Would getting a Phenom II X3 710 be a good idea?

[LW07]

Thinking about getting one when they appear on newegg since they seem to be a good bang for the buck.

Would that be a good idea? Or would I be gimping my PC? Triple core sounds a bit odd to me, but i'm still willing to consider it if it'll last as long in gaming as quads will.

 

[soonerproud]

Originally posted by: LW07
Thinking about getting one when they appear on newegg since they seem to be a good bang for the buck.

Would that be a good idea? Or would I be gimping my PC? Triple core sounds a bit odd to me, but i'm still willing to consider it if it'll last as long in gaming as quads will.

What is your budget and what existing components are you going to be pairing with it? What other components are you planning on purchasing would also help in answering that question.

 

[angry hampster]

That, a 790 chipset, and PC6400 RAM would really help you out.

 

[SunnyD]

Well, it's a good question really. The 720 is proving (benchmark-wise) to be a real contender at the pricepoint it's at - especially if you overclock it. 3 cores for most modern software is great, and it has most of the performance its quad core brothers have. If it's priced right, then yeah, it's a good deal. You have to look at it compared with the Intel Q8300/Q6600 quads, and see if pricewise it makes it a good deal for you.

 

[LW07]

I'm looking at the 710 instead of the 720 since its the cheapest one.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: LW07
I'm looking at the 710 instead of the 720 since its the cheapest one.

It's only slightly cheaper and the 720 is the one you want since it's the "Black Edition" (unlocked multiplier). Unless you're absolutely opposed to overclocking, you should get the BE - it makes overclocking extremely easy.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: LW07
I'm looking at the 710 instead of the 720 since its the cheapest one.

It's only slightly cheaper and the 720 is the one you want since it's the "Black Edition" (unlocked multiplier). Unless you're absolutely opposed to overclocking, you should get the BE - it makes overclocking extremely easy.

So would any buyer's remorse over getting a 720 over a quad-core be warranted?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: LW07

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: LW07
I'm looking at the 710 instead of the 720 since its the cheapest one.

It's only slightly cheaper and the 720 is the one you want since it's the "Black Edition" (unlocked multiplier). Unless you're absolutely opposed to overclocking, you should get the BE - it makes overclocking extremely easy.

So would any buyer's remorse over getting a 720 over a quad-core be warranted?

I couldn't really say... not entirely sure how all the prices will shake down. There's always the danger of getting "performance fever" and continually moving up $20-$30 at a time until you eventually are spending $100 more than you originally planned on a CPU.

Far as I can tell, the 720 will be $145 while the 710 will be $125. Both seem like good deals at that price. If overclocking is important to you, $145 for the 720 BE will be a great deal. If it's not, then $125 for the 710 is perhaps an even better deal. And of course, having a non-BE processor doesn't prevent you from overclocking, it just requires you to make a few more tweaks.

IMO, an extra $20 for an unlocked multiplier and a few extra MHz is justified, but another $30 on top of that will get you the X4 810 once it comes out, which adds another core. It won't be unlocked, though, so you're again faced with a decision.

 

[richierich1212]

If you are gaming the 720 looks promising by the early reviews. 2MB cache per core.

 

[LW07]

the 710 looks like a great bang for buck chip for me.

$125 CPU plus $40 for 4 gigs of ram and an ~$80 mobo(http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16813128376) = $250 upgrade.

And i heard over on the video forums that my current X2 is slowing my video card down and that even an OC'd E5200 would bring a good boost.

But I want the 710 for the added performance life gaming wise so that when more than 2 threads are used, i won't be gimping my PC as much. Plus all i'll have to do when it comes down to it is flash bios and stick in whatever's new(hopefully AM2+ will continue to receive upgrades).

So would i see an enormous difference going from my 4800+ S939 to an X3 P2?

 

[richierich1212]

You probably won't see an enormous difference, but the difference would be significant. Much more FPS.

 

[LW07]

Would it be even greater if i got an X4 or would it not be as good bang for the buck?

