X2vsX4@same price-Athlon II X4 620 (2.6GHz) vs Phenom II X2 545 (3GHz)

[abhylal]

Hi All, I'm considering buying an AMD computer, with the following specs:

320 GB Hard Drive (SATA 10000 RPM) --&--
2 GB DDR3 RAM --&--
Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Motherboard (785G Chipset, Socket AM3) with Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4200 GPU and SidePort Memory - onboard 128MB DDR3 1333 memory GPU --&--
normal peripherals
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My question is this: Both processors are priced the same here, and I would like to use this machine for day to day use as well as gaming. Keep in mind that i'm buying this machine only as a base to be upgraded later (i.e., 1-2 GB graphics card, 8GB RAM), and so i need to know which will llast me longest w/o processor or motherboard upgrades.
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Based on my needs, which processor should i get? Dual core 3.0 GHz with 6 MB L3 Cache or Quad core 2.6 GHz with no L3 Cache? Many thanks in advance!

 

[dirtmountain]

The bench chart from Anandtech may help you, it only has the PhenomII550BE and the 620 not the 545, but it should give you an idea how it will perform with the uses you have in mind.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=106&p2=97

 

[abhylal]

Thanks dirtmountain! Most useful link!


Looking at the bench test, the X4 seems to be better in every respect, apart from frames per second (pretty marginal difference though!)

 

[xaira]

+1 on thew x4

 

[abhylal]

Recently read on another post (Is Intel doomed? amdfangirl) that the 785G can unlock the a Phenom II X2 into a Phenom II X4.... what does this mean? how? does this bring any changes to your recommendation?

 

[x-nitrous-x]

Recently read on another post (Is Intel doomed? amdfangirl) that the 785G can unlock the a Phenom II X2 into a Phenom II X4.... what does this mean? how? does this bring any changes to your recommendation?

I wouldnt mess with trying to unlock the cores.. it usually has undesirable results.. tripple core = cripple core.. thats what we used to say about all of that..

 

[abhylal]

I wouldnt mess with trying to unlock the cores.. it usually has undesirable results.. tripple core = cripple core.. thats what we used to say about all of that..

Thanks x-nitrous-x! by the way, what's your take on my X2 vs X4 query?

 

[xaira]

the phenom line of processors are all made with dies that contain four cores, the appropriate number of components on the die are disabled to meet product specifications, but they are not removed, so they are still very much there.

the advanced clock calibration feature on some boards allow for these disabled components to be enabled, so you buy a phenom x2 and you enable the other cores and you have an x4, but dont be surprised if your system looses stability,, the deactivated cores are faulty in some cases, so it is a gamble, also, the tdp effectively doubles, so ud 1t a better cooler, with athlon however, with the exception of the x3 yo cant unlock.

 

[x-nitrous-x]

Thanks x-nitrous-x! by the way, what's your take on my X2 vs X4 query?

i would get the quad core so you can future proof your computer a little better.. your going to see more and more applications especially games take advantage of multi-core systems.. i dont think you would notice much of a difference in normal computing but when you start doing games or rendering, the more cores the better in general terms.

i see that this is not the case when looking a little closer into the chips, which i find very interesting. it looks as if the x2 phenom ii takes the cake in most situations.

this kinda reminds me of putting the e8500 up against the q6600.. little to no difference..