Which is the Better CPU? (more hardware questions)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Which one is better? Specifically for games and for durability, I'd like to keep it for a while.

The X4 would be better for games. I suggest going with the X4 955 however. It is much cheaper and the chances that you can overclock it to 3.7Ghz are very high.

There is no difference when it comes to "durability".

Dont get either, I would wait for bulldozer.

If your buying a motherboard too, don't get either. Go with a Sandy Bridge quad like the 2400 or 2500k or wait for bulldozer

Wait till bulldozer, even if you dono't like the look of them the 955 should drop in price.

Wait till bulldozer if you can which should make prices even cheaper.

If you can't wait then nothing is wrong with either or even a 955 with as some have suggested.

I have just decided against buying till then myself as I have just helped a friend build an i5 2500k rig. While benchmarking some games, my overclocked 1055t with a gtx 580 was faster than his i5 2500k, msi 6970 lightning rig. Even though my 580 is faster, it proved that in most games anything from a 3ghz quad and up is overkill for most gaming needs.

Well this is what I have right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471 I already have an AM3 MOBO sitting in my closet along with 8 Gigs of DDR3 RAM, AllI need to complete my upgrade is a AM3 CPU. So I could get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808 Or Any of the ones above, it seems the x4 955 is the best choice from what you guys say. I'll give it a week and purchase it then unless anyone here thinks there is a better choice. Thanks for the help!Ghost_loy

If you already have a quad-core Phenom you could keep it. As long as you can OC it to 3.4 Ghz it will perform extremely well. Buying a new Phenom when you already have that one is a bit of a waste.

Don't get those, every single sandy bridge beats both in gaming. Get a low end quad core sandy bridge like 2300. It won't overclock much but it'll beat both no matter how much overclock you give the Phenoms. I also recommend i3 sandy bridges. They also out perform phenoms. The i3 2130 is clocked at 3.4 ghz, so it is more than capable of beating Phenoms. MrGrimFandango

Except the i3 will readily get its ass handed to it in anything Multi Threaded. I'd be stupid to invest in a Dual Core at this point in time. Espcially for gaming.

Also, Don't say "Every Single Sandy Bridge" Because those Single Core Sandy Bridge Celerons or those Pentium Dual cores won't hold a Candle to a Phenom in most cases involving anything remotely demanding.

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"]Don't get those, every single sandy bridge beats both in gaming. Get a low end quad core sandy bridge like 2300. It won't overclock much but it'll beat both no matter how much overclock you give the Phenoms. I also recommend i3 sandy bridges. They also out perform phenoms. The i3 2130 is clocked at 3.4 ghz, so it is more than capable of beating Phenoms. gmaster456

Except the i3 will readily get its ass handed to it in anything Multi Threaded. I'd be stupid to invest in a Dual Core at this point in time. Espcially for gaming.

Also, Don't say "Every Single Sandy Bridge" Because those Single Core Sandy Bridge Celerons or those Pentium Dual cores won't hold a Candle to a Phenom in most cases involving anything remotely demanding.

[QUOTE="gmaster456"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"]Don't get those, every single sandy bridge beats both in gaming. Get a low end quad core sandy bridge like 2300. It won't overclock much but it'll beat both no matter how much overclock you give the Phenoms. I also recommend i3 sandy bridges. They also out perform phenoms. The i3 2130 is clocked at 3.4 ghz, so it is more than capable of beating Phenoms. MrGrimFandango

Except the i3 will readily get its ass handed to it in anything Multi Threaded. I'd be stupid to invest in a Dual Core at this point in time. Espcially for gaming.

Also, Don't say "Every Single Sandy Bridge" Because those Single Core Sandy Bridge Celerons or those Pentium Dual cores won't hold a Candle to a Phenom in most cases involving anything remotely demanding.

Matching and smoking are two differen't things. And in games that will pretty much require a quad such as BF3, the i3 will be left in the dust and will only fall further behind as gaming and applications move forward.

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"][QUOTE="gmaster456"]

Except the i3 will readily get its ass handed to it in anything Multi Threaded. I'd be stupid to invest in a Dual Core at this point in time. Espcially for gaming.

Also, Don't say "Every Single Sandy Bridge" Because those Single Core Sandy Bridge Celerons or those Pentium Dual cores won't hold a Candle to a Phenom in most cases involving anything remotely demanding.

gmaster456

Matching and smoking are two differen't things. And in games that will pretty much require a quad such as BF3, the i3 will be left in the dust and will only fall further behind as gaming and applications move forward.

This i3 vs Phenom II X4 argument is pointless because the TC already has an AM3 mobo. I highly doubt that he is going to toss his mobo just so he can have an i3...

