Phenom II X4 965 BE vs Phenom II X6 1090T BE

[nitric0]

Hey guys,

Right now I have an Athlon II and I wanted to upgrade to either than PII965BE or the 1090T. This is strictly for gaming, which CPU would compliment my system more and which is more future proof? I will do a slight overclock but nothing too extreme.

CPU
AMD Athlon II X4 635 @ 3.4 GHz
Motherboard
ASRock M3A770DE
Memory
Crucial 8GB DDR3 1333
Graphics Card
XFX HD 6870
Hard Drive
WDC 500GB 7200RPM
Power Supply
Antec 550W Basiq
Case
NZXT Gamma
CPU cooling
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Monitor
LG 22" 1680x1050

 

[richierich1212]

Gaming? Get a 955. Can overclock just as well and cheaper.

 

[nitric0]

Gaming? Get a 955. Can overclock just as well and cheaper.

Will I see any improvements in gaming going from AII > PII

 

[jvroig]

Will I see any improvements in gaming going from AII > PII

Yes, definitely.

If you are only doing a slight overclock, get a 955 BE if available, instead of a 965 BE, they will get to more or less the same frequency anyway. The 1090T will only be a consideration if you really want the highest OC possible, since the newer steppings are more OC-friendly, especially for the CPU-NB.

 

[richierich1212]

955s and higher can hit 4GHz+ easily now. Plus the CPU-NB can hit 2.8GHz+. You'll definitely see improvements in gaming, especially with the addition of L3.

 

[nitric0]

955s and higher can hit 4GHz+ easily now. Plus the CPU-NB can hit 2.8GHz+. You'll definitely see improvements in gaming, especially with the addition of L3.

Any benchmarks comparing the two cpu's? (AII vs PII) My upgrade is primarily for Starcraft 2 because I dip into single digits in mid game during 3v3's and I was hoping an upgrade to the Phenom II line would reduce lag in mid-late game

 

[jvroig]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2836/8

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2775/9

Additionally (and more importantly) you can go to AnandTech Bench and pair processors for yourself for a more exhaustive comparison

 

[sangyup81]

between those two, I'd just get the X4. the X6 promises better overclocking of the CPU-NB last time I checked but it sounds like you're not pushing the overclocking too much

 

[tweakboy]

1090 and higher OC. Those cores would come in handy if certain games in future are optimized for it. thx

 

[lau808]

x4 imo, everyone says games arent yet taking advantage of more than 4 cores. and yes get a 955, lil cheaper and should oc practically the same.

 

[Ken g6]

1090 and higher OC. Those cores would come in handy if certain games in future are optimized for it. thx

Those "certain games" aren't likely to be optimized for it in the next year. If they're optimized for more than 4 cores later than that, you might be able to stick a bulldozer in that board later.

Besides, more cores = more chance of getting one that doesn't overclock so well. X4 FTW.

 

[pantsaregood]

If you want to go the Thuban route, might as well get a 1055T or so. All Thubans use the same steppings, and overclocking by bus speed is fine. Most Thubans I've seen will run around 4GHz without any excessive voltage or heat.

 

[lau808]

if u go x6 route then i have to agree with the 1055 over 1090

 

[BD231]

There's no difference between the two options besides core count. Being that the Phenom II is obsolete hardware I'd spend as little as possible.

 

[tweakboy]

X6 all the way. Alto performance is not of Sandy. thx