3.4GHz X4 or 2.7GHz X6

Aderes Devorah · 2 Jul 2012 at 19:37

Hi guys

Just that simple question really. Gaming is the main reason.

If you give me your reason(s) I would be even more grateful.

Thanks

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debs3759 · 2 Jul 2012 at 19:51

As most games won't use 4 or more cores, the faster cores of the X4 will be better for you.

mickyflinn · 2 Jul 2012 at 19:51

3.4 Ghz x4 will be faster for gaming as the higher clock speed will increase the frame rate per second.

The 2 extra cores will only benefit you if video encoding but they run at a lower speed.

tamzzy · 2 Jul 2012 at 19:54

why get amd when intel is so much better. from an objective point of view

Jay85 · 2 Jul 2012 at 19:59

tamzzy said:
why get amd when intel is so much better. from an objective point of view

Because some people are on a tight budget.

Rik1254 · 2 Jul 2012 at 20:10

Jay85 said:
Because some people are on a tight budget.

i3?
Currently the 2120 is £90, the cheapest x4 AMD chip is the FX 4100 @ £91.99 and IIRC, the i3 is more powerful.
Not to mention the upgrade potential of the 1155 socket.

Muel · 2 Jul 2012 at 20:48

I concur, had an i3-2120 running next to my 965BE overclocked to 3.8ghz, and it beat it in every test I ran.

Martini1991 · 2 Jul 2012 at 20:50

Jay85 said:
Because some people are on a tight budget.

Long gone are the days of the AMD price/performance.
I mean, a 35 quid Intel Pentium Dual Core can perform pretty decent in most situations as a stop gap.

Marine-RX179 · 2 Jul 2012 at 20:57

Muel said:
I concur, had an i3-2120 running next to my 965BE overclocked to 3.8ghz, and it beat it in every test I ran.

...except for games that use less than 4 cores.

Hagar · 2 Jul 2012 at 20:57

Most 2.7 x6 will run at 3.5GHz and the x4 a bit higher without much effort. If it is a cheap upgrade question for an existing board, a Phenom II will be the better option over the new bulldozer. I have seen the 1090T x6 at £80 and below. Depends also on TDP though.

Martini1991 · 2 Jul 2012 at 21:51

Marine-RX179 said:
...except for games that use less than 4 cores.

Unless he meant his i3 was besting his Phenom II?

arad85 · 2 Jul 2012 at 22:03

The only reason I can see to get an AMD chip at the moment is because they have the better I/O subsystem. I have just bought a Sapphire AM3+ mobo for my server as it has 9 (yes 9) SATA III sockets and 6 PCI-e x 4 or better slots. Given the backward compatibility, when the better AM3+ chips are available for peanuts, I can still keep my server running nicely. I currenly have 2 x Adaptec HBA cards which gives me 17 internal SATA II or better ports (each with enough bandwidth to run the disk flat out).

For all other applications, an Intel processor/mobo is better IMHO.

Orcvader · 2 Jul 2012 at 22:05

To OP, are you upgrading a system or planning a new build? What's your budget?

Aderes Devorah · 2 Jul 2012 at 23:06

Well I need an AM3 because I already have the board (GIGABYTE 880GM-UD2H).

I mean, I know people are going to wax lyrical about all different types of CPUs here. It is good for a relative novice to observe the debate, and I'm sure Intel would come into the equation if I was starting from scratch, but I'm not.

The board supports up to the Phenom II X6 1100T, but this is still too much (might as well ditch the board).

I can get both the X4 3.4GHz and X6 2.7GHz for between £80 and £90.

I have got good cooling, and would like to get into OCing. But, as they say, baby steps...

Thank you.
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Orcvader · 2 Jul 2012 at 23:16

Fair enough. If that's the case, I would go for the X4 955. 965 maybe if the price difference is low enough. Both have unlocked multipliers and will overclock to the same levels. There's no cooling on the MOFSETs though so don't aim too high (also why I'm not recommending a hexcore). Had a friend with an MSI 880G board with a hexcore but the MOFSETs caught alight even though it was at stock speeds.

Martini1991 · 3 Jul 2012 at 00:30

Suggesting lower clocked, 2 year olders CPU's over the higher clocked new CPU's.
And people wonder why Bulldozer gets slammed?
Ha.

I'd probably got for a 95W TDP 1055T OP, that'll boost to 3.3GHZ under certain situations.

Muel · 3 Jul 2012 at 08:19

Marine-RX179 said:
...except for games that use less than 4 cores.

I said I concured with the previous post, where the guy stated the i3 was better than the 965BE.

SouthEastBlue · 3 Jul 2012 at 08:39

I swapped out an unlocked Phenom II @ 3.5ghz for a 1155 system using an i3 and its pretty much the same in games that make use of 3+ cores and better in single or dual core games. Main reason to swap was ability to chuck in an i5 in a few months though!

Aderes Devorah · 3 Jul 2012 at 14:13

Thanks Orcvader and all.

Time to get the plastic out...

Best
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