Seriously, wait for the sandy bridges coming out next month. They're better than almost all of the processors out thus far and cost only around $200. Just have patience. I hear they are coming Jan 5.

tofucake

Hyrule19268 Posts

December 24 2010 13:06 GMT

#25

For $200 you're not getting an Intel CPU as you'd need a new motherboard as well.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 is probably the best choice.

RebirthOfLeGenD

USA5860 Posts

December 24 2010 13:22 GMT

#26

On December 24 2010 15:11 writer22816 wrote:

Show nested quote +

For highly threaded applications, yes. For gaming, I doubt it. And after sandy bridge comes out? No chance in hell.

Well also keep in mind AMD's Bulldozer architecture is supposed to come out in a couple of months iirc. Unless they are still pushing it back. But the bulldozer shit is going to use AM3+ which aren't out as mobo's yet. So if you wanted to wait the phenom II's and I series might drop a bit and you can still get them.

As I said earlier. The only reason I would lean towards a 970 over a 955 is because it comes with a free game and a gift card atm. Meaning basically 50$ off. Darksiders is supposed to be similar to Zelda based off of reviews, and I <3 Zelda and puzzle games.

mangomango

United States265 Posts

December 24 2010 14:31 GMT

#27

If you're a performance freak just spend the extra $20 dollars and get the latest generation. This thing goes 4.0 GHz and beyond without blinking. The 965 struggles to go to 4 and above.

$185.99 and free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX

And RebirthOfLeGenD makes a very good point about value.

jazzyjazz

941 Posts

December 24 2010 21:23 GMT

#28

OP is opening poster.

I would recommend getting a coolermaster 212+ heatsink. It's one of the cheapest 120mm heatsinks available and is pretty good quality. 120mm heatsinks are usually more expensive than smaller ones, but they have better cooling and are usually quieter. I'm personally using one myself and I'm overclocking an i3 processsor to 4.0 ghz with 26 degrees idle and about 50 degrees full load. It's a very good cooler and it's only around $30. The heatsink comes with thermal paste, but it's not that good and I'd recommend getting a third party thermal paste (they're pretty cheap at about $10 and any major brand would do).

link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

skyR

Canada13817 Posts

December 24 2010 21:27 GMT

#29

On December 24 2010 22:22 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:

Show nested quote +

Bulldozer isn't coming out until Q3 2011 so if you can wait for 6+ months than go right ahead.

freetgy

1720 Posts

December 24 2010 21:40 GMT

#30

Starcraft 2 as far as i am aware utilises only 2 Cores, therefore it is advisable to get the fastest Dualcore available.

i bought an AMD X2 555 BE and overclocked to 3,6 ghz, runs Ultra easily.

semantics

10040 Posts

December 24 2010 21:46 GMT

#31

With your current board. You can go either as others have suggested with a 970 and do a mild oc or use a 955 and pull a higher oc. The 955 can get up to the 970's 3.5 pretty easy but it maxes out around 3.8 while the 970 will max out at around 4ghz. The 970 is just a better quality chip they got out of the process so it can clock higher for the same voltage.

Ideally sc2 favors the intel arch much more and a i5-760 oced to 3.6Ghz+ but your choices are also listed.

The 970 will be a bit more expensive
the 955 + cooler will be a bit cheaper but you'll also have to oc and i noticed your board is a 125w TDP for cpu board not a 140w and it also lacks a 8pin for the cpu in other words it may just be easier to go the 970 rout

D3ath3nat0r

United States163 Posts

December 24 2010 21:51 GMT

#32

wait semantics, so the 955 cant be hooked up onto the motherboard? and is overclocking hard? i dont want to break anything

semantics

10040 Posts

December 24 2010 21:53 GMT

#33

Naw the motherboard will be fine it's just that having a sustained high oc requires a proper board, psu and cooling.

If all you want to do it push the 955 to 3.5ish GHz i'd say it's fine but i wouldn't recommend pushing it higher then that i don't see great results with that, you board can handle the stress but i don't see alot of overhead in it to support 24/7 usage at a higher oc but you can oc on that board nvidia chipsets tended to fair better under oc's but the rest of the board isn't very robust.

RebirthOfLeGenD

USA5860 Posts

December 25 2010 01:00 GMT

#34

On December 25 2010 06:40 freetgy wrote:
Starcraft 2 as far as i am aware utilises only 2 Cores, therefore it is advisable to get the fastest Dualcore available.

i bought an AMD X2 555 BE and overclocked to 3,6 ghz, runs Ultra easily.

This is correct, but also a little misleading. SC2 utilizes dual cores however future games may utilize 4 cores, but more importantly if you want to have other shit open besides sc2 they will use the other 2 cores while sc2 is using 2, thus making quad cores still more useful.