I take issue with that benchmark page, and I'll explain why. First, a few things. devilofdeaths is wondering if a
4ghz+(4.4 actually) phenom II x4 with 6MB of L3 cache will bottleneck an asus dc2 7950(which I imagine should
easily oc past 7970 levels). The tom's benchmark linked uses an hd7970 for testing. Now to my beefs:
The first game listed, Star Craft 2, is tested with no aa(would switch the onus back to the gpu). That should lower
average framerate and may impact minimum frame rate, but it won't be due to the cpu. In an rts like sc2, 15fps
is pretty decent(like what the 955BE OCed to 4ghz got for a minimum, 45fps avg.).
Just Cause 2 has fairly high settings in place and runs at 38fps minimum(69.5fps avg.) on that OCed 955BE.
Unless you need more than 60fps at all times on a 60hz screen(which even a 4ghz 2500k can't provide), u r o k.
Finally there's Skyrim. 29fps minimum, 37fps avg(vs i5 2400 with 36 and 45). I wonder if the 955 is throttling.
4ghz didn't become easy til the new stepping on 965be dropped it from 140w tdp to 125w(like the one linked by
devilofdeaths on newegg). I believe 955(BE) is 140w. Since x6s are also 45nm, are larger(more cores), and also
hit 4ghz easy, a 956be should go a bit past 4ghz w/o trouble. Also, in a value sense, this inexpensive, unlocked
quad core(combined with an inexpensive but feature rich, performance mobo) is a bettter bang for your buck than
a more expensive combo of i5/i7 and supporting mobo or a cheap i3(or lower) and similarly feature rich mobo.
If you factor in the extra cost of cooling(decent air cooler vs stock cooler for both amd cpu and intel k series) and
maybe a better psu for an x4, it's still a better proposition when on a tight budget. If you go online against other
players in the likes of sc2, you will want the extra cores in an x4 over an i3 or pentium(sc2 tested in SP mode).
Oh yeah, fraps doesn't tell the whole story. If you read gpu reviews for the last 12 months or so at techreport,
you will see how a gpu with a higher fps in fraps may actually give you an inferior gaming experience compared to
one that has a lower fraps score. Hardocp has been on this track for years, but can't yet fund the kind of equip-
ment techreport has to scientifically show what they've been "feeling" for years in their gpu reviews.
And that tom's article compares bulldozer fx(crap), amd APUs(best overclocked with a decent cooler on a decent
mobo like every other cpu, possibly turning down the gpu part to give more headroom to the cpu part) and
pentium(not worth it over an x4 or A8k when they are similarly priced). A8 has no upgrade path(piledriver based
APUs will be on fm2), but on am3 you can upgrade to piledriver fx soon and maybe steamroller too. Besides the
chance of intel releasing a few slightly faster ivy procs, LGA1155 is dead(Haswell will be on the new LGA1150).
Edit: phenom II x4 965BE for 85.99 with free shipping, without question. Find it here:
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=46281&vpn=HDZ965FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD&promoid=1375
but should i get a higher end i3 or a lower end i5
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