Budget CPU gaming review!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It seems at stock speeds the Athlon II is ahead of the Intel E5*** series in most games:

http://en.inpai.com.cn/doc/enshowcon...91&pageid=5151

Both platforms were using DDR2 and a similar level of motherboard(P45 for the Intel system and 790GX for the AMD system). The graphics card used was an HD4850.

[Pob255]

Intresting the $ price put the Athlon II X2 250 slightly cheaper than the pentium e5400
but here in the UK it's the other way around
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166519
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164039

While the amd is faster in all but Total War the difference is really too little to matter much

The motherboards also factor in, there is still a far larger range of p45 motherboards around, which can be got for less than the 790gx
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sq=p45&...1&subsearch=Go
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sq=790g...1&subsearch=Go
The big advantage AMD have here is not in the 790gx but in the other cheaper chipsets

Finally Over clocking, intel have held the crown here for a long time, all of the core based chips have been great overclockers, but the Athlon 2 is looking like a serious contender on this side as well.

I do agree with the artical in general, the new Athlon 2 cpu's are great chips, they are not quite the "blow the compertition out of the water" that the c2d cpu's were when they first came out.
Intel has lost it's crown but AMD certainly hasn't run off with it yet.

The next big question is what will the i5 be like when they finally arrive?

[Hicks12]

The price for the e5400 and 250 are cheaper at scan and the 250 is £2 cheaper than the e5400 on scans website, kinda cancels it all out really right?. Agreed that amds chips are not brining as much of a change as the core 2 did but remember the original amd dual cores did when compared to pentium D's!.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Still it is nice to see that AMD can be recommended currently at many levels for CPUs which means the consumer has more choice too.

Also it seems with the TDP of newer Phenom II X4 945 processors dropping to 95w now their could be more highly clocked Phenom II X4 processors coming out but still staying within 125w TDP. I hope that AMD starts rejigging their mobile processors too.

The new Athlon II X4 quad cores also look exiting and could mean the first sub-£100 quads coming out too!!

I wonder when the first 4ghz Phenom II X4 processors will start coming out too??

I suspect a reversal of the trend seen with the Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 with Intel competing on per clock efficiency whereas AMD aims for higher clocked processors.

[Pob255]

if you want real budget I got a 2nd hand Athlon64 X2 5600+ today for £32

[dfour]

939 or AM2? If it was 939 then I want one as well

[Pob255]

AM2, it's called hunting on fleabay and only bid the max you are prepared to pay in the last 30sec

[scaryjim]

The new Athlon II X4 quad cores also look exiting and could mean the first sub-£100 quads coming out too!!

You mean the second sub £100 X4, don'tcha?

if you want real budget I got a 2nd hand Athlon64 X2 5600+ today for £32

Not bad, but how about a triple-core for < £52?

tbh, I think the original Phenom X3s are looking quite tasty in the £50 - £65 budget space. Sure, they weren't exactly stellar performers in their own right, but since you can now pick them up dirt cheap maybe they're worth a gamble ...