Phenom II X6 1045T good buy?

Nuclear Fusion · 26 Aug 2012 at 17:56

Ok, it seems that this thread has come to life, but if I was to go for an X4, what motherboard would be good for around £45? I've normally used Intel so I really don't know much at all about AMD sockets and chipsets. It seems that the Phenom II X4 BE's are fairly similar overall to the i3 2120/2100, so it might just come down to which has the better motherboard features/quality for the price. He won't be back until September so hopefully Intel will have released the IB i3's to help give more options (though we all know that the expected release date and the actual release date can be many months apart...)

DeanV255 · 26 Aug 2012 at 17:58

Martini1991 said:
I wouldn't take any of the CPU's, I'd go second hand for an i5 at 110 if I was budget constrained.

Dean, it's impressive you managed to get a Phenom II 965BE half a decade ago when they launched 3 years ago (August 2009)

Apologies this is correct, i got mine in November 2009 after saving up for my base computer that i've build it from now. I have corrected my statement. I should really proof read my comments better ha.

Martini1991 · 26 Aug 2012 at 17:59

Nuclear Fusion said:
Ok, it seems that this thread has come to life, but if I was to go for an X4, what motherboard would be good for around £45? I've normally used Intel so I really don't know much at all about AMD sockets and chipsets. It seems that the Phenom II X4 BE's are fairly similar overall to the i3 2120/2100, so it might just come down to which has the better motherboard features/quality for the price. He won't be back until September so hopefully Intel will have released the IB i3's to help give more options (though we all know that the expected release date and the actual release date can be many months apart...)

Upgrade path is in favour of 1155 though, no one can deny that.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:00

Nuclear Fusion said:
He would be using my current graphics card (HD 6850)

Ah,OK then. I use mine with an HD5850 1GB - even overclocked by around 30% the CPU seems fine with many games I have tested.

The main reason I have a Core i3 2100 is as I use a modified Shuttle G2 case,with a mini-ITX motherboard,and the lower TDP does help.

The A10 does appear to do better in lightly threaded benchmarks than older AMD CPUs though:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-5800k-a8-5600k-trinity-apu,3241-6.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-5800k-a8-5600k-trinity-apu,3241-7.html

The iTunes and Acrobat X results are single threaded and supposedly,Turbo Core was not fully engaging due to the pre-release BIOS on the motherboard.

OTH,we won't know how it does with discrete cards until it is released and the Core i3 2100 does have that performance now.

TBH,I have a couple of mates who have HD5850 and HD6870 cards too and the AMD CPUs. One had an Athlon II X3 at around 4GHZ with an HD5850 too and TBH,in terms of gameplay I would say it was very similar,although I have not compared framerates,so this is just my subjective opinion. I would say a Phenom II X4 965BE should in reality produce similar framerates overall to my Core i3 2100 and is a decent amount cheaper(under £75).

However,in both our cases,we do hope to upgrade to something faster perhaps in the next year,as we replace our graphics cards. I do think Intel does have a safer upgrade path for gaming ATM though with the Core i5 CPUs.

Nuclear Fusion · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:04

Martini1991 said:
Upgrade path is in favour of 1155 though, no one can deny that.

Yes, that is a very good point and certainly it would be a big benefit if I was the buyer. My friend however currently has an ancient Windows XP computer with 512mb Ram etc. so I don't think he's the type to be upgrading. Intel will probably have changed sockets a good few times before he'll be upgrading tbh.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:05

Nuclear Fusion said:
Ok, it seems that this thread has come to life, but if I was to go for an X4, what motherboard would be good for around £45? I've normally used Intel so I really don't know much at all about AMD sockets and chipsets. It seems that the Phenom II X4 BE's are fairly similar overall to the i3 2120/2100, so it might just come down to which has the better motherboard features/quality for the price. He won't be back until September so hopefully Intel will have released the IB i3's to help give more options (though we all know that the expected release date and the actual release date can be many months apart...)

If you are looking at socket AM3+ I would look at this motherboard which uses the midrange 970 chipset:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI

Not the best for overclocking due to a 4 phase VRM although it is not locked down,but has 2 USB3.0 and 6 SATA3.0 ports.

On the Intel side,the B75 motherboards are great value IMHO, but have virtually no overclocking options(basically no difference in practice to the AMD motherboard).

Nuclear Fusion · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:37

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
If you are looking at socket AM3+ I would look at this motherboard which uses the midrange 970 chipset:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI

Not the best for overclocking due to a 4 phase VRM although it is not locked down,but has 2 USB3.0 and 6 SATA3.0 ports.

On the Intel side,the B75 motherboards are great value IMHO, but have virtually no overclocking options(basically no difference in practice to the AMD motherboard).

Hmm strange how only one PCI-e X16 slot has the little clip thingy, it looks like the old style version as well.

And I'll probably look for a B75 motherboard, I'm guessing it's the 3rd gen equivalent of H61, like Z77 is with Z68?

humbug · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:41

Martini1991 said:
You said it twice that they recommended the FX4 over the i3.
When they didn't.

