# Phenom II X4 vs Athlon II x4



## maximus (Mar 4, 2010)

Hi guys,

I was doing research on what would be the better performer and value for money for my need.

My main purpose of use is to run application server like Jboss,Java/Flex coding,MS SQL Database,Profiling flex apps etc.And may be very minimal amount of gaming.

I was confused regarding the choice between Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E and Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz.

Phenom II is 7.9k where as Athlon II is 5.1 .If i add 2 GB extra ( than what i alloted 6GB ) to Athlon II then my budget will look the same.

Please give you valuable suggestion.What so special about phenom other than the l3 cache? Is that having a big role in changing performance?


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## coderunknown (Mar 4, 2010)

maximus said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I was doing research on what would be the better performer and value for money for my need.
> 
> ...



simple performance quote. athlon2 X4 ---> C2Q 8***.
                                    phenom2 X4 ---> C2Q 9***.

the performance mayn't be exactly same but almost same to the designated intel proccy.


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## maximus (Mar 4, 2010)

Thanks Sam,

So you are saying its worth considering Phenom II X4 over Athlon II x4?


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## Cool G5 (Mar 4, 2010)

Will you overclock? If yes, get the X4 630 & spend money to get some more RAM.


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## coderunknown (Mar 4, 2010)

maximus said:


> Thanks Sam,
> 
> So you are saying its worth considering Phenom II X4 over Athlon II x4?



well, phenom2 X4 wil help. but only if u getting the 955 for below 8k. above it, better add 2k more & get i5 750.



Cool G5 said:


> Will you overclock? If yes, get the X4 630 & spend money to get some more RAM.



are u telling if he OC he should get athlon? he should be getting phenom 955 + an 1.5k OEM HSF. 955 should OC to 3.8Ghz on a bit of voltage increment. whereas athlon 630 would OC to 3.2Ghz safe on stock HSF.


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## Lucifer (Mar 4, 2010)

A quad core would be better, but for any sort of coding, cache is very important, because whether the app/program is multithreaded or not, they're all cache sensitive. The 955BE will have a larger cache, just be warned, it's a hot running CPU and you would do well to consider an aftermarket CPU cooler, unless you're running it in an A/C environment.


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## maximus (Mar 4, 2010)

Lucifer said:


> A quad core would be better, but for any sort of coding, cache is very important, because whether the app/program is multithreaded or not, they're all cache sensitive. The 955BE will have a larger cache, just be warned, it's a hot running CPU and you would do well to consider an aftermarket CPU cooler, unless you're running it in an A/C environment.



Thanx..Ooh thats a gud point..What should be a decent economic solution for that..Which brand etc??


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## coderunknown (Mar 4, 2010)

Lucifer said:


> A quad core would be better, but for any sort of coding, cache is very important, because whether the app/program is multithreaded or not, they're all cache sensitive. The 955BE will have a larger cache, just be warned, it's a hot running CPU and you would do well to consider an aftermarket CPU cooler, unless you're running it in an A/C environment.



yes its a hot running CPU @ 125W. but not that hot that he needs a aftermarket HSF. the default cooler is enough. which i consider is better than all intel coolers except those of the Extreme Editions.



maximus said:


> Thanx..Ooh thats a gud point..What should be a decent economic solution for that..Which brand etc??



u not need a aftermarket HFS. the default cooler got heatpipes. 4 in total which does very good job. the costlier X4 965 comes with exactly same cooler & is clocked at 3.6Ghz which just shows the heatsink got some the abaility to keep a beast cool (3.6Ghz stock if is not a beast, can anyone tell what is?). so using the default cooler i think u can OC the proccy to 3.5Ghz safe. though i suggest u better invest in a good cabby.

also if u don't OC, undervolt the proccy & it'll run more cool. it should run fine at 1.15V. as a member of this forum comp@ddict running his X4 620 at around 1.075V, stable.


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## maximus (Mar 4, 2010)

Thanx Sam again.I'm considering to use CM 690 cabinet. I guess it suffice the purpose..

And i dont think i'm going to OC it..as my interest lies more in development than gaming


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## coderunknown (Mar 5, 2010)

maximus said:


> Thanx Sam again.I'm considering to use CM 690 cabinet. I guess it suffice the purpose..
> 
> And i dont think i'm going to OC it..as my interest lies more in development than gaming




my pleasure buddy  

if u considering CM 690 just cause the proccy heats up, then i wil say u better get something like NZXT Gamma. its junior CM 690  got provision for adding 5 fans. & the cable management for it mayn't be best but certainly better than most. it comes for ~2k. & so u may invest the rest of the money in getting a better board or even the X4 965.

if u don't OC, better down the volt. as it'll run cooler, the fan wil run slower & wil also generate less noise. its simple. just down the voltage little by little & check for stability.


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## maximus (Mar 5, 2010)

NZXT Gamma seems to have a gud option.

I'm thinking of ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO as the mobo. Hope thats a gud model. Or MSI 785GN-E65 should be considered?


