Should I get a Phenom II x6 or x2 in my new desktop?

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Xkcd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#76255 31-Jan-2011 14:33

Hey, I'm just looking for a bit of advice with my new desktop.

Firstly, I'm looking at buying from playtech, any opinions on their quality and service?

Secondly, I want a decent but not hugely powerful machine. I want to be able to play games to a high level, so I (theoretically) opted for an ATI 6870, which I am 99% sure will do everything I want to a high standard. Thus, the only question left is; what processor do i get? I only have around $1600 to play with, and will need to buy a monitor too which i understand is around $200.

With an "AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3", the total comes to $1394. The only further cpu upgrade is to an

"AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six Core Desktop Processor".

But that pushes the price up to $1534, and it's going to make buying a monitor a big problem.

If i buy the X2 555, will I lack the performance I want? I want to be able to basically play a game with media player playing music at the same time and alternately have a few internet explorer pages open with music playing and MS word going etc.

Should I find the money somehow for the X6 or just settle with the X2 555?

Thanks for any help, it is truly appreciated.

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299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#433241 31-Jan-2011 15:18

If you weren't a gamer then I'd say that the dual core would be fine, however more and more games are supporting quad cores so I reckon if you want to future proof then got for the Phenom II X6 or if you don't want to spend that much then a good compromise would be the Phenom II X4 955.

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Xkcd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#433249 31-Jan-2011 15:31

Unfortunately, I can only keep the X2 or go up to an X6. Would I be making a big sacrifice to get the X6 but downgrade the video card, say from an ATI 6870 to a 6850 or a 5770?

hellonearthisman

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#433332 31-Jan-2011 18:11

In the future there will be better GFX cards than currently available, but in the same time period there will not be the same size leap in CPU power, so I would go with the lesser GFX card and get the 6x CPU. And in 18 months get a new top of the line card.

GFX cards get faster year by year than CPU's, they have a great Mores Law index.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#433360 31-Jan-2011 19:51

What about one of the quad core phenoms? Why are you going from a dual core up to a hexacore as your only options?

redjet

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

#433381 31-Jan-2011 20:37

hellonearthisman: In the future there will be better GFX cards than currently available, but in the same time period there will not be the same size leap in CPU power, so I would go with the lesser GFX card and get the 6x CPU. And in 18 months get a new top of the line card.

GFX cards get faster year by year than CPU's, they have a great Mores Law index.

I agree, I'm still running a Core 2 Quad Q9550 that's 2.5 years old and it runs like a dream. I originally had an 8800GT but upgraded to an ATI 5850 about a year ago.

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Xkcd

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Wannabe Geek

#433403 31-Jan-2011 21:19

kyhwana2: What about one of the quad core phenoms? Why are you going from a dual core up to a hexacore as your only options?

Playtech offers only the following with the desktop I can afford;

-AMD Athlon II X2 255 3.1GHz Socket AM3
-AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3
-AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six Core Desktop Processor

What's another site I could buy a custom-built desktop from?

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#433404 31-Jan-2011 21:20

Ahh I see, any reason you're not building it yourself?

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Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek

#433515 1-Feb-2011 08:33

Xkcd: Unfortunately, I can only keep the X2 or go up to an X6. Would I be making a big sacrifice to get the X6 but downgrade the video card, say from an ATI 6870 to a 6850 or a 5770?

This depends on the games you are actually playing

Remember that the x2 555 has 2 dormant cores, so there is a good chance it will unlock to a quad core. It also normally overclocks quite well.

Just remember that pretty much any AM3 cpu should work in the upcoming AM3+ platform. Given Sandy Bridge has just released and bulldozer is just round the corner, I wouldn't be sinking too much into a new system

The 6870/6850 are far superior to the 5770. 256bit memory bandwidth and far more shader processors on the 68xx make sure of that. But again, depends on the games you play.

Lias

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#433679 1-Feb-2011 13:41

Try emailing PLaytech and ask nicely.. They are pretty good people and would surely custom build an X4 for you.

Also yes, you want a tri core or better.

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garvani

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#433682 1-Feb-2011 13:52

Failing that, Computer Lounge is also very good and do decent computer builds.

Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek

#433687 1-Feb-2011 14:04

garvani: Failing that, Computer Lounge is also very good and do decent computer builds.

Cl is the favourite of gpforums, with playtech 2nd. Both do some good builds.

Lias

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#434167 2-Feb-2011 11:20

garvani: Failing that, Computer Lounge is also very good and do decent computer builds.

+1 CL are teh shizzle. I'm biased thou because they sponsor my clan :-)

Xkcd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#434390 2-Feb-2011 17:39

kyhwana2: Ahh I see, any reason you're not building it yourself?

Uhh, because I am not a geek, unfortunately. Wouldn't have the foggiest clue where to start on building a computer. Thanks for all your help everyone anyways, I found a guy who can build one for me, so might try and get an i7-930. I read that the Sandy Bridge cpu's are all screwed up and recalled?

Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek

#434393 2-Feb-2011 17:44

Xkcd:
kyhwana2: Ahh I see, any reason you're not building it yourself?

Uhh, because I am not a geek, unfortunately. Wouldn't have the foggiest clue where to start on building a computer. Thanks for all your help everyone anyways, I found a guy who can build one for me, so might try and get an i7-930. I read that the Sandy Bridge cpu's are all screwed up and recalled?

You don't have to be a geek to work out how to build a computer.

SB Cpus are fine, just the motherboards have some issues if you are using the SATA 2 ports.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#434504 2-Feb-2011 21:16

Xkcd:
kyhwana2: Ahh I see, any reason you're not building it yourself?

Uhh, because I am not a geek, unfortunately. Wouldn't have the foggiest clue where to start on building a computer. Thanks for all your help everyone anyways, I found a guy who can build one for me, so might try and get an i7-930. I read that the Sandy Bridge cpu's are all screwed up and recalled?

Fair enough!

But yeah, i'd wait till after they get fixed motherboards out for sandy bridge. But AMD is usually cheaper than Intel at this point!

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