AMD quad core?

[Enndo]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about building a second pc so I can hardware box 10 toons since I use my main pc for alot of different things while I play. My question is since I wanna go kinda cheap since I just spent like 1100 on my main pc, anyone have experience running 5 toons on an amd chip? I was thinking something like, AMD phenom 2 quad core 3ghz, 8 gigs corsair, gtx275, I know the ram and video card will be fine but I've never built a machine with an amd. Does anyone have any experience with their chips?

[Trick]

I can't comment directly on comparrisons with the new Intel i7 chips, but I can tell you what I learned from comparrisons between identical clock speed AMD and Intel CPUs prior to the i7 which I did for my work.

In short, the AMD performed computations between 5% and 10% slower than the Intel. But the AMD more than made up for this in memory performance, as the memory read/write performance was from 33% to 50% better than the Intel. Hypertransport and that on-chip memory controller of the AMD chip appeared to be the difference.

I understand that the Intel i7 chips now have the memory controller in the CPU as well, but the few things I've read on the matter indicate that it reduced the gap but hasn't yet closed it.

[Enndo]

Thanks alot, Ya I love my i7 its fast as hell lol. But I just wanted to see if anyone knew how an amd would do 5 boxing since I wanna go cheapo for my second machine lol.

[Clone]

When I go to my gf's I run 4 toons comfortablyish on a AMD Athlon dual core 5600+ 2.8ghz. I know thats not the question but going on this performance I can say you would be pretty safe on one of the new AMD quad cores :)

[Marious]

I run an AMD 9850 Quad and it works fine, I have 4 Gigs of ram since i am still running XP and not a 64 OS. Now after a few weeks of 3.1 coming out I am more stable with the 5, some lag in Dal and some of the more populated areas was having issues in IC but I have not gone there in a while, was also having issues when 2 toons where in Dal at one time it is not so bad any more, 1 the stability of 3.1 is way better and 2 I tweaked my wow set up was running off a single folder now running of 5 folders with Symlinks cut down on the lag and was able to spread my load around the 4 cores vs. only using 2. I set my affinity to 15 vs 3 and it uses all 4 cores so I am a happy camper, have not had a lot of time to get back to IC and check it out but I think I will be fine I will be doing some dailies there probably Friday or this weekend to see if I still have the lag issues.

Edit: 9850 not the 9750, but I am looking at upgrading to the newer AMD, perhaps build me a second machine, I have had AMD's for a while and I love them.

[wowphreak]

I can't comment directly on comparrisons with the new Intel i7 chips, but I can tell you what I learned from comparrisons between identical clock speed AMD and Intel CPUs prior to the i7 which I did for my work.

In short, the AMD performed computations between 5% and 10% slower than the Intel. But the AMD more than made up for this in memory performance, as the memory read/write performance was from 33% to 50% better than the Intel. Hypertransport and that on-chip memory controller of the AMD chip appeared to be the difference.

I understand that the Intel i7 chips now have the memory controller in the CPU as well, but the few things I've read on the matter indicate that it reduced the gap but hasn't yet closed it.

That interesting hmmm

What yeh use to test with?

[Cruelty]

I just upgraded to a new AMD Phenom2 x4 810(2.6GHz), 8gb ddr3 and a gtx280 vista 64bit and can run 5 wow no problem medium settings on all windows get 60fps in main and 15fps in other 4. This is running from one install folder, so I would say yes you could run on a AMD quad core even one of the older ones should still be OK.

[Sam DeathWalker]

I run 6 on AMD 3.2ghz X2 (6400). Asus premium vista m2n32 (gets you 3.5 G visible in windows XP). 4G ram.

Note that those X2 6400's arn't cheap. You might think that a quad core is better but if the clock rate is lower .....

[Jheusse]

From my research recently looking at upgrades myself, there are large performance improvements when going from original Phenom to Phenom II. Anandtech did at least one article on the topic, the architecture and on-chip cache design is apparently much much better with the Phenom II.

Clock rate is one variable and it doesn't necessarily correlate to real world performance, lots of variables can affect that, so no you don't want to just buy the biggest number.

