Tech Reaction

I was looking for a detailed review of these CPU’s and you guessed it!! If you want a good one then do it yourself! All of the reviews out there were good enough and well done but, for some of us, that does not cut it.

The two premises I am focusing on are max (reasonable) overclock for the gamer and undervolting at stock speed for the HTPE\HEPC.

A WARNING: BIOS, BIOS, BIOS!!! do not assume you need to update, and if you do be prepared to revert. When I first installed this CPU I did not update my bios and I had full functionality except for the core temp sensors reading -254. I decided to update and lost the ability to clock past 3.4 and also the ability to lower the NB multiplier (that bios rev. for some reason is no longer available for download). Many BIOS resets and even a proc swap or two may be necessary to get where you want (you could also get a low clocking CPU and then it is a futile battle). Remember this!! some modern bios actually reduce functionality. This was only a warning not a suggestion. I bare no responsibility if you have a problem; this was a kind of public service announcement.

First we do a little undervolting at stock speeds (not much excitement here).  As can be seen from the few tests done, this CPU is neck and neck with it’s 2.6 Ghz AMD siblings and trashes the Tri Core. For simplicity the CPU and CPU/NB v can be lowered in AMD overdrive if you wish this for an HTPC\HEPC build. That is about all there is to this part.

Temps and CPU-Z shot

Benchmarks the ALU and FPU processor units. Shows how your processors handle arithmetic and floating point instructions in comparison to other typical processors.

Benchmark the (W)MMX(2), SSE(2/3/4), AVX processor units. Shows how your processors handle multi-media instructions and data in comparison to other typical processors.

Benchmark the power management efficiency of the processors. Shows how efficient the power management of your processors is in comparison to other typical processors. These tests were preformed with all power management tools off to give a realistic idea of consumption.

Measures the cryptography efficiency of the processor units: encryption, decryption and hashing. Shows how your processors handle cryptographic operations in comparison to other typical processors.

Idle temps

100% load temps after 1 hour Bionic/WCG and F@H GPU 100% cpu useage and F@H CPU 100% useage. All projects @ 100% running concurrently.

Here is where it can get interesting. I must draw the line of personal responsibility; therefore, I will only take it up to 3.7 (not bad for 100 USD). This is an excellent upgrade processor for those with an old dullie or trike and my testing was done on that premise. I must also make a disclaimer:

CPUs are like stock, PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RETURNS-in other words, Expect No OC and be happy if you can OC!!!!!!!

Setup: Athlon II X4 620, 4 Gigs Kingston 667 Value Ram, Biostar TA790GX 128M V5 MB, A\C Arctic Freezer 64 Pro.

I really had no problems doing this after the BIOS issues were taken care of. The issues that need be addressed are speed and volts, NB  and memory multiplier/divider manipulation and most of all patience.

100% load temps after 1 hour Bionic/WCG and F@H GPU 100% cpu useage and F@H CPU 100% useage. All projects @ 100% running concurrently. CPU-Z and Sandra for settings.

Benchmarks the ALU and FPU processor units. Shows how your processors handle arithmetic and floating point instructions in comparison to other typical processors.

Benchmark the (W)MMX(2), SSE(2/3/4), AVX processor units. Shows how your processors handle multi-media instructions and data in comparison to other typical processors.

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic "Queens problem" on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard

CPU PhotoWorxx test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

CPU ZLib test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

CPU AES test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it's hardware accelerated on VIA PadLock Security Engine capable VIA C3 and VIA C7 processors. The test consumes 48 MB memory, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

This benchmark measures the single precision (also known as 32-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of several frames of the popular "Julia" fractal.

This benchmark measures the double precision (also known as 64-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of several frames of the popular "Mandelbrot" fractal.

This benchmark measures the extended precision (also known as 80-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of a single frame of a modified "Julia" fractal.

I will not say this is for everyone. If you are willing to take a little risk and time, it may work, but it could also cook the thing using air cooling only.

Teaser only. The Pi score is low due to the reduced memory speed. I am not saying that these CPU's will run at 3.9 and will post no other benchmarks. Take it at that.

VALID

As can be seen above the 620 is no joke. It is the perfect price and is competitive with it’s siblings in most areas. Just know that for some applications the L3 of the Phenom may serve you better.

The things I did not see in other reviews:  1. NB multiplier is adjustable 2. When Core V is added excessive heat is not generated 3. CPU is cool at stock speed and can be undervolted by up to .125 (in my case)

I do have much respect for all of the reviewers out there and I am sure some are put under certian constraints; therefore, please understand this is just a supplement to others who have put in many hours and days of hard work.

Archer

Addendum 1. There have been some questions about the Super Pi scores, I do understand and I will be working with this issue and will post a new Blog as soon as I get the hardware. Please understand that this may take up to a week and that due to the lack of L3 these CPU’s will not be able to match the Phenom 2 in this area no matter how fast the memory, but the scores should be better than at the 600 that the tests were run at.

Addendum 2. I have decided to do another round of testing on an AM3 setup:

MSI 785GM-E65 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

G.Skill 2GB (2×1GB) DDR3 1333

Will post new Blog when testing is complete.