Hi, I am currently running a Intel core 2 quad 2.44, and I am looking to upgrade. I was wondering how the amd x6 cpus are? Amd will it be much of a boost from what I already have. Also is their a big difference from the amd x6 and the Intel I5?
Well, there are different models of i5 and AMD's x6 series, but generally I believe an upper end i5 will outperform the x6 in a gaming situation. Six cores does not necessarily mean better/faster. A decent i7 is much better. You can see here in Techspot's testing of Witcher 2 that the performance models of the i5 and i7 get better results than a x6:
Personally, I am not a huge fan of the x6, I am currently using a x4 955 and I have no qualms about it, considering I got it for $110 bucks.
Keep in mind that performing an upgrade from a Intel quad core to either the i5 or an Amd chip will require you to also upgrade the motherboard. The intel quad uses a different socket than the i5 or Amd chips.
I am sure Quizzical will come along soon with some insanely informational post that will better help you out
An AMD Phenom II X6 1100T will typically edge out an Intel Core i5 2500 in programs that scale perfectly to six cores. Few programs scale perfectly to six cores, though, and many don't see any benefit at all to having more than four cores. In programs that don't scale well to many cores, such as essentially all games on the market, a Core i5 2500 will handily beat Phenom II X6 1100T.
If gaming is what you have in mind, then the natural choice is either an Intel Sandy Bridge system (Core i5 2500 or better), or an AMD Athlon II or Phenom II X4 system if on a smaller budget. The current AMD option would be substantially faster than what you have, but not really by enough to justify the upgrade. A Sandy Bridge system really only makes sense on a budget of about $1000 and up, excluding peripherals. If you're looking to buy a high end gaming system today, then a Core i5 2500 (or 2500K if you'll overclock it) is the natural choice.
If you prefer AMD, or if you do run programs that scale well to many cores, then you might be interested in AMD's Zambezi eight core processors, which should launch in August. Those will be a new Bulldozer architecture, and should handily beat existing Phenom II processors in per-core performance, in addition to having more cores. We don't know how good the architecture will be, but I'd expect Zambezi to be roughly competitive with Sandy Bridge in gaming performance, and completely slaughter it in things that scale well to many cores, just because eight cores beat four unless each of the eight is really gimpy for desktop use. There will also be 4- and 6- core variants of Zambezi.
Mother board and cpu prices are fairly low. I just built an I7-2600 based system and paid about $330 for the cpu and $110 for the mother board. Not super top of the line stuff, but decent.
Take a close look at video cards though as this is the key to a good gaming rig.
A Phenom II offers IPC comparable to a Core 2 Quad, so that processor will perform comparably to how your current one would if you overclocked it to 3.4 GHz. Faster? Yes. Fast enough to justify replacing the processor, motherboard, and memory, and having to buy a new OS license as a result? I'd say no.
I do understand that I have to upgrade my motherboard, I am also looking to get some ddr3 ram. I will most likely keep my video card.
Thanks agian, all the info is greatly appreciated.
Unless your doing things like 3DS max, blender, Photoshop, etc. a lot then you don't really need 6 cores or even the hyper threading offered by something like the i7 2600. I'd stay away from the Phenoms II atm though as they are AM3 socket processors and the new bulldozers won't be AM3 compatible so to upgrade you'd be doing this all again. For $209 you could get an i5 2500 which would out perform anything AMD has atm. If you are set on AMD products though I'd wait until you can get the new Bulldozer processors.
While I'm a big AMD fanboi even I can't deny that the Sandybridge is far superior to anything AMD has out atm. And in any case if you went with AMD you'd have to change out the Mother board and the processor when you wanted to change the process since, like I said before, the new AMD processors won't be using the same type of socket.
I'd stay away from the Phenoms II atm though as they are AM3 socket processors and the new bulldozers won't be AM3 compatible so to upgrade you'd be doing this all again.
You can get a Socket AM3+ motherboard now, which is the native platform for Zambezi, and is backwards compatible to support Phenom II processors. Regardless, you probably don't want to spend $100 on a processor that you're planning on replacing in short order.
I'd stay away from the Phenoms II atm though as they are AM3 socket processors and the new bulldozers won't be AM3 compatible so to upgrade you'd be doing this all again.
