AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Review @ Rage3D.com

***Lupine*** · May 25, 2011, 12:55 AM

AMD bumps clocks once again, taking the Phenom II X4 to the dizzying 3.7GHz heights, where only Pentium IVs once dared ship. Are four cores, an unlocked multiplier and a price lower than the outgoing model enough to keep interest high in this product line?

AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Review @ Rage3D.com

Danny Nissan · May 25, 2011, 03:25 AM

Need to overclock the CPU-NB aswell, helps memory performance alot and is also unlocked on Black Edition CPUs.

Default is 2000MHz, but AMD recommends at least 2400MHz for DDR31600 memory. You should be able to hit 2.6-2.8GHz.

Also, have load line calibration enabled? 4.3GHz should be possible with that.

caveman-jim · May 25, 2011, 09:30 AM

Yes, load line calibration was enabled. Thanks for the feedback!

Danny Nissan · May 26, 2011, 09:30 AM

No problem, its something most reviewers forget.

In AIDA64 memory benchmark, my read is 11069MB/s while your AMD systems are all way below that. Im pretty sure the x6 will benefit large from the increased CPU-NB in memory benchmarks (as they can hit around 3GHz speeds).

caveman-jim · May 26, 2011, 11:36 AM

You are correct. This latest round of benchmarks and reviews has been more limited than they normally are. There are always things I want to do in testing that I don't have time for, but since the April 27th storms in my area I have had less time to do testing as I've been volunteering in clean up. I personally know 30 people who have major damage to their homes, and there are tens of thousands more that need help. So I pitch in where I can, and unfortunately that means less time for playing with computers.

I appreciate the feedback and tips, thanks for sharing. Hopefully I can include that in a future test.

Crisler · May 26, 2011, 12:08 PM

I think the real excitement about this release is no the 980 itself but what it did to the product lineup as a whole. The 955 is pirced now at $120 or less on sale. This mean currently at the Egg you can get a Black Edition, full Phenom II 955 for $15 more the same speed but speed locked and no L3 cached 840.

The 955 is serious the best bank for the buck in building a new system right now.

Sasquach · May 26, 2011, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crisler

I think the real excitement about this release is no the 980 itself but what it did to the product lineup as a whole. The 955 is pirced now at $120 or less on sale. This mean currently at the Egg you can get a Black Edition, full Phenom II 955 for $15 more the same speed but speed locked and no L3 cached 840.

The 955 is serious the best bank for the buck in building a new system right now.

i kind of think now they can ditch some of the processors and keep the entire phenom II lineup quad core. Remove the dual cores, keep the tri cores quad cores and hex cores. The speed bumps have pushed down the pricing on the whole lineup and made some of them irrelevant.

caveman-jim · May 26, 2011, 01:30 PM

The Phenom II line up is about to be obsolete anyway, they're just going to firesale them and ditch the retail line over the next 9-12mo and just keep what they have for existing OEM's that might need replacements.

Danny Nissan · May 26, 2011, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caveman-jim

You are correct. This latest round of benchmarks and reviews has been more limited than they normally are. There are always things I want to do in testing that I don't have time for, but since the April 27th storms in my area I have had less time to do testing as I've been volunteering in clean up. I personally know 30 people who have major damage to their homes, and there are tens of thousands more that need help. So I pitch in where I can, and unfortunately that means less time for playing with computers.

I appreciate the feedback and tips, thanks for sharing. Hopefully I can include that in a future test.

Oh my, i had no idea. Good on you and other volunteers for helping people in need!

CurrentlyPissed · May 26, 2011, 10:21 PM

Disappointed in the lack of 965 involved in the benchmarks, would of been a good bench to see the old king vs the new king on the same.... Whats the word I am looking for.. Range? (both being X4s and once touted king of the lineup)

Sasquach · May 26, 2011, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CurrentlyPissed

Disappointed in the lack of 965 involved in the benchmarks, would of been a good bench to see the old king vs the new king on the same.... Whats the word I am looking for.. Range? (both being X4s and once touted king of the lineup)

every PII from 965 to 980 has been the former king.....

