I have a Phenom II 710 in my PC which has only 3 cores (couldn't unlock a 4th) and is running at stock speed (I'm not much of an overclocker and my limited attempts failed to gain any significant speed). The PC has an AM2+ motherboard (Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4).
Recently I encountered some cases where the 710 was just too little for me. I'm working from home and was running simulations which are single core but sometimes I ran more than one at a time. I got to where my PC slowed down (all cores were at 100%), and I could also use a faster single core speed so they finish faster. While my usage has changed somewhat in recent weeks (more remote work instead of local), I still think it's worth getting an upgrade.
I was hoping that the Phenom II X6 1090T will drop in price once Bulldozer appears, but since that got postponed, and I have someone to bring me the CPU from the US if I order right now, I thought it might be a good opportunity (especially since my birthday is coming up next month). $180 is a little more than I hoped to pay, but not really that bad.
Still, I'd like to get some opinions about this.
The benefits I see:
- Compatible with my current PC, no need to upgrade anything else, saving money and time.
- Double the cores, which is good for when I need that.
- Higher core speed: 3.2GHz (3.6GHz with turbo) vs. 2.6GHz.
- Black Edition, so easy to overclock if I want it.
- Will cost less than the 710 cost me two years ago if I buy it in the US.
Down sides:
- Old CPU tech, slower than Intel's or the upcoming Bulldozer.
- It will be harder to make an excuse for a new PC any time soon, especially to my wife.
What do you think?
Recently I encountered some cases where the 710 was just too little for me. I'm working from home and was running simulations which are single core but sometimes I ran more than one at a time. I got to where my PC slowed down (all cores were at 100%), and I could also use a faster single core speed so they finish faster. While my usage has changed somewhat in recent weeks (more remote work instead of local), I still think it's worth getting an upgrade.
I was hoping that the Phenom II X6 1090T will drop in price once Bulldozer appears, but since that got postponed, and I have someone to bring me the CPU from the US if I order right now, I thought it might be a good opportunity (especially since my birthday is coming up next month). $180 is a little more than I hoped to pay, but not really that bad.
Still, I'd like to get some opinions about this.
The benefits I see:
- Compatible with my current PC, no need to upgrade anything else, saving money and time.
- Double the cores, which is good for when I need that.
- Higher core speed: 3.2GHz (3.6GHz with turbo) vs. 2.6GHz.
- Black Edition, so easy to overclock if I want it.
- Will cost less than the 710 cost me two years ago if I buy it in the US.
Down sides:
- Old CPU tech, slower than Intel's or the upcoming Bulldozer.
- It will be harder to make an excuse for a new PC any time soon, especially to my wife.
What do you think?
however the performance increase will be profound from the x3 710 to the x6 1090. You can save about $30 (US) and get the 1055T to accomplish the same thing. The Thubans are all the same CPU (unlocked multi excluded)
