I3 530 Vs Phenom x2 555

[Akuze]

Which one is faster and better for playing world of warcraft?
Also, how would they perform against each other if I overclock the 530 and unlock the other 2 cores of the 555?
Thanks

 

[Timop]

The i3 is going to be faster, it is more expensive.
Keep in mind that WOW only uses 2 cores, so unlocking wont help the game much.
However the Phenom is a nice OC also, should go up to 3.8Ghz.

 

[Userremoved]

The i3 itself is more powerful at stock then the Phenom II X2 555 but the Phenom II X2 can overclock well (I heard it goes behold 4Ghz).

 

[WR2]

THG article: Overclocking: Get The Performance Of A Core i5 From Core i3
AnandTech article: Core i3 530 Review - Great for Overclockers & Gamers 4.0Ghz OC with the stock cooler.

 

[dirtmountain]

Here's a set of CPU benchmarks for WoW, but it's outdated with no 530 listed.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,693737/WoW-Wrath-of-the-Lich-King-CPU-benchmarks-with-Phenom-II-and-Core-i5/Practice/

Unlocking 2 cores in the 555 would work about as well as the 955BE.

Here's where you can look for a benchmark comparison.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/120?vs=118

While WoW is set to run on 2 cores by default you can manually set it by affinity masking. Here's the long forum post with many Blue posts about how it's done.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778017311

 

[Userremoved]

THG article: Overclocking: Get The Performance Of A Core i5 From Core i3
AnandTech article: Core i3 530 Review - Great for Overclockers & Gamers 4.0Ghz OC with the stock cooler.

Same thing with the Phenom II some chips overclock well some don't. I have seen a 940 with a stock cooler go over 3.8Ghz.