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## coderunknown (Mar 5, 2010)

maximus said:


> NZXT Gamma seems to have a gud option.
> 
> I'm thinking of ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO as the mobo. Hope thats a gud model. Or MSI 785GN-E65 should be considered?



can i know about the whole system specs u want to buy? wil help recommending the right component. & also your budget.


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## Lucifer (Mar 5, 2010)

^Sam, FYI the 965BE is a 3.4 GHz part, that runs @ 72+ deg (tested, measured)

I've tested the 955BE, and with room temp @ 25 deg C, the CPU runs @ 55 deg on idle, 72 deg on load.

Lastly, TDP tells you nothing about the heat produced. It's an envelope mostly useful for chip designers, not necessarily an accurate measure of heat dissipated which is a factor of a lot of other things. Read up a bit more.


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## coderunknown (Mar 5, 2010)

Lucifer said:


> ^Sam, FYI the 965BE is a 3.4 GHz part, that runs @ 72+ deg (tested, measured)
> 
> I've tested the 955BE, and with room temp @ 25 deg C, the CPU runs @ 55 deg on idle, 72 deg on load.
> 
> Lastly, TDP tells you nothing about the heat produced. It's an envelope mostly useful for chip designers, not necessarily an accurate measure of heat dissipated which is a factor of a lot of other things. Read up a bit more.



 thanks mate. not know that Phenom II X4 runs so hot. doesn't the default heatsink works fine? the heatsink looks to be a very good 1.


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## staticsid (Mar 5, 2010)

This may be a little off topic but perhaps worth mentioning. As i found out recently a  Phenom X2 555BE can be turned into a Phenom II X4 955. Apparently, any board with the AMD 750 and 710 southbridge chipset, along with ACC (advanced clock calibration) option in the bios that lets you switch between hybrid/normal modes is supposed to do it. The chip then gets identified as a AMD Phenom II X4 B55. 
I purchased a Phenom 555BE last week and in about a day or two will be going in for a suitable motherboard. The one i'm looking for is Biostar's TA785 G3 AM3, but unfortunately it's out of stock everywhere i've looked. There are some other board out there such as MSI 785GM e51 that even showcase this unlock feature on the box itself with things like "stable unlock" etc. If indeed this works, it should provide great value. Will let you know how it goes.


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## Lucifer (Mar 5, 2010)

Sam.Shab said:


> thanks mate. not know that Phenom II X4 runs so hot. doesn't the default heatsink works fine? the heatsink looks to be a very good 1.



Never judge a book by its cover. Beauty is skin deep. All that glitters is not gold - choose your analogy...


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## maximus (Mar 5, 2010)

Well the discussion converges to the fact the Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E  is very hot running processor and it needs to have a after-market cooling system.

So whats the economic solution to this problem? What should be the cooling system i need to get? Or do i need to change to some other phenom processor which don't have this problem?

Well my config is 

Processor - Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E - 7.9k
Motherboard - MSI 785GN-E65(5.6k - Hard to get) or ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO(6.6 Easy to get) -Is it worth waiting for MSI?

Ram - Transcend 3*2GB DDR3 1333MHz C9 - 6.6k
Hard disk - WD 640GB Black  - 3.2k

Mointor - BenQ 2420d or Dell s2409w - Again on confusion - 11k-13.5k
Cabinet - NZXT Gamma - 2k
PSU - Gigabyte 80 Plus Active PFC 460W -  2.2k

Keyboard - Microsoft comfort curve 2000 1.1k

So my budget is around 40k +/- 2k.

Please post your suggestion.Your help is greatly appreciated


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## Lucifer (Mar 6, 2010)

At 7.9K it's a steal of a deal...It will basically destroy a Q9650, and probably come close to a Core i7 920 in terms of performance, supercede it in some areas. A good buy.
A good CPU cooler will set you back by 2.5K easy. Brands to look at are Thermalright, Xigmatek, CM. You need to look for tower-based heatpipe coolers. These cool the best. If you're in one of the metros, shouldn't be a problem.


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## coderunknown (Mar 6, 2010)

maximus said:


> Well the discussion converges to the fact the Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz B.E  is very hot running processor and it needs to have a after-market cooling system.
> 
> So whats the economic solution to this problem? What should be the cooling system i need to get? Or do i need to change to some other phenom processor which don't have this problem?
> 
> ...



ok change these:

Motherboard: ECS A785GM-M @ 4.8k
PSU: Seasonic 380W

but if u plan on gaming in 24" monitor, won't u need a graphics card? seriously at such huge monitor, gaming at 1024 X 768 is no fun. if u not into gaming at all, get the Asus board. else get something like HD5670 512Mb by sacrificing 2Gb ram.

& for CPU Cooler, look at Scythe Katana 3 for ~1.6-1.7k


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## maximus (Mar 7, 2010)

I was reading about Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P . Will it be better to consider it over ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO since both are of almost same price? My dealer is saying thats the best motherboard for phenom 2 x4 in this range,is it so?

I'm adding Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 Artic Cooling to my system.I think thats the best VFM around rt?  I hope my casual gaming req will be satisfied by this. At-least play all the latest game decently in low settings.

