Which is better??????????

[cub1061]

Hi all.
One question. Which is better?
Phenom II X2 555 @ 3.2 dual or Althon X2 5000 (Unlock to FX5000) @ 2.2quad.

I got both but can only keep one, so help me decide.

[scaryjim]

Question requires context. Better for what? The x4 will be better for multithreaded software, the X2 for lightly threaded software. So what are your main uses?

[cub1061]

The pc is use for surfing and gaming.

[Terbinator]

Unlock the Phenom II X2 to a X4 instead?

[cub1061]

Unlock the Phenom II X2 to a X4 instead?

No joy on my ASUS M4A78LT-M mobo, wouldn't unlock.
Thinking of trying it on the Asrock board.

[scaryjim]

What games? Most games still only really benefit from 3 cores at the most, so for those purposes I suspect the faster X2 would be better. Of course, the best would be to overclock the unlocked X4 - I know people on here have got them up to ~ 3GHz with a decent air cooler...

[cub1061]

Games like COD5 and Empire Total War.
Would it make a different with the memory aswell. I mean
Dual core use DDR3 and FX5000 only DDR2

[scaryjim]

The memory won't make a huge difference - very few programs are memory bandwidth constricted. Besides, AMD processors run more efficiently with lower speed RAM using very tight latencies (AFAIK, that is). What might make a difference to you, though, is that DDR3 RAM has become very cheap recently, to the extent that a 4GB kit can be picked up for < £40...

I believe the Total War series utterly hammer the CPU - I doubt either of those would be comfortable running it. Overclock the unlocked 5000+ - it's the only way to be sure

[cub1061]

The memory won't make a huge difference - very few programs are memory bandwidth constricted. Besides, AMD processors run more efficiently with lower speed RAM using very tight latencies (AFAIK, that is). What might make a difference to you, though, is that DDR3 RAM has become very cheap recently, to the extent that a 4GB kit can be picked up for < £40...

I believe the Total War series utterly hammer the CPU - I doubt either of those would be comfortable running it. Overclock the unlocked 5000+ - it's the only way to be sure

Right, let see if I can push the FX5000 a bit and see what I get.

Thanks All

[Molotov]

that depends on what kinda army settings you use on total war - you can scale down unit sizes and it runs just fine not only that but empire is an awful piece of coding and really demands more than it should.
cod isn't very demanding so that's not something to worry about

shame you can't unlock - I just unlocked my athlon II x3 to phenom quad - was qutie chuffed

If you also want a ram upgrade Jim is right in pointing out the pricing though !

Overall I'd go for Phenom II personally ... or take it, sell it and get athlon tri core

[cub1061]

Not try to oc quad yet but manage to push X2 to 4.1gigs so very happy with that. DDR3 are cheaper now got 2x2gigs XMS from scan for £35.

Will try FX5000 and see what I get and decide then