What CPU would be best for me?

[mikeo01]

I did recently say I wasn't going to upgrade for cost, but its sank in a bit, the better computer you want the more you got to pay. And for long term it is going to be worth it...

Right, basically for me what CPU is the best?

AMD FX-6100 3.3 Ghz (turbo speed 3.9 Ghz) (£125)
AMD FX-4100 3.6 Ghz (Turbo speed 3.8 Ghz) (£90)
AMD Phenom II x4 960T (£90)

Long term use, best performance for me.

I have an Athlon II x3 at the moment, but I was thinking about going for the 6-core because I don't know if I will see or feel any different from an Athlon to a 4-core Phenom.

Would you say getting the FX is better than the Phenom, I am more thinking the turbo speed and future drivers for it.

Anyones suggestions would be great.

ALSO off topic, but I just want my money back for components,anybody knows where to sell them? I have put them on eBay and Amazon (Made stupid mistake of buying silly components)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you can get a 95W Phenom II X6 1045T for around £90 is seems a decent choice IMHO.

The FX CPUs do need an AM3+ motherboard.

The FX4100 should come with £10 cashback from some retailers and the FX6100 with £15. This means the FX4100 will be around £80.

OcUK are doing it for around £108:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CP-313-AM

With cashback that will be around £93 plus postage.

Amazon actually have the FX6100 for around £105:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005UBNKW...SIN=B005UBNKWO

If they do the cashback it would be around £90.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The FX4100 might be an interesting alternative if you intend to overclock and have a suitable motherboard.

Without the schedular hotfix the FX4100 is generally around 5% to 10% behind a Phenom II X4 955BE in games:

http://ht4u.net/reviews/2011/amd_fx_...ew/index24.php

Uses ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard and HD6950

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-fx...ance-review/10

Uses ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard and GTX580

http://nl.hardware.info/reviews/2382...clancys-hawx-2

Uses ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard and HD5870

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1766/12/

Uses ASUS Crosshair V Formula motherboard and HD6950

In certain games it is closer to a Core i3 2100 or Phenom II X4 980BE.

It does seem to do badly in DiRT3 for some reason and with the hotfix is probably comparable to a Phenom II X4 955BE overall. I suspect it has very similar performance to a Phenom II X4 960T.

However,it has a much lower 95W TDP than the Phenom II X4 955BE. It overclocks quite well and speeds of between 4.2GHZ to 4.6GHZ can be achieved with the stock cooler. You can get up closer to 5GHZ but with a decent aftermarket cooler.

It seems the FX4100 does run cooler than FX6100,FX8120 and FX8150 and consumes far less power when overclocked too. At around £70 to £80 it is actually not that bad IMHO.

[mikeo01]

Wow thanks! Seems very cheap for the FX.

Well if it is comparable to the Phenom with the hotfix, but does run cooler and has a lower TDP, it really has more potential than the Phenom.

Thanks for the links and information, sounds like the FX-4100 is pretty decent for its price then.

Because I use quite a lot of single threaded applications, the higher clock speeds on the FX should be more beneficial then?

I use general programs and games, so really the FX-6100 is a bit of a waste for my personal use?

For £80 I really can't go wrong with the FX-4100, but for general use would a 6-core make any difference performance wise? Or is it really only noticeable when you start going into many applications running at the same time? And photo and video editing?

For arguments sake what would the Phenom offer than the FX-4100? You say the FX-4100 has good overclocking potential, and is as good as the Phenom 955BE with the hotfix. What would the Phenom offer to make it a more attractive choice?

[mikeo01]

Update:

Overclockers have high shipping and VAT, making the FX-6100 about £118.

The FX-6100 on Amazon is the cheapest

Sounds like too good a deal to miss? For £14 for two extra cores worth it?

Basically should I personally look at cores or clock speed for gaming and general use?

My hunger tells me I want the 6-core, but do I really need it

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Are you using the CPU with your current motherboard or getting a new one?? I would say if you are getting a new motherboard your Athlon II X3 445 might have some more potential,especially if you unlock the cores(dependent on motherboard).

If not get the Phenom II X6 1045T 95W version as it would be a drop in replacement for you Athlon II X3 445. Turbo Core will boost the stock clockspeeds to around 3.2GHZ for half the cores in lightly threaded applications and the L3 cache also helps.