I'm looking to cram as much performance into every dollar as possible.

 

[xylem]

If your main consideration is gaming, the 720 appears to have solid performance when compared with the new AMD quad-cores. In the AT review, it's right on the heels of the 940... and outperforms the equivalently-clocked quad-core (920)... bizarre. Maybe that's why AMD didn't release a 3.0 GHz x3... didn't want it coming out ahead of the flagship x4?... funny thought.

 

[imported_Asianman]

considering a X4 is AT LEAST twenty percent more expensive, to get the same bang for buck would equal a twenty percent performance increase. And the most increase you going to get is around ten percent. In games, a X4 940 is around five percent faster. But its 156% of the price. So therefore, the 720 would be the most logical choice. I'm still waiting for it, even though in Australia, it'll come out around a month later than the US and at $300 or more (atleast 180 US converted)

 

[poohbear]

wow sucks to be in Oz... bushfires, crocodiles, and expensive CPUs oh my!

I was'nt aware that the 720 was multiplier unlocked, i'd definetly pay the extra $20 for that. Remember that while the x4 810 is quadcore, it has much less cache which would hamper performance for a quad-core. it shold be 2mb cache per core minimum to be optimal in gaming, one of the reasons the phenom 1 underperformed so much was its lack of cache. this was resolved w/ the phenom2, but it seems a step backwards w/ the x4 810. stick w/ the 710/720

lol and why does the OP have bibilical quotes and his religion next to his sys specs?? rofl that's some trippy stuff.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: poohbear
I was'nt aware that the 720 was multiplier unlocked, i'd definetly pay the extra $20 for that. Remember that while the x4 810 is quadcore, it has much less cache which would hamper performance for a quad-core. it shold be 2mb cache per core minimum to be optimal in gaming, one of the reasons the phenom 1 underperformed so much was its lack of cache. this was resolved w/ the phenom2, but it seems a step backwards w/ the x4 810. stick w/ the 710/720

Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't realize the differences. Just found the chart in the AT review of the PhII X3.

So it looks like there will be five new models on top of the existing two:

X3 710, 2.6 GHz, 1.5 MB + 6 MB cache, $125
X3 720 BE, 2.8 GHz, 1.5 MB + 6 MB cache, $145, unlocked multiplier
X4 805, 2.5 GHz, 1.5 MB + 4 MB cache, price unknown
X4 810, 2.6 GHz, 1.5 MB + 4 MB cache, $175
X4 910, 2.6 GHz, 1.5 MB + 6 MB cache, price unknown
X4 920, 2.8 GHz, 1.5 MB + 6 MB cache, $195
X4 940 BE, 3.0 GHz, 1.5 MB + 6 MB cache, $225

So in order to get a 6 MB version, you'll have to move all the way up to the X4 910, which will be priced somewhere between $175 and $195. Kind of a tight window for AMD to squeeze in - I wonder who'd buy the X4 810 in that case?

I'd go BE myself. $20 is worth it, and you won't have to worry about whether one of the cheap new X4s would have been better since they have less cache. You can probably get higher stable overclocks because you'll be able to do the majority of your overclocking without having to raise the bus speed. AT got 3.7 GHz out of theirs.

lol and why does the OP have bibilical quotes and his religion next to his sys specs?? rofl that's some trippy stuff.

You'll notice that under them, he has the word Christian written in bold. Clearly it's very important to him.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: LW07
Would it be even greater if i got an X4 or would it not be as good bang for the buck?

I'm looking to cram as much performance into every dollar as possible.

Right now, to be honest, not many games take advantage of 2 cores let alone 3 or 4. The X3 should theoretically suit you well over the next year or two as games begin to get more and more threaded. The best bet (if you're going to overclock) is to get whatever will give you the best clock-speed per dollar spent. In my opinion - the $20 more for the 720 with an unlocked multiplier (which makes overclocking much simpler, especially on "cheaper" motherboards) is the best dollar for dollar purchase you can make. The unlocked multiplier affords you the ability to reach the absolute highest overclock you can squeeze out of your CPU without worrying about motherboard limitations (at least not nearly as much worry).