Also Scythe Katana 3 looks interesting than other coolers.How is coolermaster hybrid tx3 which is also of same price range?


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## coderunknown (Mar 7, 2010)

maximus said:


> I was reading about Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P . Will it be better to consider it over ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO since both are of almost same price? My dealer is saying thats the best motherboard for phenom 2 x4 in this range,is it so?
> 
> I'm adding Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 Artic Cooling to my system.I think thats the best VFM around rt?  I hope my casual gaming req will be satisfied by this. At-least play all the latest game decently in low settings.
> 
> Also Scythe Katana 3 looks interesting than other coolers.How is coolermaster hybrid tx3 which is also of same price range?



if u getting a graphics card, i'll suggest u get a cheap mobo below 5k. something like: 
ECS A785GM-M
Biostar TA785G3 HD
MSI 785GM E51
or even Biostar TA790GXB3.

yes the gigabyte is good as it cost 1k lower than the Asus. & considering you getting a graphics card, try get the above mentioned board i suggested, else get the giggy.


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## hellknight (Mar 8, 2010)

This screenshot should clear your doubt
*img696.imageshack.us/img696/3848/40multimedia.th.png

This screenshot shows that Athlon II X4 635 runs almost neck-to-neck with Phenom II X4 940.. and I think that should give almost 90% performance of Phenom II X4 955..

---------- Post added at 12:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 AM ----------

If you plan to add a graphics card to your system, then I suggest you opt for 790 GX chipset instead of 785G.. it gives more performance than the 785G chipset.. just see the Toms hardware comparison of the both chipsets.


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## als2 (Mar 8, 2010)

get athlon x4 and if u r getting phenom i suggest to get i5 lot better than phenom


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## pulsar_swift (Mar 8, 2010)

Athlon II X4 is nothing but a Phenom II X4 with L3 cache disabled, as per what i watched on youtube.

When spending 8K on X4 955 and again buying a CPU cooler for it @ 1.5-2K, I think one should go for the core i5 @ 9.8K

This makes Athlon II X4 sheer VFM.


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## coderunknown (Mar 8, 2010)

pulsar_swift said:


> Athlon II X4 is nothing but a Phenom II X4 with L3 cache disabled, as per what i watched on youtube.
> 
> When spending 8K on X4 955 and again buying a CPU cooler for it @ 1.5-2K, I think one should go for the core i5 @ 9.8K
> 
> This makes Athlon II X4 sheer VFM.



+1. its better spend in i5 rather than X4 955 or 965. or if 1 like OC, better get X2 555 or even 550. it'll unlock to minimum X3 B55 or B50.


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## maximus (Mar 8, 2010)

Thanks for all your suggestion..

So from the whole thread I can easily read that i5 is better than highly hot running Phenom II X4.

Now after hearing all these i'm thinking in this way

Intel minimal config: i5 750 + Gigabyte mobo = 9.9k + 7.2k =  17.1k

AMD phenom minimal config: Phenom II X4 955 + Heat Sink + ECS Mobo= 7.9k + 1.5k +4.8k= 14.2k( -2.9k from intel config)

AMD Athlon x4 config: Athlon X4 630 + ECS Mobo = 5k + 4.8k = 9.8k ( -7.3k! from Intel and 4.4 k! from phenom)

And after all these we are seeing only around 20% diff from intel config which wont be really noticeable for an user unless we play heavy games rt?. I think its better to go for X4 which is really value for money and wont have any heart ache if i want to totally scrap my CPU.

Hey Sam one more question.How much is Seasonic 380W? Is there any other best replacement if i dont get this brand? What about VIP gold or something? i'm looking for a <2k psu.


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## coderunknown (Mar 8, 2010)

maximus said:


> Thanks for all your suggestion..
> 
> So from the whole thread I can easily read that i5 is better than highly hot running Phenom II X4.
> 
> ...



well u either opt for 955 + any 785G mobo. nt damn cheap but below 5k mobo. don't buy any heatsink & test if temp high. if not then keep using, if high, lower the core voltage. then check again. chances are when core voltage lowered, temperature wil come down a lot. say 10degree certainly.

now you may either way opt for Phenom II X2 555. & try unlock it. chances are it'll unlock. i can assure you, cores wil be unlock. atleast to X3. so you may opt for X2 555 BE as well to reduce overall cost.

ok so finally its turn for PSU, for PSU i wil suggest you get the Gigabyte 460W. its good. or FSP Saga II 400W @ 2k-2.3k, if u prefer 100% silence. Gigabyte is also silent but still a low humming sound can be heard. many don't prefer VIP or Zebronics as they local brand.

so the total saved money you may instead opt for a better mobo. like Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. for alternate to ECS, Biostar TA785G3 HD @ 4.3k is good as it comes with 128Mb DDR3 sideport. so it'll give a few more FPS in games, if you try them out.

---------- Post added at 11:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 PM ----------

oops forget reply, Seasonic 380W wil cost 2.7-2.9k. but better than all sub 3k PSU like Corsair CX400W. totally silent & very much efficient.


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