Customer Reviews

AMD HDZ940XCGIBOX Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition 3.0GHz Cache 8MB AM2+ 125W Processor - Retail

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the Phenom II 940 black edition instead of Intel's I7 primarily because I could get much of the same performance (not all) but for much less.

The Phenom II was easy to overclock and squeeze another 15% performance out of also.

Lastly, because I already had an AM2+ socket motherboard I didn't have to go out and buy either a new motherboard OR new DDR3 memory which would have been the case in going with Intel.

My primary reasoning is that its doubtful I'll regularly utilize even 75-80% of the Quad processing power of this CPU so it is enough for me and overall a great value.

I recently used this processor in my first "scratch" built computer. I did a lot of research and finally decided on this one for the following reasons:

-Benchmarks aren't a true indicator of any performance gain in "real use". Therefore, the Intel Core i7 will cost you generally about $150-200 more to build but only have similar real world performance. I drove myself nuts for several days trying to compare everything based on benchmarks only to find that most benchmark reviews will also tell you they don't necessarily indicate a true performance comparison between processors.

-This processor hits the sweet spot of the cost/performance equation. You could go up to the AMD 955, however you'll need to get an AM3 socket motherboard, most of which require the DDR3 ram. Again, you'll spend about $50-100 more doing this, but get only a minor performance increase. Stepping down to the lower AMD processors will save you a bit of money, but you will take a small performance hit. Therefore, this processor sits right in the middle and is a perfect fit for most uses.

-This retail version comes with a nice heatsink with the thermal compound already applied. This is great for novice system builders, or upgraders who don't have the confidence (or money) to spend on all these extras.

-This is an AM2+ socket motherboard compatible. Therefore, you could decide to spend a bit more on your motherboard and get one that's AM3/AM2+ compatible and you'll be somewhat future proof for a couple years. Many motherboards also offer easy "overclocking" features. While overclocking could void your warranty or cause the processor to fail early if done improperly, the "black edition" means that AMD opens up the overclocking settings to be used by your motherboard. Therefore, even if you're not a gamer or a performance hound, you can dabble with these settings if you feel you want to squeeze some extra performance out of your processor instead of buying a new one. Overclocking is never a guarantee, and is somewhat variable in results from one processor to the next, even in the same model. So while some people might get this thing up to 3.7GHz on their system, it's not a guarantee that you will. Still, though, it's nice to have these features unlocked to be able to use them if you want to.

Overall, if you need the highest performance, you may want to opt for the 955 or a core i7; if you want good performance but want something more than just a dual-core processor you could save a bit of money going for the 810 or 720. But for most people who like to dabble with video editing, picture editing, maybe gearing up for watching blu-ray or other high def content then this processor is a perfect fit.

Here's my system specs for reference:
AMD Phenom IIX4 940
Biostar TA790GXB A2+ motherboard
4GB G.Skill PC1066 RAM
Sapphire ATI HD4650 1GB GDDR2 graphics

I love this computer, and am currently running Vista Home Premium with the full Aero and visual effects enabled. It can boot in about 1 minute and there's never really any lag in performance during normal use. Obviously, I'm not a gamer, but still have the ability to play most games as well. I was able to build this system (including buying Vista, case, power supply and hard drive) for around $600. All thanks to the 940!

Huge improvement over my Athlon 64X2 5000+ BE, noticed a good improvement in games.

My system,

Phenom II 940 BE
Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3 rev 1
4GB of Kingston HyperX 800mhz @ 4.4.4.12 (Will be upgrading to Corsair Dominator PC8500 soon)
HIS Radeon HD4870 Turbo
Sound Blaster Audigy

Pros:
Unlike the 65 nm Phenoms this 45 nm Phenom II processor overclocks really well (it is a black edition CPU so you probably purchased that style for the overclocking ability). There are many ways to juice up this unlocked black edition CPU. It is relatively easy to jump it up to 3.5 or 3.6 Ghz.

Without overclocking it is still a fast CPU that is a great value for the money. The 940 is special because, unlike most Phenom IIs, it rests in an AM2+ motherboard and uses DDR2 memory. As such, it is an easy upgrade from many Athlons and Phenoms that use the same motherboards.

Cons:
This CPU runs really hot with the factory heat sink. I would not try to run it that way -- even if you don't overclock it. I measured it at 60 degrees under load with no overclocking and AMD recommends keeping this puppy below 61. So, my advice here is buy a nice aftermarket CPU heat sink.

Tips:
If you want to overclock it, and you are looking for a motherboard too, you may want to make sure you get a black edition motherboard to take advantage of the unlocked CPU.

Overall, this is a great product. I would buy again. I was looking at this and the Intel E8500, which were the same price. This AMD processor is far superior than the E8500. I would have given this product a 5 stars, except for the stocked heatsink and fan. After I installed the CPU and booted up, there was this distinct rattling noise coming from the fan. I made sure by turning off all case fans. Amazon.com was great in sending me a replacement. The second one worked flawlessly so far.

I also found that strapping the stocked heatsink/fan module to the mobo was a bit difficult compared to that on the Intel. I installed Ubuntu amd64 and it's very fast. Love it.

I've been building computer systems in the caribbean for more than 20 years, and I have never worked with a processor as easy to install, with such an impressive increase in productivity and less wait times. as for the value? can't be beat I'm extremly happy with mine :).

This is the 3rd Phenom ive used and they still amaze me. I do a lot of gamimg and these 70-80 fps rates that i get using this CPU are amazing.Ive actually played 2 games at once just to try to drag it down and it just keeps pumping.

I ordered this CPU along with an Asus M4A78 Plus motherboard to upgrade my PC, i recieved the parts in October 2009 and to this date i am happy with my purchase.

Installation was about as easy you one could expect, dropped it into the MB socket and strapped on the heat sink. Powered the system on and everything worked flawlessly out of the box. System performance got a great boost and runs anything i throw at it. I even sometimes have two games open at the same time (World of Warcraft & Mass Effect 2) with Firefox and have absolutely no trouble alt-tabbing between them.

The CPU is supported by an ATI Radeon 4870 which makes this system a fast yet affordable solution. If i could find any faults would be the high CPU temperature, but i blame a good deal of this on fairly warm ambient temperature as i live in a hot and humid environment. Still, the CPU refuses to skip a beat and has given me reliable & consistent performance since date of purchase. I highly recommend this item!

I recently upgraded my X2 4600 to a Phenom II X4 940. I am using the Gigabyte MA78GM-S2H rev 1.0 motherboard and was also using the integrated graphics. I have 4GB of Kingston HyperX installed as well as three SATA hard drives of various size.

I received it immediately from Amazon and installed it that night. I had an immediate performance boost, noticable in all my remedial day-to-day tasks. Outside of freelance video editing, I primarily use the computer as a media station to record (via the HD Homerun), my HD shows and stream them to two 360's in the home. It's not that it was ever slow previously, but wow! Everything is immediate now, no delay at all. ::Note:: I did have a networking issue on Bios version F7, updated to F10 and it's gone. ::/Note::

Highly recommended! I also installed an ATI 9770, but made sure to run around in the system before installing it. They're both in there now and I'm getting a 7.3 rating in Windows 7 on the CPU/Memory and 6.4 on Graphics. Also, I'm using a 520W PSU and it is handling the load just fine.

Quad Core is the way to go, with Windows 7 there is no waiting on anything, I burned 3 dvds and played an online game at the same time, the DVDs recorded in 15 mins.......and with the 8 gigs of Ram helped...