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

[tweakboy]

if you get that 6 core I can tell you its about 500 x percent more powerful and fast then a old shameful dual.

But do you need 6 cores . If you do Video editing or DAW then yes go for the cores and sacrifice single thread speed. But if your doing the above your a pro and that is more important. gl

 

[deimos3428]

As the others have said, you'll see an improvement from a Phenom II 955 or faster quad. But I wouldn't throw more than $100 at it.

 

[soccerballtux]

huh? my 6 cores didn't help much going from a quad core. BF# doesnt use more than a quad core.

I thought we already covered this in the BF3 performance thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33514470&postcount=28

 

[WAZ]

After researching whatever I could find about these CPUs, comparing benchmark charts, OC and (possible) unlock abilities, I've decided to just find the best deal I can on a 960T or a 965/975. I mean, if I can find a great deal on a 975, then why not; otherwise a 965 will probably save me a few bucks -- and the potential for OC'ing and possibly unlocking 2 extra cores on a 960T is intriguing. From what I've read and from all your replies, sounds like any of those would be a good solid upgrade for my needs.

 

[WAZ]

Hmm, I can't seem to find a 960T anywhere for less than about $140... which is about the same price as a 975. From what I can find, the 960T is going to max out at about 4GHz, the 975 may get up to about 4.3GHz. Or I can find 965's for about $30 cheaper ($110-ish).

Is there really a benefit to the Zosma core (960T) besides the 50/50 chance of unlocking 2 extra cores? I do see it's 95W instead of 125W, like the Denebs. Just wondering whether to keep holding out for a deal on a 960T for $120 or so, whenever I might get lucky on a deal, or just say screw it and get a 965 or 975 right now.

 

[soccerballtux]

975 to 4.3ghz? Hm...I'd say your chances are higher that you'd unlock but I haven't researched how many people are getting that kind of overclock on the 975 or an unlock on the 960. My 965 hit a wall ~4.05ghz, and another 250mhz wouldn't exactly be very much worth it. Getting the CPU-NB to 3ghz (limitted of 2.6ghz on my 965 and your 975) would make up for that, which the 960 would be able to do. I think $140 is just about the cutoff point for where it's worth it to get the 960T in hopes of unlocking, and if not, at least you get the faster CPU-NB. Anything higher I'd say go for the 965.

I definitely don't think the 975 is worth the $20-30 premium over the 965, so personally I would be choosing between the 965 and the 960T. Check out this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2246452
the 960T would run at a much lower voltage than the 975 would require for 4.3ghz.

 

[kongqueror]

@WAZ - Have you tried NCIX US?

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=46281&vpn=HDZ965FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1060

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=65385&vpn=HDT45TWFGRBOX&manufacture=AMD

I have the 2.7GHz Thuban 1045T and have all 6 cores @ 3.8GHz cooled by a Cooler Master V8 on an Asus M5A97 mobo. I initially was also going 4-cores myself to save money but depending on what you want to do, going 6 cores may be worth the price diff. Goodluck!

 

[Towermax]

Is there really a benefit to the Zosma core (960T) besides the 50/50 chance of unlocking 2 extra cores? I do see it's 95W instead of 125W, like the Denebs. Just wondering whether to keep holding out for a deal on a 960T for $120 or so, whenever I might get lucky on a deal, or just say screw it and get a 965 or 975 right now.

Thuban/Zosma has Turbo-Core, some process improvements that make it run cooler at lower watts, supposedly somewhat better overclocking, and mildly improved CPU/NB and memory-handling.

I'm not an expert on this--it's just stuff I ran across on various tech sites when researching the Thuban/Zosma a few months ago.

 

[WAZ]

Ok, thanks guys... very helpful info.

I can see now that the 975 doesn't have a performance boost to match the additional cost over a 965, and it looks like both would OC pretty similarly. And @soccerballtux, I read a review or two that hit 4.3GHz on the 975, but you're right, I don't think it's the norm. It seems like ~4GHz is the range I can expect from any of these, pretty easily with Zalman 9700 air cooling.

So I may hold out for a good deal on a 960T (thanks for the links and info about OC'ing at lower voltage and faster CPU/NB)... the 2 extra cores could be nice, but not essential. Worst case scenario, if I get impatient on a 960T deal, I have several links for a 965 for $109. I think I'll be good with either, but I do actually understand the differences now, so thanks.

 

[richierich1212]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=HDZ965GM

Why wait? Just get a 965 OEM From Superbiiz for $85.99 after coupon code POPPA + USPS 1st class shipping.

 

[SickBeast]

Guys I really recommend spending the extra $100 to go with Intel. All these AMD CPUs are obsolete at this point. They really hold back a decent GPU.

