AMD Phenom X4 9500 vs AMD Phenom II X3 710

[kenmo]

Which would be the better bang for the buck? I'll be using this computer mostly for graphic editing (Corel Painter, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements) and 3D rendering....

Also looking at a new AM3 mobo but will have to have DDR2 support as I already have the ram...


The price is really close for these two cpus...

Thanks kindly

[redwudz]

I would go for the Phenom II, even with 3 cores. The technology is quite a bit more advanced over the older Phenoms. I just pulled a Phenom 9500 out of my HTPC. It performed well enough but was limited for OCing and the speed was decent, but not great. I replaced it with a Phenom II X4 920, easily OC'd to 3.3Ghz and it runs circles around the old 9500. It has the same performance as one of my other computers with a Intel 9300 OC'd to 3.3Ghz.

The correct RAM is important to get the best performance from the Phenom IIs, but RAM is fairly inexpensive at present. I went with OCZ DDR2 1066 RAM. You need to set the RAM voltage properly. Most performance RAM runs at around 2.1 volts and most MBs default to 1.8VDC.

My HTPC Micro-ATX MB is a GA-MA78GM-S2H, but there are lots of newer AM3 MBs. I would recommend the Gigabyte MBs as they seem to work very well with the Phenoms.

[kenmo]

Considering on purchasing this mobo from Newegg

Asus
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131340

Or


Biostar
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138143


Since there are no reviews for the Biostar at Newegg I'm leaning more towards the Asus

[RLT69]

The ASUS motherboard you posted is not an AM3 board.

At Newegg these are the A3 ASUS motherboards

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000200022%2050001315%20107...6178&name=ASUS

If you can afford it go with the ASUS M4A79T board, since it natively supports DDR3 1600.

ASUS is a good line.

[kenmo]

Thanks....actually I would prefer to re-use my DDR2 memory sticks. How about this Asus....

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131362

[Constant Gardener]

If you don't need the extra PCI slots, I would recommend the mATX version - I have a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H. I just use the on-board video and one PCI slot (capture card). It runs flawlessly.

[kenmo]

What cpu are you using? Thanks for th reply & tip...

[Constant Gardener]

I'm using a 5000+ black edition - bought it in a sale a year ago. 2.6 GHz and very overclockable, although usually I don't bother.

[deadrats]

Which would be the better bang for the buck? I'll be using this computer mostly for graphic editing (Corel Painter, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements) and 3D rendering....

Also looking at a new AM3 mobo but will have to have DDR2 support as I already have the ram...


The price is really close for these two cpus...

Thanks kindly

i actually own a phenom 9500 and personally i can't bring myself to recommend this cpu to anyone, it's easily the worst quad core ever made, ever.

now if you were asking about a 9850 vs a X4 720, then i could see my way recommending the older quad core architecture.

as a general rule of thumb, the apps you listed are very well threaded and as such the more cores the better.

having said that, if you are going to be buying a new cpu and motherboard, as you indicated, then i wouldn't be looking at the phenom architecture, i would be looking at one of the lower end penryn based quad cores, such as a Q8200, primarily because they support SSSE and SSE4.1, and SSE4.1 especially is known to give huge performance improvements to cpu's that support it if the app makes use of it. also, the phenoms, both I and II are limited to DDR2 800 in dual channel mode, DDR2 1066 is only available in single channel mode (it's a limitation of the memory controller).

hell, i would even take a dual core E7400 o/c'd to about 3.5ghz over the 9500.

[redwudz]

The 9500 Phenom was one of the first Phenoms. The Phenom II's are a major improvement. When I switched from the 9500 to a Phenom II 920, I had no problems playing BDs or MKVs that wouldn't work with the 9500. And I was able to OC it easily to 3.3Ghz with 4GB of DDR2 1066 RAM. I run the RAM at 946Mhz with no problems. And this was with a older MB. Newer ones should be better.

But I agree, I wouldn't use a 9500 Phenom in a newer setup. I also have a Intel Q9300 OC'ed and running at the same speed. It performs about the same as the Phenom II 920.

[kenmo]

Just curious how would a X4 9600 Agena compare to the X3 710?

Thanks

[kenmo]

Ordered the PhII X3 710 and Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P mobo from Newegg last night.

Looking forward to upgrading.....

[lordsmurf]

How does a Phenom X3 8450 compare? I was looking at picking up a budget system that stocked this CPU. It's would serve as an encoding box on a KVM, nothing special, no games or anything of that nature.

[John]

My HTPC Micro-ATX MB is a GA-MA78GM-S2H, but there are lots of newer AM3 MBs. I would recommend the Gigabyte MBs as they seem to work very well with the Phenoms.

Redwudz. I blow that motherboard up when my Water pump packed in, only used it on my 9950 BE. wich wasnt ment to be compatible. how is it with your phenom !! as i can get one for about £60. Am back to my Asus M3N78-D which was expensive but not that impressive.

Lordsmurf, I believe from what ive read they over clock nicely.

[redwudz]

John, it works good with the Phenom II's. My only complaint is it's a bit lacking on RAM OC'ing and RAM voltage adjustments. If you use 1.8VDC RAM, no problem. But mine is 2.1V, so I don't get full performance from the RAM I have. But it runs just as fast as my Intel 9300 using a Phenom 920, so I'm happy with it.

That MB has been around a while, but If you find it for a good price, I would recommend it. But check to see if there is a bit newer Gigabyte MB for about the same price. You do have to update the BIOS for Phenom II's unless they added the new BIOS to the later versions.

No experience with the X3 Phenom II's, but in general, all the Phenom II's are a very big improvement over the original Phenoms. And also no experience with the X3 Tolimans such as the 8450 Lordsmurf mentions. But it seems a good economy CPU.

[John]

Chears Redwudz. ive allways been faithfull to AMD. but if i dont see some results with this processor its goodbye. with my last two phenoms I tried 4 differenrt MB's the 9950 be was a difficult one to get a board being 140 watts.
Ive seen newer Gigabyte boards, trying not to get an asus as I think Gigabyte is more over clockable.

[deadrats]

How does a Phenom X3 8450 compare? I was looking at picking up a budget system that stocked this CPU. It's would serve as an encoding box on a KVM, nothing special, no games or anything of that nature.

it's pathetic, all the original phenoms, tri or quad core, are slow beyond belief:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-phenom-athlon,1918-29.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-phenom-athlon,1918-30.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-phenom-athlon,1918-31.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-phenom-athlon,1918-32.html

if you are going to go with a tri-core phenom go with a phenom 2 based tri-core.

the other thing to remember is that if you are going to be using an SSE4 optimized application as your primary encoder, such as the latest version of tmpgenc express, you are better of going with with a core 2 duo:

http://techgage.com/article/amd_phenom_ii_x4_810_x3_720_black_edition/5

if you look for benchmarks around the web, under this application, even a Q8200 is capable of smoking an overclocked X4 810 or a stock X4 940, thanks to the extensive use of SSE4.