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(More customer reviews)After buying pre-built systems for several years, I finally broke down and built my own this time. I think it is important to establish how I am using the processor, so here is my system.
I paired this processor with an MSI 790GX-G65 motherboard as the basis of my new system. The other portions are 1 GB Hitachi HDD, LG DVD RW, PNY GEFORCE GTS 250 video card, Windows 7 Professional, 8 Gb DDR3 memory, Antec 300 case, and Antec Truepower Trio power supply. I have five case fans, four input and one output.
Now, on to the processor itself.
- It comes with an "Approved" AMD heat sink. With aftermarket heat sinks, one has a separate tube of lubricant that goes on top of the CPU to seal the connection with the sink, but on this heat sink the sealer is applied to the base of the heat sink, which is very convenient. This sealant looks a bit like thin cardboard at the base of the heat sink; don't be fooled, it is supposed to be there and no additional paste is needed. The heat sink is large, with lots of copper.
- Installing the processor is quite simple, so long as you remember to line up the "notch" on one end of the processor with the "notch" on the CPU mount. Instructions are provided with the retail kit. Between those and the instructions that come with motherboards, you should have no problem installing the CPU.
- The CPU has a "Cool N Quiet" mode, if your motherboard supports it. Mine does, and in this mode the processors (there are four processor cores on the chip) work at varying speeds, depending upon the task loading of each core. From what I can tell the speeds are 800, 2400, and 3400 Mhz. Using this feature, my CPU temperature is generally around 30 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature I have seen the chip at is 51 C. Note that the "cool N quiet mode is NOT used when overclocking. The maximum operating temperature is 62 degrees C.
- Most motherboards have two memory modes: "Ganged" and "Unganged". The default seems to be unganged. The difference is that in "unganged" mode the memory is split up such that each CPU core gets a certain amount of memory, in my case, 2Gb per core. This mode is optimized for multiprocessing, whereas "Ganged" mode optimizes for one application. I mention this here because this CPU excels at multiple tasks, by which I mean that I have noticed a vast difference in performance from my last (single core) CPU, also a 3.4 Mhz. Running multiple applications is very smooth. This makes it great for business applications where one is multi-tasking constantly.
- The CPU pulls 140 watts at maximum speed, considerably less at the slower speeds. The point is that you need a good power supply; mine is a 550w version.
- This model is a "black" version, which means that the cores are unlocked and can be easily overclocked. I ran mine up to 3.8 without problems, but the temperature went to 40 degrees C at idle. Since I didn't really see any overall improvement, I went back to stock speeds and "cool n quiet". But if you are into speed, this model can go to 3.9 or so stock - after that I would recommend more aggressive cooling.
- The processor clocks at 7.4 on the Windows 7 "Calculations Per Second" ratings. This rating didn't change regardless of the over clocking, one of the reasons I went back to stock settings.
I actually looked for this unit when buying, although the lower models of the Phenom II X4 run at only slightly lower speeds, and would make a good buy. But for the price, the performance is great.
I highly recommend this product for anyone who needs a solid, dependable business processor. Pair it up with a good supporting system and it will do very well.
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