The major two kickers for the FX4100 are 95W Phenom II X4 960T BE(has potential to be unlocked to a six core CPU and has decent overclocking ability) and the 95W Phenom II X6 1045T.

However,a 95W Phenom II X6 1045T, will be a tad harder to overclock than a BE - I know the 95W Phenom II X4 1055T could hit upto 4GHZ with decent cooling and a decent motherboard(£70 to £80). I am not sure with the 1045T but it does it does have a 30W lower TDP than a normal Phenom II X6.

Out of interest where did you see one for £90?? Scan have them for around £104 to £108 normally.

At least in games I would consider the FX4100 around 15% behind a similar clocked Phenom II X4 on a core to core basis. For £90 its expensive,but for £80 it seems a decent enough CPU, so at 4.2GHZ you are Phenom 965BE or 970BE level performance.

What would I get??

I say the Phenom II X6 is a safer choice and with a bit overclocking would be fine for a few years.

The FX4100 is more riskier - but if you are willing to tweak it is an interesting preposition.

[mikeo01]

Well I will be getting a new motherboard yeah. Was going to get the MSI 870S-C45, but it is now out of stock

And I think the cores on this Athlon is faulty, I unlocked the 4th core, and had artefacts and incorrect computing. Disabled all other cores except the 4th core too check, no difference.

And you are saying that the Phenom is a good choice and will replace my Athlon, but then I would have to overclock it manually wouldn't I? The turbo boost on the FX-6100 is more of an automatic feature? Correct me if I am wrong.

But like you said the FX-6100 is a 95W, but with future drivers and optimisation for it it'll be a very decent CPU?

Yeah the Phenom may be better in some areas, but how about the FX-6100 (£105)?

The Phenom II x6 1045T is stated at 2.7 Ghz, will need quite a lot of overclocking and tweaking, which means I will need good cooling to get it to a decent clock speed.
Whereas the FX-6100 is already at 3.3 Ghz, so getting it to 3.9 Ghz is a lower overclock leap, meaning the stock or a decent aftermarket cooler can handle the heat much better?

Wouldn't the Phenom be pushed for years, meaning more likely to failure or overheating?

And the Phenom II x4 I saw was £92 on Dabs if that is what you are asking

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I can't see a Phenom II X6 on Dabs??

This is the CPU I was talking about:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-p...oogle+shopping

The Phenom II X6 1045T runs at 3.2GHZ for three cores or 2.7GHZ for six cores. It basically has the first version of the Turbo Core technology found in the FX6100.

I get your point with the FX6100,despite the decrease in IPC,it has higher clockspeeds. The fact is none of these benchmarks are with the Windows 7 scheduler update which is supposed to help games a few percent(the Windows 8 update will add another few percent AFAIK).

After looking at the benchmarks again,the Phenom II X6 1055T and FX6100 seem to trade blows with the Phenom II X6 1055T probably better overall for games(the Phenom II X6 1045T will be virtually the same).

With regards to overclocking both will ideally need a beefier motherboard like the 970 ones(£70 to £80) for overclocking as the TDP and power consumption does rise quite a bit for both six core CPUs as you overclock and probably a better heatsink.

The FX4100 will be a bit better in this respect from what I gather with the motherboard you are looking at and seems to be better with stock cooling. However,most of the overclock results I have seen are with the more expensive 970 motherboards:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1139726/a...er-owners-club

This guy managed to do fine on an 880G based motherboard(similar phase arrangement to the 870S):

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?t=18354907

I suspect if you keep to stock voltage overclocks you should be OK with the 870S.

However,have you considered two other possibilities??

1.)Get one of the 970 motherboards and overclock the Athlon II X3. A £15 to £20 heatsink should do the job. There is also still the possibility of stable core unlocking?? Why? It is also dependent on the motherboard. The Asus ones seem a bit better for core unlocking and the Gigabyte ones a tad better for only overclocking but have a lower unlock rate.

It should only cost you around £100 or slightly less including a heatsink. If you have an older Athlon II X3 3.5GHZ should be doable. My mate got his recent Athlon II X3 455 to 4GHZ. Then when you have more dosh then in six or seven months time ,you can get a newer CPU. Piledriver might be on socket AM3+ too but the current Bulldozer CPUs will probably go down in price when it is released.

2.)Get a Core i3 2100 or 2120 and an H61 motherboard. They are equivalent to a Phenom II X4 at 3.2GHZ to 3.7GHZ dependent on the game and are good for music and image editing programmes. I have one myself and it seems fine for general usage and games(I have a mini-ITX build so it is well suited for it). It should set you back around £135 to £150. However,the setup is overclocking locked(Yay! Intel! Not!).

