AMD Phenom II X2 or Athlon II X4?

[honomatopeya]

Hello fellas!!

Heres a question for all of you

Im thinking about buying a CPU for my cousins birthday.. i dont want to expend more $$ on him than these ranges... so please don't recommend me that i7 things that i cant afford and won't give as present lol

So my question is

i want to give my cousin a gaming computer.. he says he was playing awesome with his Athlon 6000+ so i don't see a problem in giving him one of these because his happyness with the 6000.

1..... AMD Phenom II X2 555 Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor C3 revision..

2..... AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor


The system has a ATI 5' series, 500 gb 7200 rpm drive, ECS Black Series A785GM-M AM3 , and 4 gb DDR3 OCZ 1066.. PSU above 700 watts, good ventilation.

So... i would like you tell me if you would pick the 1 or # 2 cpu.. cant change any parts because the computer is not mine, just the cpu.


Thanks for your attention.

 

[saaiello]

Out of those two the Athlon would be the better choice.

 

[saaiello]

But for a gameing rig it would be a much better choice to go with this phenom i listed the 6mb of L3 cache will improve overall gaming considerably.


AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656

 

[honomatopeya]

Do phenoms II L3 cache makes a difference in gaming?

I mean, the athlon II is a quad... and phenoms just dual core

 

[saaiello]

no the phenom is a quad and yes the L3 makes a difference

 

[honomatopeya]

obviously there are Phenom II X4...but i was reffering about the 2 cpus listed here

 

[saaiello]

the phenom you listed is a quad i listed a different one.

 

[saaiello]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=122&p2=120&c=1

 

[honomatopeya]

If this benchmark is right... i don't see that much help from the L3 . In multi threat is better the athlon II X4 but in gaming the Phenom X2 seems to be a little better..

Anyway.. the Athlon II X4 is like 40 dlls more expensive.. Would the invest be recommended? or should i save those bucks as the results between both cpu are almost equal in gaming?

 

[honomatopeya]

differences are only less than 8 FPS !

 

[SidVicious]

The 555 is a prime candidate for core unlocking, could turn a nice gift into an awesome gift.

Also, might want to consider a X25-V SSD, not that far from that price range and will make a huge difference as a dedicated OS/Game drive.

 

[saaiello]

The ECS board that he already has does not have ACC so unlocking it is out of question.

 

[saaiello]

Phenom II x4 925 has two main advatages over the Athlon II X4 The L3 cache will give it an edge in gameing and two it is very overclocking friendly but if you cant see yourself spending that extra 40bills go with the Athlon II x4 will give a nice boost from the Athlon 6000+. Dont get a dual core chip you should only be looking at quad cores.

 

[saaiello]

if you are willing to OC, why not just get the Athlon II x 620?

Dude read what the OP posted its not for them its for there cousins birthday gift so they are just looking for a good chip.

 

[xeonyxorich]

Get the athlon since if you comparing the L3 cache vs 2 more cores. Which one do you think would make a bigger difference?

 

[SidVicious]

Right, was thinking about the full sized Black A785GM, it is an option built into the chipset anyway, sad that ECS pussied out and didn't include it in mATX BIOS.

BTW Saaiello, seems like you're just bloating your post count just for the sake of it...

 

[loneninja]

I'd get the Athlon II X4, it's more than enough for 60+ fps in current games, and it out performs the Phenom II X2 in games that utilize more than 2 cores.

 

[honomatopeya]

Ok.. I think i will go for the Athlon II X4 then...

But you have said theres a way to "unlock" Phenom II X2's cores to quad?

How does this "unlocking method" works??

I'm asking this... because i would like to get one of these CPUs in a future

 

[saaiello]

Ok.. I think i will go for the Athlon II X4 then...

But you have said theres a way to "unlock" Phenom II X2's cores to quad?

How does this "unlocking method" works??

I'm asking this... because i would like to get one of these CPUs in a future

To unlock one of those processor you use a function in the bios call ACC Advanced Clock Calibration you enable this and add a littl extra Vcore for the extra cores and when you reboot you might get lucky and have an x4 processor. What it actully is a quad core chip that they shut down 2 cores on for 1 of two reasons either it was defective or they will just simply shut them down to fill stock. Its cheaper for production to be able to use the same chip so there is a good chance you might get one that works. However if you want a quad core you might want to just go for the sure thing.

 

[BradyT88]

I would get the Athlon II x4 like they said the L3 cache won't make a big difference, especially since it is lacking 2 cores.

 

[honomatopeya]

I bought the Phenom II X2 as a friend gave it in 30 dlls.


Thank you all

 

[BradyT88]

I bought the Phenom II X2 as a friend gave it in 30 dlls.


Thank you all

Can't beat that, I guess. Good Luck and enjoy