Likely to be buying a quad core Phenom II 3.0 GHz later today.

[Crucial]

From my research recently looking at upgrades myself, there are large performance improvements when going from original Phenom to Phenom II. Anandtech did at least one article on the topic, the architecture and on-chip cache design is apparently much much better with the Phenom II.

Clock rate is one variable and it doesn't necessarily correlate to real world performance, lots of variables can affect that, so no you don't want to just buy the biggest number.

Likely to be buying a quad core Phenom II 3.0 GHz later today.

When people say 60fps no problem, I'd like to know what their fps is in Dalaran with 5 clones... otherwise the numbers are meaningless to me since I can get 150 fps in the old world (if I set maxfps to 999) but Dalaran is only 12-15 no mater what I do.

Can you can drop the Phenom IIs into a AM2+ motherboard? Is there that much of an improvement without also upgrading motherboard to AM3 socket/DDR3?

I've got an Phenom 9950 right now in a AM2+ mobo but don't care to invest any more money with AMD unless I can just replace the chip and get a nice boost that way. If I have to replace the motherboard and ram I might as well make the switch to Intel.

[Jheusse]

I don't have any real world data for multi-boxing/Dalaran, so get that somewhere else.

As far as performance and compatibility the latest Phenom IIs may be exactly what you're looking for.

Check out these two articles (and several others at the anandtech link):
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3552
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3551

From the first article:
In January AMD launched their new quad-core Phenom II processors that were compatible with existing AM2+ motherboards and DDR2 memory. The new Phenom II processors were the first truly competitive CPUs since Intel's introduction of Core 2. The Phenom II 940 and 920, then priced at $275 and $235, performed better than the equivalently priced Intel Q9400 and Q8200. However, the first Phenom II processors support only DDR2 memory and can only be mounted on an AM2+ motherboard. A few weeks later AMD filled out the Phenom II line downward with five new models with integrated DDR3 and DDR2 support. These new AM3 processors could mount in socket AM3 and support DDR3 memory or mount in AM2+ and support DDR2 memory.

This looks like right up your alley. Read the second article and check up on compatibility, see if your mobo is compatible or can be with a BIOS update.

Designing the new chip to be able to physically be compatible with AM2+ or AM3 sockets and being able to run DDR2 or DDR3 is brilliant IMHO, from both an engineering and a marketing standpoint.

edit
This link is also excellent info on the Phenom IIs
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3492

[grap]

When people say 60fps no problem, I'd like to know what their fps is in Dalaran with 5 clones... but Dalaran is only 12-15 no mater what I do.

PC Asus P6T / i7 920@2.66GHz / 12Go RAM ddr3 1600 /raid0 adaptec 2405 128Mo + 4 ssd solid core 30Go / velociraptor 300Go /OS W7x64 / samsung 500 / sapphir 4870 / 5 wow
My main in maxi full 24in and shadow is low , 4 clones 1024x768 middle see and all other low.
only jamba add-on
http://i86.servimg.com/u/f86/10/06/67/69/wowscr11.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=68&u=10066769)
as you can see on this picture of dalaran 50ips but it can drop lower( 30ips ) when many people play

[Sam DeathWalker]

Hey Grap if you ever have some time can you run wow from the velociraptor instead of the ssd's and see if there is a little or a lot of fps loss?

[grap]

well well ... not easy beacause dual boot xp32/w7 64 on the velociraptor

even with ssd raid0, i think the most important is memory. With 6Go ddr3 1600 i had lags. with 12Go now it s good.
swap file off ad many w7 logs disable .....
http://i86.servimg.com/u/f86/10/06/67/69/wow1210.jpg (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=73&u=10066769)
prefetch/superprefetch w7 try to load all data and it s only 411MB free

X5 wows are on the old disk samsung .... but data folder is syslink and only in reading on the ssd. The raid0 is harware and not software.

