AMD 9650 scoop
 

First of all, I know now an i5 is better, but cost is a big issue for me right now. So I got the following dedicated system for $365:



[CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=D15-1052"][COLOR=#0066cc]D15-1052[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Diablo Dual Fan 24 Pin SATA Ready 400W Pwr Supply [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$19.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$19.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=M17-1768"][COLOR=#0066cc]M17-1768[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse Black USB [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$12.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$12.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[FONT=Arial]This item cannot be returned through our website. Please contact Customer Service.[/FONT]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=TSD-80AAJS%20DH"][COLOR=#0066cc]TSD-80AAJS DH[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]WD Caviar 80GB SATA-3G HD 7200/8MB/SATA-3G [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$39.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$39.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=Arial]This item cannot be returned through our website. Please contact Customer Service.[/FONT]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=VADC-804268-RTS"][COLOR=#0066cc]VADC-804268-RTS[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]104 Keyboard Black USB [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$8.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$8.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=L12-1356%20OEM"][COLOR=#0066cc]L12-1356 OEM[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Lite ON 18X DVDROM SATA OEM [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$19.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$19.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[FONT=Arial]GARBAGE FAN – Did not touch CPU. Got another listed at bottom. Is awesome![/FONT]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=T925-3001"][COLOR=#0066cc]T925-3001[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]THERMALTAKE AMD SOCKET AM2+ CPU FAN WITH HEATPIPE [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$12.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$12.99[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=Arial]This item cannot be returned through our website. Please contact Customer Service.[/FONT]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=S458-1308"][COLOR=#0066cc]S458-1308[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]ECS GF8200A GeForce 8200A Socket AM2+ Motherboard [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$59.53[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$59.53[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]1[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=A79-9650"][COLOR=#0066cc]A79-9650[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]AMD Phenom X4 9650 4MB 95w Socket AM2+ OEM CPU [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$80.46[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$80.46[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR]
[FONT=Arial]This item cannot be returned through our website. Please contact Customer Service.[/FONT][/CENTER]
[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]Net Product:[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]$254.93[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]Sales Tax:[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]$0.00[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]P & H:[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]$0.00[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]Total Shipment:[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

[RIGHT][B][FONT=Arial]$254.93[/FONT][/B][/RIGHT]

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[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial][URL="https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=S23-1062"][COLOR=#0066cc]S23-1062[/COLOR][/URL][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Silenx 92mm Heatpipe 7xx/9xx/1366 CPU Heatsink [/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]

[CENTER][B][FONT=Verdana]Status:[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]Shipped[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]Method:[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]UPS GROUND[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]Date Shipped:[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]02/14/10[/FONT][/B]
[B][FONT=Verdana]Tracking #:[/FONT][/B][/CENTER]



[CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$29.99[/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]


[CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]$29.99[/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]


[CENTER][COLOR=black][FONT=Arial]Returns NOT Accepted Online [/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]


[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]No case.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Used 1G DDR from Ebay for $23[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]So $255 + $17 (new fan diff.) + $23 + $70(WIN XP64) = $365 [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Had some issues getting everything going since I tend to buy older cheap crap - not currently fast stuff. I deal with dual cores at work, but have never even seen a quad core before.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]So, after changing some numbers to overclock. I realized that the limiting factor seems to be the fact that there is no case and therefore no case fan to keep the chip, under orange heatsink labeled "Black", cool. Not sure if this is just a video chip or other support chip. So I tweaked the numbers till it was stable, which seems to be if that orange heatsink stays under 125F. Then I put a small fan on legs over the orange heatsink to have even more safety factor. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Have it at 228 system clock, 684 HT clock. System died at 240, and then locked-up after a warm-up at 234 so I scaled it back further.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]NB voltage had an issue at 1.20 after warm-up also, so I'm using 1.17[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]CPU temp is 90F max, wattage being used(without monitor) is 170.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]CPU speed is 2.623[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Vcore is 1.560 and stable.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Memory voltage could not be raised above 1.9 at all.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]HT voltage froze at 1.25 so I went back to 1.20[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Again, with the fan on the orange heatsink, I could tweak it back up but I'm afraid of the fan dying. I will do it eventually once I've had some use out of it.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]One confusing thing is that for this system it says ghz-days are zero still after 6 days even though it's checking in. What's up with that?? My other 8 PCs show a number. I've dying to know what the numbers are for this system because it's so much better. [/SIZE][/FONT]

You probably should have got the US$99 AMD Athlon II X4 620 instead, runs cooler, faster, and has larger overclocking headroom.

[quote=hj47;206856]You probably should have got the US$99 AMD Athlon II X4 620 instead, runs cooler, faster, and has larger overclocking headroom.[/quote]
The 620's lack of L3 cache really causes a performance hit when running multiple simultaneous first time LL tests; about 20% compared to Phenom II.

As for the OP's question, the system must report a result before the effective MHz or GHz-days is updated. I cannot remember if a LL or DC is required to update the effective MHz.

Yeah, it's just strange because my other PCs reported something within two days.

I still have one remaining issue. It keeps going into low res mode after a number of hours or maybe from using remote desktop. I wonder if it could be the NB voltage causing a slow de-sync over the course of time??

I had power settings at always on except the monitor which I just changed to always on. When it has the issue, it can also lock-up requiring a reboot. So I have it restart automatically every 12 hours. Sucks to find out that you lost the last 6 hours of testing time. :-(