Where has the AMD 940 gone?

[robkewley]

I've got a TA790GX A2+ MBoard and was thinking of upgrading the CPU from a 7750 BE to a Phenom II x4 940 but all the stock seems to have dried up on this model.

Also annoyingly the MBoard CPU support does not include the latest Athlon II x4 chips which look great value for money http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/...t.php?S_ID=374

Is there a technical reason why Biostar can't upgrade the board to support more AM3 chips? Or are they just pushing me towards an upgrade of the board? The choice seems to be between an x2 550 which does not seem that great and upgrade or a x4 945 which does not have the unlocked multiplier.

Any thoughts?

[Blaineoliver]

550 are stunningly good value, and overclock very well.

[Domestic_Ginger]

720?

[scaryjim]

Phenom II X4 945. Job done

There's no technical reason why Biostar can't release an updated BIOS to cover more of the Athlon II range, although they may have decided to allow that particular motherboard to rest so they can concentrate on the AM3 boards. After all, they can't keep updating every motherboard BIOS - socket AM2's been around for over 4 years now, and the replacement AM3 socket has been around for well over a year. They have to drop support for old motherboards at some point.

On the other hand, it'd be odd for the board to support a newer 945 and not the 940, so it may be that the 940 would actually work (if you could find one, that is!).

Anyway, as Blaineoliver says even a Phenom II X2 550 would be a significant upgrade, and if you're lucky you might get unlockable cores by enabling ACC in BIOS. Or you could go for one of the Athlon II X2s, most of which appear to be supported by your motherboard...

[robkewley]

No one seems to have any 720 stock either. Very mysterious

[scaryjim]

The 720 disappeared months ago. As we all know the 720s were basically binned quad core parts - I'm inclined to think that the yields have improved so they've been able to bump more silicon into the quad-core bin, bringing the overall price for quads down a shade; and that anything that didn't make quad core is just dropped into Phenom II X2 to simplify the range they're currently offering.

Don't forget that the X3 720 was £120 on release, and the same money now will get you an X4 945...

[robkewley]

550 are stunningly good value, and overclock very well.

Went for the 550 as a cheap fix. Managed to unlock it to a B50 but had some stability issues so reveted back to dual core. So easy to get a big overclock compared to the 7750 BE.

[Domestic_Ginger]

With a number of motherboards you can selectively lock an unlocked core effectively giving you a tricore; might be worth a go.

The stock cooler that comes with the 550 is not really good enough for a quad imo.

[c.ruel]

I have a 720BE, got mine for £100 from overclockers, decided to save myself 20 quid and go for that rather than a x4. If you can find one on ebay they are good for the price.