I try with a second screen and the result was awfull and unplayable. ( unplayable = under 20 ips )
i connect a second 4870 sapphir but same. each screen on CG or CF mode, same drop.
At the end i try only 1 monitor 24in with CF mode and bad result too. i dont know if it s beacause of w7 / driver / wow or me ? ;)

i can copy and link the data file one the velociraptor but with the OS, the result ll be bad except if i move the OS one the ssd. i ll travel soon but i ll try after my summer holidays of may/june.

[David]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about building a second pc so I can hardware box 10 toons since I use my main pc for alot of different things while I play. My question is since I wanna go kinda cheap since I just spent like 1100 on my main pc, anyone have experience running 5 toons on an amd chip? I was thinking something like, AMD phenom 2 quad core 3ghz, 8 gigs corsair, gtx275, I know the ram and video card will be fine but I've never built a machine with an amd. Does anyone have any experience with their chips? A few weeks ago I got me at quadcore 3gig as well.

So far I`m lovin it. I currently have no setup that spreads wows over the cores, might get keyclone to do just that.

When I`m in Northrend now, esspecially in a spot like Warsong Hold ( for some reason the place is like Dalaran or something lol) I never get more then 50-52% CPU load which basicly means I`m not even using my third and fourth core.

Sadly I`ve choosen to start with 4GB of ram to be cheap which ain`t enough by far. My system uses a constant 5.5 to 5.8gig so it uses a rather large swopfile since RAM use never goes over 3.6gig. So I`m running 5x wow, a OS and a large swopfile on one HD.

So I can say that this CPU is worth the money. CPU wise I won`t be in trouble.

Assuming your going for:
AM2+ AMD PHENOM II X4 940 BOX 4x3,0

I heard that this one is also a great one for overclocking. With the original fan people got it running at a stable 3.8gig to 4gig each core. With the right cooling it`s supposed to get even higher.

If your living in europe I recommand checking: www.computer-cash-carry.de

Parts are a lot cheaper then any other place I`ve searched. I got my CPU for 196euro.

BTW if your patient, it might be worth waiting for the AM3 as well. Since it supports DDR3. Tho the CPU`s for it suck balls :thumbdown:

[Jheusse]

I was sorely tempted to get that Phenom II 940, newegg has the Black Edition of that processor on sale right now for 189 bucks. You can get it in several combo packages with mobo.

Thing is, the 920 and 940 part numbers are only compatible with DDR2.

The 945 is the next step up, I ordered one an hour ago for 225. It can be used in an AM2+ or an AM3 mobo and is compatible with DDR2 and DDR3.

The 955 Black edition is the top performer, newegg has it for 245. Same compatibility as the 945, and it's unlocked (the 945 is locked).

Link to a newegg promo site with some data ('http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/855Black/index.html?cm_sp=SubCat_Processors-Desktops-_-AMD855Black-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fAMD%2f855Blac k%2f478x88.jpg')

I'm going with one of the AM2+ GIGABYTE boards, it's apparently solid for OC, though I don't do that. It has higher copper content in the power and ground layers of the PCB, apparently good for cooling and stability.

[David]

I'm going with one of the AM2+ GIGABYTE boards, it's apparently solid for OC, though I don't do that. It has higher copper content in the power and ground layers of the PCB, apparently good for cooling and stability. I got a GIGABYTE MA770-UD3. At that time I din`t have much cash to spend, just needed to get a new system with the cash I had at that point. However I think the mainboard is quite sweet. + the support 16ram is a big PLUS for I boxer I`d say.


The 945 is the next step up, I ordered one an hour ago for 225. It can be used in an AM2+ or an AM3 mobo and is compatible with DDR2 and DDR3. Is the 945 compatible with AM3 mainboards? Since the 940 isn`t.

[Jheusse]

Yes the 945 processor is compatible with the AM3 boards, it's only the 920 and 940 that are limited to DDR2, though I'm also navigating the thicket of which boards are compatible with which chips, which ones need a BIOS flash for it, and which ones don't do it.

I've got a couple anandtech links up in this thread, they explain it better than I can.

[Drecan]

heres cheap and i'm thinking of getting it myself lol
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.194021