bit-tech.net | AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Review

RotoSequence 17th August 2009, 11:11

All I can say is "Ouch."

crazyceo 17th August 2009, 11:15

Same old AMD

Nuff said!

Er-El 17th August 2009, 11:36

I'm going for the X4 905e instead.

crompers 17th August 2009, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyceo
Same old AMD

Nuff said!

funny that, i seem to remember people saying the same about intel not so long ago.......

this does have a whiff of deperation to it though, 7ghz under LN2? i'll believe that when i see it

Dave_M 17th August 2009, 12:19

I thought your conclusion was a little harsh. This CPU is competitive in performance and in price. Power consumption isn't great but it's far from terrible. Remember Prescott? *shudders*

BTW try overclocking with 32bit windows. I think you can break 4GHz, just try it.

Elton 17th August 2009, 13:16

I just think after enough random good/bad batches they just decided to release this.

That said, at least the other PII X4s will be cheaper.

frontline 17th August 2009, 13:55

Well, considering the PII 940 was over £200 at launch, i don't think they are that bad value. I agree that the TDP is a bit crazy though.

Hustler 17th August 2009, 14:19

Your being a bit harsh on this one, especially about the 140w issue, theres an in depth review on another site that shows the chip never comes anywhere near using the 140w....unless your running an Intel Burn Test 24/7....

http://www.lostcircuits.com/mambo//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=42

Its just AMD being overly cautious, in the same way you can easily undervolt these CPU's and run them at stock speed without any adverse effects as regards perfromance.

phuzz 17th August 2009, 16:35

Just as comparison, Prescott's quoted TDP was 84-89W (depending on the exact model). I'm guessing Intel and AMD both measure differently, so it's not an apples to apples comparison.
I'm sure it's about time for AMD to take a big step forward and overtake Intel for a few years again, but not with this generation by the looks of things.

Jipa 17th August 2009, 16:41

I like how power consumption has been addressed as a huge problem over the last couple of years, but I just don't think the give/take 20 Watts should make such a huge difference in the overall score.

About the overclocking, yes, the Phenoms clock like no tomorrow, they just require some LN2/Liquid Helium to do so. Extremely they scale nicely - the more you cool, the more you get, but for an average consumer they're ofc worse clockers than C2D/Core i7's.

alpaca 17th August 2009, 16:51

good review,
spotted a typo in the last page:
[url=6]Crysis[/url

Claave 17th August 2009, 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpaca
good review,
spotted a typo in the last page:
[url=6]Crysis[/url

Damn those subs... is fixed, thanks!

trig 17th August 2009, 17:26

i7-920 for $30 more...wonder which one i should go for.../sarcasm

HourBeforeDawn 17th August 2009, 17:40

This is the first time that I read a CPU review completely versus skimming and looking at the test results images and well I spotted A LOT of typos and grammar errors and hell I suck at English but could clearly make them out so ya might want to run through your review one more time and fix those ;)

now to the review it self I think the conclusion was uncalled for, considering the price to performance I would say its not to shabby, ya its a bit power hungry but well thats kinda a mute point considering whoever is running this cpu anyways is probably running some pretty power hungry graphics card(s) so I dont think that's much of a concern and if you were building a low power system then ya I doubt this would be your CPU of choice as for temps well again anyone running this CPU most likely will be running an aftermarket cooler or water cooling setup. Overall I say not to bad for what you pay.

However I do agree with your overall score of 6 out of 10, maybe possibly a 7 out of 10 at most.

FeRaL 17th August 2009, 18:03

A. I can get a core i-7 920 locally for $199 USD.
B. What was the 920 in the review overclocked to?

Thanks for the review.

trig 17th August 2009, 18:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
This is the first time that I read a CPU review completely versus skimming and looking at the test results images and well I spotted A LOT of typos and grammar errors and hell I suck at English but could clearly make them out so ya might want to run through your review one more time and fix those ;)

now to the review it self I think the conclusion was uncalled for, considering the price to performance I would say its not to shabby, ya its a bit power hungry but well thats kinda a mute point considering whoever is running this cpu anyways is probably running some pretty power hungry graphics card(s) so I dont think that's much of a concern and if you were building a low power system then ya I doubt this would be your CPU of choice as for temps well again anyone running this CPU most likely will be running an aftermarket cooler or water cooling setup. Overall I say not to bad for what you pay.

