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939 X2 4200 vs 4600

Uriel

Uriel

Uriel

Soldato
Joined
15 Jan 2006
Posts
7,818
Location
Derbyshire
Well it's decision time. I'm looking at a final 939 upgrade that will hopefully last me until I have to drag any components that will make the transition kicking and screaming to a new motherboard. I can get the 4200+ for £50 cheaper than the 4600+. Don't want to go Core 2 Duo just yet - a full rebuild's just too much hassle at the moment.

Do people think the 4600+ is worth the extra money or not?
 
If you do not overclock (I saw your sig) then 4600 will be definitely better (I could not say by what margin exactly). At the same time it is £ 50 bucks more, it is your call.

I have recently moved from 3500 Winnie to X2 4800 and I am very satisfied.
 
Should mention it'll mainly be for games. Oblivion and Rome: Total War (getting Medieval II once I've finished the current campaign) are taking up most of my time at the moment.

As for OCing, I'm still wary after significantly reducing the lifespan of my Barton system (was 100% prime stable at first but got the wobbles after a few months, and ended up in a sorry state where it couldn't even get through a 3DMark run when underclocked). It's not to say I won't come back to it but I'm currently very satisfied with complete lack of crashing I've been having since the current build.

Edit: Hang on - just noticed that the 4200+ is OEM. Think I'm swinging for the 4600+ if I have to factor in getting a cooler that will be as good or better than the ones in the retail package.
 
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I guess whether you thing 200MHz is worth £50. If you don't feel like overclocking at the moment, it could be the better option. Alternatively, get the 4200 & an arctic freezer pro 64, which would be cheaper than the 4600 by itself!
 
I'd go for the 4200+ and a decent after market cooler, then clock the 4200+ to 4600+ speeds. Its easy to do, and your system will be quieter thanks to the better cooler too.
 
Ended up with the 4600+. Just done some stability testing so far while running at stock. All good.

The nearest thing to a benchmark I've run so far is a quick run through Kvatch in Oblivion with FRAPS. I used to run while looking at the smoke and flames (think all the particule effects are CPU bound, as changing resolution here didn't change minimum framerate), which resulted in a minimum 11FPS (average approx 25FPS) with the 3000+. It's hard to push it below 20 now and the average is closer to 40. Not a bad boost

The 4600+ is running cooler too, although I think that has more to do with the better stock heatsink. Unfortunately it's a bit louder than I'd been led to believe. Might swap out the fan for something quieter eventually.
 
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