AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.20 GHz

Omega · Dec 24, 2010, 08:51 AM

To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...nom_II_X4_840/

Rhenna · Jan 5, 2011, 10:41 PM

I'd say the primary reason this isn't being marketed as the Athlon II X4 650, is that "Phenom II" looks more impressive on an OEM box to the average person seeking to buy a new PC.

Having assembled a low-cost system for a coworker using a 3.0GHz 640, I can attest that these Propus-core jammies are very good bargains. The only real criticism I would offer is the stock heatsink/fan being a bit marginal if overclocking and/or using in a case with so-so ventilation.

When the "new" wears off the 840, and the price slips a little bit, I can see one of these finding it's way into one of the DDR2 rigs I have.

Any reason for not highlighting the 840 results in the bar-graphs?

Omega · Jan 5, 2011, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhenna

Any reason for not highlighting the 840 results in the bar-graphs?

Yeah, I fuxxxd up

Fixing. Thanks

blkhogan · Jan 5, 2011, 11:56 PM

Come on AMD... Really?

RONX GT · Jan 6, 2011, 06:09 AM

Nice review as always, Omega

I guess i should've waited for this one instead of my 640, no BIG differences though

The price to performence ratio for this one is Great. Loving you AMD

Melvis · Jan 6, 2011, 08:34 AM

The power consumption is impressive for a 3.2GHz quad, very well done there

Pijoto · Jan 7, 2011, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melvis

The power consumption is impressive for a 3.2GHz quad, very well done there

Yeah, the power consumption steadily gets better everytime AMD updates their chips, but still nowhere near as low as Intel chips

I wish TechPowerUp! includes low-voltage settings in their power consumption reviews like they use to. AMD's default settings for their chips are at 1.4V, but they can usually be set at 1.2V safely (my Athlon II X2 250 is set at 1.2V) saving a lot of wattage on load. Including low-voltage charts again on TPU's CPU reviews again would be very helpful for people who are interested in reducing their power consumption.

Melvis · Jan 7, 2011, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pijoto

Yeah, the power consumption steadily gets better everytime AMD updates their chips, but still nowhere near as low as Intel chips

Well compared to the ones in this review it killed them all, including intels

Apart from the i5 661

Unless you mean higher clocked quads???

NdMk2o1o · Jan 7, 2011, 11:43 PM

Propus core, 2MB L3 cache, its an Athlon II x4, if you have nothing constructive to say AMD don't say anything, I highly doubt this will compete with anything other than dual core Sandy Bridge.... bit like the PII x4 975..... just pointless, a release for the sake of it

Just get the F**K on with Bulldozer already

Pijoto · Jan 8, 2011, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melvis

Well compared to the ones in this review it killed them all, including intels

Apart from the i5 661

Unless you mean higher clocked quads???

Mainly, I mean the Core i5 750/760, which has very low power consumption against AMD quads, but isn't on the competition list for this CPU review (being that the Core i5 quads compete against higher-end Phenoms, I guess).

In any case, I still would like to see a low-voltage comparison for AMD chips against Intels; would make AMD chips more competitive in power consumption if their stock voltages wasn't set at 1.4V.

Steevo · Jan 8, 2011, 03:56 PM

Good price, however with low power decent performance APU's around the corner I'm not sure what niche they are trying to fill.

FatForester · Jan 8, 2011, 05:10 PM

Does anyone know when this becomes available? I've been hunting around and all I can find are reviews. I re-purposed my old rig into a HTPC so I'm needing a stop-gap before Bulldozer comes out. I might just get the Athlon II X3 450 instead and hope it unlocks to a quad, it should essentially be the same thing.

I nearly forgot - great review Omega! Your reviews are always well thought out and thorough. Much appreciated!

