Difference between Phenom II X3 and X4

[nic4747]

Hi,

What is the difference between the X3 and X4 and will it make a difference for gaming?

Thanks!

 

[SpidersWeb]

X3 has 3 processor cores
X4 has 4 processor cores

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).

 

[nic4747]

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?

 

[nic4747]

Spiders, thanks for the reply. it sounds like the X3 is the best option.

 

[ainarssems]

GTA VIcan use 4 cores

 

[guskline]

Obviously I spent more for the 965be but my goodness is it impressive in Crysis. Spend the $ for the 955

 

[SpidersWeb]

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.

 

[warmon6]

Yeah the Phenom II X4 will probably be the best cpu to go for. Game may not use the 4th core as of now but in the near future they will.

Also having the 4th core will aloud the computer to have a spare core to use if a background program decide to activate while playing a game.

 

[Outlander_04]

the phenom x4 is old so stay away from it

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