Phenom II X4 965 on an AM2+ board an ok idea?

[jvroig]

I know that the higher and newer Phenom II CPUs are AM3 only, but there are AM2+ boards that do support them ("AM3 ready" branded), like this one from gigabyte. The Phenom II X4 965 (even C3 stepping) is supported officially, with a BIOS upgrade.

I can get the Phenom II X4 965 for $200 through one of our corporate suppliers, and I can get the gigabyte board I linked for a little less than $100.

I was thinking of going this route since my current rig (with an Athlon X2 7750) has 4GB of DDR2 memory, and I'd rather re-use this RAM than throw it all away by going to an AM3 board that only supports DDR3.

I foresee no problem going this route (AM2+/AM3-ready board that still uses DDR2 + Phenom II X4 965, reusing all my current RAM), but I wanted to throw it out here in case some of you have some insights about why it might not be the best of ideas.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Arkaign]

It's a great idea. There's only a few % at most of performance difference. Much better to save that cash for something else.

 

[Drakula]

The CPU itself have DDR2 memory controller built in anyway, so the only setback would be that it would not be as fast as using DDR3, but should be minor difference depends on what you are using it for.

 

[thilanliyan]

How crappy is this...the 785G board supports C3 965s and 955s but the 790GX board doesn't...shoot. I wonder if it would work anyway?

 

[Drakula]

How crappy is this...the 785G board supports C3 965s and 955s but the 790GX board doesn't...shoot. I wonder if it would work anyway?

If you meant your motherboard, it does support C3 version of Phenom. Just need a BIOS update and, hopefully, it should be fine.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=2887#anchor_os

 

[jvroig]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. Great news.

If you meant your motherboard, it does support C3 version of Phenom. Just need a BIOS update and, hopefully, it should be fine.

Actually, it only seems to support C2 Phenom II 965 and 955... no C3 stepping for 965/955 in Thilanliyan's 790GP-DS4H, which seems to be what he wants.

 

[Drakula]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. Great news.



Actually, it only seems to support C2 Phenom II 965 and 955... no C3 stepping for 965/955 in Thilanliyan's 790GP-DS4H, which seems to be what he wants.

Yeah, I saw the list afterward, but since it supports C3 stepping of 945 and it does support 140w version of 965, so in a way, it should be fine. But of course, those are all just my own speculation.

By the way, do you know if the motherboard you are getting will be revision 1.0 or 1.1? There seems to be a revision 1.1, but the only difference seems to be the European Union Power thing.

 

[jvroig]

I can't be sure, but it's most likely the 1.0, not the 1.1 revision. Although, I would very much love for it to be the 1.1 (will check when I do get around to getting the board from the store).

Looking at the 1.1, aside from the European Union EuP thing, it also seems to start already at Bios version F6, which seems to support all compatible CPUs with it already (unlike the 1.0 that of course starts with BIOS version F1). Would be very nice if I could get my hands on a 1.1 instead of a 1.0, seems it would save me the trouble of flashing the bios, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[bradley]

On some current AM2+ and AM3 boards the only difference is the memory slot giving DDR3 support.

 

[brandonwh64]

I know that the higher and newer Phenom II CPUs are AM3 only, but there are AM2+ boards that do support them ("AM3 ready" branded), like this one from gigabyte. The Phenom II X4 965 (even C3 stepping) is supported officially, with a BIOS upgrade.

I can get the Phenom II X4 965 for $200 through one of our corporate suppliers, and I can get the gigabyte board I linked for a little less than $100.

I was thinking of going this route since my current rig (with an Athlon X2 7750) has 4GB of DDR2 memory, and I'd rather re-use this RAM than throw it all away by going to an AM3 board that only supports DDR3.

I foresee no problem going this route (AM2+/AM3-ready board that still uses DDR2 + Phenom II X4 965, reusing all my current RAM), but I wanted to throw it out here in case some of you have some insights about why it might not be the best of ideas.

Thanks in advance.

I wouldnt pay that much! there are about 2 or 3 on techpowerup forums for around 165$ shipped. i just sold mine for 150. DONT BUY A NEW ONE! use the FS forums

 

[wwswimming]

are you in the US ? Newegg has a combo on the Athlon 2 X4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.320281

$173

for the US2H board + the highest binned Athlon 2 X4.

 

[jvroig]

Thanks, brandonwh64 and wwswimming, but I'm in a different continent. I merely converted the price to USD as that seems to be the dominant currency here.

 

[thilanliyan]

Yeah, I saw the list afterward, but since it supports C3 stepping of 945 and it does support 140w version of 965, so in a way, it should be fine. But of course, those are all just my own speculation.

Yeah I wanted the C3 965. I'm eventually going to try it...hopefully it works.

 

[Drakula]

I can't be sure, but it's most likely the 1.0, not the 1.1 revision. Although, I would very much love for it to be the 1.1 (will check when I do get around to getting the board from the store).

Looking at the 1.1, aside from the European Union EuP thing, it also seems to start already at Bios version F6, which seems to support all compatible CPUs with it already (unlike the 1.0 that of course starts with BIOS version F1). Would be very nice if I could get my hands on a 1.1 instead of a 1.0, seems it would save me the trouble of flashing the bios, thanks for pointing that out.

No problem. Was looking around list of motherboards and their BIOS and spotted that there revision 1.1 so thought that you might want to know, since you are purchasing one.

Yeah I wanted the C3 965. I'm eventually going to try it...hopefully it works.

Well, I suspect that it might work because the board already support 140w version of Phenom II, so there should not be problem with wattage support. And actually, they did list the C3 965 on their CPU support list.

 

[spinejam]

i have that gigabyte -us2h mb w/ an x2 550BE callisto unlocked to a quad and overclocked to 3825mhz stable. imo, it's a great little board for the money.