Differences between Phenom CPUs

[LuckyTaxi]

Time for a new build, I think my P4 is showing signs of aging.

So, I'm trying to keep it cheap as possible. I was on newegg and noticed there's the Phenom X2 and Phenom II X2 (along with other ones). What's the main difference between the regular Phenom and the Phenom II series?

Plan on running Fedora 64bit w/ 4 G of RAM. NO GAMING, straight development work with a bunch of VMs running inside vmware or virtualbox.

 

[soccerballtux]

The Ph II is significantly faster and you can clock it a lot higher.

You could look at the Athlon II quad cores, those can be had on the cheap. I'd rather go for those to be ready for the future-- apps are moving multithreaded and right now I think the Athlon II quad is the sweet spot for price/performance.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

I highly doubt I'll notice the quad core vs dual core but with that said, would I be better off saving $40 by going with an Athlon II x2? It's a dual core but it looks like the L2 cache is much smaller than the Phenom chips. What's the L2 for and will I notice that much of a difference.

My only concern is, a long time ago i tried saving money by getting a Sempron processor instead of the Athlon. At the time the Athlons were super fast and the Semprons were the more affordable ones. Then again, I think anything is better than my single core P4, no?

 

[nyker96]

if you running a lot of VMs I suggest getting x4 620. I dual run Ubuntu, win 7 64. Ubuntu 64 mostly for work, win 7 for rest. but the main thing is I do VM on both esp Ubuntu since that allows me to run win xp software. coming from a dual to a quad x4 620, the difference is huge. check it out that extra dollar for the x4 620 is really worth it for this type of work load.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

if you running a lot of VMs I suggest getting x4 620. I dual run Ubuntu, win 7 64. Ubuntu 64 mostly for work, win 7 for rest. but the main thing is I do VM on both esp Ubuntu since that allows me to run win xp software. coming from a dual to a quad x4 620, the difference is huge. check it out that extra dollar for the x4 620 is really worth it for this type of work load.

Hmmmm ... I dont know if i can afford the x4 at the moment. I havent built a PC in yrs and I noticed memory is freaking expensive. I'm trying to spend less than $300, I have a video card and hard drive, everything else will be new.

 

[lopri]

PII's are great for virtualization. I use VMWare workstation and have been very pleased with its performance.

 

[soccerballtux]

Hmmmm ... I dont know if i can afford the x4 at the moment. I havent built a PC in yrs and I noticed memory is freaking expensive. I'm trying to spend less than $300, I have a video card and hard drive, everything else will be new.

You can get DDR2 ram.

 

[Rhoxed]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.294423


1. Biostar TA790GXE 128M: $99.99

2. AMD ADX620WFGIBOX: $99.00

Combo Discount: -$25.00
Combo Price: $173.99
$10.00 Mail-In Rebate pdf
Price After Mail-In Rebate(s): $163.99

add this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231275
4GB ddr3 1333 for 69.99 free shipping

total of $233.98 for a quad core processor that should OC to atleast 3.2 on stock cooler.

 

[Rhoxed]

if you have a vid card and hard drive, you will need a case + psu
try this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119047
case : 45$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954
PSU: 40$

234+85 = $319 for a killer machine - if you can reuse your old case your well under the 300$ limit for a quadcore + 4GB machine