# AMD Phenom II 955 worth upgrading to?



## wiak (May 8, 2009)

i got a Phenom 9850 BE, is the Phenom II 955 BE worth upgrading to?
i can get a 955 for around $340 here, i can get around $108 from my current 9850 BE but is the other $232 worth the upgrade?

my motherboard supports Phenom II 955

i mainly game but i also do some encoding of video/audio 

or should i wait until the 955 drops in price?



robal said:


> UPDATE:
> The Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 & 955 problem is now solved, grab beta BIOS here
> 
> But before you do that, check their website... Maybe they'll update it later to 'release' version.
> ...


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## kenkickr (May 8, 2009)

Considering my Phenom II 720 @ 3.7Ghz slaughters my old 9950(highest I could get was 3.3Ghz) I would say yes in the perspective of overclocking.  If your not goinng to overclock then I would have to say no.


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## DreamSeller (May 8, 2009)

kenkickr said:


> Considering my Phenom II 720 @ 3.7Ghz slaughters my old 9950(highest I could get was 3.3Ghz) I would say yes in the perspective of overclocking.  If your not goinng to overclock then I would have to say no.



+1


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## wiak (May 8, 2009)

my 9580 BE dont overclock well, but i might overclock the 955, as many has reported it overclocks alot better than the old agena phenoms
do anyone know if someone with SB600 based board has overclocked their 955s?


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## DreamSeller (May 8, 2009)

wiak said:


> my 9580 BE dont overclock well, but i might overclock the 955, as many has reported it overclocks alot better than the old agena phenoms



then get it  good luck with oc'ing!


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## kenkickr (May 8, 2009)

You should have no issues OC'ing with a SB600.  Basically all a SB750 would give you is ACC(for the Phenom's, not Phenom II) and RAID 5.  You should have some fun


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## robal (May 8, 2009)

*Phenom II 955 will not work with your motherboard !*
I know it should, but it won't. Not until they fix their BIOS.

See my post here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1370352#post1370352

Cheers,


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## wiak (May 8, 2009)

its just a bios update issue, should be sorted out by next bios or a beta bios from support
AMD sendt bios code to Gigabyte, and gigabyte fucked up :O
but i do know that II 940 works with this board, so that way it looks good


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## ShadowFold (May 8, 2009)

I'm surprised you got a Phenom I working on that board  I'd upgrade it honestly. Gigabyte's first wave of AMD 700 chipsets were god awfull. I think the 955 is worth upgrading too over the Phenom I's, they have a lot more cache and clock higher..


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## wiak (May 8, 2009)

the GA-MA790FX-DS5 supported the 9850 BE before BIOS F6 thats why i suspect they removed the 9850 BE from their cpu support page

anything higher than F5 bios = reboot on 9850 BE after some encoding, gaming and harddrive usage


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## PCpraiser100 (May 8, 2009)

Again, Phenom 2 is a failed attempt when trying to knock out the i7. Decent gaming processor though now that it's instructions got enhanced and OC is FTW.


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## MilkyWay (May 8, 2009)

what amd is baggin on is that people who want a decent machine but not the highest end aka i7 would go for a phenom II

this is to compete with intel core 2 and the new i5 in theory

EDIT: more cache and higher speeds even at stock speeds its a better design

even a x3 720Be would be much better


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## wiak (May 9, 2009)

PCpraiser100 said:


> Again, Phenom 2 is a failed attempt when trying to knock out the i7. Decent gaming processor though now that it's instructions got enhanced and OC is FTW.


well given the fact that intel stole some design wins from amd in their i7, dont count amd out just yet, Phenom II is after all just a tweaked phenom with more cache and higher clock

btw: i7 is a high end workstation chip its not made to compete with Phenom II, and you also got the awful upgrading path with i7, intel has now 3 diffrent sockets(core2+i5+i7), amd got only 1 socket aka AM2 that also works with AM2+ and AM3 CPUs


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## Sejanus47 (May 9, 2009)

Also keep in mind that 775 is pretty much a dead socket now. AM3 will only get better with time hopefully.


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## department76 (May 9, 2009)

PCpraiser100 said:


> Again, Phenom 2 is a failed attempt when trying to knock out the i7. Decent gaming processor though now that it's instructions got enhanced and OC is FTW.



