AMD Phenom II 955 build

[bleach_extreme_fps]

Hey all.

Has anyone built a gaming rig using the phenom II 955 cpu?

 

If so I would like to know what mobo you used and what cpu cooler

 

Oh and I also would like to know your opinions on

if the phenom II 955 is better than the intel quad cores

[TheConqueror]

The Phenom II 955 completely owned the Core 2 Quad 9550 and the 9650 in many tests

[The Smith]

The Phenom II 955 completely owned the Core 2 Quad 9550 and the 9650 in many tests

 

In gaming it also beat the i7 920 in many instances due to its higher clock.

 

Depending on your budget, the MSI 790FX-GD70 and the Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P are great motherboards. A bit cheaper you have the UD4P.

 

As for the cooler, the best will be one that fits the i7. They also fit on AMD rigs, it's just that The s1366 coolers are far more superior to the previous generation. The price comes with the increased performance though. A cheap and still effective solution would be something along the lines of a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 or 1284.

 

Good luck

[Glow of fire]

Heck if you're going gaming, use a C2D. They are the best for gaming. Crysis plays far better on a 4.5Ghz C2D than a 3.5Ghz C2Q. If you want a quad core, then you must want to do something CPU intensive. Or play FSX(in which case, you'll want an i7).

 

If you want to do something CPU-intensive, then get an intel C2Q. They school AMD. If you want to do gaming, then get a C2D. And OC it to the extreme. That will school just about anything.

 

As a consumer, look for the best bang for your buck and your needs. That's with intel atm. Wait for AMD to come out with something better, because right now, all they're good with is the ATI GPU's. And even the GTX 295 has kicked them in the pants there.

 

Basically, games generally only use 2 cores max. and if they use more, they use like 5%-10%. Which doesn't justify getting 30% less clocking out of the quad core. Get a dual core, they hit the sweet spot for gaming.

 

EDIT: I see you already have a dual core. OC that to the max, and spend money on a Gfx card, you'll be pretty unhappy when you see a 4% improvement in framerate with the P2 955.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Glow of fire

[IVIYTH0S]

Heck if you're going gaming, use a C2D. They are the best for gaming. Crysis plays far better on a 4.5Ghz C2D than a 3.5Ghz C2Q. If you want a quad core, then you must want to do something CPU intensive. Or play FSX(in which case, you'll want an i7).

 

If you want to do something CPU-intensive, then get an intel C2Q. They school AMD. If you want to do gaming, then get a C2D. And OC it to the extreme. That will school just about anything.

 

As a consumer, look for the best bang for your buck and your needs. That's with intel atm. Wait for AMD to come out with something better, because right now, all they're good with is the ATI GPU's. And even the GTX 295 has kicked them in the pants there.

 

Basically, games generally only use 2 cores max. and if they use more, they use like 5%-10%. Which doesn't justify getting 30% less clocking out of the quad core. Get a dual core, they hit the sweet spot for gaming.

 

EDIT: I see you already have a dual core. OC that to the max, and spend money on a Gfx card, you'll be pretty unhappy when you see a 4% improvement in framerate with the P2 955.

AND detected!

 

Btw you can get a triple core phenom II cheaper than a c2d, it is better too.

nvidia has physx, and the support growing faster than even I anticipated, thus anything with it really takes a toll on an ati gpu.

Edited May 11, 2009 by IVIYTH0S

[uneedav8]

You will have no regrets with a AMD 955 build, I just put one together and love it. I went with the Gigabyte MA-790FXT MB. I would get this one or the MSI. My last build was a DFI X58 and i7 and I still think this AMD X4 rocks. Just look up AMD 955 reviews and you will see how well it does in high res gaming.

[uneedav8]

You will have no regrets with an AMD 955 build, I just put one together and love it. I went with the Gigabyte MA-790FXT MB. I would get this one or the MSI. My last build was a DFI X58 and i7 and I still think this AMD X4 rocks. Just look up AMD 955 reviews and you will see how well it does in high res gaming.

[SAJBAMA]

Heck if you're going gaming, use a C2D. They are the best for gaming. Crysis plays far better on a 4.5Ghz C2D than a 3.5Ghz C2Q. If you want a quad core, then you must want to do something CPU intensive. Or play FSX(in which case, you'll want an i7).

 

Basically, games generally only use 2 cores max. and if they use more, they use like 5%-10%. Which doesn't justify getting 30% less clocking out of the quad core. Get a dual core, they hit the sweet spot for gaming.

 

Thats quite true and yet it is not.Right now Duals are the mainstream,and for gaming an e8400 4.5ghz is ok,but will it be ok in a year?(i dont know,i think nobody does,but bet that more games like crysis are coming)We start to see the first games that use 4 cores.(GTA 4-ok it uses the quad mainly because its a crappy unoptimized xbox360 port,but to the end customer only the performance matters and its better with the quads.)

This is a great article on quad cores in games http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-...pu,2280-10.html and here is a good dual vs quad benchmark http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-248327_10_0.html .Quads an Duals cant be compared clock to clock.The choice depends a lot on what you do second after gaming.There is about 25% increase with moving from a dual to tripple which means the tripple core phenom would be the best gaming value for the money cpu,i would get the AMD Phenom II 720 TRIPLE X3 Black Edition.