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**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 12:39 AM

I would get either the Phenom II 920/940 over the 9950. That cpu runs hot, and uses 140w power. Terrible OC'er compared to the phenom II as well.

Personally I really like the X3 720 Black edition, and for 140$, I dont know if you could do any better performance wise for that price.(This will be my new CPU)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103649

Reviews:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...810_am3/17.htm
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid...e=expert&pid=7
http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/am...10-920-p4.html
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/r...X3_720_15.html
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=3512&p=12
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ph...-review-am3/26

IMHO you should not look at either of the cpu's you had in mind at first. It should be between the X3 720/X4 940, the X3 gets my vote. 140$ vs 240$, same over clocking potential, and maybe 5-10% difference in performance. I linked all the conclusions in those reviews so that you can see the value of the X3 720. At 3.8ghz it'll smoke the Phenom 9950 for less money.(9950 cant hit 3.8ghz, maybe 3.1-3.2ghz at most)

PS: Kinda funny but, the other day one of my buddies was about to make the same choice you were, till I spoke to him. He ended up getting the X3 710.(120$) He said he would save the 20$ and OC it himself.

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 12:58 AM

This was my buddies upgrades in the end.

Mobo- I had the wrong one here first, I provided the right link in a later post. sry.
CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103648
RAM- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104074
GPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102803

Came to roughly 300$, including the Ati 4830 GPU. Just over 200$ without.

**VACkillers** · 02-26-2009, 01:49 AM

hey man thanks a lot for the reply i really apreciate it... the only thing is that X3 is for socket AM3 only, i dont think that asus mobo supports AM3 chipset

**HellFox** · 02-26-2009, 02:17 AM

Originally posted by VACkillers View Post

hey man thanks a lot for the reply i really apreciate it... the only thing is that X3 is for socket AM3 only, i dont think that asus mobo supports AM3 chipset

AM3 cpu work fine on AM2 sockets, you just might have to upgrade the bios
but AM2 cpus dont fit into an AM3 socket

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 04:24 AM

I linked a Micro ATX first by accident. Here's the right one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131340

Yes this mobo supports AM3 processors, only ddr-2 ram though. The AM3 processors have a dual memory controller, so they can run ddr2/ddr3.

Here's the CPU support list for the mobo I just linked: http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...roduct=1&os=17

All of the newest CPU's are supported. You do need to update the bios for the X3 720, but it'll work fine to get into windows right away(bios will say unknown cpu), and then you just use the asus update utility on the mobo disk to flash to the new bios. Flashing with this method will be as simple as installing a new driver.

Like I was saying, I went through this 2 days ago with one of my buddies, and everything went smooth as silk.

**Arithrix** · 02-26-2009, 04:43 AM

I'm Sin's friend who just made that upgrade he recommended. I recommend spending the extra 50 bucks, worked out great for me.

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 04:49 AM

Originally posted by Arithrix View Post

I'm Sin's friend who just made that upgrade he recommended. I recommend spending the extra 50 bucks, worked out great for me.

Anything you want to tell him about the performance? He was wondering if he will get 60fps consistently or not. His GPU will be a GTX 260, which is quite a bit faster than the HD4830 you purchased, so what do you think?

**Arithrix** · 02-26-2009, 04:53 AM

Yeah. He'll get top performance in UT3 easy. I get a stable 60 frames with full settings. Runs great.

**VACkillers** · 02-26-2009, 05:03 AM

thanks a lot guys... most awesome.. i was worried that the mobo's wouldn't recognise AM3 chipset...

can you guys give me a run down performance wise on how well UT3 runs... and at what resolutions you guys are running it at...

can get a complete build for $649.14 (which my budget was $650 lmao) i went with the 2.8 X3 chip and 4GB of that kingston ram.

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 05:24 AM

Originally posted by VACkillers View Post

thanks a lot guys... most awesome.. i was worried that the mobo's wouldn't recognise AM3 chipset...

can you guys give me a run down performance wise on how well UT3 runs... and at what resolutions you guys are running it at...

can get a complete build for $649.14 (which my budget was $650 lmao) i went with the 2.8 X3 chip and 4GB of that kingston ram.

