• Phenom II x2 or Athlon II x4?
    17 replies, posted
I'm deciding to upgrade my old Athlon x2 64 2.9ghz to one of these. Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition [url]http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680[/url] Reasons for getting this one: L3 Cache, 3.1 Ghz (reviews say it's really good for overclocking to 3.6 with stock cooler), 80W or Athlon II X4 [url]http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706[/url] Reasons: Quad core, 3 bucks cheaper :P I don't really know alot about CPU but this is for gaming so I think I'm going to lean towards the Phenom, I have ACC on my motherboard and that can unlock the 4 cores on it. But what if it isn't successful? Is 2 cores enough enough for gaming? and is it a huge boost compared to the 2.9ghz athlon x2 64? I don't plan to overclocking if anyones wondering.
I would get the athlon because it is a guaranteed 4 cores and it doesn't lag far behind a phenom 2 x4 of equal clock.
The boost you would get from a 2.9ghz dual core and a 3.1ghz quad core would be like overclocking a 2.5ghz dual core to 4.0ghz.
3.1ghz from the phenom II x2. It's a dual core. The quad core is only 2.6Ghz
The Quad Core. The L3 cache doesn't matter that much.
I'd get the athlon.
I'd take the Athlon. Even though it clocks worse, it'll run a lot smoother with programs that can use more cores.
I'd go with the athlon and OC it. L3 cache is overrated.
What does L3 Cache do? and I've read that games utilizes only 2 cores.
You can try to unlock the cores if you buy the X2 one.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;20232175]You can try to unlock the cores if you buy the X2 one.[/QUOTE] If he is not planning to overclock he probably wants to take them as they come and not want to mess around with them.
-snip- Read unlock as overclock. I can unlock with a press of a button but is quad core necessary for gaming? Because if it's not I'll take my chances with the phenom because if it can't unlock i won't be dissapointed.
unlocking doesn't always work there's a reason they lock them
Yeah true, my locked cores were pretty unstable. I found a thread on tomshardware regarding the same topic. [url]http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/267089-10-phenom-athlon[/url]
Is Phenom 1 better than athlon 2?
[QUOTE=gol4z03;20238050]Is Phenom 1 better than athlon 2?[/QUOTE] No.
[QUOTE=gol4z03;20238050]Is Phenom 1 better than athlon 2?[/QUOTE] No, there's really no point in getting an old phenom.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.