"again, Phenom 2..."  

wrong.


"now that it's instructions got enhanced"

sigh.  still wrong.


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## DaMulta (May 9, 2009)

Looking at 3dmark Vantage, I'm scoring double what a i7 965, 1000USD Triple Channel Ram(lets just say 50USD), with 1 HD4890 would produce. (200USD)

1250USD


My system is a 955/790FX=420USD have DDR3 set at 1333 which would be 30USD for 2GB of ram, and 2 HD4890 cards. Granted I am OCed like most machines around these parts lol

850USD



My systems score








Review I read with the score I'm talking about





http://www.legitreviews.com/article/944/14/


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## Bokteelo (May 9, 2009)

I don't get it... if you're an enthusiast and want to go AMD, you'll be paying 255 for the 955, and another 200 for the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe. Basically it totals to around 455, whereas for an i7, customers in the US can pick up an i7 for 245 at Microcenter tax included, and pay another 270-ish for a good X58 mobo. That totals to around 515. 

PII 955 + ASUS M4A79T Deluxe = 455 (Estimate)
i7 920 + DFI LP UT X58-T3eH8 = 515 (Estimate)

Of course, you don't HAVE to get the M4A79T, there are cheaper boards out there, but I see that many people have bought the M4A79T so it's always been on my mind.


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

robal said:


> *Phenom II 955 will not work with your motherboard !*
> I know it should, but it won't. Not until they fix their BIOS.
> 
> See my post here: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1370352#post1370352
> ...





cdawall said:


> this is the same issue i had with both of my Asus's on the pre 955 BIOS's the 955 would not run at the full 3.2ghz it has the pstates set incorrectly on it. the board is reading DID 0 as DID 4 and instead of getting 3.2ghz your getting 1/4th of that for 800mhz. all you need is a BIOS update to fix the problem.




made that post in your thread



PCpraiser100 said:


> Again, Phenom 2 is a failed attempt when trying to knock out the i7. Decent gaming processor though now that it's instructions got enhanced and OC is FTW.



ummm phenom II is not aimed at i7 at all its aimed at the old intel Core2Quads you know like the 9550 and such that it happens to be priced with.



Bokteelo said:


> I don't get it... if you're an enthusiast and want to go AMD, you'll be paying 255 for the 955, and another 200 for the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe. Basically it totals to around 455, whereas for an i7, customers in the US can pick up an i7 for 245 at Microcenter tax included, and pay another 270-ish for a good X58 mobo. That totals to around 515.
> 
> PII 955 + ASUS M4A79T Deluxe = 455 (Estimate)
> i7 920 + DFI LP UT X58-T3eH8 = 515 (Estimate)
> ...



its not that amazing of a board the M4A78T-E is a great board.

now to further your cost thing

lets say i have an MSI K9A2 platinum and Athlon X2 6000+ (a common system of old) and i want a newer system it will cost $230 for a new phenom II 955 and your done with your upgrade. now lets say you have a C2D E7200 and asus P5Q-PRO (again a common system) it will cost $515+$90 for DDR3 making it $605 to upgrade an intel C2D to an i7 while it will only cost $230 to upgrade to a phenom II from Athlon X2 which is actually older than the LGA775 rig


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## Sejanus47 (May 9, 2009)

As many have said earlier, PheII is not aimed at dethroning i7. It is aimed at the c2q/c2d platforms since thats what the majority of users are still running. Also keep in mind that majority of p.c. users don't upgrade year to year or when the next big thing comes out. Usually if they can get close to the performance of the top of the line for half the cost then thats what they will usually go for. That's what AMD offers.
Many reviews show the 955 beating q5550/q9650 clock for clock and o.c. If you need links I'm sure I can find a couple for you.


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## wiak (May 9, 2009)

i mainly game on a 1280x1024 19" LCD
so a II 955 should be a better upgrade dont you guys think?
am more cpu bound than gpu bound on this resolution
can someone with a 955 downclock theirs  and then run 3dmark vantage at performance preset on 2.5ghz, 3.2ghz and 3.6ghz?


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## chuck216 (May 9, 2009)

Quite Frankly you're better off getting a Phenom II 940 and overclocking it as your motherboard only uses DDR2 memory, and the 940 actually can clock higher than the 955. Would save you some money, getting full performance out of the 955 would require an AM3 motherboard, and DDR3 memory.