You can get a Socket AM3+ motherboard now, which is the native platform for Zambezi, and is backwards compatible to support Phenom II processors. Regardless, you probably don't want to spend $100 on a processor that you're planning on replacing in short order.
Ahh, didn't know they had those out already lol. Took a break from AMD once I saw how bamp my i7 2600k was lol. Gonna take a bit to get me to turn back to AMD :P.
Originally posted by Amorzka Mother board and cpu prices are fairly low. I just built an I7-2600 based system and paid about $330 for the cpu and $110 for the mother board. Not super top of the line stuff, but decent.
Take a close look at video cards though as this is the key to a good gaming rig.
1155 motherboards have finally come way down in price and become more competitive, you can still find a comparable AM3 motherboard for a good bit less (~$80 US). Combine that with the fact that an entry level Phenom II X4 only runs around $125 (US), and your looking at an entry point that is significantly less than the Intel price point - by around $125.
Now the Intel system will be faster, but the real case is if that extra speed does you any good: If you can get a VSync-capped 60FPS in GameA with an AMD CPU, and with an Intel CPU, then what good does that extra speed really represent? Does it matter that you can get 110 FPS with a Core i7 and only 74 FPS with a Phenom II? Now that's just a hypothetical situation, to illustrate that you don't necessarily need to pay for the performance, because it doesn't always mean much.
Then there is the case for future upgrades. A Socket AM3+ is compatible with the upcoming Bulldozer, so you can get a computer running now, on a CPU that is available now, and have a clear upgrade path for the next year or two. And AMD has been comitted to this, and has maintained some level of compatibility for their motherboard sockets for several years now (AM2/AM3). Intel has changed sockets with nearly every CPU release, meaning to upgrade an Intel system, it also requires a motherboard swap (and sometimes a RAM swap as well).
I do like the Sandy Bridge systems now, I wish I had one myself, but don't see the value in upgrading from my current Bloomfield system. But I also don't see anything wrong with an AMD-based system either, and if you are talking budget or value computing, AMD still has that locked down tight, even with the Sandy Bridge pricing from Intel and the 1155 motherboards finally starting to level off in the mid-$100's. You don't get the best performance with AMD, but you can get enough, and that's all that really matters.
I do agree, video card is the key to gaming performance. It is a much bigger variable than the CPU is anymore.
Comments
Well, there are different models of i5 and AMD's x6 series, but generally I believe an upper end i5 will outperform the x6 in a gaming situation. Six cores does not necessarily mean better/faster. A decent i7 is much better. You can see here in Techspot's testing of Witcher 2 that the performance models of the i5 and i7 get better results than a x6:
http://www.techspot.com/review/405-the-witcher-2-performance/page8.html
Personally, I am not a huge fan of the x6, I am currently using a x4 955 and I have no qualms about it, considering I got it for $110 bucks.
Keep in mind that performing an upgrade from a Intel quad core to either the i5 or an Amd chip will require you to also upgrade the motherboard. The intel quad uses a different socket than the i5 or Amd chips.
I am sure Quizzical will come along soon with some insanely informational post that will better help you out
An AMD Phenom II X6 1100T will typically edge out an Intel Core i5 2500 in programs that scale perfectly to six cores. Few programs scale perfectly to six cores, though, and many don't see any benefit at all to having more than four cores. In programs that don't scale well to many cores, such as essentially all games on the market, a Core i5 2500 will handily beat Phenom II X6 1100T.
If gaming is what you have in mind, then the natural choice is either an Intel Sandy Bridge system (Core i5 2500 or better), or an AMD Athlon II or Phenom II X4 system if on a smaller budget. The current AMD option would be substantially faster than what you have, but not really by enough to justify the upgrade. A Sandy Bridge system really only makes sense on a budget of about $1000 and up, excluding peripherals. If you're looking to buy a high end gaming system today, then a Core i5 2500 (or 2500K if you'll overclock it) is the natural choice.
