AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition or Athlon II X3 450???

[onipar]

Okay, if at all possible, I need a quick answer to this. I've been planning on getting the Athlon II X3 450, but the AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition just went on sale for Black Friday.

Which is better? I noticed the Phenom has a lower clock speed, but it does have the L3 cache...

Also, it doesn't come with a heatsink fan, so any suggestions for that would be cool too.

Here's the comparison link. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Would this heat sink work with a GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3?

 

[jamesd1981]

well i can give you some reliable info on the athlon 450 as i have that cpu.

it score 6.9 in windows experience index, it comes at 3.2 ghz stock so far i have overclocked it stable to 3.7 ghz with stock cooler and 3 case fans.

I use auslogics benchtown to test, my system base score was just over 800, and after the overclock got up to over 1100

It can rip a full dvd in under 5 mins

So for its price i think its a cracking cpu.

 

[Benny Boy]

Yep. That cooler fits, and it's one of the good ones esp for the price range.
There won't be any real difference between L3 and no L3 for the use your building it for, but..I would get the Phenom II. If I thought I needed more Ghz I would overclock it since it has an unlocked multiplier(unlike the Athlon II), and would have a HSF to handle it. A member here had that chip he had, at 3.8ghz I think. It also might unlock to x4.
I vote go for it.

 

[onipar]

Hmmm, okay that sounds good. With that stock cooler it actually come sin cheaper than the Athlon by a couple bucks (after yet another rebate that is). But I guess since I can overclock the Phenom, it makes more sense to get that one. That also has core unlocking too, doesn't it?

I'll hold off the purchase for just a little longer to see if there is any other input. If not, I'll go with the Phenom.

 

[onipar]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I should also be asking if this cooler will fit my case. Not really sure how to tell...

The case dimensions are 19.1" x 7.9" x 16.7".

Then for the cooler it has two different things.

Fan: 120 x 120 x 25 mm
Heatsink: 120 x 79.7 x 158.5 mm (L x W x H)

EDIT: Okay. So on the case site I found this: "This chassis will fit a cooler that is no taller than 170mm(6.7")."

SO I guess now my question is just do I have to add the fan and heatsink dimensions together? Or is the "heatsink" height taking the fan into consideration?

Thanks again, and sorry for all the questions

EDIT EDIT: Nevermind. I just realized how the fan hooks on doesn't increase the height. I'm gonna pick these two things up. Thanks.