Trac · Jun 23, 2011, 03:25 AM

Hi All,
I have an old Gateway I'd like to upgrade, but there are no bios updates available for my mobo. Since the 840 is backward compatible with AM2+, can I install this without changing the bios?
PC: Gateway GT5658E
Mobo: ECS MCP61PM-GM 2.1
BIOS: Phoenix 6.00 PG 12/14/2007
CPU: PHENOM X4 9500
SOCKET AM2+ (940) 65nm
Core Voltage 1.200 V

$95 at Newegg thru 6/27

plugmein · Jul 20, 2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trac

Hi All,
I have an old Gateway I'd like to upgrade, but there are no bios updates available for my mobo. Since the 840 is backward compatible with AM2+, can I install this without changing the bios?
PC: Gateway GT5658E
Mobo: ECS MCP61PM-GM 2.1
BIOS: Phoenix 6.00 PG 12/14/2007
CPU: PHENOM X4 9500
SOCKET AM2+ (940) 65nm
Core Voltage 1.200 V

$95 at Newegg thru 6/27

Shouldn't be that big of an issue, but Gateway machines have left me scratching my head a number of times in the past. Have you tried to get started yet? Last time I purchased a Gateway I was running a number of different software applications to get that thing fixed within a matter of months. Have you heard of www.coop-systems.com?

Thatguy · Jul 20, 2011, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steevo

Good price, however with low power decent performance APU's around the corner I'm not sure what niche they are trying to fill.

clear out inventory.

Dec 24, 2010, 08:51 AM	#1
Omega Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sibenik - Croatia Posts: 144 (0.11/day) Thanks: 17 Thanked 145 Times in 47 Posts	AMD Phenom II X4 840 3.20 GHz To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...nom_II_X4_840/ Last edited by Omega; Jan 6, 2011 at 03:35 PM.

System Name:	Dragon Storm
Processor:	Intel Pentium E2140 @ 3.0 GHz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P35 DS3R
Cooling:	Thermaltake Sonic Tower
Memory:	2 x 1GB Crucial
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CRT/LCD Model:	Dell 2209 WA
Case:	Chieftec Dragon Storm
Sound Card:	Creative Audigy SE
PSU:	Vantec Stealth 520W
Software:	Windows 7 64bit

System Name:	Dragon Storm
Processor:	Intel Pentium E2140 @ 3.0 GHz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P35 DS3R
Cooling:	Thermaltake Sonic Tower
Memory:	2 x 1GB Crucial
Video Card:	Gainward Radeon HD4850 GS GLH
Hard Disk:	Samsung F3 500 GB
Optical Drive:	Lite-On DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell 2209 WA
Case:	Chieftec Dragon Storm
Sound Card:	Creative Audigy SE
PSU:	Vantec Stealth 520W
Software:	Windows 7 64bit

System Name:	Budget Gamer v2
Processor:	Phenom II X4 955BE (3.6GHz)
Motherboard:	Biostar A880G+
Cooling:	Noctua NH-U12P
Memory:	4GB Kingston HyperX 1600
Video Card:	Sapphire 6870 1GB (985/1120)
Hard Disk:	WD VelociRaptor 150GB
CRT/LCD Model:	AOC 2436Vh 24" HDMI
Case:	NZXT H2 Classic
PSU:	Coolmax 700W 80%+
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate

Processor:	Intel Core i3 2100
Motherboard:	ECS H61H2-M2
Cooling:	All Stock
Memory:	Transcend 2x2 GB DDR3
Video Card:	ECS GTX 550 Ti 1 GB DDR5
Hard Disk:	Hitachi 500 GB SATA 2
Optical Drive:	External
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer 18.5'' LED
Case:	Thermaltake V3 Black Edition
Sound Card:	Built in
PSU:	Thermaltake TR2 RX 450W (Modular)
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit)
Benchmarks:	3DMark11 Score P2497

Jan 5, 2011, 10:41 PM	#2
Rhenna Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Out the way. Posts: 6 (0.01/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	I'd say the primary reason this isn't being marketed as the Athlon II X4 650, is that "Phenom II" looks more impressive on an OEM box to the average person seeking to buy a new PC. Having assembled a low-cost system for a coworker using a 3.0GHz 640, I can attest that these Propus-core jammies are very good bargains. The only real criticism I would offer is the stock heatsink/fan being a bit marginal if overclocking and/or using in a case with so-so ventilation. When the "new" wears off the 840, and the price slips a little bit, I can see one of these finding it's way into one of the DDR2 rigs I have. Any reason for not highlighting the 840 results in the bar-graphs?

Jan 5, 2011, 11:56 PM	#4
blkhogan Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: If I told u.. I'd have to kill u Posts: 1,845 (0.88/day) Thanks: 823 Thanked 648 Times in 446 Posts System Specs	Come on AMD... Really?

