Upgrade stock Phenom II 710 to 1090T?

**ET3D** · 06-19-2011, 09:48 AM

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 (because 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?

**Joshua_Mahr** · 06-19-2011, 03:25 PM

If it was me the second down side (- It will be harder to make an excuse for a new PC any time soon, especially to my wife.) would make me say no. Wait for bulldozer then upgrade. But 190.00 is a good price to more than double your CPU power.

**ET3D** · 06-19-2011, 03:42 PM

Thanks for the reply.

Problem is the difference is probably between buying a new PC a year from now, or buying a CPU now and a PC two years down the road. If I go for the first I'll have my new PC a year earlier, but will be stuck with my current CPU for another year.

Thinking about this, I'm leaning more towards buying now, simply because what will mainly benefit from this is work, since I mainly use my PC mainly for work and most of the other stuff I do is web browsing, which doesn't require much. When I do game occasionally I haven't yet felt that the CPU is holding me back. A year from now I don't know what I'll do for work, so while a new PC will certainly help my technology fix, it might not really be as useful as a new CPU now.

**Blacksmith1** · 06-19-2011, 04:31 PM

Bang for your $ is the 6 core now. this should keep your system functional tech wise till your next upgrade. you said it yourself. work is the primary concern, and gaming is keeping up already.
I am thinking about the same upgrade myself. my 9500 x4 to an x6. heck to be honest i'd be happy to go up to a 965 x4 for the speed boost.

**James86** · 06-19-2011, 05:01 PM

I'd say go with it then when you need to upgrade next you'll just havt to buy a AM3+ board and some DDR3. and you can just pop the X6 right in.

**ET3D** · 06-19-2011, 08:31 PM

Thanks, guys. I ordered it. At first I ordered from Circuit City through Amazon, but then I noticed (luckily) that if I order from Amazon directly I get a $20 Amazon gift card for free, so I canceled and re-ordered. Cost me $190 including two day shipping ($170 if I count the $20 card as a discount).

By the way thanks guys you're great. I posted this on two other forums and got no reply yet.