I quoted what you said which was incorrect, the personal opinion however I agree with, but that's not what you said Toms did as the Phenom II wasn't in any of the price brackets or an honourable mention.

You said ;

Yet you're saying it's no big deal when you're giving information that's wrong.

I fully agree with "It's their money" which is why my initial post was well rounded and full of unbiased information.

There are a lot of if's and but's underlying gaming i3 vs x4. ignoring them the i3 makes absolute sense. knowing the full picture paints a very different one, all of which you know.

Those if's and but's are now in this thread brush stroke for brush stroke, now he can make an informed decision.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:49

Nuclear Fusion said:
Hmm strange how only one PCI-e X16 slot has the little clip thingy, it looks like the old style version as well.

And I'll probably look for a B75 motherboard, I'm guessing it's the 3rd gen equivalent of H61, like Z77 is with Z68?

One slot is PCI-E 2.0 16X electrical and is meant for graphics cards,and the other is PCI-E 2.0 4X electrical.

ATX B75 motherboards will be around £60 to £70,although the mATX ones are around £50 to £60. The B75 has one SATA3.0 port and 4 USB3.0 ports.

Nuclear Fusion · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:55

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
One slot is PCI-E 2.0 16X electrical and is meant for graphics cards,and the other is PCI-E 2.0 4X electrical.

ATX B75 motherboards will be around £60 to £70,although the mATX ones are around £50 to £60. The B75 has one SATA3.0 port and 4 USB3.0 ports.

Hmm, still strange that a 4X PCI-e slot wouldn't have the clip, since most motherboard still have one (4X still provides enough bandwidth for many cards). Kinda weird that they would leave it as a full length X16 slot (implying the use of a second graphics card) but not include the clip for one. Not that it really matters much, because he's mainly only playing Minecraft so a 6850 is probably overkill tbh (but it makes for a convenient way to sell it

)

Davedree · 26 Aug 2012 at 19:38

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
If you are looking at socket AM3+ I would look at this motherboard which uses the midrange 970 chipset:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI

Not the best for overclocking due to a 4 phase VRM although it is not locked down,but has 2 USB3.0 and 6 SATA3.0 ports.

Actually its 4+1 but it needs a vrm cooler ideally

On the Intel side,the B75 motherboards are great value IMHO, but have virtually no overclocking options(basically no difference in practice to the AMD motherboard).

humbug · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:00

For Intel 2011 socket, what about this one for £56 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2307 <- looks nice that IMHO

For AMD Phenom II, this one for £53 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2046 (with free game)

For AMD Llano, this one @ £42 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-529-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2058
(free game again)

Nuclear Fusion · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:05

humbug said:
For Intel 2011 socket, what about this one for £56 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2307 <- looks nice that IMHO

For AMD Phenom II, this one for £53 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-385-GI&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2046 (with free game)

For AMD Llano, this one @ £42 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-529-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2058
(free game again)

£56 for a 2011 board would be great value indeed

Looks like a good little board.

humbug · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:08

I'm sure the Intel guys can tell you if its any good, i'm no expert on Intel Boards, but yeah, it looks like a good piece to me for its money.

Martini1991 · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:09

That's socket 1155 not 2011.

humbug · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:13

Martini1991 said:
That's socket 1155 not 2011.

Damn it, i'm sure i searched socket 2011. i'll have another look, they can't be that expensive.

Edit... yeah no joy there... and stuff that lol, what's a good alternative to a socket 2011 that will fit the i3? Is that board any good or not?

I know what's what with AMD but not so much with Intel. For the Phenom the Gigabyte 970A-DS3 is the best deal...

Martini1991 · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:47

Not sure how you can be anti Intel when you know nothing about them and their products given by your lack of knowledge.

Socket 2011 mobo's are expensive because they're the enthusiast/premium platform, the platform that AMD can't touch because there are no products that can compete (Except maybe the 3820, but that's more a stop gap for people to go hex SB-E or Ivy-E while having the board now)

Socket 2011 don't take i3's like the 2100 etc.
You want Socket 1155 as that takes the i3, like the board you posted.

humbug · 26 Aug 2012 at 21:02

Martini1991 said:
Not sure how you can be anti Intel when you know nothing about them and their products given by your lack of knowledge.

Socket 2011 mobo's are expensive because they're the enthusiast/premium platform, the platform that AMD can't touch because there are no products that can compete (Except maybe the 3820, but that's more a stop gap for people to go hex SB-E or Ivy-E while having the board now)

Socket 2011 don't take i3's like the 2100 etc.
You want Socket 1155 as that takes the i3, like the board you posted.

Martin, give it up for goodness sake :rolleyes:

i have an Intel rig in the house so i know exactly what they are like, i am not anti Intel

I asked if the particular board i linked is any good, so is it or not? If you don't know just say so.

Martini1991 · 26 Aug 2012 at 21:21

Hmm, calling me by my first name.

Davedree · 26 Aug 2012 at 22:05

U love it Martin