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## robal (May 9, 2009)

Phenom II 955 problem with Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 was solved. See thread: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1370352


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## DaMulta (May 9, 2009)

My AMD rig Crunches faster than Chicken Pattys i7 rig lol

That's what it's benchmarks say at least!

4Ghz vs 4Ghz.


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

stop doing PII vs i7... PII was made for people not to upgrade their AMD to a core 2...i7 vs PII is just not fair... i7 kills them  for a new system btw,

PII 955 + DFI DK AM3 + 4gb ddr3 dual channel = ~483$
i7 + DFI DK X58 + 3gb of same RAM triple channel = ~502$

Fair comparaison? IMO for new, i7 all the way... If you want to upgrade, PII... If you want lower budget, PII 720BE or PII 940


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> stop doing PII vs i7... PII was made for people not to upgrade their AMD to a core 2...i7 vs PII is just not fair... i7 kills them  for a new system btw,
> 
> PII 955 + DFI DK AM3 + 4gb ddr3 dual channel = ~483$
> i7 + DFI DK X58 + 3gb of same RAM triple channel = ~502$
> ...



why do you keep posting this? noone cares it has nothing to do with any of the posts made nor does it have anything to do with the OP if you ahve nothing else to say that has anything to do with upgrading from a 9850 to a 955 stop posting in this thread.


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## trt740 (May 9, 2009)

wiak said:


> i got a Phenom 9850 BE, is the Phenom II 955 BE worth upgrading to?
> i can get a 955 for around $340 here, i can get around $108 from my current 9850 BE but is the other $232 worth the upgrade?
> 
> my motherboard supports Phenom II 955
> ...



yes


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

cdawall said:


> why do you keep posting this? noone cares it has nothing to do with any of the posts made nor does it have anything to do with the OP if you ahve nothing else to say that has anything to do with upgrading from a 9850 to a 955 stop posting in this thread.





Bokteelo said:


> I don't get it... if you're an enthusiast and want to go AMD, you'll be paying 255 for the 955, and another 200 for the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe. Basically it totals to around 455, whereas for an i7, customers in the US can pick up an i7 for 245 at Microcenter tax included, and pay another 270-ish for a good X58 mobo. That totals to around 515.
> 
> PII 955 + ASUS M4A79T Deluxe = 455 (Estimate)
> i7 920 + DFI LP UT X58-T3eH8 = 515 (Estimate)
> ...





DaMulta said:


> Looking at 3dmark Vantage, I'm scoring double what a i7 965, 1000USD Triple Channel Ram(lets just say 50USD), with 1 HD4890 would produce. (200USD)
> 
> 1250USD
> 
> ...



What I posted has something to do with this thread because people keep saying "OMFG 400$ less and I beat i7 by landslide" kinda stuff... btw most people who support i7 hate the i7 940/965/950/975 for price/performance...

I say PII 940 is a better upgrade the 955... you'll be spending 90$ for the 940 compared to 145$ for the 955...


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## farlex85 (May 9, 2009)

Isn't really worth it atm considering you have to pay $60 USD over the 940 for 200mhz. If you want a pII get the 940 or wait for a price drop. Should be a decent performance increase, whether that's worth the extra $232 is purely up to you. It wouldn't be to me, but I'm not you.


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> What I posted has something to do with this thread because people keep saying "OMFG 400$ less and I beat i7 by landslide" kinda stuff... btw most people who support i7 hate the i7 940/965/950/975 for price/performance...
> 
> I say PII 940 is a better upgrade the 955... you'll be spending 90$ for the 940 compared to 145$ for the 955...





farlex85 said:


> Isn't really worth it atm considering you have to pay $60 USD over the 940 for 200mhz. If you want a pII get the 940 or wait for a price drop. Should be a decent performance increase, whether that's worth the extra $232 is purely up to you. It wouldn't be to me, but I'm not you.



right now the 955 leaves room for future upgrades such as a AM3 mobo which is worth the money


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

cdawall said:


> right now the 955 leaves room for future upgrades such as a AM3 mobo which is worth the money



not performance wise... if you will want to buy a AM3 mobo later, it is because there is some Great CPU to upgrade to.. and in that case he is going to upgrade his RAM and mobo and CPU anyhow...

