AM2 still worth considering?

[phatboy]

I have been looking around for reviews etc, and wouldnt mind some peoples personal opinion on this. when i get round to upgrading i am going to have a tight budget and the AM2 is pretty well priced. I have been looking at the 3600x2 Brisbane as it appears these can do 3.0ghz on air with something like the Freezer 64 i already have.

Would a budget AM2 setup be maybe a better plan than say a E2160 one

 

[Dark_Angel]

I think most people will agree no, its not.

If you overclock (which going by your signature and the CPU in it, you do) then you may as well go C2D. The E2160 goes to about 3GHZ usually, and at that speed is plenty good enough for pretty much any task...

 

[Hesky82]

You can see from the results that the e2160 and 3800 x2 are a pretty close match, overall the e2160 comes out on top. Its worth noting the 2160 has a slightly lower clock than the 3800 so if you clock both to 3GHz the pentium is only going to widen it gab.

Both a great performing processors for there price, if you can get the amd x2 stupid cheap it would definitely be worth considering.

Edit: hum you were considering the 3600x2, Im pretty sure those results are still relevant, the 3600 are very cheap though, a good £15~ less than a 2160. 30quid for a 3GHz x2 is bloody cheap!

 

[phatboy]

cool, cheers for the chart, it seems like the C2D does better in synthetic stuff.

I use photoshop and Supreme Commander on a regular basis and the AMD seems to perform better at that stuff.

I guess tho the 2160 can hit 3.4 with a Freezer 7 where as i rkn the AMD would struggle to get over 3.0ghz even if i bought the 4400x2

 

[Dark_Angel]

cool, cheers for the chart, it seems like the C2D does better in synthetic stuff.

I use photoshop and Supreme Commander on a regular basis and the AMD seems to perform better at that stuff.

I guess tho the 2160 can hit 3.4 with a Freezer 7 where as i rkn the AMD would struggle to get over 3.0ghz even if i bought the 4400x2

Unless I am misreading, Photoshop is faster on the C2D, the number is lower (less rendering time) and is in red, which means win ?

 

[steve258]

3.4Ghz is being a bit ambitious I think and it depends largely on luck like anything overclocked.

The only AM2 I will consider is the X2 3600+ which went for £25 on OCUK a short time ago ultimate budget machine but the 3600+ has been removed from OCUK for some reason.

 

[Hesky82]

Unless I am misreading, Photoshop is faster on the C2D, the number is lower (less rendering time) and is in red, which means win ?

yup that’s correct dark angel, I think a more realistic overclock figure for an e2160 would be 3.2GHz though phatboy. but even at 3.2ghz the c2d would nuke an x2 at 3GHz.

I think it all comes down to price, if the amd is significantly cheaper I would seriously think about it.

Like I said before, a sub 30quid x2 clocking at 3GHz is pretty damn cool!

 

[Fothsn]

What about an e2140 these can clock to 3.0GHz or thereabouts, excellent value for money!!

 

[Hesky82]

On average the 2140 is only a couple of quid less than the 2160 so the 2160 is a more logical purchase, the extra multi can make a big difference when overclocking.

 

[Fothsn]

On average the 2140 is only a couple of quid less than the 2160 so the 2160 is a more logical purchase, the extra multi can make a big difference when overclocking.

That’s true but where do you stop? Thats true regarding the multi good point.

 

[Dark_Angel]

yup that’s correct dark angel, I think a more realistic overclock figure for an e2160 would be 3.2GHz though phatboy. but even at 3.2ghz the c2d would nuke an x2 at 3GHz.

I think it all comes down to price, if the amd is significantly cheaper I would seriously think about it.

Like I said before, a sub 30quid x2 clocking at 3GHz is pretty damn cool!

I really love the C2D, when I upgraded from a venice @2.7 to a E4300 I couldn't belive the jump, and now again I went from a E4300 to a Q6600 G0, and once again a wonderful boost (particularly in Photoshop, Supreme Commander and so on).

 

[thegoonden]

cool, cheers for the chart, it seems like the C2D does better in synthetic stuff.

I use photoshop and Supreme Commander on a regular basis and the AMD seems to perform better at that stuff.

I guess tho the 2160 can hit 3.4 with a Freezer 7 where as i rkn the AMD would struggle to get over 3.0ghz even if i bought the 4400x2

Dunno about photyshop, I only use GIMP, but Sup Com and Sup Com-FA run infintely better on my Q6600 than on either my AMD5600+ or my bro's Phenom 2.5 BE.

Other games, the reverse is true certainly, but SupCom LOVES intel as far as I can see.

 

[phatboy]

cheers for all the replies guys, i have found somewhere that still does the 3600x2 chip for £25

I just bought one for my fiancees' mums pc, and a £25 jetway board....even on that i have got it to 2.3ghz and it runs on load at 40 degrees according to core temp

Btw....my bad on the chart, read it backwards lol

 

[Gashman]

I really love the C2D, when I upgraded from a venice @2.7 to a E4300 I couldn't belive the jump, and now again I went from a E4300 to a Q6600 G0, and once again a wonderful boost (particularly in Photoshop, Supreme Commander and so on).

see i never really noticed the HUGE difference people were ranting on about from athlon X2 3.2Ghz > E6750 3.8Ghz, the only thing that had a ridiculous improvement was supreme commander, the speed difference was quite simply staggeringly better on the E6750, but other than that i haven't really noticed much, strangely enough my system when i had X2 seemed to starts applications quicker than it does with the C2D

 

[Paracelsus]

C2D are not *that* much faster clock for clock, especially when we're talking about games and casual applications. They overclock much better but they're also more expensive.

Quad vs Phenom is no competition given the recent price drops on the Q6600, but X2 vs Exxxx is a different ball game IMO. The slower chips like the 3800/4200 are cheap but still nippy and can be quite overclockable, and the 6000+ is <£100 and still a great chip for gaming, it won't overclock much on air but it's cheaper than the respective C2Ds.

 

[-iceblade^]

I think most people will agree no, its not.

If you overclock (which going by your signature and the CPU in it, you do) then you may as well go C2D. The E2160 goes to about 3GHZ usually, and at that speed is plenty good enough for pretty much any task...

amen, brother . the thing FLIES... IMO, the only logical upgrade from this setup is a Quad...