Final Words
With the latest introduction of the Phenom II 955BE and the Phenom II 945 AMD now owns the midrange of computer performance - at least for today. The 955BE is the best performing midrange processor and as we showed in the launch article Phenom II is now the midrange processor of choice if you are building a new computer system. Across the board AMD has is now outperforming Core 2 Duo and Quad with their Phenom II line. That may change tomorrow with new pricing or the introduction of the upcoming Intel I5, but if you are building a midrange computer today, AMD is the best choice. It's also worth mentioning that socket AM3 should be around for a while yet, but we can't say the same for socket 775.
With that reality, we listed four typical Phenom II builds in this guide. At the low end the budget PC featured the cheapest Phenom II X3 710 - a 2.6GHz processor now selling for just $120. The budget system was built for just over $400 for the basic computer and around $750 for a complete system with keyboard, mouse, speakers, and Vista Home Premium. You could reduce costs even further by going with a cheaper combo case/PSU and/or using a free OS like Ubuntu. It is also worth mentioning that while the budget Phenom II was built around DDR2 it could have been built just about as reasonably around an AM3 board and DDR3 memory. Components would be the same except for motherboard and memory since the AM3 Phenom II processors feature dual memory controllers supporting either DDR2 or DDR3.
In the Phenom II value segment, we featured two builds. First was a DDR3 build around the unlocked 720BE X3 CPU, followed by a DDR2 build using the former top-of-the-line 940BE which is now being closed out at bargain prices. The cheap price of the 940BE is reason enough to build a DDR2 box; owning a lot of good fast DDR2 memory is another reason to build the value DDR2 box.
Both value systems were paired with components that almost beg to be overclocked. The base box for either the DDR3 or DDR2 value systems came in at less than $800 including 4GB of high speed memory, high-performance heatsink/fan, a 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray payer/DVD burner, and ATI Radeon 4850 graphics. The complete systems added a nominal 24" 1080p monitor, gaming mouse and keyboard, Vista OS, and a 5.1 powered Logitech Speaker system for a total system price of just over $1200.
Finally, the Phenom II performance system was built around the latest, greatest, and most overclockable 3.2GHz Phenom II 955BE. This DDR3 system features DDR3-1800 memory, an HSF for serious overclocking, ATI 4890 OC graphics card, a Blu-ray player/DVD burner, and an upgraded 1TB hard drive for $1100 for the base box, and around $1675 for a complete system with a 26" 1920x1200 monitor, Logitech G51 powered speakers, Vista Home Premium, mouse and keyboard.
You can easily push the performance system to 3.8GHz or higher with an accompanying increase in performance. In fact our testing shows you might reach 3.9GHz at stock voltage and perhaps as high as 4.2GHz at higher voltage. Of course not all 955BE processors will do this, and overclocking is never a given. However, the 955BE we tested were screaming overclockers and you will likely find the same among the 955BE in the market place based on the updated Phenom II core. In other words, YMMV; also, we had issues breaking 4GHz with 64-bit Vista on our test CPU.
All of this takes nothing away from Intel, which produces the best performing processors you can buy right now in the Core i7. The only problem is Core i7 is basically high-end only. The cheapest Core i7 920 CPU is around $300, with two more models going for up to $1010. In addition, Core i7 uses a new socket and supports the first triple-channel DDR3 memory configuration. Both the socket and memory are unique right now to the higher priced Core i7, which keeps i7 supporting component prices high. Leaving all other components the same, a Core i7 920 build adds about $175 to the price of our Phenom II performance system.
Below the very top is Phenom II, and as you have seen in this Phenom II Buyers' Guide you can build a lot of Phenom II system for a pretty reasonable amount of money. Competition between Phenom II and Core 2 Duo and Quad have driven prices in this segment down and value up. In fact we can't remember a time where so much computer power could be purchased for so little money.
While we have said that a lot lately, the bang-for-the-buck in today's systems continues to impress us. That's certainly a good thing in a worldwide economy that is struggling. Computers are really a necessity in our plugged-in world and it's very good you can get a lot of computer today for very little money. Competition makes the buyer the winner and keeps margins low. Competition also drives the innovations that fuel growth in the computer market around the world.
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Hamlet2000 - Monday, April 27, 2009 - link
I ordered the OCZ Platinum 4GB just in case - the last thing I want to deal with is memory that doesn't play nice with my heatsink when I'd rather just enjoy my new build.Here's what I purchased:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 $245
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P $125 after rebate
-$20 New Egg combo(CPU/mobo)
OCZ Platinum 2x2GB DDR3 1333 7-7-7-20 $59
Western Digital Caviar Black 640MB $75
XIGMATEK Dark Knight $39
At the end of the day I'll pay $530 with shipping. I'll use my old case, graphics card, sound card, monitor, etc. Not bad for a top of the line AMD CPU, AM3 mobo with DDR3 memory. And since most of the time the computer is used for gaming, AMD Phenom is a no brainer for price/performance.
Below is my current build so as you can see it has been a few years - looking forward to today's modern speed.
Now if only Windows 7 was available today!
Hamlet2000 - Sunday, April 26, 2009 - link
Oops I didn't mention the board I was looking at, which is the Gigabyte 790XT, which is what was this site recommended. So if the CPU cooler is in the way of the memory perhaps anandtech needs a new recommended memory module (I'm assuming without looking it up that the Gigabyte 790XT prefers the memory in slots closest to the CPU).tshen83 - Saturday, April 25, 2009 - link
Two of the top three articles are pumping the Phenom IIs as if anyone with a BRAIN would buy one.Seriously? You are recommending the Phenom IIs with "In WIN" Power supplies and Seagate hard drives?
