Athlon x3 455 or athlon x4 631 for games etc?

[Guest]

Hello, Straight forward question, which cpu is better for gaming an such.

Athlon x3 455 3.3ghz or athlon 631 x4 2.6ghz?

Obviously the x4 has an extra core but slower speed and the x3 can have a 4th core unlocked anyway.... its it worth spending the extra £7?

 

[sosofm]

You can overclock that x4 core. To unlock x3 is lottery. Buy the native x4.

 

[deadjon]

The 631 is on socket FM1 and the 455 is on AM2+/3 - comparing the 2 is unreasonable. If you have the mobo/intend to get one, go for the 631, the FM1 athlon chips overclock like monsters.

 

[jaguarskx]

Since most games can take advantage of two cores, some can take advantage of three cores and very few can use four cores, I recommend the Athlon X3.

Yeah sure, you can overclock the Athlon X4, but you can also overclock the Athlon X3 as well. Since the clockspeed difference is 700MHz in favor of the X3, that makes it an easy choice.

 

[jaguarskx]

How many CPU cores do games need?
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/07/05/how-many-cpu-cores-do-games-need/1

CPU Cores Scaling Comparison (Intel 2500k SB)
http://benchmark3d.com/cpu-cores-scaling-comparison-intel-2500k-sb