PII 955 isn't that much better than 940...


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> not performance wise... if you will want to buy a AM3 mobo later, it is because there is some Great CPU to upgrade to.. and in that case he is going to upgrade his RAM and mobo and CPU anyhow...
> 
> PII 955 isn't that much better than 940...



depends on how you look at it i got my 955 higher than most 940's will go on water you can get 4.2ghz out of a 955 on the 940 most i got was 3.9ghz.


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

all chips differ... you can have an i7 that can only do 3.8 on 1.4V ... but you cant have one that does 4.6 on that same 1.4V... Same goes for PIIs (although not that much of a difference)

even if the 955 would have 300mhz more than a 940, is it worth the extra 60$?

btw, OP, where to you live? I'm guessing Europe... but the country and possibly the sites you buy from would be nice to do a fair comparison...


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> all chips differ... you can have an i7 that can only do 3.8 on 1.4V ... but you cant have one that does 4.6 on that same 1.4V... Same goes for PIIs (although not that much of a difference)
> 
> even if the 955 would have 300mhz more than a 940, is it worth the extra 60$?
> 
> btw, OP, where to you live? I'm guessing Europe... but the country and possibly the sites you buy from would be nice to do a fair comparison...



300mhz plus when the AM3 boards drop in price he can upgrade is worth $60 IMO


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## farlex85 (May 9, 2009)

cdawall said:


> 300mhz plus when the AM3 boards drop in price he can upgrade is worth $60 IMO



AM3 isn't worth anything yet imo. 300mhz is worth about $15 give or take. But, if it's worth it to him, than it's worth it. Wouldn't be to me though.


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## ShadowFold (May 9, 2009)

farlex85 said:


> AM3 isn't worth anything yet imo. 300mhz is worth about $15 give or take. But, if it's worth it to him, than it's worth it. Wouldn't be to me though.



An AM3 CPU is very worth it over it's AM2+ counterparts. I bought a 720BE over a 940BE for DDR3 compatibility.. And oddly enough, I'm actually switching to DDR3 in a few days so I can get a sexy new FX-81 when they come out.


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## farlex85 (May 9, 2009)

ShadowFold said:


> An AM3 CPU is very worth it over it's AM2+ counterparts. I bought a 720BE over a 940BE for DDR3 compatibility.. And oddly enough, I'm actually switching to DDR3 in a few days so I can get a sexy new FX-81 when they come out.



DDR3 isn't worth much by itself. Very few systems (that is to say no systems) are held back by DDR2. Power savings are kind of nice, but that's about it. The 720BE is a great buy, but not b/c of ddr3, b/c of it's price point. It would be just as good of a chip w/ ddr2. Literally almost no difference.


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

a 710/720BE IMO are the only AM3 CPU that are really worth it...


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## ShadowFold (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> a 710/720BE IMO are the only AM3 CPU that are really worth it...



Because you're not an AMD enthusiast


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

So in your opinion a PII 955 is worth it? considering the OP's situation?


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## ShadowFold (May 9, 2009)

Yea. They OC higher(usually) and they work with DDR3, why not?


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

money price/performance


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> money price/performance



and its not bad on that chip the 955 gives a huge upgrade path the 940 does not i factor that into performance


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

cdawall said:


> and its not bad on that chip the 955 gives a huge upgrade path the 940 does not i factor that into performance



Why upgrade if the performance gain is not really good? since when does the performance of 955 on AM3 is worth the upgrade compared to AM2+ 940?

the "upgrade path" is that you can get an AM3 board and DDR3 memory... but what good is that if the performance gain not good? it COULD be good with another AM3 CPU that will come out later, but then you'd have to change the CPU too and it wouldn't justify buying a 955...

Do you see what I mean?