Why not rename Anandtech.com to PayAnandToAdvertiseJunkTech.com?
For a value system, I don't see anything that will beat either the Xeon W3520(i7 920) for single socket system or Dual Xeon E5504s on Asus Z8NA-D6C. Ditch the seagate and get the Western Digital Caviar Black, and ditch the "inwin" for an antec or PC power and cooling 750W. Ditch the freaking Radeon for a Geforce GTX275.
AlexWade - Saturday, April 25, 2009 - link
Question: How long have you been on Intel's payroll?Wesley Fink - Saturday, April 25, 2009 - link
The two articles also clearly said you should buy an Intel Core i7 if you have $290 or more to spend on a CPU. If you want to spend less on a rig then the articles recommend you buy a Phenom II.We also chose the WD 1TB for the Performance rig with a discussion of the issues with the early Seagate and the advice to choose the WD at $105 or the Seagate at $85. As for the nVidia 275 it is $30 more than the 4890. We also like to use AMD GPUs with AMD chipsets and processors if it makes sense - all else being equal.
Did anyone pay you to post your accusations here? We hear that one of your recommended brands has paid staff whose primary job is to make accusatory comments that question the integrity of websites that recommend anything other than their brand. Since you always have something accusatory and blatantly nasty to say about every review lately we have to wonder. Our integrity is beyond reproach - can you say the same?
C'DaleRider - Sunday, April 26, 2009 - link
I guess since I am graced with having a MicroCenter close enough to make shopping there a viable option, I don't have to put up with the Newegg price gouge on Core i7 920 cpus and can buy them for $230, and even get the luxury of having a B&M store to do instant and easy returns for items, instead of the typical 2 week ship-return-reship boogie you have to play with Newegg.Given that a Core i7 930 is $230, which undercuts the Phenom II 955, I'd think that in this particular instance the Core i7 becomes the better value and buy.....esp. if buying either the Phenom II or Core i7 would require buying new mb and memory. I'd honestly rather invest the $$ in my wallet in an architecture that has a distinct performance advantage and a longer longevity outlook with the Socket 1366.
JarredWalton - Sunday, April 26, 2009 - link
Best price I can find on a Core i7 920 is http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=I7-920&ref...">$266 at eWiz, which is quite a bit more than $230. Not sure how MicroCenter is supposed to be so great... their online site doesn't even list Core i7 CPUs that I can see. Perhaps the pricing is for employees only?tshen83 - Saturday, April 25, 2009 - link
Hey, I can guarantee you that intel doesn't pay me to spread fud. Their CPUs deserve to be praised for technical leadership. I know my comments are usually negative, but ask yourself this question: did you guys deserve it? Anandtech isn't the same when anandtech got started , everyone knows it. Pumping inferior technology makes you look stupid that is all. Anyone recommending AMD platform right now over the nehalems has to really look deep into their heart and see if their intentions are honorable. Europeans are overly AMD biased because of Dresden fab.Right now AMD's business practice is dishonorable at best. Look at the way they flush their broken CPUs down consumers' throats. No, the phenom 2 955 is not that impressive: their uncore imc clockspeed is still castrated compared to their opteron line, and Istanbul will only exacerbate the problem.
Why don't you do some real reviews, like how much ass the xeon e5504 e5520 and l5520 kicks over anything amd has on a performance per watt per dollar metric? Even in the consumer space, phenom 955 just barely caught up with 95w q8200 and it is only 100 dollars at microcenter.
Proteusza - Monday, April 27, 2009 - link
So I go to this page http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...">http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?...And I look at the graph. 3.2 Ghz Core i7 = 87 FPS. 3.2GHz Phenom II = 86.4
So, tell me why I would spend a few hundred dollars more to get 0.6FPS increase? Oh, I know why, its because you are paid by Intel to recommend them, to cause trouble. But one problem though - since you post in such an offensive and obviously trolling manner, your posts generally do the opposite of what you intend. People look at them and think, "Man whatever that guy is recommending, I'm having NONE of it, look how angry he is"
Besides, if Anandtech really were shills, who has more money - AMD or Intel? Who could afford to pay Anandtech to shill more?
Yeah, if you gave me another $500 I'd consider a Core i7. Until you do that, I'll put my money where it makes sense - right now thats AMD, but if Intel drops prices on their C2Q's they would get my vote. I really dont care about brand names, I care about performance and price. That you get so offended at the idea of a Phenom 2 recommendation is laughable - Phenom 1 I agree was a piece of crap but Phenom 2 is leaps and bounds better.
So crawl back under the bridge little troll.
tshen83 - Monday, April 27, 2009 - link
Quoting a GPU bound FPS benchmark to try to fudge CPU equivalence shows how stupid you really are. Of course the FPS would be close since you are using the same video card. This was my original complaint for the "phenom is a great gaming platform" bs.Please for your own benefit, stop calling me a troll, it makes you look stupid. But then again people already know that.
Right now the enterprise line cpus from both intel and amd are better than their consumer counterparts. For the same price, you get a far better cpu. So get a Xeon or Opteron instead of Phenom junk. I am not joking. Xeon w3520 is d0 stepping and easily does 4.0ghz on air.