I3 2120 vs Phenom 965

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crowz9

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Hi everyone,

Which CPU has in your opinion, the most advantages?

Both cost the same where I live, and they reach my top budget for the CPU upgrade.

All I do in my PC is gaming. I have no intentions of overclocking/aftermarket cooling, whatsoever.

I currently have an Asus AM3+ motherboard. I would have to sell it and buy a 1155 socket one.

As far as I know, Intel gives more upgrade path at the moment. That means I can get an i7 in a couple of years. The i3 has half the power consumption of the Phenom under load. Yet the i3 only has 2 cores.

Would the i3 or the Phenom be a solid upgrade for the x2 245 Athlon I currently have?

Oh and I forgot. My current CPU is bottlenecking my GPU since very simple games like Amnesia give me about 40 FPS, and new games run flawlessly.
Would the processors I mentioned before, eliminate this bottleneck so that my GPU can run games better?
 
whatsthatnoise

whatsthatnoise

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This question has been answered a freakin' 1billion times at least. Just copy your question into google and hit enter.

-.-

Since you are on an AM3+ already, the 965 is a big update to your CPU. If you have the money go Intel.
 
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knightdog56

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I would go with the Phenom II X 4 965BE and you would not have to worry about bottlenecking at all, your BIOS would have to be at least 304 version. Later on you could update to a FX-8350 if you wanted to but you would have to update to the latest BIOS to do that. The AMD would cost the least to upgrade. You could upgrade your video card to a HD7850 and not bottleneck the Phenom.
 
mocchan

mocchan

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They are both nearly identical in terms of gaming. Since you already have an AMD platform, go with the Phenom II. It will save you a few bucks while giving you plenty of performance.
 
mocchan

mocchan

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They won't make a dramatic difference on your power bill, trust me. Realistically speaking, the Phenom II X4 will only use around 100w of power at full load. Now that's a WORST CASE SCENARIO power pull. Typical day-to-day usage with a bit of gaming and you'll most likely see around 90w pulled from the Phenom II.

Just as an example, my Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.8Ghz (1.4v) only pulled 117w.

The i3, however, will pull far less power compared to the Phenom. But will 50w make a difference of ~$200 a year? No. The power difference wouldn't justify the cost of how much power you're saving to the cost of how much you'll have to spend on an Intel rig.
 
mocchan

mocchan

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That's still not for me to justify a price difference of $50 between the FX-6300 and the Phenom II X4 965 (considering you can easily OC the X4 965 to 980 speeds).

If I were to make a budget rendering machine, sure, I'll take the FX-6300. But considering OP is only concentration on games, I wouldn't take the FX-6300 over the Phenom II considering the gap in price.

Phenom II X4 965 - $89.99
FX-6300 - $139.99

5% difference in gaming...Yeah I would take the Phenom II any day.

 
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crowz9

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I'm trying to get away of FX processors, as all I've seen is bad reviews about them.
I guess I can trust what you say mocchan, about power consumption.
What can you tell me about overclocking the Phenom CPU? I might change my mind, and increase the clock from 3.4 to 3.7, just a small tweak. I hope the stock cooler will suffice.
 
mocchan

mocchan

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For those clocks, yes, the stock cooler will suffice. Just to give you more assurance, however, the Phenom II X4 965 will be more than sufficient to play any modern title at its STOCK clocks.

Anyway getting to OCing the Phenom II's. My particular chip (X4 955) could overclock to 3.8Ghz with a slight increase in voltage (1.35->1.4v) so I was very lucky. There's a lot you can tinker with when overclocking with Phenoms, however, the easiest way would be to increase the multiplier.

But as I said, the Phenom II X4 965 will suffice for any title without any overclocks.
 
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crowz9

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How can I know when/how much do I have to increase the voltage?
 
mocchan

mocchan

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Increase your multiplier little by little and test for temperatures/stability with a program such as Prime95. If your rig doesn't crash, you have enough voltage. If your rig crashes, try adding a little voltage to try and get your rig stable :)

Trial and error is all it is!
 
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crowz9

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It's easier than I thought.
Hmm.
Since I have AM3+ mobo, that is yes to buying a Phenom.
I guess I'm gonna take a chance and buy it.
My mobo chipset is AMD 880G. Can I oc easily?
Since I won't be upgrading my CPU after I buy it, overclocking it is the best solution, whether I like it or not.


 
mocchan

mocchan

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You should be able to get a mild OC out of your board :) I've OC'd on an 880G chipset without fail in the past, so I doubt you would run into any either. The only thing that would hold you back would be your VRM's. (Lack of a beefy VRM design and lack of a heatsink for them)
 
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oxford373

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I agree,despite fx 6300 much more efficient and has more overclocking capabilities.
@crows9 bad reviews about FX bulldozer(81xx,61xx,41xx)that's true because phenom II CPUs are faster than fx bulldozer CPUs, but not about piledriver FX(8350,6300,4300) which released a few days ago.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested
EDIT:you have to update BIOS if you want to instal piledriver FX CPUs
 
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crowz9

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Bollocks.
You made me reconsider OC'ing and extra cooling.
Mocchan talked me into it and you did the opposite haha.
Now I'm in a crossroad again :(
 
mocchan

mocchan

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:lol: Well what I previously said still remains the same; Phenom II X4 965 is more than capable of any game at stock settings. OCing is fully optional. Just think whether or not you would want to spend an extra $30 or so on a cooler :)
 
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