For video encoding the Thubans are good but if you're into gaming you've got to go with the 2500k or the new Ivy chips IMO.

 

[Vesku]

He'd need a new motherboard and DDR3 RAM too, in his case a $100 CPU upgrade isn't a bad idea if it will add a year or two to his systems useful life. I do agree that if he has $350 available it would be best to go with a quad no ht K series Intel, appropriate motherboard, and DDR3 RAM.

 

[WAZ]

Yeah, to reiterate, a new system was simply not in the cards right now. Of course if I had the money or time to rebuild a whole system (new CPU, motherboard, 8GB of RAM, HS/F, etc), I'd do it. But that's easily $400, plus the time which I don't have to do a total rebuild. I'm not looking for the best and fastest out there; I'm looking for the best way to easily upgrade what I currently have. And for that -- and 1/4 the cost and just the time to pop in a new chip -- it turns out a jump from an old Athlon dual-core to a ~4GHz quad core should do the trick.

I have an AMD 6950 video card, and can currently run most games, including BF3, at somewhere between High and Ultra as-is, on my crappy old Athlon. This should give me a very nice boost without requiring a full rebuild and 4x the money.

But, this is all moot anyway, as I just found and purchased a great deal on ebay -- $110 for a 6-core 960T (quad with the 2 extra cores verified unlocked).

 

[soccerballtux]

awesome find! let us know how well it overclocks...

 

[skipsneeky2]

If BF3 is one of those games you would be playing,i would highly suggest a x6 1100t,i owned one for a short time with a gtx570 and did plenty of intensive testing disabling 2 cores and then running all 6 cores,on big 64 player maps i saw a massive fps boost especially with ultra settings enabled.

I know 90% of the users in here have intel quads and will continue to say a x6 1100t is a useless processor but for BF3 its a worthy purchase by far and the best upgrade next to a 2500k if you can't afford a intel platform right now.

 

[WAZ]

Well, installed the 960T today -- and now my PC won't boot. The fans turn on (system fan, video card fan, and Zalman CPU fan -- though the blue LED in the Zalman won't come on)... but then nothing. The fans sort of make a "fluctuating" sound... like subtly louder, quieter, louder, quieter. And I get nothing on my screen.

So screen stays black, fans turn on (but no CPU LED) and the sound fluctuates... any ideas?

I've tried unplugging everything but the basics... would this be a bad CPU? Just a bad seating of the heatsink? Any help would be great... really hope I didn't get a bad 960T. Thanks!

 

[(sic)Klown12]

Did you reset the BIOS(clearing the CMOS battery)? Maybe a setting you had with your previous CPU is conflicting with the new one. If that doesn't help, try using your old CPU and installing the latest BIOS for your motherboard.

 

[Vesku]

Do you know what bios version you were running? Always a good idea to check the manufacturer site to see when the bios started supporting the CPU (960T / Thubans).

 

[richierich1212]

Did you update BIOS before hand?

 

[WAZ]

Well $#%@. I bet it's the BIOS. I made a mental note when I bought the 960T -- "Hey, I should go down and update the BIOS." And then I didn't. And then the mail came and I tore into it like it was Christmas morning, popped open my case and didn't even think twice.

Support for this CPU was added in September 2010, and I can almost guarantee I didn't update the BIOS to that version. I updated it once or twice a few years ago, but I've had zero problems and no need to update it until now.

EDIT: Ok, I put my old chip back in, updated the BIOS (from F3 to F10C -- a good year and a half newer), then reinstalled the 960T. Up and running now -- though the LED on my Zalman CPU cooler is no longer glowing. And strangely, my computer is much quieter now, like the CPU fan isn't running as high as it should be. Cool n Quiet is off, my fan controller is turned all the way up, but seems like the Zalman isn't 100% for some random reason. That aside, at least the new CPU is in and working... I'll try OC'ing once I get this fan issue fixed.

 

[WAZ]

Well whatever happened -- no more blue LED and strangely quieter sound -- doesn't appear to be hurting my temps. I'm at 26°C idle and 36° load (Prime95).

Still a little bothersome to not see that blue glow from the case window, and still no idea how/why this is happening. Any ideas? At least the system is working, I guess.

 

[sm625]

The bios update probably "fixed" a bug in the fan controller that made it run full blast when it didnt need to. So how high does it overclock?

 

[WAZ]

So how high does it overclock?

We'll find out tonight.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Don't forget... we want benchmark comparisons!

 

[soccerballtux]

what the ASDF man so how well does it overclock??? you can't just leave us hanging!!!1