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Phenom X4 965 Black, Asus M5A97 R2.0 and 2 4gb sticks of Corsair Vengeance DDR3

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23bobbyg

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Joined
May 24, 2013
I have read several mixed opinions about running 1600Mhz RAM with a Phenom X4 965 processor. I know the processor supports 1333 however the motherboard supports the 1600 and the Corsair Vengeance is on the MB supported RAM list. Does anyone have any experience with this combo?
 
I run this set up on my #3 rig and it's great with the 1600 ram and it'll even clock up to 1700 or so with no issues at all.
 
cpu's, motherboards, memory sticks all differ, one stick of ram might clock like the devil with tight timmings the other stick might not, you never really know till you try.
but 1600 ram with a 965 seems to work these days. we like 1333 for the new guys just to be sure we have a stable platform to learn on.
 
Thanks for the replies! I have everything in today and will give it a go. This is my first build and I am on a pretty tight budget since I have 3 kids and a stay at home wife. So Here is my setup.
Case—Antec Nine Hundred
Mother Board—Asus M5A97 R2.0
Processer—AMD Phenom X4 965 Black Edition
RAM—8 GB Corsair Vengeance MHz 1600 (2 X 4 GB)
GPU—MSI HD R7770
Tuner—MSI TV Tuner Card
PSU—Corsair CX600
Cooler—Corsair H55
Hard Drive—SSD Samsung 840 120 GB

I plan on saving up and upgrading the CPU in the near future.
Any Suggestions or tips?
 
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Asus M5A97 R2.0 since you bought that entry level motherboard there is not a lot of place to really go for another cpu and not have issues with overclocking. The FX processors just pull too much power thru the lesser VRM circuit of the board you bought to overclock very well. Caddi daddi that responded in a post above has tried a 4 core FX on his own M5A97 R2.0 and had little success trying to run it overclocked beyond 4.2Ghz and his has AWESOME watercooling.

AMD killed off the good unlocked 1090T and 1100T Thubans so there in truth is not a lot of cpu choices to upgrade a 965BE cpu to on that mobo.
 
In your opinion, will this set up serve well in being a media server and used in minimal gaming? That is my plans for this set up. I am just getting into the PC scene. Thanks
 
Rgone is so spot on again...
your rig as you have it will be great, I have now put one of my 7770 cards in it, at 3.8 it games as well as my 6300 at 4.4 or so. your rig should do about anything one would want to do.
up grades to a more powerful processor will just have to have a motherboard also.
I really like my 965 combo and feel that it has a few years before i NEED to upgrade.
on the thuban, Rgone and I have been searching for an nos (new, old stock) 1100 for me and can't even smell one.
 
Thanks very much! I am looking forward to getting this thing running. Thanks for the help and suggestions. I am sure I will be back here for help in the future as I delve more into this sport!
 
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