Jan 6, 2011, 06:09 AM	#5
RONX GT Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Dhaka,Bangladesh. Posts: 46 (0.04/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts System Specs	Nice review as always, Omega I guess i should've waited for this one instead of my 640, no BIG differences though The price to performence ratio for this one is Great. Loving you AMD

Jan 6, 2011, 08:34 AM	#6
Melvis Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,926 (1.55/day) Thanks: 601 Thanked 459 Times in 381 Posts System Specs	The power consumption is impressive for a 3.2GHz quad, very well done there

System Name:	Night Rider \| Mini PC \| Transcoder
Processor:	AMD FX 8350 \| AMD Phenom II 955 \| Phenom II X6 1055T
Motherboard:	GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ \| GA-MA78LMT-S2 \| Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H AM3
Cooling:	All three systems have the AMD 4 Copper Pipe Heat Sink
Memory:	4x2GB DDR3 G.Skill 1600 6-8-6-24\| 2x4GB Ripgaws 1333 \| DDR3 Corsair 1600 Dominator
Video Card:	2 X HIS 7870's \| Gainward GTX 650 TI \| Onboard ATI 4250
Hard Disk:	300GB VRaptor /160 Raptor X/1TB WD Black \| Raptor/WD Black \| WD 320/WD BK 1TB
Optical Drive:	Pioneer x2 \| Sony DVD \| Sony DVD Burner
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Case:	Atrix 9001-C4 \| Mini ATX Case (custom) \| Coolermaster Elite 342
Sound Card:	Onboard \| Onbaord \| Onboard
PSU:	Corsair HX-850 \| Silverstone Mini 450W \| Corsair CX-400
Software:	Windows 7 Pro 64 \| Windows 7 Pro 64 \| Windows 7 Pro 64
Benchmarks:	3DMark 06 with SLi rig = 7964 8600GT's...

Jan 7, 2011, 11:43 PM	#9
NdMk2o1o Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Redditch, Worcestershire, England Posts: 2,623 (2.34/day) Thanks: 330 Thanked 853 Times in 601 Posts System Specs	Propus core, 2MB L3 cache, its an Athlon II x4, if you have nothing constructive to say AMD don't say anything, I highly doubt this will compete with anything other than dual core Sandy Bridge.... bit like the PII x4 975..... just pointless, a release for the sake of it Just get the F**K on with Bulldozer already __________________ Bioshock Infinite, FC3, Crysis 3, Shogun 2, Dirt Showdown AMD bundle keys for sale: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=182837

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Jan 8, 2011, 03:56 PM	#11
Steevo Eligible for custom title Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,567 (2.02/day) Thanks: 238 Thanked 979 Times in 729 Posts System Specs	Good price, however with low power decent performance APU's around the corner I'm not sure what niche they are trying to fill. __________________ “it would have been perfect....its got trains and the line"tech your kids not to do what iv done"(or similar) because i had obviously done something to warrent 2 e-thugs to come 4000miles out of their way and kill me.” -Solaris17 “yeah i failed. i noticed the "coming soon" part after i posted.” -Mussels “people are just stupid.” -W1zzard Yes I am evil, yes you can have some.

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Jan 8, 2011, 05:10 PM	#12
FatForester Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 937 (0.42/day) Thanks: 94 Thanked 155 Times in 139 Posts System Specs	Does anyone know when this becomes available? I've been hunting around and all I can find are reviews. I re-purposed my old rig into a HTPC so I'm needing a stop-gap before Bulldozer comes out. I might just get the Athlon II X3 450 instead and hope it unlocks to a quad, it should essentially be the same thing. I nearly forgot - great review Omega! Your reviews are always well thought out and thorough. Much appreciated! Last edited by FatForester; Jan 8, 2011 at 05:19 PM.

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Jun 23, 2011, 03:25 AM	#13
Trac Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 1 (0.00/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hi All, I have an old Gateway I'd like to upgrade, but there are no bios updates available for my mobo. Since the 840 is backward compatible with AM2+, can I install this without changing the bios? PC: Gateway GT5658E Mobo: ECS MCP61PM-GM 2.1 BIOS: Phoenix 6.00 PG 12/14/2007 CPU: PHENOM X4 9500 SOCKET AM2+ (940) 65nm Core Voltage 1.200 V $95 at Newegg thru 6/27

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