Phenom II x4 965 or i3 2120???

[axew]

Hello, im buying a new CPU and i have option to choose between these two CPUs.
The i3 2120 or the Phenom II x4 965. Both are the same price and they are the best i can afford now. They will be used primarly for gaming on lower resolution (1280x720).
Im not interested in overclocking.

 

[sarinaide]

Are you going to run a Graphics card and which one?

The i3 on synthetics has the beter core performance but the real difference is marginal, the i3 is quintessentially a dual core so in non gaming environments where multithreading is supported, the i3 will suffer.

On the upgradability issue, a i3 on anything more than a H61 is a waste of time and money, and going to a IB/SB i5 or i7 down the line is as expensive and tedious, so I assume you will buy for your budget and stick with it until you look to change your setup again.

In longivity terms the older Phenom II x 4 (Deneb) will roughly last the same period of time, while being a quad core and strong enough for all of todays tasks, it is antiquated relative to newer quads, on the same token the i3 is a dual core and will likely have a smaller shelf life with the ever increasing demands by software.

A better bet would be to put a 965BE on a 970 motherboard, it is cheaper and will give you the option of going to Piledriver.

 

[axew]

are there any 970 boards for arround 70$??

 

[mmilner1]

At one time there was a true argument over which was the better value and performer between Intel and AMD, but from what I've read and understand right now Intel is just smoking AMD in performance and speed, the new Bulldozer was a huge disappointment to me and showed that AMD has decided to tackle on board graphics and entry level PC's. With that said your two choices listed are neither great choices for a gaming machine, I'd personally chose Intel right now over any AMD if you're using it for gaming but my advice is spend a little more money and get at least an i5.

Here is a link to microcenter for a core i5 for only 189.00, that's only $40 more than Neweggs price for the i3 2120.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?sku_list=102806+161034+200121+224352+243246+246751+276923+303198+367912+380519+381202+385906+385971+404129+419341+419655+425454+428847+497818+505552+517797+646026+889980+994442+995274&feature=425470

 

[tobensg]

Hi, I have a Phen II x4 965, running on a 990FX mobo, with a Radeon 6850. It plays Battlefield3 no problem on top graphics at 1920x1080. In the uk you can get a 970 mobo for about £70

http://www.ebuyer.com/271787-gigabyte-am3-amd970-4xddr3-gbe-lan-raid-2xusb3-0-dolby-atx-motherboard-ga-970a-d3

 

[wr6133]

Axew you should read this thread it will answer your question well. We get this exact same question on a nearly daily basis

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/334281-10-tomshardware

 

[axew]

Sorry i live in Serbia so no microcenter near me.Im on a very tight budget (450$) and those CPUs are the very best i can afford.Im planning on getting an HD 6770/GTX 550Ti as i think they can probably play any game @ 720p.

 

[sarinaide]

At one time there was a true argument over which was the better value and performer between Intel and AMD, but from what I've read and understand right now Intel is just smoking AMD in performance and speed, the new Bulldozer was a huge disappointment to me and showed that AMD has decided to tackle on board graphics and entry level PC's. With that said your two choices listed are neither great choices for a gaming machine, I'd personally chose Intel right now over any AMD if you're using it for gaming but my advice is spend a little more money and get at least an i5.

Here is a link to microcenter for a core i5 for only 189.00, that's only $40 more than Neweggs price for the i3 2120.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?sku_list=102806+161034+200121+224352+243246+246751+276923+303198+367912+380519+381202+385906+385971+404129+419341+419655+425454+428847+497818+505552+517797+646026+889980+994442+995274&feature=425470

Thats a rather ignorant statement to make, to refer to AMD as tackling budget and onboard is completely untrue and naive, the ultimate progression in AMD's roadmap is high end CPU fused with a higher end GPU aptly priced for enthusiasts and everyday consumers. Smoking is another misnomer, at best at the same price point it wins but not by a margin I call smoking, if you refering to smoking, the said budget Llano smokes a 3770K with HD 4000 and overclocked by frames well in excess of what any intel chip nails a AMD chip on core performance.

 

[boabs]

i had amd 965 and whent over to intel 2120 and to be honist the amd was aboot 10%faster windows rates it at 7.1 and amd got rated7.5

 

[sarinaide]

Sorry i live in Serbia so no microcenter near me.Im on a very tight budget (450$) and those CPUs are the very best i can afford.Im planning on getting an HD 6770/GTX 550Ti as i think they can probably play any game @ 720p.

Axew, I will advise you to look at a HD 6790, it beats ten shades of grey out of a 550ti, for next to nothing.

 

[wad1114]

If you go for AM3/AM3+ with the phenom you could get the asrock 970 extreme 3 mobo. But wtht such a low res you can try an FM1 AMD APU or stick with intel hd graphics 4000. The cheapest solution is certainly the AMD APU, but if you upgrade your monitor and your GPU phenom is better in terms of price against i5.

 

[axew]

Axew, I will advise you to look at a HD 6790, it beats ten shades of grey out of a 550ti, for next to nothing.

Well there are very rare in my regions so it is nearly imposible to find one