- Joined
- Jun 15, 2009
- Messages
- 1,923
Its cuz the phenom has a higher clock speed and such.......if you OC the athlon II x4 i dont see it not performing better
Final Decision Made!
- Thread starter matix
- Start date
Its cuz the phenom has a higher clock speed and such.......if you OC the athlon II x4 i dont see it not performing better
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2009
- Messages
- 3,218
Eh still, I think it'd be easier to get from 3.1ghz to 3.6 than 2.6 to 3.6
the athlon ii x4 does not have any l3 cache and a lower clock speed, but that is literally the only difference.
it can perform pretty much just as well if you can get it to the same clock speeds.
HERE is a great article showing you just what you're missing out when you do not have l3 cache (not much)
conclusion: if you are on a budget, just grab up the athlon ii x4, you will hardly be missing out on anything, certainly with a budget, wouldn't be worth an extra 100 bucks for the phenom ii x4
PS: with the athlon ii x4 the max OC you'll probably achieve is going to be between 3-3.2 ghz. so if you want the much higher clock speed for that boost in performance, the phenom is definitely the way to go since you'll be able to reach near 4ghz with the 955/965
it can perform pretty much just as well if you can get it to the same clock speeds.
HERE is a great article showing you just what you're missing out when you do not have l3 cache (not much)
conclusion: if you are on a budget, just grab up the athlon ii x4, you will hardly be missing out on anything, certainly with a budget, wouldn't be worth an extra 100 bucks for the phenom ii x4
PS: with the athlon ii x4 the max OC you'll probably achieve is going to be between 3-3.2 ghz. so if you want the much higher clock speed for that boost in performance, the phenom is definitely the way to go since you'll be able to reach near 4ghz with the 955/965
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2009
- Messages
- 3,218
I'm comparing it to the Phenom II x2, not x4.
Because, they're exactly the same price.
Plus, I'll get a new AMD mobo for DDR3, and see if the thing unlocks to 4 cores.
Because, they're exactly the same price.
Plus, I'll get a new AMD mobo for DDR3, and see if the thing unlocks to 4 cores.
3.6 is not 3.6
Processors that have the same clock speed do not perform equally. Do not think that both of these processors will be the same thing because they are both at 3.6. Even if they were both quads or duals, they still wouldn't be the same. Different chips perform differently at the same clock speeds, period.
Furthermore, just because one is a greater distance than the other from 3.6 does not mean that it will be harder to get there.
The phenom shows it is better in games because right now 2 faster cores are better than 4 slower cores. That is likely to change as programmers are starting to utilize more cores more effectively.
Right now, the phenom has the slight edge. In a year or so, the Athlon will be the better chip. It's up to the user to decide. Would you rather have better performance right now, or down the road when you'll need it more?
ya it depends what games you'll be playing. my phenom x2 does great with everything, except games such as dirt2 and dragon age which utilize more than 2 cores a significant amount. other games using more than 2 cores will start hitting the market soon as well but im personally not sure if i'll be upgrading to a quad myself now.
when i think about it the amd phenom ii x4 has pretty much capped since their 965 is a base clock of 3.4 ghz. there isn't much improvement there until they come out with a new line of processors (unless they really try to make a 975 or something with 3.6 ghz base clock), but they are all the same processors otherwise. same thing with the i7s.
so i think since i already have a phenom ii x2 kicking up dust in any game i throw at it right now, i'll be waiting to upgrade to a quad when new lines come out and either get those, or get the current line at a cheaper price tag.
price to upgrade ratio just doesn't justify right now - and as for buying one right now i think the same applies, go with the faster phenom ii x2 since it is the same price, and OC that sucker to near 3.8ghz on stock air (if your case has good cooling) and dominate games with duals for now until probably 2nd or 3rd quarter this year when another upgrade will be available
when i think about it the amd phenom ii x4 has pretty much capped since their 965 is a base clock of 3.4 ghz. there isn't much improvement there until they come out with a new line of processors (unless they really try to make a 975 or something with 3.6 ghz base clock), but they are all the same processors otherwise. same thing with the i7s.
so i think since i already have a phenom ii x2 kicking up dust in any game i throw at it right now, i'll be waiting to upgrade to a quad when new lines come out and either get those, or get the current line at a cheaper price tag.
price to upgrade ratio just doesn't justify right now - and as for buying one right now i think the same applies, go with the faster phenom ii x2 since it is the same price, and OC that sucker to near 3.8ghz on stock air (if your case has good cooling) and dominate games with duals for now until probably 2nd or 3rd quarter this year when another upgrade will be available
