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Upgrading 7750+..but to what?

Nickl245

Nickl245

Nickl245

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Joined
4 Dec 2010
Posts
113
Hey all, seeking your expertise :)
I figured my pc is getting a little behind since it's now a good few years since I purchased it. (Amd athlon 7750+be 2.7ghz dual-core, no clocking, 6gb average ram,win7 64, 9800gt, (the next upgrade probably next year).

But yeah, my 7750 has been a faithful servant these past years but it's time to upgrade as Black Ops, whilst badly optimised has shown me a glimpse of what could be to come with new games and I don't like it.

Anyway, I figure I'll stay with an AMD processor as I dont really want to shell out on a new motherboard at the moment and from what I hear Intel switch to new pins every 3 months, plus if I wait for the 'sandy bridge' I probably won't have the liquidity to buy a new graphics card any time soon.

My first question would be about amd2/3 compatibility. As my motherboard (Asus M3N78 PRO, nforce 720a chipset) is an AMD2+ socket board, I will be able to fit most/all of the AM3 processors right? Any compatibility issues there or will it run fully and hasslefree?

I also ask if anyone has any experience of this mobo/bios, I figure I'll need to upgrade/flash the BIOS, any inherent danger in this or should I just download the latest drivers from ASUS and go at it?

Are quad-cores inherently faster than dual-cores, or just better at multitasking? I.e. a 2.5ghz quad-core, would that take a dump on my current processor?

Finally and most importantly, what options do I have in upgrading?
I was looking at This hex core but I have no idea if it's compatible (it says it's AM3) or future-proof, seemingly it has great reviews, but for all I know there's another, better choice out there that will last me longer.

I don't care too much about overclocking, but I might look into it, probably on the wrong forum not to! I want something that'll last me a good while before it becomes a bottleneck and run the latest games well. Budget is around £150~, could go higher if it's something that really gonna set my computer up for a good while.

Input much appreciated, thanks for reading!!:D
Nick.


Motherboard CPUZ: http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6347/64381240.jpg
 
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I would look at the Phenom II X4 965 for around £120.It seems the Phenom II X4 965 has risen in price at OcUK. However,an Athlon II X3 445 or 450 can be had for around £60 too. However,both these CPUs are quite expensive at OcUK too.

You can also get an OEM AM2+ Phenom II X4 940 for under £80 if you look around although you will need to get a heatsink for this.

What PSU do you have BTW??
 
Out of interest, are you running the stock cooler on the current processor, since its a black edition you can change the multiplier for extra speed, just wonder if you have considered this, try and get it to 3Ghz and see if any improvements are visible.
 
Yeah it's a stock cooler I'm pretty sure. I'll have a look, is the multiplier in the bios?

Thanks for the compatibility list! Would have been enraging to buy an incompatible processor.

I think a large part of black ops running poorly is the fact im on a dual-core and it's optimised for quads apparently so it might just be worth upgrading for the sake of it.

The power supply seems to be an Atrix 800w (it said this in red text on the sticker) unit, which seems better than I thought in terms of wattage :).

Would you in this case recommend a Phenom x4 965 as the best or are there superior options on the list? I assume the base speed of 3.4 is increased quite easily for a bit if it's a black edition?
 
Yes the multiplier is in the BIOS.

I understand what your saying about the game but I know people running dual core intel processor who have zero problems, granted they are all above 3Ghz but that should be possible using your current setup providing temperatures are within limits.

You could download coretemp and let us know what they state.

Any Phenom II X3/4 should be great, the extra speed and level 3 cache will help no end if you decide to upgrade. Some people are hitting 4Ghz from Phenom IIs on this forum.
 
Wow 4ghz would be obscenely fast, although I probably won't venture that hard for fear of blowing everything up, I'll get coretemp and figure out some temperatures and speeds and post back and see if it helps at all :).

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
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Nickl245 said:
Wow 4ghz would be obscenely fast, although I probably won't venture that hard for fear of blowing everything up, I'll get coretemp and figure out some temperatures and speeds and post back and see if it helps at all :).

Thanks for the advice guys.
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What speed memory do you? and in what modules.
 
My Ram is 2 sticks of 1gb and 2 sticks of 2gb.
2X DDR2 1024mb 400MHz PC2-6400 Corsair -salvaged from an older pc
2X DDR2 2048mb 333MHz PC2-5300 Crucial - got fairly recently
According to the Timings thing on CPU-Z the DRAM freq. is 350Mhz, I think my timing thing is 5-5-5-18, if you figure that out by reading downwards on CPU-Z with CAS timing etc.

You think the different modules could be slowing it down or causing issues with Black Ops? Most other games run quite well, l4d2 pulls 60-80, CS can pull 100 etc.


Would the PSU above be useful for the quad-core cat-the-fifth? I thought 800w I have would be enough to run it, or is my PSU getting on a bit?
 
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Nickl245 said:
You think the different modules could be slowing it down or causing issues with Black Ops? Most other games run quite well, l4d2 pulls 60-80, CS can pull 100 etc.
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No, I just wanted to know to see what avenues you have open to you in terms of overclocking.

You had any look on getting the core temps?
 
Yeah I had a go at changing the multiplier to 13.5 (x210) for 2.83Ghz, at ~40C but it hasn't really made much difference, still between 30-50fps with frequent stuttering, I'll try raising it up a bit further. Went up to 42C when playing Black Ops.

Whats the ballpark of the threshold for heat, or is clocking more to do with not crashing?
 
Nickl245 said:
Yeah I had a go at changing the multiplier to 13.5 (x210) for 2.83Ghz, at ~40C but it hasn't really made much difference, still between 30-50fps with frequent stuttering, I'll try raising it up a bit further. Went up to 42C when playing Black Ops.

Whats the ballpark of the threshold for heat, or is clocking more to do with not crashing?
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42 is fine for that chip, max temp is rated at 73 according to AMD. See here obivously just upping the multiplier and playing blacks ops does not make the overclock "stable" over programs will stress test your machine, best to see the overclocking and cooling section if you intend on overclocking this chip.
 
Really Cat? It's been fine so far (think I bought in Summer 2008), but I'll check out some reviews and things, although in all likelihood I'll probably grab one of those Antec units when I upgrade the gfx card in Spring just to be safe :).

Im using 'AI Overclock' on the BIOS and it's at 2.97Ghz (220x17.5multi i think) and 41C at the moment. I'll give this a try.
 
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Yes, whoops! my bad.

That second overclock actually made a fairly huge difference!
Went from 30-50 to 40-80 fps and the game didn't stutter at all!

I still intend to get a more powerful processor very soon (probably the phenom x4 965 as cat suggested :)) as I feel the increase can be greater and I'll be sure to get another black edition so I can come back here when COD: Space Marines is released and have you guys help me out again!

Thanks Itek and Cat. Great help :D

Core temp recorded a max temp at this speed of 46C while playing Blops, which means there probably even more room for improvement!

Any ideas on proper cooling fans?
 
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Glad it helped, of course always nice to upgrade but every little helps.

If it crashes you may need to increase the voltage (vcore) as for cooling, you can purchase decent case fans or a better cooler, they are many good ones available, take a look on the site.
 
Yeah who knew 270~Mhz could make such a difference?!

It started lagging immensely when I first started steam, but I guess that was just it adjusting or something.

Thanks.
 
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