Storm-Chaser

@PCSarge U can post more than one processor if you'd like. Im adding a Xeon 2696 v3 to the list... (make that two) I always move forward with the motto if you like something buy two of them. twice the headache sometimes but well worth it in most cases.

Thanks for the tips and recommendations, all. Since this was more or less a failure, I've decided to plan my next workstation build and I intend it to be a little more competitive than a dual processor Z820, which could just out perform a 1950x threadripper. I can purchase a barebones z840 for about $350, plus another $300 for two 2696 v3 18 core processors. When the time comes and Im ready to go I will start a new thread and update with progress. That along with 8 channel ddr4 memory should allow me to do pretty well in some benchmarks. Wonder what the power draw will be lol

Good to see people are still running these older processors. The Phenom II is still my favorite silicon, by far. Were you able to get to 2.8 or 3.0 on the cpu nb?

This one always peaks my interest, so Im curious to see what you guys have to say about it. List your favorite processor and why, be sure to add OC details for the rest of us (and cpuz snip, etc). I know, it's pretty subjective. But no matter, we will all most likely walk away with some good data, perhaps something that inspires a new build, even. For me, its the AMD OEM 970 BE processor, which was released as a quad core Phenom II. Zosma core chips actually have 6 cores, and sometimes you can get lucky and unlock the two hidden cores, making this chip faster than AMDs flagship, 1100T in base clock (no turbo tho). According to my research, they unlock about 50% of the time. Will add some screenshots later of some of my better overclocks on this platform and go into further detail as to why this processor is number one in my book.

They are intentionally crushing our supply chain, and this means prices will continue to climb.

I originally had just one NF-A12, but have slowly converted the rest of my cooling system to the same fans because I was impressed. You could just purchase one for now and see if you like it. For me, the quietness of operation was worth the extra cost but I can see why it's a tough choice because dropping over $30 on a fan isn't very economical. And no, I am not a salesman for Noctua lol

Agreed. I have major distain for the color scheme as well. Not sure if this will be a better match with other components in your build but they do make the NF-A12 in black as well. just fyi.

The Noctua NF-A12x25 has to be one of the better choices and served me well (if you can get over the ugly two tone coloring). PWM up to 2000 rpm but are nearly silent at anything under 1500 rpm. Amazon.com WWW.AMAZON.COM