Difference in AMD 945, 955, 965

[larry]

hi,

I'm building a new AMD build and i want o get a Phenom II X4 of some kind. I intend to overclock the cpu. I'm not sure about where there is architecture limitations between the black editions of the 945, 955, 965, and 970. if they are water cooled i assume i can push them all to the same limits? am I wrong in this assumption?

thanks

Larry

[mrcrusty]

How far are you planning to overclock?

The 945 is non-black edition. It's out.

It can reach similar speeds to the other three, but it depends on too many variables like the motherboard, RAM, etc since you can only change the bus speed and not the multiplier.

The 970 probably is the best when it's averaged out but it's more the luck of the draw if you get c3 revision CPUs.

Tbh, the Hex Cores overclock better on average than the quad cores.

[larry]

really. I was under the impression that the hex core had trouble from too many idle cores and that over clocking caused more problems.
anyway... the build was going to use

MSI 890FXA mobo
this ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231351
the system will be water cooled so heating will not be an issue, just getting stable cpu/northbridge/ram times

[mrcrusty]

Well, if you turn off AMD Cool 'n Quiet, you don't get the idle core problems. It means you use more power, but the CPU doesn't have to cycle between idle clocks and normal clocks. It can cause problems especially if you overclock.

Extreme overclocked Hex Cores have issues with the MSI board since it only uses a 4+1 power phase setup. There have been a few people who have been clocking their x6 Phenom IIs to 4.2-4.3 Ghz using water cooling and working fine for months (stress test stable) to suddenly have one of the MOSFETs burn or blow up.

Too much stress on the components over time with Six Cores to worry about. They are okay with Quad Cores though.

Don't go Hex Core on the MSI motherboard. Quad Core is fine though.

Btw, water cooled? Pre-made setup or DIY? Watercooling is a big field to cover.

[larry]

I'm using a koolance water cooling system, it is not too hard to put in and it is rated for 700W of heat dissipation.