Are dual core phenom IIs any good still

[almoststew1990]

A few years ago I built my parents a PC around a Phenom II x2 545. It wouldn't unlock to a x3 or x4, but it has been sat happily and neglected at 3.7GHz for the past four years (and I'm pleasantly surprised that even with 4 years of dust it's still idling at 31c!). But My parents are now requesting a new PC as theirs is slow.

However I'm thinking that if the CPU and motherboard is still fine for Chrome, Youtube and Word, I could do a clean install of Windows 7 (they're on XP now), up the RAM from 2 to 4GB and add an SSD for a lot less of their money.

I might as well put the specs too:

ASRock 760GM-GS3
Callisto Phenom II x2 545 @3.7GHz
2GB DDR3 1600
500GB HDD

So is the Phenom still good enough?

 

[Kelt]

A few years ago I built my parents a PC around a Phenom II x2 545. It wouldn't unlock to a x3 or x4, but it has been sat happily and neglected at 3.7GHz for the past four years (and I'm pleasantly surprised that even with 4 years of dust it's still idling at 31c!). But My parents are now requesting a new PC as theirs is slow.

However I'm thinking that if the CPU and motherboard is still fine for Chrome, Youtube and Word, I could do a clean install of Windows 7 (they're on XP now), up the RAM from 2 to 4GB and add an SSD for a lot less of their money.

I might as well put the specs too:

ASRock 760GM-GS3
Callisto Phenom II x2 545 @3.7GHz
2GB DDR3 1600
500GB HDD

So is the Phenom still good enough?

A CPU is good enough if it does what you want it to do a a fast speed.

I ran an OC'd Q6600 for 6 years+ because it was fast enough at running the OS and gaming.

I changed it this year for a hexcore because it simply wasn't fast enough (at gaming) any more.

I guess if all your parents are doing is what you say, then that CPU should be quick enough.

I'd try for 6-8GB of ram though. I don't believe 4GB is enough these days.

 

[Robert_G]

It's still plenty for desktop use. They will see a big improvement with an SSD and more ram.

 

[Caracus2k]

An SSD, 4 - 8gb memory and a more modern OS with a clean install will do wonders for a setup like that definite no need for a new motherboard and PCU for their type of usage,

 

[humbug]

My Mother is still running my now ten year old Brisbane Athlon 64 X2 on Win 7, for general use it still feels capable, its snappier than her modern Pentium Laptop.

 

[Doug73458]

I really like the old athlon chips, got an old one I run a linux distro on... no issues at all. Just needed to up the ram a lil, tempted to put a small ssd in it

 

[Jarrastafari]

I find my Phenom II 550 black edition (unlocked to 3 core, oc to 3.6) is lacking in any OS later than Win 7 and thats even with aero disabled. It's a literal slideshow (less than 10fps) in modern games such as BF4 and can just about give playable performance in some older games (FFXIV at the most, low settings, low FPS).

As others suggest a SSD may improve this. Hope this helps

 

[Scougar]

If all you are doing is that, then that setup is MORE than adequate.

It's only really if you are doing encoding/decoding on the fly, video work, and playing games that it really is important to keep up with tech.