AMD x2 4800 Brisbane

I have an X2 4200+ for socket 939. The X2 4800+ Brisbane for AM2 at $130 is a decent performer at its price point. It's not the fastest CPU around but it will be reasonably quick and run pretty cool since it's a 65 watt 65 nm chip. The CPU will allow you do play about any game out there, as long as your GPU is up to the task. A 7900 GS should do just fine.

Wouldn't the odd multiplier which makes DDR2 800 run at 714 have more to do with it? The 4600+ wins because it's only 100 less mhz, but it's multiplier allows DDR2 800 to run at a full 800, right?

I don't remember where (I think it was an early Brisbane preview), but I've seen a benchmark showing that at the same mem and cpu mhz, the slowdown from L2 latency is negligible.

Yeah you are right, the lower RAM speed has far more to do with the drop in performance than the slightly higher latency L2 on Brisbane.

Tests have shown that DDR2-667 is 5 - 10% slower than DDR2-800 on AM2 , so DDR2-714 would be 3 - 6% slower @ the same clock for the Brisbane, hence why it loses to the Windsor X2 4600+ more times than not.

8O Woah, I thought I had picked an original name. Is it a band or something?

You should choose the C7 embedded! It only uses 20W TDP!