Ok. For those who are Intel fans or for those who are not sure about this CPU, let me say a few words. I am an Intel fan and I own all Intel CPUs. Now, that being stated here comes the facts. I am a scientist and I work in a lab with 9 more people including other scientists and research assistants. We have 6 computers in the lab, all with same amount of RAM and storage: 4 computers are using Intel Core i7 960 Bloomfield. The other 2 computers are using this processor (Phenom II X6 1055T). All of us randomly work on and switch around these 6 computers during our 10 hour work day. We use all sorts of scientific software from data analysis to databases to performing complex scientific calculations. Noone notices any difference in performance. Noone says "yes, I was on the AMD computer and it took a bit longer to finish." Noone says "It's taking a while because I am on the AMD." If there is a difference in performance, it is so small that it is not noticeable in these tasks. I can't comment on gaming performance. We don't play games. In summary, this is an excellent CPU for the price. AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor (HDT55TFBGRBOX)
AMD has delivered and this 6 core CPU is less than 1/4 the cost of Intel's 6 core CPU. In addition the new core now supports Turbo mode and it really puts it on par with the Intel core i7 but at a fraction of the price. The 6 core CPU will ensure this processor will last for years to come.
This performance improve is very apparent once I upgraded from my quad core. Best of all, it works with my older motherboard and RAM. A bargain for little over $200.
I've had this processor for almost a month now and I love it. Great performance and stability, affordable price and a great overclocker. No cons to this purchase that I have found.
I think one important thing to note for people who do overclock their processors is that this chip overclocks at least as well as the 4 core chips, so there really is no downside for gaming, etc... to pick 6 cores over 4. With Turbo Boost, this thing will run faster than the default clock on up to three cores, so if you have any games that only use one or two cores, you'll get great performance given the game's limitations.
After some careful tweaking, I now have my rig running rock stable at 3.8Ghz, with Turbo Boost set to run at 4.05 Ghz!
If you do plan on Overclocking, make sure to spring for a good cpu cooler. this is the one I settled on and even after running Prime 95 on all 6 cores in an 80F room, core temp stays below 60C!
Zalman Performa Cpu Cooler Zalman Performa Cpu Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00350O5DK/ref=oss_product
I paired the processor with a great new motherboard, which has nice features, great stability and superb overclocking support:
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 - AM3 - AMD 890GX - DDR3 - USB 3.0 SATA 6 Gb/s - ATX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003964KK8/ref=oss_product
New Power Supply:
Corsair CMPSU-850TX 850-Watt TX Series 80 Plus
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M3G42W/ref=oss_product
And of course, new ram (Running at 1600 Mhz):
Corsair XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 1600Mhz Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LE8D2A/ref=oss_product
All running on Windows 7 Professional 64Bit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NGQLIE/ref=oss_product
Overall performance is incredible. This processor also dynamically adjusts load between the six cores. Have a game or app that only runs on 2 cores? The processor will bounce the threads from one core to another, to even out the load and help evenly spread heat generation. AMD's Cool n' Quite also works very well with this processor. Testing benchmarks with Cool n' Quiet on or off made zero difference in performance under load, but the technology will intelligently and dynamically adjust processor speed on each core independently, from a low of around 1.2 Ghz up to the Turbo Boost Speed, as needed. This saves on energy consumption (core voltages adjust with the speed adjustments) and helps keep your system running cool under normal use.
I've also found that this new system plays very well with Windows 7 sleep mode, with time needed to put the system to sleep or wake it back up again being around 5 seconds! All the fans in my system are shut down in sleep mode as well, so it's a true energy saving sleep solution.
To end, I want to stress that you will probably want a good cooler, maybe even if you don't plan to overclock. The Zalman Performa made a huge difference in core temps at idle and under load and runs more quietly than the stock fan, under most conditions. To get the best of this, or any processor, you want to make sure the other components are a good match to the CPU as well.
Bought this to replace my aging Phenom 9850. Not counting the BIOS update for a Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P and backplate heatsink mount (CM Hyper Z600), the upgrade was pop-out the old, pop-in the new, and boot 'er up.
The first thing I noticed in the BIOS were that the temperature changes from Phenom to Phenom II X6 were amazing. My old original Phenom 9850, whose series was known for being very hot-running, would idle at 37c reported in the BIOS. With the same heatsink and thermal compound used, the X6 idled around 22c at stock clocks. At stock settings I never saw it climb above 35c in an hour's worth of AMD Overdrive stress testing, or Everest Ultimate Stability Testing.
Overclocking is amazing as well. Going from a CPU that couldn't overclock 500MHz if its life depended on it, I was surprised when I went from the stock 2.8GHz to 3.64GHz with a bus bump to 260 and a volt bump to 1.35v. Just to see if I could, I overclocked it to 4GHz with 1.45 volts, and it was stable for an hour or two in AOD/Everest, and a 3DMark Vantage run, but I set it back to 3.64 since there's no need for the extra power. It still won't get to above 40c with normal usage.
Even though I'm a gamer, I didn't buy a six-core expecting improvements in games by adding two more cores, but it got rid of the CPU bottleneck in Bad Company 2. A lower-end CPU in a game like Bad Company 2, which eats through low-end quad cores like they're nothing, can often cause the CPU to climb to 90% use, which creates a bottleneck in the graphics card. If you've got a monitor (a Logitech G15 keyboard is an invaluable peripheral) showing usage of both, you can see that if the CPU is maxed out, the GPU will be sitting back picking its nose being used about 40%. Getting this processor got rid of that and almost doubled my FPS, though it didn't do much for other games, but graphics cards matter for games more than the CPU does as long as the CPU can keep up (It's why you don't see Intel's i7s beating any of AMD's Phenom II quads by more than a few FPS in games when the resolution and settings are maxed out)
The stock heatsink didn't go on this build, but I did use it in a second build that was one of the aluminum blocks that come with the Athlon II series. The 1055T comes with one of the heatpipe based heatsinks you usually find in a Black Edition processor box, and lowered the temperatures of the Dual-core Athlon II it went on by a few celcius. It gets loud if it's set to run at 100% all the time, but it's PWM, so it can be set to run at lower RPMs until the CPU starts getting hot, in which case it's not bad at all.
One interesting thing to note is that the Cool'n'Quiet feature seems to be integrated into the processor itself now. Even with CnQ disabled in the BIOS, I'll see CPU-Z read the processor at 1GHz with lowered volts every now and then, and sometimes at the normal 3.64GHz with volts of around 1.2v. It hasn't been a problem so far, and they go right back up to where they need to go with even a slight work load put on the CPU. I didn't see the Turbo Core working when I was monitoring the CPU at stock settings, so I disabled it when OCing.
All-in-all the 1055T is a great processor for those looking to build a system, but don't want to pay Intel's insane prices, or for those with aging quad-cores, or lower-end (Athlons and etc.) processors that are seeing a bottleneck. I don't believe it's worth it to go from a Phenom II X4 to one of these, but for everyone else, it's great. Even though it's not a Black Edition, it's got some serious overclocking potential when paired with the right heatsink. AMD's made another great one. - Am3 - Ddr3 - Accessories - Amd'
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