Well I don't have mine yet, but that's the same one I plan to get. Either that one or the PhenomII 940 Black edition. I dont have 250$ to spend right now, so the X3 720 is looking to be what I'll get most likely. I will let you know soon.

Arthrix was telling me that its constant and often at the 90fps online cap, but I believe he uses v-sync now anyway. It was just a trial run first when he got it. Correct me if I'm wrong Arthrix.

**martinblank** · 02-26-2009, 06:10 AM

Originally posted by VACkillers View Post

can get a complete build for $649.14 (which my budget was $650 lmao) i went with the 2.8 X3 chip and 4GB of that kingston ram.

I don't like triple core CPUs as a lot of programs are programmed to use only 2^n cores. I'd consider intel as well, you would get more CPU horsepower. Especially with Core i7.

**VACkillers** · 02-26-2009, 07:23 AM

yeah i would absolutely go with with an i7 chip if i could afford it, but i just simply cant.. with amd i can get a fairly high performance CPU and fork out the extra money i've saved on the cpu for a very good gfx card instead.

I just need to be able to run UT3 at 1600 resoultion maxed out... at around 60 FPS thats my goal....

Im not sure if i'll go with the X3 myself yet.. as that dual core is not even 100 bucks at already 3.2Ghz, which i could overclock that to 3.6-3.7ghz easierly im thinking. But i would like to know what some ppl are running and what kind of performance they are getting, so i can do a comparrison...

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by VACkillers View Post

yeah i would absolutely go with with an i7 chip if i could afford it, but i just simply cant.. with amd i can get a fairly high performance CPU and fork out the extra money i've saved on the cpu for a very good gfx card instead.

I just need to be able to run UT3 at 1600 resoultion maxed out... at around 60 FPS thats my goal....

Im not sure if i'll go with the X3 myself yet.. as that dual core is not even 100 bucks at already 3.2Ghz, which i could overclock that to 3.6-3.7ghz easierly im thinking. But i would like to know what some ppl are running and what kind of performance they are getting, so i can do a comparrison...

I have the 3.2 6400+BE. The max clockspeed I can get is 3.45ghz, and I get dips as low as 45fps with 2X3870(crossfire). Thats why I'm planning to upgrade to the 720 BE.

Read the reviews I posted. The X3 720 at stock is the equivalent of the e-8400(200$) or the Q-8200. The X3 720 often comes out ahead of its direct intel competitors for 60-70$ cheaper. This CPU can hit 3.8ghz on air. Neither the 9950/6400+ will get to that clockspeed. It's your choice but the X3 720 looks to give the biggest bang for the buck right now.

UT3 uses more than 2 cores, so it will use all 3 for Unreal. Not to mention that it will get you by longer without another upgrade, and that cpu supports ddr-3, so in the future(say 1-2 years) all you would have to do is get an AM3 board when performance starts to suffer. By that time the AM3 boards will probally cost 60-70$ as well.

PS: I could of provided tons more links proving that this CPU is worth every penny, but I figured the first 6-7 were enough. Its pretty much the same story in all the reviews anyway. Most say it is a great upgrade from the AM2 CPU's.

**Sincreator** · 02-26-2009, 11:28 PM

This link may provide you with a bit more insight into what to expect from the 6400+.

http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=659153

The 6400+ will require a NON-stock cooler as well, so that 70-80$ CPU will end up costing you another 30-40$ just for a better than stock cooler(120$ alltogether). Alot of hassle for no reason. The 9950 is a 140w CPU, so it will generate even more heat(since its 4 cores) and OCing wont be easy. You would probally need a non-stock cooler for that one as well. Of course you will need a after market cooler to get the 720 up to 3.4ghz or higher any way, but 3.2-3.4 should be possible with the stock cooler, and a minimal voltage increase.(keeping temps good)

6400+ heat issues:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1283775
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic95212.html

9950 issues:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/36...ng-club-4.html
http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/.../index_2.shtml

X3 720 results:
http://www.forums.wastedgamer.com/vi...hp?f=21&t=3355 (read the pros vs cons and the comments at the end.)
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/t314172.html

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