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Athlon II X4 VS Athlon 64 X2

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mattycakes   10-18-2009 at 06:35:42 AM

I've got me a question about the new(ish) quad-core Athlons.

I'm currently using an Athlon 64 X2 5600 @3 Ghz (Windsor) and have been for a few years now. Unfortunately, it seems like the little fella is no longer able to keep up with my gaming. Now I recently won a Radeon 4890 but since installing it I've noticed zero improvement in games (ie Crysis Warhead, L4D, Fallout etc) from my old 9800GT. It seems like I've hit the ol' bottleneck with this card so perhaps its time for a new processor.

I happened across the Athlon II X4 620 which seems like the answer to my problems. Its a socket AM2+ so I won't need to get a new mobo and it seems to have great performance for the price. I guess my question is will it provide a noticable difference over the dual core Athlon I'm using?(particularily for games) Also, will it be able to handle the power of the 4890 or will it be another bottleneck?

All thoughts are welcome and thanks in advance for you help.

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jimmysmitty   10-18-2009 at 06:41:40 AM
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Well for L4D, you will see a nice jump since VALVe got its multicor rendering up and working for it and it can utilize all 4 cores on a quad (it uses 80% on all 4 of my Q6600).

It will also become less of a bottleneck for your HD4890.

Alone the Athlon II X4 will see a bit of a performance increase (probably a nice amount) because it is Phenom II based which does show better IPC than Phenom did over K8.

So in short, its worth it. It will keep your exisiting system alive for another 2-3 years at least.

Reply to jimmysmitty
Bronze CPUs badge hunter315   10-18-2009 at 06:44:24 AM
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It should be a fairly significant difference, the Athlon II is based on the Phenom II architecture so it will run nice and cool. A recent toms review found that an Athlon II x4 and a Phenom II x4 running at the same speed did not present much of a performance difference, so if you overclock it a bit you will have a mighty little cpu on your hands.

Reply to hunter315
V1zzle   10-18-2009 at 06:46:30 AM
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That actually is a great idea. You deffinitly need a "lift" lol. But I have came across an article once that if you're putting a AM2+ processor on a AM2 socket it can have "effect" in the long run due to the HyperTransport 3.0 which is only on AM2+ boards and 2.0 on AM2. It could be right or could be wrong. But like I said it was "long run" so i'm sure you'll upgrade mobo by then..

But yeah go for it.


cheers


Dan

Reply to V1zzle
mattycakes   10-18-2009 at 07:18:21 AM
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Many thanks guys, I think I'll go for it.

Reply to mattycakes
mattycakes   10-18-2009 at 07:54:29 AM
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Would it be a better idea to buy the Phenom II X2 550 and hope that the other two cores unlock?

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Reply to mattycakes
zipzoomflyhigh   10-18-2009 at 03:11:56 PM
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The X4 620 would be slower than your current 5600 at 3ghz. You may see an improvement in games that use more that 2 cores.

The only improvement you would see is if you could overclock the 620 past 3ghz, and no one has published any 620 overclocking articles that I've seen yet.

Reply to zipzoomflyhigh
amdfangirl   10-18-2009 at 03:32:31 PM
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mattycakes wrote :

Would it be a better idea to buy the Phenom II X2 550 and hope that the other two cores unlock?



Depends if he has a board with ACC.

I think the Phenom II X3 710 (cache over cores?) personally would be a better purchase.

Reply to amdfangirl
mattycakes   10-18-2009 at 07:58:14 PM
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@zipzoomflyhigh That's interesting, and really the reason I'm asking here, I can't find any articles or anecdotes about the performance difference between the athlon x2 and the athlon II x4.

I do all my gaming at 1680X1050 and I would like to be able to start using all the eye-candy (AA, AF etc). The 4890 seems capable but its being significantly limited by my system. I'm not really in the market for a quadcore but rather something that will allow em to use the 4890 most effectively for under 150 bucks.

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bige420   10-18-2009 at 08:46:21 PM
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Athlon II X4 620 vs Athlon 64 X2 5600 @ 2.9ghz
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/def [...] =106&p2=30

I would say thats definitely a step up.

Edit: Heres the X2 550 for comparison
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/def [...] p=97&p2=30


Message edited by bige420 on 10-18-2009 at 08:47:39 PM
Reply to bige420
Anonymous   10-18-2009 at 09:34:20 PM
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mattycakes wrote :

@zipzoomflyhigh That's interesting, and really the reason I'm asking here, I can't find any articles or anecdotes about the performance difference between the athlon x2 and the athlon II x4.

I do all my gaming at 1680X1050 and I would like to be able to start using all the eye-candy (AA, AF etc). The 4890 seems capable but its being significantly limited by my system. I'm not really in the market for a quadcore but rather something that will allow em to use the 4890 most effectively for under 150 bucks.


there is a phenom II 810 processor on newegg for $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103650

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Reply to Anonymous
mattycakes   10-18-2009 at 10:54:06 PM
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Anonymous wrote :

there is a phenom II 810 processor on newegg for $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103650




I wish I could but I'm stuck with newegg.ca where its a bit more expensive.

Also, can any AM3 chips go on an AM2+ board?

Reply to mattycakes
bige420   10-19-2009 at 12:04:33 AM
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Yes it can if the motherboard supports it, probably might need a bios update. What mobo do you have?

Reply to bige420
arich5   10-19-2009 at 09:06:13 AM
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im in the same boat as you mattycakes
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] -m61p-what


except the video card part, im interested to see what happens im thinking of jumping to quad core also but will i see an inprovement?

Reply to arich5
mattycakes   10-19-2009 at 05:30:13 PM
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@arich5 Yeah, it's quite the dilemma eh?

I'm leaning on purchasing an AM3 motherboard and going with the dual core Phenom II X2 550 BE, seems that's the best means to a good gaming boost at minimal cost. Plus, I'll have the headroom to do further upgrades later.


Message edited by mattycakes on 10-19-2009 at 05:30:48 PM
Reply to mattycakes
HibyPrime   10-19-2009 at 08:06:03 PM
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The phenom II x3 710 or 720 is probably the best option for your budget. I would ignore the Athlon II x4, the lack of cache just hurts it too often, especially when there are other options in the same price range.

If you get an AM3 mobo, then you need to get DDR3 ram as well. Doesn't make a lot of sense IMO

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Phenom II x3 710 @ x4 2.93GHz
3GB DDR2 600
Radeon HD 4830 512mb
 Reply to HibyPrime
mattycakes   10-19-2009 at 08:30:48 PM
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HibyPrime wrote :

The phenom II x3 710 or 720 is probably the best option for your budget. I would ignore the Athlon II x4, the lack of cache just hurts it too often, especially when there are other options in the same price range.

If you get an AM3 mobo, then you need to get DDR3 ram as well. Doesn't make a lot of sense IMO





You're right, but I should have mentionned that I was considering an AM2+/AM3 mobo. Thanks for your help.

Reply to mattycakes
mattycakes   10-20-2009 at 12:57:07 AM
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One more question if this thread isn't dead yet. I've have decided to get the Phenom II X3 710 and need advice on a mobo.

I'm thinking about grabbing the GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H AM3/AM2+/AM2. Is this a good option. I'm interested in performing some OCing and the ability to unlock the 4th cores would be great.

Reply to mattycakes
amdfangirl   10-20-2009 at 06:42:54 AM
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It's a great mobo!

Gigabyte has excellent stability and OC options.

I think Gigabyte still lets you use ACC uncloking.

Reply to amdfangirl
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