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Help Please with AMD 6000+

Soldato
Joined
29 Apr 2007
Posts
4,841
Location
London
Hi, Im looking at the 6000+, I like its price tag :D

Should I get it as my case is allready quite hot (i have a single core @2.2ghz) or should i get a slower clocked one so the heat is less.

Also will the supplied heatsink be good enough.

I cannot do any overclocking as my mobo doesnt allow it.

Thanks, Ross
 
What is the board? What cooling do you have?

I'd imagine the X2 5400+ Black Edition should be out in the UK soon (unlocked multiplier), have you got the option to change that?
 
What case are you using?

I have a 6000+ (the old 125w version) and i had trouble with over heating issues with the stock fan unfortunately, on a hot day the temp would reach over 80c and shutdown :( I've now changed stock HSF to a Artic Cooling Freezer 64 and i've never exceeded 50c under load.

So in short i would consider using a different HSF instead of stock and you should then be ok.

(I'm now awaiting the onslaught of "buy intel" comments :p )
 
Thanks for your helpful comments. They are very helpful.

if i went for intel then i would have to change board and then buy another copy of vista. (so no im not going to)
My pc was a compaq (i know its rubbish) but I have changed most of the parts.

The motherboard is made for them so it isnt really a mainstream one. same with the case.

Its a small case so i would have to choose a smallish HSF
Can anyone recommend one?

Hows this one? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...asa AK-862 CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2)

Im wanting this to be a cheap upgrade for crysis warhead and empire total war
 
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The Brisbane cores are the AMD 65nm (smaller manufacturing process) and run cooler than the earlier Windsor cores (90nm). They do have less cache (512KB per core as opposed to 1024KB per core) but run cool and perform much the same.

The Windsor cores are operating near the maximum range of the silicon and power-draw tends to be quite high.

I'd recommend the Black Edition of the X2 5000+ or X2 5400+ as they use the latest 65nm silicon and have an unlocked multiplier (assuming the Compaq even allows you to change that).
 
The Brisbane cores are the AMD 65nm (smaller manufacturing process) and run cooler than the earlier Windsor cores (90nm). They do have less cache (512KB per core as opposed to 1024KB per core) but run cool and perform much the same.

The Windsor cores are operating near the maximum range of the silicon and power-draw tends to be quite high.

I'd recommend the Black Edition of the X2 5000+ or X2 5400+ as they use the latest 65nm silicon and have an unlocked multiplier (assuming the Compaq even allows you to change that).
The compaq allows you to change nothing :p
 
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Most of the CPUs on sale now are Brisbane cores but generally speaking cache size is the most reliable guide. The clock speeds of Brisbane CPUs are often odd too (like 2.7 Ghz).

The X2 6400+ are all Windsor, the X2 6000+ can be either (more commonly Windsor), most of the others will be Brisbane (the X2 5000+ is always Brisbane, as is the 5400+ Black Edition).

Cache of 512KB x 2 is always Brisbane. Cache of 1MB x 2 is always Windsor.
 
Thank you Tetras, your a great help!

Am i correct in thinking there is an energy efficient edition? If so is this the one OCUK stocks?
 
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From what I am aware of the energy efficient editions end with a 50 and an e, for example 4850e and 4450e but the reality is that any CPU you buy could fall within a lower TDP (which is more likely the newer silicon it is, as the process is refined over-time).

The other editions are not energy efficient per sae but when Brisbane was released many were sold as such when strictly speaking they were not (it was an inherent characteristic of the new 65nm CPUs).

The X2 5000+ Black is guaranteed a newer revision (G2) and from what I've seen is pretty darn power efficient. The X2 5400+ Black should also be this revision. As for the regular models I haven't a clue what they are up to, it is probably a turkey-shoot (and I'm not sure newer is always better in this case, the revisions are variable).
 
So basically i should go with the 5400+?

I cant find the black edition anywhere but i found the 65nm one.

Are you sure the lower cache will be ok?

Basically the choice is between these.

6000+ (too hot)
5400+ (slower less cache)
5400+ black (not sure)
 
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According to the Wiki list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Athlon_64_microprocessors) all the standard (not just Black) Brisbane X2 5400+ are G2, I wouldn't want to vouch for this though.

The cache does hit performance but the clock speed advantage makes it up. The X2 5400+ at 2.8 Ghz is roughly equivalent to a 2.6 Ghz Windsor, maybe a little faster. It should also run quite cool.

You'll also want to confirm that your old Compaq has BIOS support for these CPUs (AM2 has had a shed-load of X2 revisions since release).

Toms 5000+ Black review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-overclocker,1708.html
 
I really wouldn't want to put a high power-draw CPU in that mobo tbh :/

Did you notice the comparative consumption on page 7 of Toms review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-overclocker,1708-7.html

They give 67 Watts for the 5000+ at stock, 75 Watts for 3 Ghz and for the 6000+ Windsor 126 (!!!). That is a massive difference, you can also see that the Black Edition (G2 revision) is slightly (5 watts or so) more efficient than the G1 revision (though differences in silicon could also account for this).

I'm pretty sure (from a quick googlage) that you can get BIOS updates for that mobo, do you know how old it is?
 
I contacted hp and they said it supports all x2's. I dont know whether to beleive them

I bought it from the purple shirt shop around jan 07
 
Brisbane was pretty new at that point so the shipping BIOS probably isn't modern enough to recognise it (whether it'd boot fine anyway, I couldn't say). You'd have to do some digging.

The reality is that the newer Windsor CPUs (like the 6000+) had also only just arrived on the scene, so the BIOS might well need an update in either case.
 
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