core 2 duo or phenom II x3

[Thresh25]

They are relatively the same price, I am have started to read the phenom II x3's are actually better. The intels maybe can OC more because they have the unlocked multiplier I believe, but would it be smarter at this day and age to go with a phenom II x3?

I also read they just have the 4th core disabled, and you can actually enable it somehow. What do you guys think?

 

[hikaricloud]

Don't bother enabling the fourth core if you get an X3, most aren't stable in any way shape or form, and the ones that aren't crapped out are nearly impossible to overclock with.

The X3 is awesome, that's for sure, but the E8400 overclocks like a mofo, so it's really a matter of preference.

 

[Thresh25]

Well I was looking at getting the e7400. then for the same price I found this,

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

.2 ghz less in speed, but an easy OC would fix that. I'm having a hard time decide what a better buy would be. I imagine on a stock heat sink I could OC the e7400 from like 3.0 to 3.2ghz easily.

 

[hikaricloud]

The 710 doesn't have an unlocked multi, the 720BE does, but between the 7400 and the 710, I'd probably end up picking the E7400...I'm sure someone else has an opinion as well.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

Both are good but, I would probably go for the AMD just for the extra cache

 

[hikaricloud]

And the extra core helps in a lot of ways.

I would splurge for the 720 if you got the money though, for the unlocked multi. That thing can overclock pretty good, it can match the PII 940 with an OC.

 

[Thresh25]

Yeah i know the AMD's don't have unlocked multipliers, but you can just up the FSB and that works the same. Leaning towards the intel e7400 as well, just wanted to see what others thought.

edit: u guys are fast. now u have me leaning towards AMD lol..

 

[hikaricloud]

Any AMD that is a Black Edition has an unlocked multi. You can up the FSB, but you are limited with that in some cases.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

If you go intel what board do you intend on using? The gigabyte UD3 boards are great for the money.

 

[Hussein19891]

X3 710 will hit liike 3.3ghz~3.5ghz. While the E7400 will hit like 3.5ghz~4.00ghz.

Extra core and extra cache going with the AMD chip though.