If you prefer AMD, or if you do run programs that scale well to many cores, then you might be interested in AMD's Zambezi eight core processors, which should launch in August. Those will be a new Bulldozer architecture, and should handily beat existing Phenom II processors in per-core performance, in addition to having more cores. We don't know how good the architecture will be, but I'd expect Zambezi to be roughly competitive with Sandy Bridge in gaming performance, and completely slaughter it in things that scale well to many cores, just because eight cores beat four unless each of the eight is really gimpy for desktop use. There will also be 4- and 6- core variants of Zambezi.
Mother board and cpu prices are fairly low. I just built an I7-2600 based system and paid about $330 for the cpu and $110 for the mother board. Not super top of the line stuff, but decent.
Take a close look at video cards though as this is the key to a good gaming rig.
I found this amd x4 processor, how does this compare to what I have now(intel core 2 quad 6600 2.44)
Sorry i do not understand all the differences between processors other than the speeds.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
I do understand that I have to upgrade my motherboard, I am also looking to get some ddr3 ram. I will most likely keep my video card.
Thanks agian, all the info is greatly appreciated.
A Phenom II offers IPC comparable to a Core 2 Quad, so that processor will perform comparably to how your current one would if you overclocked it to 3.4 GHz. Faster? Yes. Fast enough to justify replacing the processor, motherboard, and memory, and having to buy a new OS license as a result? I'd say no.
Unless your doing things like 3DS max, blender, Photoshop, etc. a lot then you don't really need 6 cores or even the hyper threading offered by something like the i7 2600. I'd stay away from the Phenoms II atm though as they are AM3 socket processors and the new bulldozers won't be AM3 compatible so to upgrade you'd be doing this all again. For $209 you could get an i5 2500 which would out perform anything AMD has atm. If you are set on AMD products though I'd wait until you can get the new Bulldozer processors.
i5 2500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073&cm_re=i5_2500-_-19-115-073-_-Product
Or if you want to overclock then grab the i5 2500k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&cm_re=i5_2500k_cpu-_-19-115-072-_-Product
While I'm a big AMD fanboi even I can't deny that the Sandybridge is far superior to anything AMD has out atm. And in any case if you went with AMD you'd have to change out the Mother board and the processor when you wanted to change the process since, like I said before, the new AMD processors won't be using the same type of socket.
You can get a Socket AM3+ motherboard now, which is the native platform for Zambezi, and is backwards compatible to support Phenom II processors. Regardless, you probably don't want to spend $100 on a processor that you're planning on replacing in short order.
Ahh, didn't know they had those out already lol. Took a break from AMD once I saw how bamp my i7 2600k was lol. Gonna take a bit to get me to turn back to AMD :P.
1155 motherboards have finally come way down in price and become more competitive, you can still find a comparable AM3 motherboard for a good bit less (~$80 US). Combine that with the fact that an entry level Phenom II X4 only runs around $125 (US), and your looking at an entry point that is significantly less than the Intel price point - by around $125.
Now the Intel system will be faster, but the real case is if that extra speed does you any good: If you can get a VSync-capped 60FPS in GameA with an AMD CPU, and with an Intel CPU, then what good does that extra speed really represent? Does it matter that you can get 110 FPS with a Core i7 and only 74 FPS with a Phenom II? Now that's just a hypothetical situation, to illustrate that you don't necessarily need to pay for the performance, because it doesn't always mean much.
Then there is the case for future upgrades. A Socket AM3+ is compatible with the upcoming Bulldozer, so you can get a computer running now, on a CPU that is available now, and have a clear upgrade path for the next year or two. And AMD has been comitted to this, and has maintained some level of compatibility for their motherboard sockets for several years now (AM2/AM3). Intel has changed sockets with nearly every CPU release, meaning to upgrade an Intel system, it also requires a motherboard swap (and sometimes a RAM swap as well).
I do like the Sandy Bridge systems now, I wish I had one myself, but don't see the value in upgrading from my current Bloomfield system. But I also don't see anything wrong with an AMD-based system either, and if you are talking budget or value computing, AMD still has that locked down tight, even with the Sandy Bridge pricing from Intel and the 1155 motherboards finally starting to level off in the mid-$100's. You don't get the best performance with AMD, but you can get enough, and that's all that really matters.
I do agree, video card is the key to gaming performance. It is a much bigger variable than the CPU is anymore.