need help choosing cpu

[fatus]

need help choosing a cpu for friends computer, cash is real tight but he wants to play bfbc2.
we got a hd4850, 2 gigs ram. gaming @ 1440x900
now we need the cheapest cpu board bundle.
what would be better a e5300 or a Athlon II X3 425
I know nothing about the amd cpu but 3 cores sounds better for bfbc2.
or would the e5300 oc be better ?

 

[Redmint]

Personally I'd go for the Athlon II option, BC2 does make pretty good use of tri/quad core CPUs, maybe see if he can stretch to an AII X4 as they're not too much extra?

 

[Marine-RX179]

You can get a Athlon II X4 620 for £75, but OCUK doesn't stock it and only stock the Athlon II X4 630 instead at £84.

 

[fatus]

problem is no more funds its gotta one of the 2 i said
L2 is 512kb on the amd & 2 mb on the e5300
but i take it its 1.5mb overall vs 2mb
wish i kept my eye on amd more.
well if we go intel i guess we would aim for at least 3.5Ghz

 

[Big.Wayne]

£75 and below gives you a healthy choice of AMD® chips

AMD® Athlon™ II X3 425
AMD® Athlon™ II X3 435
AMD® Phenom™ II 550 BE
AMD® Phenom™ II 555 BE
AMD® Athlon™ II X4 620

Wouldn't say that it's an easy choice picking from that lot? . . . I took the easy option and bought the more affordable X3 425 and clocked it! . . . as the prices have dropped a little I guess the X3 435 is a better pick due to it having a 14.5 multi compared to the 13.5 multi on the X3 425, that would be the difference between 3375MHz and 3625MHz using a realistic HT ref. Clock of 250MHz.

Both the Phenom™ II's offer a lot of promise with their open CPU multi's and the possibility of unlocking extra cores, the X2 555 does look like a slightly better option but its price tag premium over the X2 550 reflects this! . . . . that leaves the most affordable guaranteed quad core in town . . . the X4 620, there is one selling in OcUK MM right now for £50, can't believe someone didn't snap that up already!

 

[Redmint]

There's a good chance the Athlon x3 would be able to hit 3.5GHz too.

I'd probably have grabbed that X4 in the MM if I could access it.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Yeah 3.5GHz from a AMD® Athlon™ II X3 425 is not really gonna be a problem but I like to make conservative predictions on a chips ability to overclock to avoid building up too much expectations in the potential buyer!

I've only clocked one AII chip so not sure if the 3.6GHz limit I have kinda walled at is due to the chip maxing or perhaps a restriction of the motherboard (ASUSTeK M4A785D-M PRO) . . . seems good up to about 266MHz HT ref. Clock before things go a bit gaga? . . . won't know if it is the mobo or the chip until I swap one of them out, either way it's not really a problem as at 3.6GHz the X3 425 is no slouch!