[QUOTE="gmaster456"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"] Ok sorry, SB i3+ and there is a difference between multithreaded and multi core applications. i3 has the same amount of threads as a phenom II. There is nothing wrong with dual core right now. Quite frankly he has a guaranteed good upgrading path in the future if he wants to go quad core. What the hell is the point of a quad core in gaming if i3 dual core is still smoking it?MrGrimFandango

Matching and smoking are two differen't things. And in games that will pretty much require a quad such as BF3, the i3 will be left in the dust and will only fall further behind as gaming and applications move forward.

The i3 beats the phenom by a measly 10 points. Far from smoking,

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=289

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"][QUOTE="gmaster456"]

Matching and smoking are two differen't things. And in games that will pretty much require a quad such as BF3, the i3 will be left in the dust and will only fall further behind as gaming and applications move forward.

gmaster456

The i3 beats the phenom by a measly 10 points. Far from smoking,

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=289

[QUOTE="gmaster456"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"] Matching? Show me matching benches of i3 2120 and phenom ii. As i stated there are plenty of games that use 4 cores and he i3 still winsMrGrimFandango

The i3 beats the phenom by a measly 10 points. Far from smoking,

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=289

And like I said, once more and more apps and games start utilzing more than 2 cores, the benches will shift to the Phenoms favor. Also, remember there's an OS running too. The more free cores the better. Whats the use of buying a dual core to get the same performance as a half decent quad if its running at 100% all the time?

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"][QUOTE="gmaster456"]

The i3 beats the phenom by a measly 10 points. Far from smoking,

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=289

gmaster456

And like I said, once more and more apps and games start utilzing more than 2 cores, the benches will shift to the Phenoms favor. Also, remember there's an OS running too. The more free cores the better. Whats the use of buying a dual core to get the same performance as a half decent quad if its running at 100% all the time?

[QUOTE="gmaster456"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"] 10 points? Oh because of useless apps that the TC probably will never use. So why don't we cherry pick JUST the games. Lets look at the games. L4D - Phenom 2 wins by 5 fps. Fallout 3 - Phenom 2 wins by 1.6 fps Far Cry 2 - i3 wins by 6 fps Crysis Warhead - i3 wins by 8.5 fps DA:O (Quad core game) - i3 wins by 14 fps Dawn of War - i3 wins by 12 fps WoW - i3 wins by 20 fps It consumes WAAAY less power and the i3 2100 is bottom of the i3 barrel. i3 2120 is at 3.3ghz which would provide more fps and the 2130 is at 3.4 which is a healthy dose higher than a stock 2100. MrGrimFandango

And like I said, once more and more apps and games start utilzing more than 2 cores, the benches will shift to the Phenoms favor. Also, remember there's an OS running too. The more free cores the better. Whats the use of buying a dual core to get the same performance as a half decent quad if its running at 100% all the time?

I'd beg to differ. For $270 I can Either have an i3 2120 + Motherboard, but I'm stuck with Sandy Bridge

Or for $240 I can have a 965 + similar Motherboard but am able to overclock plus have Bulldozer to look forward to once my 965 is no longer cutting it.

No Brainer imo. The only time one should go for an i3 is if they need single threaded performance over cores or for general purpose usage where one wouldn't benefit from a quad. For Gaming, rendering, encoding, etc. A quad is a no brainer be it a phenom or otherwise.

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"][QUOTE="gmaster456"]

And like I said, once more and more apps and games start utilzing more than 2 cores, the benches will shift to the Phenoms favor. Also, remember there's an OS running too. The more free cores the better. Whats the use of buying a dual core to get the same performance as a half decent quad if its running at 100% all the time?

gmaster456

I'd beg to differ. For $270 I can Either have an i3 2120 + Motherboard, but I'm stuck with Sandy Bridge

Or for $240 I can have a 965 + similar Motherboard but am able to overclock plus have Bulldozer to look forward to once my 965 is no longer cutting it.

No Brainer imo. The only time one should go for an i3 is if they need single threaded performance over cores or for general purpose usage where one wouldn't benefit from a quad. For Gaming, rendering, encoding, etc. A quad is a no brainer be it a phenom or otherwise.

[QUOTE="gmaster456"]

[QUOTE="MrGrimFandango"] I bet i3s cores work less hard than ph2. The other thing is that the upgrade path is superior. He can upgrade to a MUCH better quad later.MrGrimFandango

I'd beg to differ. For $270 I can Either have an i3 2120 + Motherboard, but I'm stuck with Sandy Bridge

Or for $240 I can have a 965 + similar Motherboard but am able to overclock plus have Bulldozer to look forward to once my 965 is no longer cutting it.

No Brainer imo. The only time one should go for an i3 is if they need single threaded performance over cores or for general purpose usage where one wouldn't benefit from a quad. For Gaming, rendering, encoding, etc. A quad is a no brainer be it a phenom or otherwise.