Better gaming CPU?

[sammy_07]

AMD Athalon II X4 630
AMD Phenom II X2 555

considering athalon II don't have L3 cache.I know GPU is the crucial thing
for gaming but I just want to know which one is better for gaming?
Thanks for your answers.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Are you planning to overclock?

What games will you be playing?

An Athlon II x4 will do better in games that use more than two cores (FarCry2, GTA4) while the PhenomIIx2 will do better in games that use two cores (Crysis, Source Games, etc).

Both will overclock quite nicely. If you want to try your luck, you might be able to unlock the PIIx2's locked cores into a triple core or even a quad core.

 

[isamuelson]

It's more than just the cache. Here is a site that has a Athlon 635 vs. the Phenom 555.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2923/6

In most cases, the Phenom II beat out the Athlon 635. This points more to just pure raw power (the speed of the cores) rather than multiple CPUs since most games aren't programmed for multiple threads.

This site has Crysis using the 630 and 555 and the 555 beats it by 10 fps:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1073/12/

However, the Athlon still does give some good framerates.

It might come down to price per performance. Which is cheaper and is it just for gaming you want? These are things you'll have to decide.

In then end, what is your breaking point for pricing? You might even be able to find a better X4 Phenom for a good price or even an X3.

 

[Raidur]

The GPU is the main factor in your FPS, but the CPU has to be able to keep up.

The 555 is going to be the better performer for most games, as few games today are 4 core optimized (4 cores is becoming the norm for new games).

Most games that are 4 core optimized only make it easier for a quad core to 'keep up', but there are a few 'cpu bound' games (like GTA IV) that will greatly benefit from having a quad core, regardless of the GPU.

Another thing to keep in mind is the 555BE has a chance of unlocking into a quad core.

Personally i'd go with the 555 and take my chances, but most people would take the Athlon 630.

What GPU(s) do you plan on using?

 

[C00lIT]

Athlon X4 as the framerate difference isn't that bad, but in the long run the Athlon X4 will run better considering newer games and apps will be multithreaded.

 

[Emperus]

With games becoming both CPU and GPU hungry day by day, i'd say the quad would be the wise selection.. And by quad i don't mean a dual core processor with two locked cores.. I rather put the warranty to test with overclocking rather than core unlocking..