Phenom II X2, or X3???

[noah360]

Hey all,
i'm building a computer and i run the following applications

MSN, itunes, mozilla, antivirus, vent, and one of the apps in the parenthses (World of warcraft, CS:S, BF2)
I run all these at the same time most of the time

What processor is better for that at the same price?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

Or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648

Plz give a lil info with your choice plz

 

[noah360]

would http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103253

amd phenom 8650 toliman be a decent choice for such a good price?

or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244

 

[paranoidmage]

Those have clock speeds that are way to slow. You have to go with the new Phenom II. If you are going to game while some of those apps are running, then get the X3. That way the game can use 1 or 2 cores, and the third should handle everything else just fine.

I don't know about your computers, but itunes runs really slow with me. I'd use a different media player, like winamp, windows media player, or gom.

 

[jennyh]

The X3 is better for the same price. The other cores on the X2's are generally unlockable if you want to give that a try, but if you aren't going to do that or overclock then go for the 710.

The X2 is possibly better in gaming right now however...tbh there isn't a great deal between both cpu's and you'll be more than fine with either.

 

[BadTrip]

generally unlockable? I would love to see some links proving that.

 

[BadTrip]

never buy a cpu hoping to unlock extra cores. Those cores are disabled for a reason.

 

[noah360]

okay, well i've decided on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103678

could you please help me choose a good mobo? i don't need onboard video, and i don't really know what to look for. i 'd liek the two to be under 135ish, and perferibly asus. Please so i may learn, list what you looked at and why, tyvm

 

[BadTrip]

At stock clocks that is a good choice but when overclocked the intel 5300 is a much better cpu.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3554&cp=5

 

[noah360]

well bad i'm satisfied,
I generally don't swing intel, although i really feel you know your stuff. I used to be tech savy lol
So would you be awesome and put a mobo and ram with that processor, maybe a heatsink/fan that will cool it through the OC'ing. And tell me what ishould expect to get out of the CPU gighertz wise please

Thank you

 

[noah360]

and why not go with the 5200 b/c it's the same thing just .1ghz lower

 

[jennyh]

generally unlockable? I would love to see some links proving that.

In all the many reviews I've read, all have been able to unlock extra cores on the X2's. Feel free to post links with reviews that couldn't.

 

[BadTrip]

i agree with the 5200 but I didnt have any benchmarks for it. lol

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

$65.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

$54.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

$53.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148469

$49.99

All quality parts

Total

$224.96

 

[noah360]

you linked the processor twice can you plz link the motherboard?

 

[jennyh]

At stock clocks that is a good choice but when overclocked the intel 5300 is a much better cpu.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3554&cp=5

Lets see how it compares to the Phenom II 550...

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3572&p=9

Why even bother with maybe unlocking the extra cores when the PII 550 is clearly superior to any intel within $50.

 

[jennyh]

noah don't listen to badtrip, he doesn't know the difference between an athlon 2 and a phenom II X2.

The phenom II X2 is a far superior cpu to the E5300, E6300 or anything that isn't a 7+ series intel dual core.

 

[BadTrip]

I am sorry I meant this link.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131369

 

[BadTrip]

Oh and Jenny cant you read I said when overclocked.

@ noah: Read some of her other posts; her bias has her so very blind to any facts.

 

[BadTrip]

not to mention her link shows more expensive cpus.

 

[jennyh]

No offence badtrip but you came in to this thread with an attitude and offering very poor advice to a person who is looking for the best cpu for their money. The Phenom II 550 is a far superior cpu to any intel below 7xxx series and the platform is much cheaper to boot. Go convince somebody to buy an i7 instead and you might have a winner on your hands there.

 

[jennyh]

not to mention her link shows more expensive cpus.

Actually, noah linked two AMD cpu's around the $100 mark and you came up with a $55 E5200 which was supposed to compare favourably?

There is no comparison to be made between those inferior intel's and the far superior AMD's, they are in a different league altogether.

 

[jennyh]

At stock clocks that is a good choice but when overclocked the intel 5300 is a much better cpu.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3554&cp=5

One last thing, sorry but I think this is worth clearing up.

While the E5300 scores better in productivity it lags quite badly in gaming. As the non-biased Batrip failed to mention on that Anandtech review..

"If you’re building a gaming box however, the recommendation shifts entirely the other way. The Athlon X2 7850 is the clear winner in gaming performance, significantly outperforming the E5300. In gaming tests the E5300 is simply too cache starved and without an on-die memory controller, each trip to main memory is too costly to compete with the 7850."

The overall recommendation is slightly in favour of the E5300 vs the 7850, mostly from a power consumption standpoint. Where Badtrip got his 'much better cpu' idea from is anyone's guess.

Personally I'd go up or down a tad either way, either to the Phenom II 550 or the Athlon II 250. The E5200 is a decent cpu at it's price point - with good overclocking too - but I wouldn't give the E5300 a second thought.

 

[smithereen]

If twenty bucks makes a difference, definately get the 720. The Callisto is a close second. But don't expect to unlock any cores without a SD750 southbridge.

 

[amdfangirl]

^ Or SB 710

 

[smithereen]

Right, thanks.

 

[noah360]

well i was at work so i couldn't rea this earlier, but i was now down in my budget a lil and wanted to know between the altholon x7850 or the e5200...around the same dollar, but you tell me

Thanks again, i see all the info, and at this point i'm so stuck between those to cpu's, i'm gona read the reviews and if you have anything else to say i'll appeciate it!