AMD X2 6000+ to Phenom Quad-core???

  • Thread starter Thread starter sicc
  • Start date Start date
sicc said:
Currently I have an AMD X2 6000+ Socket AM2 with this MOBO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128034

Is it possible I can upgrade to a quad core? Unfortunetly I think I
know the answer but I figured I better ask just incase.

Here's the processor I want:

http://www.pcrush.com/prodspec.asp?itemno=129233
Click to expand...

The CPU support list for your board says no so far.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2434

To get some idea of what kinds of boards are supporting Phenom, the
Asus search engine will return all Asus boards that support a given
processor. If I try there, I get this list.

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpu_support_right_master.aspx?type=0&name=
Phenom%209500%20(HD9500WCJ4BGD)%2C2.2GHz%2C95W%2CSocketAM2%2B%2CQuad-Core&SLanguage=en-us

Those boards are all fairly recent, and some have Nvidia chipsets,
while the others are ATI. It is hard to say why older AM2 boards are
not listed, except that maybe their BIOS haven't been updated yet.
And considering the TLB bug in the current generation Phenom, there
really isn't a reason to buy one today. Give them two or three months,
to spin another version, and clear out the channel.

If you've looked at some game results with quad core, at least
two benchmarks revealed a curious result. One core was loaded
to 100%, while the other three ran at 30%. Which does not suggest
that for gaming at least, that a quad core pays off. Two cores,
running 100% and 90%, would be as good. The clock rate on your
6000+ is not too bad, so I'd say for gaming, you are in good
shape.

For multimedia programs, it is possible the loading characteristic
for multi-core capable programs will be more symmetric. In which
case, you could well be better off with a Phenom. But so far,
for gaming, I'm not sure rushing to quad core makes sense.

Paul
 
sicc said:
Currently I have an AMD X2 6000+ Socket AM2 with this MOBO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128034

Is it possible I can upgrade to a quad core? Unfortunetly I think I
know the answer but I figured I better ask just incase.
Click to expand...

It's up to your motherboard manufacturer. I'm also looking to upgrade my CPU
from an AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor to an Phenom quad-core but unfortunately
I can't. The reason I can't right now is that Asus is yet to release a BIOS
upgrade to support one of those babies. I've contacted them and I got an
email claiming that the company is performing the "final tests" but
unfortunately that doesn't mean much. What did Gigabyte said?

On the other hand, if you wait a bit, chances are that you will see the
quad-core Phenom's price drop. That's always a good thing.


Rui Maciel
 
It's up to your motherboard manufacturer. I'm also looking to upgrade my CPU
from an AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor to an Phenom quad-core but unfortunately
I can't. The reason I can't right now is that Asus is yet to release a BIOS
upgrade to support one of those babies. I've contacted them and I got an
email claiming that the company is performing the "final tests" but
unfortunately that doesn't mean much. What did Gigabyte said?
Click to expand...

Asus is pretty good about providing updated bios so long as
a board isn't too old yet (which AM2 boards are not in
generaly). Asus' statement probably means they just want to
do a bit more testing to ensure they have caught as many
bugs as possible before release, that a release may be
coming soon.

The real question is why the focus on a quad core right now,
since so few things can take advantage of quad cores, and in
many uses a single core at higher clock speed is actually
faster than dual cores. Not that I'd buy a single core
today unless it was for a secondary use system and resulting
build price were dirt cheap, but for maximum performance at
most things I feel overclocking an Intel dual-core is the
best option, that if that same processor (otherwise same)
had quad cores it is a bad thing as the addt'l 2 cores add
less to performance than they take away from overclocking
and/or cost-effectiveness as the heat generation is higher.
 
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