AMD Athlon II X4 640 vs Phenom II X4 925 2.80 GHz Processor

kilerz

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hi, i want to get a new cpu, im using an athlon 64 x2 5200+ 2.7ghz, im thinking of upgrading my cpu to either an AMD Athlon II X4 640 or an Phenom II X4 925 2.80 GHz Processor the difference is about $50 since the 640 is $100, as i was looking at the charts i noticed they are very similar in speed in all the charts ecept for gaming where fps in l4d was 23fps higher on the phenom, is this type of increase going to happen in general for gaming?

on another note im currently using an ati 4670 so i know that its definatley not a strong card and i am looking to upgrade to a 5770 or 5830 (or the 6series equivalent when it comes out) will my cpu bottle neck a new graphics card (meaning should i upgrade)? and by upgrading (the cpu, assume i have a 5770) would i see a massive performance boost, i play games like Arma 2 (which is very cpu intesive, but i hear not optimized for quad core) battlefield bad company 2, sometimes crysis. im not a hard core gamer i dont need 100+ fps in my games but i prefer to play a max settings in all my games on 1400 X900 resolution and prefer to have a minimum fps (lowest fps) of 30fps
 
Solution
From what I read, the difference in performance between similar Phenom II's and Athlon II's was a 5-7% penalty in performance in regards to the Athlon II's lack of L3 cache. Id say just save a little cash for the better video card, and go with the Athlon II. You should be fairly pleased with the performance youll get for the price.
The Radeon 5770's are a very decent card for the money, especially now that theyve started going down in price. I was pleased with mine, when I got it for $180 on newegg, but now you can get them for as cheap as $130 and sometimes cheaper if they have a M.I.R. Also, down the line if you feel up to it, you could always just swap out the mobo, and get one that can handle a 2nd 5770 for crossfire, and if you buy...

Darkerson

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My Athlon II 630, even at stock speeds, hasnt been a bottleneck for my 5770. Crossfire may be a different matter, though. But anyway, even if you decide to get a 5830, the cheaper Athlon II will keep up just fine. But I should say, for 40 bucks more then the Athlon II, you can get a Phenom II 955 on newegg, so if anything, just save up the extra cash and get that, and you should be fine for a good amount of time. Hope that helps!
 

kilerz

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th e955 was my preference but i have an old gigabyte motherboard http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2813#ov and according to the cpu list if i were to update my bios to the latest update (since mine is stock) the best cpu i could use is the Phenom II X4 925 95w because i cannot find a 95w 955 anywhere, are they even made, or only oem?
 

Darkerson

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Gotcha. That sucks, I was hoping I could of helped you get a better CPU for cheaper. Id say youd be pretty pleased with the Athlon II then. Dont get me wrong, the Phenom II's are better, but that price is kinda silly for the 925 now that some of the upper end Phenom II's have come down in price.
Edit: Apparently there is a Phenom II 955 thats rated at 95w, but Im sure its more expensive then the 125w version thats selling on newegg for $140.
Edit 2: Newegg does have the 95w Phenom II 945 for $135, and its in stock.
TheNerds.net has the 95w Phenom II 945 for $112, but they are out of stock.
 

kilerz

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ty for replying but sadly again the cpu list http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=2813 doesnt even show the 945 and i dont want to risk buying it, will i loose much performance in a game by settling for the athlon over the phenom? in the charts the 925 had a 23fps increase on l4d over the athlon
 

kilerz

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i would like to get my moneys worth, so would i really suffer any performance if i didnt upgrade my cpu and only upgraded my gcard to a 5770, i do play a lower resolutions of 1400x900, but the real reason why im considering a new cpu is because people say Arma 2 requires a strong cpu, but i also hear that it doesnt have greate quadcore programming? or i might wait a few months and just buy a 6770 or if that doesnt have a good increase of 5770, i can atleast get a decent price drop on the 5700 hopefully and wait a while longer to buy a much better motherboard/cpu when multi processing/threads are better supported, thanks for your help
 

Darkerson

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From what I read, the difference in performance between similar Phenom II's and Athlon II's was a 5-7% penalty in performance in regards to the Athlon II's lack of L3 cache. Id say just save a little cash for the better video card, and go with the Athlon II. You should be fairly pleased with the performance youll get for the price.
The Radeon 5770's are a very decent card for the money, especially now that theyve started going down in price. I was pleased with mine, when I got it for $180 on newegg, but now you can get them for as cheap as $130 and sometimes cheaper if they have a M.I.R. Also, down the line if you feel up to it, you could always just swap out the mobo, and get one that can handle a 2nd 5770 for crossfire, and if you buy wisely, get basically a 5870 out of the deal for less then what the 5870 runs for.
 
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Darkerson

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To be honest though, after I looked at the chart for your mobo, if it can handle a 95w 955, there should be no reason it cant handle its lesser cousin, the 945, but I understand you wanting to play it safe. Maybe email them and ask about it, just in case.