It's better to build your own system, or get someone to build it for you.There's no pre built pc's already on the market?
I really don't know how to build a computer. Unless someone can direct me somewhere, I'm lost. These parts I'm sure are great, but my expertise is not.
No, that is categorically incorrect. C3 chips on average get about 200MHz higher at the same volts than C2 chips.
Also, I know from experience, having replaced a C2 stepping Phenom II 940 with a C3 stepping Phenom II 965. The 940 (C2) needed 1.525V to get 3.8GHz 100% stable. The 965 (C3) does it at stock volts (1.4), and can get 4GHz at 1.5V.
the highest speed I got the 940 (C2) to was 4160MHz with a barely stable superpi run.
The 965 (C3) got 4410MHz more stably than the 940 at 4160, at the same volts (1.65V - you need very good air cooling or watercooling for that though).
Also, it was done with the same board (Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P)
If you go to the Tech forums Official SuperPi 1M list, you'll see that my 965 C3 stepping chip is at the top of the AMD list.
For further reference, see anybody at xtremesystems replacing their C2 chip with a C3 chip.
The probability of getting one that does unlock is good (about 7-8 successful unlocks to 2 failed unlocks last time I checked.)
Doesn't matter.orihS ‪‪‪Shiro;1789261 said:You're comparing an AM2+ CPU's overclock ability with an AM3 CPU's overclock ability.
Don't think the architecture can be compared quite like that.
Find anybody on xtremeSystems who replaced their C2 stepping Phenom II 955 with a C3 stepping Phenom II 955 and you'll see.orihS ‪‪‪Shiro;1789261 said:Let me know when you have a Phenom II X4 955 C2 vs a Phenom II X4 955 C3 as I'm curious how they perform when pegged against one another.
No, C3 stepping chips pretty much universally get about 200MHz more than C2 at the same volts. Batch doesn't really matter.Personally, I think batch # has more to do with the performance and overclock than the stepping when it comes to C2 vs C3.
That's why I said you should check out people at xtremesystems who keep upgrading to C3 stepping chips and getting better results.orihS ‪‪‪Shiro;1789261 said:I don't think that "CATEGORICALLY" proves anything.
It really isn't when just about everybody gets better results on C3.orihS ‪‪‪Shiro;1789261 said:But if you ask me, the C2 vs C3 performance is questionable.
Just that Crysis (the page you linked specifically) won't really show much difference for different CPU speeds.
If you're going down that route, gaming usually doesn't favour three cores over two either.
The fact is, C3 chips will get higher clocks at lower volts.
Unlocked to a quad, a C3 stepping X2 555 is probably the best value CPU you can get right now.
That's assuming you will get an X2 that unlockes to a quad though. Even if the odds of that happening are pretty good I would rather get a Athlon II x4 630 and be guaranteed 4 stable cores.