X2 555BE ORX3 720 BE or X4 925?

[jefrey1983]

I am looking for a good cpu replacement, my old cpu is II 240, What I usually do are photo editing, programming, watching movies and casual gaming (Dragon Age Origin, Nba2k11? )

this is the board that I am going to use ASROCK M3A785GM-LE/128M going to use 2GB DDR3 and add another 2GB next month

I don't have plans buying any videocard as of the moment maybe next year maybe 6670?


power consumption is also an important factor for me since i leave my pc on 20/7

 

[WR2]

I don't think you'd see a great enough increase in performance to really make it worthwhile.
No real benefit in programming, watching movies or casual gaming.
What photo editing software do you use?

 

[jefrey1983]

photoshop cs4 extended

 

[ksampanna]

Well I'll just assume you're bored with your current CPU & want an upgrade which performs faster.
What is your budget? The following would be the good options for the available budget:
Phenom II X6 1090T $310
Phenom II X6 1055T $199
Phenom II X4 965 BE $180
Phenom II X4 955 BE $160
Phenom II X4 925 $137.99
Athlon II X3 425 $61.99

These are but just a few. IMO, don't get the 965, since you could get the 955 for $20 less & simply increase it's multiplier to match it's speed w/ the 965. I suggest you go the 6 core way if you want to gain max performance. If $300 is too steep, then get the $200 1055T.

 

[ksampanna]

I'm sorry I didn't notice you'd already picked 3 - X2 555BE ORX3 720 BE or X4 925.
Well from those, the X4 925 would be the best. Since currently you have a dual core, going the quadcore way will definitely result in more tangible performance benefits.

 

[jefrey1983]

i heard about 555BE 2 core's can turns to 4 my budget is $135 so i am having second thoughts
should i just buy another 2GB memory stick(total 2x2) and get 555BE or 720/925 with 2GB memory
is ACC safe? or what are the side effect

 

[ksampanna]

i heard about 555BE 2 core's can turns to 4 my budget is $135 so i am having second thoughts
should i just buy another 2GB memory stick(total 2x2) and get 555BE or 720/925 with 2GB memory

Core unlocking has less than 50 % chances of success. So don't leave that to luck. Just get a true quadcore.
Unless you work on some incredibly heavy image files, or do heavy multitasking, 2 GB would be enough for Photoshop. You could add another 2 GB in the future. But do try & get the 925. Since photoshop does benefit from having an increase in core count.

 

[jefrey1983]

how many % increase should I expect from AMD II X2 240 to II X4 925

 

[WR2]

For programming, watching movies or casual gaming it should be pretty much identical performance.
For editing work in Photoshop CS4 you'd get about the same as well if this benchmark is right.

from TechSpot: CPU Round-up: $100 - $200 Intel and AMD Processors
They commented The program clearly relies more on processor clock speed than numbers of cores. This is evident when looking at the Phenom II X2 555 results, which placed this processor well ahead of the triple-core Phenom II X3 720 processor, giving it a 10% performance advantage. This was also the case when comparing the Phenom II X2 555 to the Phenom II X4 925.
Which would seem to apply going from your 2.8Ghz AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor to the 2.8Gghz AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb

 

[roonj]

Just saw the phenom IIx4 Black Edition 940 (3 ghz default) $117 @ newegg.

 

[wacotex]

i heard about 555BE 2 core's can turns to 4 my budget is $135 so i am having second thoughts
should i just buy another 2GB memory stick(total 2x2) and get 555BE or 720/925 with 2GB memory
is ACC safe? or what are the side effect

+++++ I recently bought the 555be and an asus M4A785-M. Let me tell you,this board unlocks the proc. Hit F4 and the ACC kicks in and Bam 4 core 3.2 Ghz. I overclocked on air,4.1 Ghz. The 555be is a 955 be handcuffed,meaning 2 cores locked. These were not substandard procs,just disabled to fill a niche in a dual core market. The motherboard is fantastic,from install to boot,took me 35 min. This was my first build. Very pleased. Cost me total of $214 bucks. +++++