Possible stupid Q... X4 vs X2..

[Antec-User]

I'm an AMD guy, but I'll welcome all suggestions..

I'm building a new rig soon to appease my new found gaming side, I'd like a new AMD Phenom X4, or even an X3.. But would I REALLY benefit with a tri or quad core over lets say a 6000 X2?? MILD OC also.. I don't feel like frying anything. I read in the other thread where someone said that most dual cores will out perform a quad core. Has AMD fixed the bugs I was hearing about with the quads?? Would it be worth the money versus a NICE SLI mobo and AM2+ 6000+CPU?

I'm mainly playing Crysis right now, getting COD4 this weekend and I'll get the new Crytek games when they come out.. Or the other one that was mentioned to me in the other thread. How will the game use a quad vs a dual core? No difference? I'm still new to the EXACT operations of processors. I'm gonna be taking some computer courses at the local college sometime late this year.

I realizing that this computer hobby can make me some money!

Thanx for the advice..

 

[lukas]

if you tell us your budget we could help you alot more but people mostly recommend a build along the lines of this

e8400/e8500
Biostar I45 or 750i FTW
HD 4870/ HD 4870X2 or GTX 260 or you can wait for the new versions of the 260/280 cards
Corsair 750tx
4gb DDR2 RAM

i know you said your an AMD guy but intel are way ahead of AMD and you said you will take suggestions.

 

[zedman3d]

A Quad core will really help framerates in Crytek games and i think Call of Duty 4. As for a 'Tri Core' there is really no point at all. Go for a Quad.

 

[Antec-User]

This is what I was going to do.. Just still in the air with the processor.. Nothing EXTREME, but around $1500 for the board, CPU, new HD, possible liquid cooling and RAM. I've already got everything else, just need new stuff of what I just listed. Gonna need a new OS HD, SATA. I'll just grab another Maxtor 320G.



(This thing is running AWESOME tonight!!! )


Board
Newegg.com - ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

RAM
Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

I've got an EVGA 9600GT 512 right now, I'll get another to run SLI. Dual 280 cards would be a little too much money..

I find AMD's to be more stable. It's also all I've ever known.. I'm lost looking at Intel #'s in the product line.. Where's the pin ID??
Although I've thought of trying an Intel setup, but I don't want to spend $1000 and not like it, you know?

 

[Antec-User]

What I'm running NOW.. (the basics)

Antec 900 Case
Rosewill 750W PSU
ASUS A8V VM SE 939 pin (Replacing)
AMD 64X2 4200 (replacing)
2G DDR Kingston RAM (replacing, need to anyway)
EVGA GeForce 9600 512M

320G Maxtor PATA Storage HD
OLD 80G OS HD PATA... I mean OLD!!!!!

 

[zedman3d]

Okay, firstly. Dont go AMD if you wanna spend $1500. Intel Quads destroy any AMD Quad at this point in time. That being said, go for this if your buying a new rig:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 4GB
Newegg.com - OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

VisionTek 900250 Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB
Newegg.com - VisionTek 900250 Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Total Obliteration.

 

[Antec-User]

^ Good gawd that processor's expensive!! AMD's got 9950's for like $190-$240.. Tryin to figure out this Intel stuff is like tryin to learn a new language.. At least the RAM didn't change..


What you siad earlier is basically what I was lookin for.. Now I would like to try to figure out why it is that AMD seems to be lagging.. My buddy SWEARS by them and he built this rig I have now, and I just took it over from there.. It was a basic $400 budget first build.. Now I want Gaming!




The #'s like E8500 and x2 6400, is that the Mhz of the CPU?? (I think it's Mhz..)

 

[zedman3d]

Okay Clock for Clock, on newer architectures, Intel performances better. For example, if you have an Intel E8500 3.16ghz (as you selected above) it will be faster than a similarly 'clocked' AMD Athlon X2.

It will probably take some getting used to and this rule isnt set in stone, like if AMD comes out with a faster chip...

Mhz and Ghz mean nothing unless you look at a similar model. Like obviously a 3ghz Athlon X2 is faster than a 2.4ghz Athlon X2. But the 3ghz Athlon X2 is not nessesarily faster than a Core 2 Duo 3ghz.

To see what i mean, take alook here:
CPU Charts 2007 - Tom's Hardware (Make sure you click: View all Products, below the chart.)

Intel's rule the pack.
On the other hand, if you wait 2 months, the really new Intel Chips will arrive (Core i7 Nehalems) and they will be faster yet.

 

[baron5]

but the i7's not faster for gaming anyway, which is what he's doing. As zedman said, atm the c2d architecture wipes the floor with the amd x2's and phenoms, a q9550 and a 4870 or gtx 280(revision rec.) (single card) system would be great for gaming, even crysis warhead. with a decent cooler youll be able to o/c it to about 3.6ghz. along with a p45 (biostar best) and a nice set of gskill 4gb ddr800 PQ, you have a great system.

as to answer your other question about duals being better than quads this is true, but only applies to intel vs intel cpus. Rigth now onlt few games like crysis take advantage of the four cores and you get better frames with a quad core. But in most you quad will only effectiveley use two cores and since a dual core can be clocked higher (less heat a voltage) they generally offer better performance. the only remaining question is, how long will it be untill quads are fully supported? who knows, thats why its best to get a quad now the back you up if you want lastibility and/or resale value. And since quads only slightly outperformed by duals ultimatley your grpahics card makes the most difference at that scale.

 

[gurusan]

65nm quads do not give the best framerates

45nm quad > 45nm dual > 65nm Quad > 65nm Dual