Which CPU is better?

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:14

This:

AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 Black Edition 3.60Ghz
(http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-314-AM)

£89.99 inc VAT (This is a special offer price, normal price is £94.99)

OR:

This:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 960T Black Edition "95W Edition" 3.00GHz
(http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-315-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1943)

(£103.99 inc VAT )

I know it may be pretty obvious which one is better, but im still confused ;P Since they're both quad cores and the bulldozer can support up to 1866MHz DDR3 while the Phenom can only support 1333 DDR3.

I'm a noob. Forgive me.

SeraphX · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:15

you might want to look at your other thread in Cpus

The Phenom is the better silicon

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:19

Unless you use lots of single-threaded apps extensively, the Bulldozer will be the better bet in my eyes. I've used Bulldozer CPUs and many Phenom II's, and despite the lack of raw performance for the Bulldozer, that extra clockspeed will help, as well as more headroom for OC.

SeraphX · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:20

alex24 said:
Unless you use lots of single-threaded apps extensively, the Bulldozer will be the better bet in my eyes. I've used Bulldozer CPUs and many Phenom II's, and despite the lack of raw performance for the Bulldozer, that extra clockspeed will help, as well as more headroom for OC.

Seriously?

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:22

Seraph said:
Seriously?

Why not? It's cheaper too right?

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:22

Oh god damn, now Im confused ;P

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:23

What do you want to use the PC for?

SeraphX · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:24

alex24 said:
Why not? It's cheaper too right?

Why not? it's been slated in reviews consistently, digging around online there is little to no guides, benchmarks or details on user experience from normal mortals etc etc

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:27

alex24 said:
What do you want to use the PC for?

I want to use the computer for gaming. If it helps, here are the other things Im going to include in my computer:

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5

Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 AMD 880G (AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

I have already purchased a 1Tb, 7200RPM hard drive with 64MB cache or something also

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:27

I also have the case and I'm going to use the optical drive from my old PC.

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:39

Seraph said:
Why not? it's been slated in reviews consistently

For what reason? I haven't seen every review 'slate' it at all. It's not a great performer, but it's a good modern budget option that will OC like mad. You can get 4.6-4.7 GHz out of one on a decent board. For gaming and general use, it's on a par with the 960T more or less, it will get beaten in synthetic benchmarks and encoding though. But then you do then get the option of 1866MHz memory out of the box, and don't forget the windows update patch being rolled out, which can give up to 10% extra performance in games based on what I've seen with Windows 8 scheduling. So it depends on usage.

However, I wouldn't buy AMD at all in this sector. I would buy some Sandy Bridge silicon as it's heaps better for the money and the upgrade path is more promising. If you haven't bought a motherboard or CPU yet, get Intel instead...

Aid4nTheNoob said:
I want to use the computer for gaming. If it helps, here are the other things Im going to include in my computer:

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5

Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 AMD 880G (AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard

BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

I have already purchased a 1Tb, 7200RPM hard drive with 64MB cache or something also

As above, I wouldn't really recommend AMD, you can get an Intel Core i3 Dual Core and a H61 or H67 board for similar money. It'll be more or less the same for gaming, but blows the Bulldozer out the water with encoding and other uses. Then, when you have a bit more cash (or if you do now!), you can chuck a Core i5 in there and destroy most Bulldozer chips for not a lot. Just a thought...

halleck · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:43

Bulldozer heap big fun

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:48

I have taken your advice into consideration and I have found this motherboard and processor for a similar price.

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor

Asus P8H61 PLUS Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

Would this be better for gaming than the AMD system?

SeraphX · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:51

Aid4nTheNoob said:
I have taken your advice into consideration and I have found this motherboard and processor for a similar price.

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor

Asus P8H61 PLUS Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

Would this be better for gaming than the AMD system?

yes it would, by quite a bit too

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:54

Hmm, but cant the 960t be unlocked to 6 cores?

What im confused about is this...

aren't more cores better? The i3 only has 2 cores.

IM SUCH A NOOB

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:55

With a single monitor, I certinaly think so. Some games that like multi-cores, maybe not, but these are realistically a minority. I would get that CPU for now, with a view to upgrade as your next step, to maybe an i5 2500K. Second hand even...

The motherboard, I would seriously consider this one instead. It's not much more money but so much better value and quality, particularly as the chipset is superior and the latest Intel offering.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 10:57

Aid4nTheNoob said:
Hmm, but cant the 960t be unlocked to 6 cores?

What im confused about is this...

aren't more cores better? The i3 only has 2 cores.

IM SUCH A NOOB

Cores aren't everything. There are no guarantees with unlocking either, and you'll need a board that can do it. Most games won't use more than 2 cores, modern ones do, but you'll not see masses of benefit compared to a better GPU for example. It then depends on the game specifically.

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 11:02

Hmm, so it will perform better with things like recording with FRAPS? I know more RAM is probably needed then but still...

All i want is a quick PC, that can run new games such as Battlefield 3 on med-high settings at 60fps or above

alex24 · 18 Dec 2011 at 11:11

Aid4nTheNoob said:
Hmm, so it will perform better with things like recording with FRAPS? I know more RAM is probably needed then but still...

All i want is a quick PC, that can run new games such as Battlefield 3 on med-high settings at 60fps or above

I don't have BF3 so haven't tested it. I imagine you should be able to meet those numbers with the Radeon GPU you have mentioned, but I'll wait for someone to confirm.

Remember that the Core i3-2120 also has HyperThreading, so it has only 2 cores, but 4 effective threads, which does go some way (in reality, probably all the way against AMD) to making up any losses in applications optimised for quads.

Aid4nTheNoob · 18 Dec 2011 at 11:14

Thanks for all the help

Im leaning towards an intel system now, however, it depends on how much cash I have after christmas and what the prices of stuff are then ;P

If anyone reading this could please confirm stuff, would be great ;D