However,when it comes to video editing and rendering will be slower than the FX6100 and Phenom II X6. Some games like Rage which uses idTech 5 will run better on them than a Core i3.

[mikeo01]

Oh sorry I meant the Phenom II x4 was £92 on Dabs not the x6

And shouldn't the FX-6100 be pretty much fine for overclocking? Its TDP is the same as the FX-4100.

But to get the Phenom up to decent speeds, I will really need some decent cooling, and like you said before definitely on VRMs if I would to overclock. But as I said the FX-6100 is pretty much stock speed making it already good, while I would have to bump up the Phenom no matter what.

But if I were to get the Phenom, I would have to purchase a very good motherboard, very good cooling and also worry about anything else overheating. Whereas if I went for the FX-6100 with turbo on, its already at stock, meaning an average motherboard can handle it at pretty much the same level as the Phenom.

From all this I think I should forget the FX-4100, it is quite over priced for its performance. Besides the FX-4100 isn't worth it considering the Phemon II x4 960T can out perform it.

If you think about it though, the Phenom needs much more work to be done on it to get it to higher clock speeds, wouldn't it actually be cheaper in the long run to go for the FX-6100. Its clock is great at stock, and with a decent after market cooler it can reach decent speeds.

With the motherboard I said about and the FX-6100 that's about £155.

With a Phenom I would need a decent motherboard like you said, £70-90, plus an aftermarket cooler maybe around £20 such as the Coolermaster Hyper 212 or Arctic Cooling Freezer 13, and the Phenom II x6, that's about £197-£217, to pretty much get it to the same speed as the FX-6100 with turbo on?

And also it is pointless to get my Athlon up to speed, its quite out to date. It would truthfully only be a very fast tri-core or a decent quad-core. The performance I will get out of it isn't really going to compare to what I could do with a Phenom or even FX-4100.

And yeah I am not going to bother with Intel, like you said its overclocking unlocked, and I will always stick with AMD, just preference may be cheaper but its harder to upgrade with Intel, price and compatibility.

Thanks for all the help and information

[DanceswithUnix]

1.)Get one of the 970 motherboards and overclock the Athlon II X3. A £15 to £20 heatsink should do the job. There is also still the possibility of stable core unlocking?? Why? It is also dependent on the motherboard. The Asus ones seem a bit better for core unlocking and the Gigabyte ones a tad better for only overclocking but have a lower unlock rate.

From another thread, ISTR this chip unlocked fine but at that point the thermals went through the roof which I guess is why it had been locked out by AMD

[mikeo01]

Ahhh, sounds quite risky to even consider keeping my Athlon for unlocking then.

Well definitely considering the FX-6100 or Phenom II x6 1045T. More going towards the FX, with a motherboard upgrade. My little Gigabyte isn't going to like a Phenom, I would have to upgrade either way

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think the Phenom II X6 should be fine at stock speeds on you current motherboard.

Power consumption of the 95W Phenom II X6 1055T is in line with an Athlon II X4 635:

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/26...review/?page=6

Not bad for the time IMHO.

The thing is all the flipping reviews have not really investigated FX4100 and FX6100 overclocking and power draw which is annoying.

[mikeo01]

Oh yeah I forgot its 95W.

For me thats a pretty good upgrade, so should be noticeable.

I usually use this site to just get an incite on how good CPUs are:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Reliable site? Just an estimate on what to expect of a CPU upgrade.

And yeah I could wait for some reviews to come up, but I doubt the FXs will go down in price, they are already very cheap, about same price as the Phenoms.

I can never find accurate review sites, they all say different things!

[mikeo01]

Although it would be find on my motherboard, I am more thinking about the HT. My motherboard simply can't supply enough bandwidth, doesn't that kill the idea of a fast CPU?

[mikeo01]

OK looked over them links again. Yes does say the FX-4100 is pretty decent, but the FX-6100 is better in some areas.

I could get the FX-4100 for £75, its 1 month used by a seller on Amazon.

Is it worth paying an extra £30 for another 2 cores? (Phenom or FX 6100)

[mikeo01]

I have found a review on power consumption and overclocking, don't know how reliable it is though, but they have done some benchmarking with various CPUs against the FXs

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...0_2.html#sect0