And each successor was always benched against the previous king, in this case the 975.

caveman-jim · May 27, 2011, 08:11 AM

Anyone with a 965 or 975 isn't going to buy a 980. They might consider an X6.

CurrentlyPissed · May 27, 2011, 08:45 AM

Oh I know. But I was just curious how it would stand is all. The 965 was such a great processor. Considering how well it has aged. I regret getting rid of mine.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Hidavi · May 27, 2011, 09:46 PM

I've built 5 desktops on 955 Blacks but only cuz we got them cheap. No OC'ing but I figured they'd be a lot cooler then say a Phenom II X4 840.

Apocalypsee · May 28, 2011, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hidavi

I've built 5 desktops on 955 Blacks but only cuz we got them cheap. No OC'ing but I figured they'd be a lot cooler then say a Phenom II X4 840.

If you want to run it cooler, lower it voltage to around 1.2V, if the BIOS setting isn't available use k10stats to control each power planes voltage. These are my personal setting

DarthElvis · May 28, 2011, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny Nissan

In AIDA64 memory benchmark, my read is 11069MB/s while your AMD systems are all way below that.(as they can hit around 3GHz speeds).

Could using 3 sticks of ram in an AMD system and expecting dual channel operation have anything to do with it ?

caveman-jim · May 28, 2011, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hidavi

I've built 5 desktops on 955 Blacks but only cuz we got them cheap. No OC'ing but I figured they'd be a lot cooler then say a Phenom II X4 840.

They are the same TDP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarthElvis

Could using 3 sticks of ram in an AMD system and expecting dual channel operation have anything to do with it ?

He is talking about overclocking the HT link.

Danny Nissan · May 29, 2011, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caveman-jim

He is talking about overclocking the HT link.

Just to be clear, I mean the CPU-NB (or "uncore" as its called sometimes).

The HT Link is the "hyper transport", wich also comes at 2000MHz standard but usually overclocking this is not needed.

In, for example, CPU-z (the application), the CPU-NB is the clock in "memory" tab, saying "NB frequency".

The CPU-NB is inside the CPU itself, and each CPU overclocks diffrently.

The HT Link is mostly a motherboard limitation. Overclocking this is mostly only needed for Crossfire systems, or systems with more than 1 CPU (i mean physical CPU, not cores).

caveman-jim · May 30, 2011, 07:34 PM

Yah, I knew what you meant just typed it wrong. thanks for the clarification

May 25, 2011, 12:55 AM	#1	Advertisement (Guests Only) Login or Register to remove this ad
*Lupine* Administrator Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: where I stand Posts: 32,673	AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Review @ Rage3D.com AMD bumps clocks once again, taking the Phenom II X4 to the dizzying 3.7GHz heights, where only Pentium IVs once dared ship. Are four cores, an unlocked multiplier and a price lower than the outgoing model enough to keep interest high in this product line? AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Review @ Rage3D.com

Lupine's System Specs
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May 25, 2011, 03:25 AM	#2
Danny Nissan high quality troll Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,041	Need to overclock the CPU-NB aswell, helps memory performance alot and is also unlocked on Black Edition CPUs. Default is 2000MHz, but AMD recommends at least 2400MHz for DDR31600 memory. You should be able to hit 2.6-2.8GHz. Also, have load line calibration enabled? 4.3GHz should be possible with that. __________________ ASUS PG279Q \| ASUS Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC 2025MHz/12.2GHz \| Intel i7 3770K 4.7GHz [Noctua NH-U12P SE2] \| 2x8GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 10-12-12-31-1T \| Fractal Design R4 \| Be Quiet! Straight Power CM E9 580W \| ASUS Maximus V Gene \| SteelSeries Rival 310 \| Qpad MK-50 \| Sennheiser HD-555 \| SupremeFX III \| Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + 840 Evo 250GB \| WD Caviar Black 1TB \| Windows 10 Professional iPhone 8 Plus

Danny Nissan's System Specs
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus V Gene
CPU	Intel i5-3770K 4.6GHz
Graphics	ASUS Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC 2025MHz/12GHz
Memory	16GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 10-12-12-31-1T
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Input Devices	Qpad MK-50, SteelSeries Rival
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit

May 26, 2011, 09:30 AM	#4
Danny Nissan high quality troll Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,041	No problem, its something most reviewers forget. In AIDA64 memory benchmark, my read is 11069MB/s while your AMD systems are all way below that. Im pretty sure the x6 will benefit large from the increased CPU-NB in memory benchmarks (as they can hit around 3GHz speeds). __________________ ASUS PG279Q \| ASUS Strix GTX 1080 Ti OC 2025MHz/12.2GHz \| Intel i7 3770K 4.7GHz [Noctua NH-U12P SE2] \| 2x8GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2400 10-12-12-31-1T \| Fractal Design R4 \| Be Quiet! Straight Power CM E9 580W \| ASUS Maximus V Gene \| SteelSeries Rival 310 \| Qpad MK-50 \| Sennheiser HD-555 \| SupremeFX III \| Samsung 850 Evo 250GB + 840 Evo 250GB \| WD Caviar Black 1TB \| Windows 10 Professional iPhone 8 Plus Last edited by Danny Nissan : May 26, 2011 at 10:53 AM.

May 25, 2011, 09:30 AM	#3
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	Yes, load line calibration was enabled. Thanks for the feedback!

May 26, 2011, 11:36 AM	#5
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	You are correct. This latest round of benchmarks and reviews has been more limited than they normally are. There are always things I want to do in testing that I don't have time for, but since the April 27th storms in my area I have had less time to do testing as I've been volunteering in clean up. I personally know 30 people who have major damage to their homes, and there are tens of thousands more that need help. So I pitch in where I can, and unfortunately that means less time for playing with computers. I appreciate the feedback and tips, thanks for sharing. Hopefully I can include that in a future test.

May 26, 2011, 12:08 PM	#6
Crisler SAPPHIRE PR REP Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Carbondale, IL Posts: 7,909	I think the real excitement about this release is no the 980 itself but what it did to the product lineup as a whole. The 955 is pirced now at $120 or less on sale. This mean currently at the Egg you can get a Black Edition, full Phenom II 955 for $15 more the same speed but speed locked and no L3 cached 840. The 955 is serious the best bank for the buck in building a new system right now. __________________ Edward Crisler SAPPHIRE NA PR Representative #SapphireNation

Crisler's System Specs
Motherboard	GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5
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Hard-Drives	AMD Radeon 480 SSD
Power Supply	Seasonic X 750
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Operating System	Windows 10

Sasquach's System Specs
Motherboard	Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P
CPU	AMD PhenomII X4 955 @ 3.2ghz
Graphics	ATI Radeon HD 5870 branded by Asus
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Extra Info	This is the Squachbox

May 26, 2011, 01:30 PM	#8
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	The Phenom II line up is about to be obsolete anyway, they're just going to firesale them and ditch the retail line over the next 9-12mo and just keep what they have for existing OEM's that might need replacements.

CurrentlyPissed's System Specs
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix B660-A
CPU	Intel i7 12700K
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Operating System	Windows 10 64bit Pro

May 27, 2011, 08:11 AM	#12
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	Anyone with a 965 or 975 isn't going to buy a 980. They might consider an X6.

May 27, 2011, 09:46 PM	#14
Hidavi I'm Way Up Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: THE BIG APPLE Posts: 26,568	I've built 5 desktops on 955 Blacks but only cuz we got them cheap. No OC'ing but I figured they'd be a lot cooler then say a Phenom II X4 840. __________________ *Now Playing:* Joe Dever's: Lone Wolf (NS) Final Fantasy World (PS4P)

Hidavi's System Specs
Motherboard	Alienware 17 R2
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Hard-Drives	Crucial 128GB SATAIII SSD
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Apocalypsee's System Specs
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450M-S2H
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Case	Tecware Nexus M
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Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise x64

May 30, 2011, 07:34 PM	#19
caveman-jim Deposed King of Rage3D Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 49,000	Yah, I knew what you meant just typed it wrong. thanks for the clarification

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