Upgrading from x2 6000+

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raoulvaz

Weaksauce
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Aug 2, 2008
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Hi

Well ive had an x2 6000+ for quite a while now along with my 8800GTX, and it has served me quite well. However im finding that in alot of games, i appear to be extremely cpu limited (for example, i regularly underclock the GTX to half of its stock clocks when im not using it, and sometimes i forget to bring it back up when playing games, and i wont notice a major difference until theres like a billion things happening onscreen, even then i just think its lag sometimes) because i game at 1440X900. I was thinking about just going intel, but if i can get a phenom with this motherboard and overclock it, then ill save a bunch of money and it can hold me over for a while until i decide to do a new build.

So basically my question is, what phenom processor would be able to replace my x2 6000+ and show significant improvement in games (perhaps even stress the GTX a tiiiny bit?)? Ive got an asus M2N Sli deluxe, not sure how good it is for overclocking (ive only been able to get my x2 6000+ to about 3250 mhz stable, and i had to get a custom cooler for that to happen) or if it can support the more power hungry phenoms.

Any input or advice would be appreciated, thanks!
 
I would get a new monitor instead. You won't be nearly as CPU bound, and you can put you're 8800 GTX to work. Its overkill for that small resolution.
 
Your mobo will run a Phenom with a BIOS update (I'm not sure which models though, best to check the Asus site) but from what I've seen most AM2 mobos will struggle to overclock a Phenom by a significant amount, so you probably won't see any 'significant' gains over an X2 @ 3.2GHz from such an upgrade unless the game was heavily multi-threaded and takes advantages of quad cores.

JimmiG did an excellent analysis of gaming performance between a stock X2 5600+ (2.9GHz) and a Phenom 9650 (2.3GHz), I suggest you check it out:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1345635

Your X2 @ 3.25GHz is no slouch by any stretch, I'd say you'd have to overclock a Phenom to 3GHz or more before will see any significant (noticeable) gains in gaming performance, which is easily achievable with a BE chip on the latest SB750 mobos, but I'm not so sure its possible with an older AM2 mobo...

I know you'd rather not change platform due to costs, but have you considered a low end C2D? The E5200 costs ~$85 for example and has been known to overclock to 3.6GHz or more fairly easily, and decent overclocking mobos can be found for under $100, so all up its not a lot more than a Phenom BE 9850/9950 anyway.

PS. I nearly forgot, there is a new X2 model out based on the Phenom core, its called the X2 6500 (or 6500+, theres some confusion about the name). Anyway, at stock its only clocked at 2.3GHz and is actually slightly slower than a stock X2 6000+, but early reviewers have overclocked it to 3.3 - 3.4GHz (on top of being ~20% faster per clock than current X2s) so its another option to consider.

However, since its very new there may not be a compatible BIOS available yet, and it may not overclock as well on an AM2 mobo, which is basically the same concern I had with the Phenom quads.

Sorry if this doesn't make your decision any easier, but at least it'll get you slightly better informed in regards to your available options.
 
I'd have to agree with harpoon...

You're older AM2 MB may run a Phenom, but it may not give the you
the same performance as it would on a newer SB750 board...

Also, xBanzai89 makes a good point...

The biggest CPU/GPU in the world will do you no good if it's got nothing to
feed... Lower resolutions will actually impede the performance of your
system in many cases...

Just my 2 cents... ;)
 
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