Did i make right decision

theyohan

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Feb 27, 2010
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During the winter holidays i bought a Phenom ii X2 550 over a Phenom ii X3 720. Did i make a good decision passing up a tri-core for higher clock speeds. I also use my computer for gaming. I play games such as the source games, dawn of war 2, and modern warfare 2. Was it a good choice to choose the 550 over the 720?
 
Solution



If you're playing at that resolution then you may not notice ANY performance difference between the two chips.They are more than enough to handle 9800GT(Which is still plenty for 1280x1024).

You should not be worried about the proccesor. Both of them can handle much better cards. So whenever you feel any slowdowns you should look for GPU upgrade.

The x2 550 is a decent CPU you really wouldnt see much of a difference between the two.

What motherboard do you have because depending on your motherboard you can unlock the disabled cores on that chip and turn it into a x4. AMD uses the same die for there x4 lines and just disable 2 cores to fill there inventory for the x2. Most likely u can unlock it. Please list your motherboards manufacture and model.
 


I wouldnt call that settling it was a smart choice IMO higher clock is more important in games right now since most games can only use 2 cores so higher clock was a good decision if it is a gaming rig.
 

theyohan

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Feb 27, 2010
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OK go into your bios and enable ACC- advanced clock control 9 times out of ten you will unlock it into an x4 and bam you have a $160 cpu for the price you spent on that x2
i think i have tried that and it would stay at a black screen until i turn the computer off
 
I think he did OK.
The graphics card is the heart of a GAMING system. Few games can use more than two cores, so I think a strong dual core is just fine.

To test this, lower the resolution and eye candy to a minimum and run the games. If the FPS goes up, then it indicates that the cpu is capable of driving an even faster graphics card.
If the FPS does not change much, it is an indicator that the cpu is not adequate.
 

shubham1401

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If you're playing at that resolution then you may not notice ANY performance difference between the two chips.They are more than enough to handle 9800GT(Which is still plenty for 1280x1024).

You should not be worried about the proccesor. Both of them can handle much better cards. So whenever you feel any slowdowns you should look for GPU upgrade.

 
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