The New AMD Building Thread

Just read the last few posts and the "deal" at global isn't all that. LOL. The psu is "sub-standard", the HDD is NOT known for being that good, the memory is ok but nothing special, the mobo is as Russ has just described, and the cpu is NOT the best offered for the money. So don't even second guess your choices thus far.

....gm

 

My sentiments exactly! He's got a very good MB, CPU, Case, PSU and memory. Ain't much left to need! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128341 I seriously like mine! His has almost all the same goodies as mine, but no crossfire, and it's the 780G chipset with HD3300 graphics! It should run great and it's ready for a future Phenom II! For an AMD Man, he's steppin in high cotton! LOL!!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

thought you guys might need something for fun. I'm sure that Russ already knows about this or maybe it was even posted but I'm doing it again. LOL.

AMD Phenon II 940 $219 delivered after promo code:EMCLNML22

...gm

 

Mr. Green, are you putting together a build also or just upgrading your cpu?

 

Nah Fred. It's for the AMD builders if they haven't seen the cpu for sale yet. The only AM2 socket that I have at my disposal is my work computer and that baby isn't getting a $220 cpu on me installed. ROFL. The only AMD stuff around my house right now is 939 socket and unfortunately the AM2 won't fit or I'd have already upgraded with or w/o approval.

...gm

edit: for grammar... i'm tired and making simple errors... lol. g-nite ya'll.

 

Oh Ok, didnt know if to get excited for you or not, hey your time will come, the bucks are hard on everyone now a days, unless your one of them CEO's.

 

Some More Good News for AMD Fans
I've just come across the first AM3 chip on sale in the US! They even beat Newegg! Phenom II x4 810 2.6GHz.
http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?affid=305&item=T25945

Check the price!

Russ

 

95W TDP?

 

Sam,
I would hazard a guess, that the Metal Gate Transistors have arrived! The current Phenom II 940 & 920 are 125w. If I remember rightly, your 9550 is 95w and the high dollar Yorkfields are 140w!

May we have a Drum Roll Please! LOL!!

Newegg has one of the new AM3 2.8GHz Phenom II 95w triples for $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

More options for the AM2+ motherboard owners!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Officially, both the Kentsfield and Yorkfield chips are 95W, but while the Kentsfields draw about 95W at peak usage, the Yorkfields barely break 80. It is good to see the power consumption dropped for the Phenom 2s though, as the exorbitant power consumption was one of the biggest setbacks for overclocking. As far as I know, only the QX9770 (and perhaps the QX9650, but certainly not the Q9650) break 130W, along with the i7s and the LGA771 QX9775.

 

Sam,
I can only go by what Intel advertises. It seems to me that when wattage starts being counted by one's, like the 136w QX9750, that the wattage is finally going to be an effective sales tool! Here's what Intel says!

Q9550 95w
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAWQ
Q9650 95w
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB8W
QX9650 130w
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sspec=slan3
QX9770 136w
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAWM
QX9775 150w
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLANY

That's Intel's own spec pages!

Russ

 

The QX9775 sounds about right, but that's a Skulltrail chip, not socket 775. The QX9650 is as I expected, I missed the 6W off the QX9770 (there is no 9750 to my knowledge), but in practice, much like the other 45nm Quads, I don't think it uses quite as much as advertised.

 

Sam,
My bad on the 9750, it is the QX9770! Today, with every watt counting as never before, don't you think that if they drew less power, they would advertise them that way? To my mind, if they could, they would!

Russ

 

They should, but they don't. As I said, the 95W Yorkfields draw more like 80, and the E5200, the 65W competitor to the X2 7750, actually only uses 50W, making it a full half the power consumption of the X2 - I wouldn't have made such a big deal of it otherwise.

 

Sam,
I would have to conclude that there are conditions where these CPUs draw the wattage claimed in the specifications, otherwise I would think they would advertise a considerably lower wattage, given the importance of power consumption these days.

It's all a moot point anyway, as just about everyone here overclocks to begin with. We'll have to wait and see how well the new 95w Phenom IIs do in the next bunch of reviews and tests. One thing's for certain, the New Phenom IIs should use a lot less wattage than the older ones did!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Indeed they should, which will help matters a great deal, but I am still concerned by the level of voltage people are using to get some of these overclocks.

 

A lot depends on the MB Chipset. The nVidia Chipset AM2+ motherboards are capable of decent OCs, but at a voltage of over 1.50v. I think I saw 1.567v at3.7GHz on one in some reviews.

I've finally found a version of AMD Overdrive that works with the x2 7750 "Kuma" AM2+ CPU, and with the barest of know-how, I was able to boot XP up on the computer at 3.4GHz at 1.46v, something it wouldn't do before at 3.3GHz. I did notice one Very Important thing, and that the Overdrive utility is additive! By that I mean it is meant to be used from bone stock settings in the setup. It will show the actual CPU and memory speed, but not the CPU Voltage. It assumes stock settings and starts at 1.325v regardless of what it is really set at in the bios. Fortunately for me, I decided to raise it just a little bit and then checked it with Everest and the actual voltage was 1.49v. Make sure everything is on default settings before using the AMD Overdrive Utility. Tomorrow I am going to set mine to default, boot it up and see what I can do with it! I haven't figured out the ACC yet, but on auto settings in the bios, it won't boot at 3.3GHz at any voltage I would use, but it does if I just raise the CPU to 3.4GHz, leave the ACC on Auto and leave the CPU volts at my current 1.46v with AMD Overdrive! I'm keen to see what I can do with it starting from scratch. You can save the settings and even have the computer start at those settings, so there's a lot of flexibility there! Very Interesting!

Russ

 

Interesting. Are AMD overclocks as dependent on chipset voltage as the Intels? To get an Intel Quad to 4Ghz on the higher end chipsets (X38 and X48) needs a 400+ mV increase in NB voltage, which as I'm sure you're aware, compromises the life of the board significantly.

 

Russ, do you have a link?

TIA

 

Sorry, I was asleep at the switch! LOL!! Forgot the link!
http://elitefreeware.blogspot.com/2008/06/amd-overdrive-beta-211-can-overclock.html

The only thing I'm leaving set in the bios is the DIMM voltage at 1.2v for my Dominators. Everything else is being set to auto! As far as I know it only works with AMD Series 7 (740, 780,790 chipsets).

Best Regards,
Russ