Fatback
VIP Member
I would go with the Athlon II X2 240,245,250 instead of the Phenom II X2 550 it is basically the same CPU but the Athlon II has less cache but is a lot cheaper.
Which CPU is best for me?
- Thread starter mazinya
- Start date
I would go with the Athlon II X2 240,245,250 instead of the Phenom II X2 550 it is basically the same CPU but the Athlon II has less cache but is a lot cheaper.
What??? The Athlon II has nearly nothing in common with the Phenom II....they are both AMD products and 45nm tech, thats about it.
The 250 is $80 and the 550 is $100. However, the 240 is the best deal because it's only $60 for .2ghz less, everything else being the same. The 550 would beat the 250 in every benchmark possible.
The 720 is a good CPU, a good choice.
Well sorta, but not really. They do share the same core design.
But the Athlon II is a true dual core with 1mb. of L2 each core/total of 2mbs. No L3 cache. Lower cost because of more on a wafer.
The Phenom II X2 is a quad with two cores disabled, has 512kb. of L2 each core and 6mbs. of L3.
Another reason the Phenom II X2 cost more is the 6mb. of L3, plus you have the chance of unlocking the two disabled cores.
Fatback
VIP Member
I already know this I'm just saying they share the same architecture and other then less cache and being a true dual core they are the same CPU. Just saying I would buy an Athlon II x2 before I buy and Phenom II x2 because if I buy the 550 for $10 more I can get a x3 710 and for a few more then that I can get a 720.
Fatback
VIP Member
Depends on what you test it for certain things would use three cores making it work faster even if the clock speed is lower.
Right. Myself I would get either the Phenom II 550 or the 720. The Athlon II is cheap but no L3, they should have atleast put 4mb. of L2 on them.
Fatback
VIP Member
But still for that price you can't beat the CPU Intel does not have any thing with that power for that price.
Oh yeah, I admit the 240/245 for the price is a good deal and hard to beat. The 250 is a harder sell, to close to the price of the Phenom II 545.
Fatback
VIP Member
Yea I would go with a Phenom II 545 before the Athlon II 250
I don't know anything that specifically uses 3 cores. 500 mhz is a huge difference.
Fatback
VIP Member
Unlocking the 4th core is not an option it not just something you can go to the bios and turn on. If you set certain things right then you can unlock the 4th core it is basically hacking the CPU. Just because you can unlock it does not mean you can use it a lot of the time they will find that one of the cores on the CPU is damaged or such so they shout that core down and turn it into a triple core or dual core. Sometime the 4th core is good because some times AMD will take a perfectly good quad core and shout down the 4th core to create a triple core they do this to keep the triple core CPU's on the market when there is a shortage.
Do you plan to overclock at all? You should be fine up to ~3.2ghz on the stock fan because 3.2 doesn't typically require an increase in Vcore.
bomberboysk
Active Member
Convection cooling, no heatpipes, and relatively speaking, its pretty small. Id look towards at least the S-963 or S-964 from xigmatek, if not an S1283 or maybe a TRUE or V8 if you really plan to overclock it.