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: LW07
Would it be even greater if i got an X4 or would it not be as good bang for the buck?

I'm looking to cram as much performance into every dollar as possible.

Right now, to be honest, not many games take advantage of 2 cores let alone 3 or 4. The X3 should theoretically suit you well over the next year or two as games begin to get more and more threaded. The best bet (if you're going to overclock) is to get whatever will give you the best clock-speed per dollar spent. In my opinion - the $20 more for the 720 with an unlocked multiplier (which makes overclocking much simpler, especially on "cheaper" motherboards) is the best dollar for dollar purchase you can make. The unlocked multiplier affords you the ability to reach the absolute highest overclock you can squeeze out of your CPU without worrying about motherboard limitations (at least not nearly as much worry).

Most games released within the last couple of years take advantage of 2 cores. Some, such as Bioshock and Far Cry 2, take advantage of more than 2 cores. There are also games that benefit from more than 2 cores, but are more dependent on things like cache per core and cache latency.

And not to be discounted, video card drivers also take advantage of multi-core CPU's.

 

[SniperWulf]

the X3 720 is a better buy than any of the X4 800 series. From the review, I feel confident saying that the Phenom IIs are cache starved. That said, the -1 core with all the cache of a 940 that the 720 BE offers is definately the way to go over 4 cores with -2MB cache the 800 series has. Especially if gaming is your primary focus

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: SniperWulf
the X3 720 is a better buy than any of the X4 800 series. From the review, I feel confident saying that the Phenom IIs are cache starved. That said, the -1 core with all the cache of a 940 that the 720 BE offers is definately the way to go over 4 cores with -2MB cache the 800 series has. Especially if gaming is your primary focus

I beg to differ. Look at AT's tests and you'll find the 810 within a few FPS of the 720 in just about every single game. If you look at the numbers between the 810, the 720 and the 940, you'll see that there is little to no difference that the cache makes - the 810 is 200MHz slower than the 720 which is 200MHz slower than the 940, and the tests easily account for this speed difference.

Hell, if you look at their results, you'll notice the 810 @ 2.6GHz is as fast as or faster than the 910 @ 2.6GHz in nearly all the tests. That right there blows your "cache starved" idea right out of the water.

 

[LW07]

Ok, so if i got an X3 720 BE, 4 gigs of ram, and this mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128376, It'd run me $277 UPS 3-day shipped.

If I went for the 710, it'd be $257, and if i went for a 920, It'd cost $315, and $357 for a 940.

i know, i know, so many numbers... thing is i want to build this without having buyer's remorse.

 

[Andrew1990]

I would go for the 720BE as it is middle of the road in terms of cost. It will also perform pretty good.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: LW07
Ok, so if i got an X3 720 BE, 4 gigs of ram, and this mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128376, It'd run me $277 UPS 3-day shipped.

If I went for the 710, it'd be $257, and if i went for a 920, It'd cost $315, and $357 for a 940.

i know, i know, so many numbers... thing is i want to build this without having buyer's remorse.

So you're looking at $80 in savings for a 720BE. I would say definitely the 720BE, as with the possibility of higher overclocks than the 710, you'll be able to feed your GTX260 better, and you'll get most of the performance of the 940 with it. (The 940 isn't going to overclock much better if at all than the 720 - the only benefit would be the extra core, and again for most current games, that's not going to do much for you).

Be sure to get a good cooler if you plan on hitting 3.6-3.7GHz!

 

[blckgrffn]

I do like that mobo too - used it twice without issues.

Nat

 

[DrMrLordX]

Has anyone been able to demonstrate that the multiplier on the 710 would be a major issue? It's a 2.6 ghz processor with a 13x multiplier, meaning that the expected top-end overclock of 3.7ghz would require an HTT speed of 284 mhz. Are there any respectable boards out there - such as the above-linked Gigabyte board - that can't reach 284 mhz HTT?