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> Why upgrade if the performance gain is not really good? since when does the performance of 955 on AM3 is worth the upgrade compared to AM2+ 940?
> 
> the "upgrade path" is that you can get an AM3 board and DDR3 memory... but what good is that if the performance gain not good? it COULD be good with another AM3 CPU that will come out later, but then you'd have to change the CPU too and it wouldn't justify buying a 955...
> 
> Do you see what I mean?



what i see is a new 8 series chipset coming out that i doubt will have an AM2+ release meaning there very well could be a much better upgrade path with the 955


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## n-ster (May 9, 2009)

cdawall said:


> what i see is a new 8 series chipset coming out that i doubt will have an AM2+ release meaning there very well could be a much better upgrade path with the 955



Can a chipset possible upgrade be really worth that much $$? How much better can the OC be?


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## cdawall (May 9, 2009)

n-ster said:


> Can a chipset possible upgrade be really worth that much $$? How much better can the OC be?



alot better they are expecting at least 200mhz and the sb controller will be alot better


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## n-ster (May 10, 2009)

I still think the 940 will be enough for him... IMO, his choice will depend of the price difference


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## wiak (May 10, 2009)

back to my question is the 955 or 940 worth upgrading from 9850 BE? even when overclocked
i cant overclock my 9850 BE why? am noob and the chip dont like me its to hot even on 100mhz more than stock


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## chuck216 (May 10, 2009)

wiak said:


> back to my question is the 955 or 940 worth upgrading from 9850 BE? even when overclocked
> i cant overclock my 9850 BE why? am noob and the chip dont like me its to hot even on 100mhz more than stock



Either of the Phenom IIs would be a good upgrade from the 9850, even at stock speeds they are quite a bit more powerful. 

Now the decision on which one to get is up to you. While both might work with your current motherboard and memory, the 955 to use it's full potential really requires a motherboard capable of running DDR3 memory, and of course the memory itself. Not that it won't run with your current MB and memory, it will but is the extra cost worth the 200 mhz if you don't plan on upgrading the MB and memory in the near future? Besides with either chip being a Black Edition a quick overclock to a higher clock is just a multiplier change away.


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## farlex85 (May 10, 2009)

wiak said:


> back to my question is the 955 or 940 worth upgrading from 9850 BE? even when overclocked
> i cant overclock my 9850 BE why? am noob and the chip dont like me its to hot even on 100mhz more than stock



Worth it is totally a call you're going to have to make. Check out reviews, look at graphs of what you're doing, and decide whether that's worth the money. Is it an upgrade? Sure. In many things the average person does though it's a small enough upgrade that I wouldn't even consider it w/ the amount of money you're talking about. But I'm more of a bang/buck kind of guy than a hardware junkie like most around here. So, is it worth it for you is a call only you can make.


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## n-ster (May 10, 2009)

farlex85 said:


> Worth it is totally a call you're going to have to make. Check out reviews, look at graphs of what you're doing, and decide whether that's worth the money. Is it an upgrade? Sure. In many things the average person does though it's a small enough upgrade that I wouldn't even consider it w/ the amount of money you're talking about. But I'm more of a bang/buck kind of guy than a hardware junkie like most around here. So, is it worth it for you is a call only you can make.



Well, I'm more of a bang/buck, but of course, I take into account performance a bit more... IMO, 940BE, because of it's OCability and yet still low cost would make it a very much worth it... Some suggest the 955... I say, save your money... They say, you may have better upgrade options later... It is your choice... as Farlex says, you have to look at the graphs yourself to know!


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## wiak (May 11, 2009)

Phenom II 955 = $332 + shipping
Phenom II 940 = $261 + shipping

so is the +$71 DDR3+AM3 worth it?


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## farlex85 (May 11, 2009)

wiak said:


> Phenom II 955 = $332 + shipping
> Phenom II 940 = $261 + shipping
> 
> so is the +$71 DDR3+AM3 worth it?



 I'm not sure why I even bothered to say anything in this thread. But, well, no.


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## cdawall (May 11, 2009)

wiak said:


> Phenom II 955 = $332 + shipping
> Phenom II 940 = $261 + shipping
> 
> so is the +$71 DDR3+AM3 worth it?



nope not worth it


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## trt740 (May 11, 2009)

cdawall said:


> nope not worth it



I agree here


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## CrackerJack (May 11, 2009)

wiak said:


> my 9580 BE dont overclock well, but i might overclock the 955, as many has reported it overclocks alot better than the old agena phenoms
> do anyone know if someone with SB600 based board has overclocked their 955s?



it's the board, i've got the same problem. 2.7ghz highest with f8a bios


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