
Example of 1100T performance. The 1100T managed to outpace the initial 8 core successor to the Phenom II line.
Well I purchased a new core system and put it in a Storm Scout case. The processor was a compromise, I wanted a bulldozer 8 core and I felt that purchasing a 6 core Bulldozer would cause me to not purchase an 8 core down the road, so I purchased a Phenom II 1100T x6, it has turbo boost unlike the 1090T and it was a top of the line product not too long ago. If I would have known the 1150T was available (Ed: not sure if this chip was just a rumor in retrospect) I may have purchased that instead, but I am very pleased anyway with the performance of the CPU.
The GA990FXAUD3 isn’t UEFI but has a 990FX North-bridge and can run a dual card crossfire solution very well, at least at 8x by 2, andstability is rock solid. I upgraded the BIOS despite not having a Bulldozer in the hopes I can upgrade further down the road, assuming AMD isn’t purchased by Apple. I will at least be able to find a used one if all else fails. In order to get the board to function I had to take out the RAM before I cleared the CMOS in order to get it to post. Also, you can run the RAM in ganged mode without placing the memory sticks in 1&2 or 3&4 slots which was quite interesting.(Ed: I found out later Ganged Mode slowed the system down.) 2 DIMMS, 1100T, and 2x4Gb DDR3 1600MHz DIMMS with a Radeon HD 4870 was able to sneak under the 650w power supply, which I suspect has to do with the quality of the power supply, and the fact that it is new.
The RAM was very cheap, 8 GB for $44 was quite a steal, and I plan on putting 2×4 Gb in so that this system is ready for heavy multitasking for a few years. The 4870 will be replaced by a 6870 within 6 months. I suspect the Green drive I used contributed to the low power use of the system, however I suspect I am very close to the maximum of the power supply. There is enough overhead since a basic auto overclock managed to function well for a couple days before I scaled it back to stock to prolong part life. The MOSFETS are top of the line and I believe the power was digital when I researched the board.
Processor: 1100T $189
Motherboard: GA-990FXA-UD3 $149
RAM: 2x 4 Gb 1600 Mhz DDR3 : $49
CM Storm Case: $80
The rest of the components came from my previous rig…
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
Asus Radeon HD 4870 video card.
2TB Green Western Digital HDD 7200Rpm
250 Gb Seagate 7200 RPM drive (going to be used for linux)
On-board sound
Acer P215H 21″ 1920×1080 1080p monitor
Logitech M 705 wireless mouse
Microsoft Digital Media Pro Keyboard (old clunker but I love it)
7 port USB 2.0 powered Hub
Liteon DL-DVD Burner 4x
USB 3.0 add-on card.
The system is a mutt at the moment but I hope to buy an A8 quad-core laptop and a 6870 Radeon or 560 Nvidia.
Benchmarks to follow… (Ed: Never did benchmark this system, not sure why.)