Budget Gaming Rig: Phenom II x4 Deneb vs FX 4100 Zambezi

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ThomasPJones

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Jan 9, 2012
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Hello!

I am trying to put together a budget gaming build. The reason I'm going with AMD is because I received a MoBo for Christmas, and am building around that. I posted about my build here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=31&post=332415&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0#t2482063

There is discussion about which processor is better for gaming:

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894
or
AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996


Here are the other core pieces of my build (I think these are pretty good choices, but I am open to suggestions for alternatives):

Mother Board (already owned): ASRock 990FX Extreme4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157266

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

RAM: Kingston HyperX Grey Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104239

PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

I am having trouble deciphering their discussion, and what benchmarks are more important. I would very much appreciate additional thoughts on the matter. Which CPU is better for my build, and for what reason? Which is better for gaming in general (current / future games)? Would you recommend a different CPU entirely?

I would also be very appreciative of any critiques / advice about the rest of my build.

Thanks in advance for any answers or advice you may have!
 
I read both threads. Thank Rolli for making the clearest post on the subject.

Piledriver may offer improvement, or it may not. I doubt any game coming out any time soon will require anything more capable than an AMD X2 or Intel i3 (and most will run on considerably less); that would exclude a huge part of the market. Get the Phenom II, and don't worry about it.
 
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