However I do agree with your overall score of 6 out of 10, maybe possibly a 7 out of 10 at most.

nah...conclusion was well founded. who in their right mind would buy this chip? no one.

edit:
let me rephrase...
why would anyone buy this over the 955? why would anyone buy this over the i7 920?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeRaL
A. I can get a core i-7 920 locally for $199 USD.
B. What was the 920 in the review overclocked to?

Thanks for the review.

where can you get an i7 for that? please please tell me...

LockmanX 17th August 2009, 19:08

I personally saw several of these chips hitting 7 GHz this weekend. AMD's claims are not BS. I will admin this was done under liquid helium. However, multiple chips were able to do this consistently.

FeRaL 17th August 2009, 19:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by trig
Quote:
Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
This is the first time that I read a CPU review completely versus skimming and looking at the test results images and well I spotted A LOT of typos and grammar errors and hell I suck at English but could clearly make them out so ya might want to run through your review one more time and fix those ;)

now to the review it self I think the conclusion was uncalled for, considering the price to performance I would say its not to shabby, ya its a bit power hungry but well thats kinda a mute point considering whoever is running this cpu anyways is probably running some pretty power hungry graphics card(s) so I dont think that's much of a concern and if you were building a low power system then ya I doubt this would be your CPU of choice as for temps well again anyone running this CPU most likely will be running an aftermarket cooler or water cooling setup. Overall I say not to bad for what you pay.

However I do agree with your overall score of 6 out of 10, maybe possibly a 7 out of 10 at most.

nah...conclusion was well founded. who in their right mind would buy this chip? no one.

edit:
let me rephrase...
why would anyone buy this over the 955? why would anyone buy this over the i7 920?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FeRaL
A. I can get a core i-7 920 locally for $199 USD.
B. What was the 920 in the review overclocked to?

Thanks for the review.

where can you get an i7 for that? please please tell me...

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727
They won't ship them though. Pprice is only for local pick up only though so that they can try to sell you other things to go with the CPU.

trig 17th August 2009, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeRaL
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0302727
They won't ship them though. Pprice is only for local pick up only though so that they can try to sell you other things to go with the CPU.

well of course there is a catch lol...will they actually let you out of the door with just the cpu?

hey, they have a location in dallas...can you vouch for them?

FeRaL 17th August 2009, 19:59

What do you mean for by vouch for them (specifically what are you looking for to be vouched for)?

trig 17th August 2009, 20:12

have you used them? how did you come across them?

FeRaL 17th August 2009, 20:23

Yes I have purchased from them before. Their store is across the street from where I work. I used to be on the IT help desk and field tech support and have purchased equipment from them in the past for work as well as personal uses.

Their prices are alright, sometimes beat newegg.com.

Here is a thread from slickdeals.net about this particular deal.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1423019

Jipa 17th August 2009, 20:41

Lucky you with your dirt cheap i7s.

Over here it's 270 ($380) for the 920, and another 200 ($280) for the cheapest LGA1366 motherboard. Now that's total of 470 ($660).
Meanwhile in the AMD-camp: 955 (965 not yet on list, shouldn't be much more expensive, some 210 maybe?) 180 ($250) and the cheapest AM3-boards sell at about 100 ($140) total for the 955: 280 .

Now with a price difference of 190 , the 920 better be a tad faster! Suddenly the 955/965 doesn't seem to have such a terrible value anymore.

trig 17th August 2009, 20:58

god..so tempting ...
wait for i5 or go with this...
the mobo prices just really kill me on this...

FeRaL 17th August 2009, 21:28

Just buy the day before the end of this months sale and wait for the official i5 results. I believe you have 30 days to return the proc.

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AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Review

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