Wont make a difference in most games, but will give a good increase in things like video encoding which are designed to use as many cores as possible (most games only use 1-3 cores, but no doubt future titles will start making use of more and more).
Sorry I should be a little more specific. I am building a gaming pc to play games like GTA4 and Crysis and I am going to be using the 4890.
I am trying to decide between the following 3 processors
Phenom II X3 - $115 Phenom II X4 - $170 Phenom X4 -$110
I am thinking about going with the II X3 because of the price, but I was wondering what the differences are between the models. I understand the X3 has 3 cores compared to the X4 with 4 cores, but will that make a difference when I am gaming?
Message edited by nic4747 on 09-24-2009 at 07:23:49 AM
Yeah if you're going high end like Crysis/GTAIV and expect to be able to play newer high end titles, I'd get the X4 at the highest clock rate you can afford.
the Phenom ll x4 and x3 start as the exact same processor , but if one of the four cores isnt completely stable when they test it it becomes an x3 . If two are not completely stable it becomes an x2
Most games today still dont really use all four cores of a quad so the x3's often are good value .
But if you can afford it by the phenom ll x4