AMD Phenom x2 555 or Athlon x4 640

[Trovi]

Hi all ..I am new here

I wanna ask about your opinions on this

Should i get Amd Phenom x2 555 or Athlon x4 640?

the pc is for gaming mainly. but i want to run quite well on simple multi-tasking as well
like for example:
playing game while ripping dvd or while scanning pc
or
ripping dvd and scanning pc while browsing the internet.

i read that if its only gaming, phenom x2 555 would perform better. and im happy with that but can it handle the multi-tasking i mention before?

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

playing game while ripping dvd or while scanning pc

You're so screwed no matter which CPU, definitely going to notice hiccups from your harddrive.

So that makes your question pretty moot.
You'd only get a 640 if you're doing video encoding, editing, or heavy photo editing.

 

[red1776]

You're so screwed no matter which CPU

I really wish you would stop sugar coating things.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I really wish you would stop sugar coating things.

I think it adds emphasis and also helps to dissipate some preexisting schema's/sophistries that people have...
Ok, maybe not "screwed" per se, but you'll probably get hiccups every few seconds, caused by harddrive usage, no matter what CPU you have. The bottom line is that the Phenom II X2 games slightly better most of the time.

 

[EDO219]

You know you want an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. ;D

 

[red1776]

I think it adds emphasis and also helps to dissipate some preexisting schema's/sophistries that people have...
Ok, maybe not "screwed" per se, but you'll probably get hiccups every few seconds, caused by harddrive usage, no matter what CPU you have. The bottom line is that the Phenom II X2 games slightly better most of the time.

i agree, and it's a better OC'er... if he's into that.

 

[Trovi]

mmmm what is hiccups?
anyway, so when scanning pc, i will definitely be getting lag or spike due to HDD usage. was that what u mean?

so which cpu do you recommend?
this will be my main pc.
although i will use it for gaming, i want it to perform well in multi-tasking too.
maybe ripping dvd while gaming is too much
but how about ripping and browsing with some tabs/windows open at the same..can Phenom x2 555 handle it?

and in terms of gaming, does athlon x4 640 far behind the x2 555?

thanks alot

 

[red1776]

maybe ripping dvd while gaming is too much

thats what it meant.

The 555 does a little better at gaming, (we are talking a couple percent) but overall it sounds as if the 640 would be the better choice for you. and games are more commonly using more than 2 cores.

 

[Trovi]

thanks man.

so extra 2 cores is better than the L3 that phenom provides
and the difference in price is 16 dollars AU..so it's worth it isnt it?

 

[red1776]

yeah in this case the extra cores will serve you better. The L3 has surprisingly little impact between the two.

 

[Trovi]

then in what case is L3 used for? sorry i have no idea when it comes these things
oh also i dont do video editing or 3d rendering. its just for basic multi-tasking like i described before. just thought i would let u know

 

[red1776]

its a cache, it stores copies of data from the most used memory locations. it is valuable. I was just amazed the small difference it made when removed/disable when the x550/x4 640x 4 810 came out. its a shortcut, or like like keeping your most frequently used tools front and center to cut down access time to them. anyway, the x2 55x and cacheless the x4 64x had only a small difference between them. sort of an indicator that the k-10 architecture is in bad need of replacement.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Since you don't do video encoding and stuff, the Phenom II X2 is the best choice.
Hiccups are just a little bit of stuttering or lag. Pretty subjective word. If you run a virus scan right now, you'll probably feel some while browsing your harddrive.

 

[red1776]

Indeed, I had no idea.
Since you don't do video encoding and stuff, the Phenom II X2 is the best choice.
Hiccups are just a little bit of stuttering or lag. Pretty subjective word. If you run a virus scan right now, you'll probably feel some while browsing your harddrive.

horse feathers! don't listen to her. the two additional cores trump the L3 cache for the multi tasking, and for the games rapidly moving to multi core optimization. Add that the X4 is a grand total of $7 more than the X2 555 and there is no good reason to get the x2 555 over the x4 640.

Since you don't do video encoding and stuff

...uh...he does do "stuff"

here, have a look:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2490&page=1
and this compares the x2 555 to the x4 635. The 640 is faster.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Woops, misread that.
AnandTech's benches really surprised me how the X2 beat out the X4 in non-gaming benches.

 

[red1776]

Woops, misread that.
AnandTech's benches really surprised me how the X2 beat out the X4 in non-gaming benches.

It didn't, you read the results incorrectly. look for the "higher is better" and lower is better" . The x4 wins most of them actually 27 out of 31 non game benches

 

[Trovi]

i read this CPU round-up from techspot

techspot.com/review/266-value-cpu-roundup/page12.html
(i cant post link. it says my posts must be above 5 posts)

and they recommend phenom x2 555 because of its L3
this is what they say :
"The Athlon II X4 635 really failed to impress us despite being an unbelievably affordable quad-core part. The lack of L3 cache really hurts this processor and as a result the Phenom II X2 555 was faster in a number of tests. If it were not for the cheaper and often faster Phenom II X2 555, then chances are we would be raving about a $120 Athlon II X4 635."

it seems that L3 > extra 2 cores in this review..but from what i have read on the internet Quad cores are more future proof.
tomshardware and techreport recommend amd x4 640 for gaming

tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-overclock,2772-2.html
techreport.com/articles.x/19868/2

 

[red1776]

I would say read the benchmarks above.


**** I have a solution for you.
This
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103699
3 cores, L3, and its fast. I have one of these in my other machine, a quad crossfire 4 x 4850 and the 720/740 runs all four GPU's
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...k=view&id=296&Itemid=63&limit=1&limitstart=11

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

It didn't, you read the results incorrectly. look for the "higher is better" and lower is better" . The x4 wins most of them actually 27 out of 31 non game benches

Aw crap.
For that particular X3 740, you'll have to get a cooler too.

 

[crunchie]

Get the X555 and unlock it to a 4 core .

What mobo you got?

 

[Trovi]

No mobo yet but
it is between these:
Asus M4A87TD-USB3, M4A87TD-EVO, Asus M4A88TD-M, M4A88T-M-USB3 , GA-880GM-USB3, G-B 880GM-UD2H

i would get x555 but its not 100% sure that it will get unlock thats why i made this thread

thanks every1 for the reply

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

i would get x555 but its not 100% sure that it will get unlock thats why i made this thread

I would NOT count on a build relying on core unlocking.

ASUS M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard
IMO it's still on discount from Halloween.

 

[crunchie]

Get an 890 series board.

 

[white2010]

I use x2 555 and I very happy with that . fast for gaming and doing many things like opening more than ten tabs sometimes approximately 30 tabs in my browser and listeing music . also you can overclock it when need more power

 

[white2010]

and L3 cache is for quick loading application or game