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Core2Duo v Phenom II for Gaming

hitman_net

hitman_net

hitman_net

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Joined
28 Apr 2009
Posts
4
Hi Guys,

I'm looking at building myself a Gaming PC but not sure which CPU range to go for.

Games I will be playing are WOW, COD4/5, Left 4 Dead, and Starcraft 2 when it is released.

My budget doesn't stretch to the 7i or most top end Quads.

Most benchmarks for Gaming show Core2Duo our perfoming the Phenom II range, but the fact that Phenom II is new technology adds confusion to the pot.

I'm looking at the E8400 vs the Phenom II 720 both around £130-£140 range.

Which would you recommend for Gaming?

Thanks
 
I'm thinking of keeping it for atleast 2 years.

After a year the Quads should be cheap enough to give it a little upgrade if needed.

The Phenom II will also have some sort of upgrade option too, but a little unkown at the moment.
 
phenom II in my opinion, gaming shows quite a good boost from 3 cores and the large amount of cache and overclockability on the 720 make it a sound choice. Normally core2 would have an edge but you have to remember that 775 is soon to be a dead socket, which would make upgrading in the future much more expensive
 
If I were upgrading on a budget right now I'd go for AM3, as someone said earlier socket 775 is coming to the end of its life, where as AM3 is relatively new & AMD will bring out faster CPU's for this socket, before it moves onto a new socket architecture.
 
Grimley said:
If I were upgrading on a budget right now I'd go for AM3, as someone said earlier socket 775 is coming to the end of its life, where as AM3 is relatively new & AMD will bring out faster CPU's for this socket, before it moves onto a new socket architecture.
Click to expand...

Faster than a 45nm quad overclocked though? doubtful.
 
I would recomend the Phenom II, clocks well and runs cool. Also has a better upgrade path (AM3), then the intel equivlent.

If your into extreme overclocking the intel may be better, can hit good ghz on water. If your going that route may as well just get an I7 tho.
 
If you are overclocking on an extremely constrained budget (i.e. second-hand), I'd go for Core2.

If you're not overclocking and buying new, then either Core2 or Phenom II will be as good as each other.

If you are overclocking and buying new, then I would lean towards Phenom II as the platform has more longevity and overclocks almost as well as Core2, assuming no exotic cooling.

If you are a seasoned and hardcore overclocker with an existing silly cooling solution (water/TEC/etc.) then I'd go for Core2 as they have the potential to go that much further than the AMD architecture, but this is not certain.

Bear in mind that the games you're looking at will probably benefit from gubbins other than your CPU (such as memory and graphics).
 
mrthingyx said:
If you are a seasoned and hardcore overclocker with an existing silly cooling solution (water/TEC/etc.) then I'd go for Core2 as they have the potential to go that much further than the AMD architecture, but this is not certain.
Click to expand...

Hardcore extreme overclocking benchmarkers should really go with the AMD tho :p

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=556735 *

*note this is totally useless in day to day running.
 
Go for Phenom 2, i have an Intel system running at 3.8Ghz but the new Phenoms clock just as high as core 2 duos only you have the advantage of quad core aswel :)
 
If you plan to overclock and game a lot then E8400 all the way IMO :D

My E8400 running @ 4.2GHz is superb for gaming!!
 
bosTRom said:
If you plan to overclock and game a lot then E8400 all the way IMO :D

My E8400 running @ 4.2GHz is superb for gaming!!
Click to expand...

I'm sure the phenom can go pretty up as well.
hell I'm playing FEAR 2 with almost everything at max on a fanless e7200 @3.5 gig and a poor 8800gt. what the hell do you need a gtx 280 for now? :D

the c2d's finally have something to challenge them, I'd suggest going for that extra core as well.
le: I'm sure that even in 2 years+ I'll still be able to play most games on max settings even on my poor current cpu, let alone a tri-core. (provided I upgrade the VGA card ofc)
 
go phenomII mainly as others have said AM3 is newer socket with years left in it (unless AMD decide to move again, hope not) & 775 is practicly dead in the water

why does CPU-z read it as AM2+ skt, when it's AM3?
 
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