Deneb. For today will be better choice FX-63xx.
Look example at great hardware.fr, they testing in practice modern apliactions.
The good review about gaming at modern CPU is here:
http://translate.google.cz/translat...esoru-na-vykon-ve-hrach-od-phenomu-po-core-i7

 

[ShintaiDK]

Remember at Nehalem at begining? Nehalem was worse than Core Quad.

Uhm...no.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2658

 

[FlanK3r]

http://extrahardware.cnews.cz/nehalem-poprve-core-i7-920-940-965-xe-v-testu/strana/0/9
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/hardware/p...ory_core_i7-test_architektury_nehalem?start=9

Ok, it was very similar, but today are bigger differences and Core Quad has in some games bigger lags+drops.

 

[cmaMath13]

I am still running a Phenom II 955 and it runs everything very well. I just can't justify upgrading yet. I did upgraded my video card to a GeForce GTX Ti-660 and it runs great!

I don't mean to promote another web site, but I find the CPU & GPU info on Tom's Hardware very helpful.

 

[FlanK3r]

of course, for normal users are Phenoms II or Core Quad, Nehalems still good CPUs