CPU/Mobo Athlon II X4 620 Vs Core i3 - 530

A

ashebouy

Disciple
Which of the below 3 is a good choice.

Will use it for regular stuffs like HD movies, Games, Downloading, etc.

How do i differentiate between a 2 core and quad core in both AMD and Intel?

Processor: AMD PhenomII 550BE - 4.6k
Motherboard: Gigabyte 785GMT-UD2H - 5.5k/MSI 785GM-E51 -4.6k
Vs.
Processor: Athlon II X4 620 - 5.2k
Motherboard: Gigabyte 785GMT-UD2H - 5.4k
Vs.
Processor: Core i3 - 530- 6k
Motherboard: Intel DH55TC - 5.6k

Thanks
 
Go for the Athlon II 620. It's more VFM.

At stock speeds it'll slightly better than core i3 being a native quad core.

Agreed Core i3 will have more room for overclocking, but Athlon II 620 can be clocked to 3.2 Ghz on air on stock cooler without changing voltages but will still beat a Core i3 clocked at 3.45GHz. So overclocking head room doesn't really count.

Also Athlon II 620 supports both DDR2 and DDR3

In the end you'll get slightly more performance at lower price point.

The only positive in Core i3 left is AES which frankly will be of no use to most of us.

So Go for the Athlon II 620. Also 785 G chipset will have HD4200 onboard which is better than 4500HD(except H55 boards) on intel boards.

You can also go for Phenom II x4 810.

Not sure of exact price but will be in range 6K to 6.5K
 
X4 810 has been there for a LONG time..

@ sharmapu

have a look at a good review here:-

Core i3 + H55 V.S. AthlonII X3 + 785G

And now u can get:-

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 5.2k

ECS 785GM-M DDR3 AM3 @ 4.6k

2GB DDr3 1333MHz @ 2.2k

Total = 12k

Core i3 i530 2.8GHz @ 6.1k

INTEL H55 @ 6.5k

2GB DDr3 @ 2.2k

Total = 14.8k

Now, DO THE MATH...
 
note that the link given above is for athlon II X3 not X4.

X4 should perform better than X3 and hence better than core i3 according to the review
 
comp@ddict said:
Core i3 i530 2.8GHz @ 6.1k

INTEL H55 @ 6.5k

2GB DDr3 @ 2.2k

Total = 14.8k

Now, DO THE MATH...
Click to expand...

Prices quoted is high for the intel mobo.

Intel DH55TC 16x, S, L, DDR3 5600

Intel DH55HC 16x, S, L, DDR3 6100

SO total is just 13.8k for the Intel Core i3+Intel DH55TC+RAM

And if OP adds a GPU then IGP doesnt matter. With a GPU the i-3's gaming performance is much better than the AthlonII X4.
 
It's ur choice OP, choose 2 core and 4 threads or 4 full cores and better onboard gfx....of course a full 4 core is actually better performing than 2 cores + HT as HT isn't that good that it can make up for 2 more cores....

For gaming, yes right now i3 may be better, but not it all games...newer games are more and more multi-core optimised....
 
From what i gather from what everyone has written is that:

athlon ii x4 620 is better because it has 4 core vs 2 core+HT of i3. should i not consider PhenomII 550BE? is it 2 or 4 core?

Will athlon II x4 620 with a GPU be future proof for say 2-3 years? And please recommned me a Motherboard and GPU for Athlon II x4 620 range is 5-6k( only for GPU).
 
^^+1

Wait for the new X2 555 which has a high chance of becoming a X4...then u get a X4 Phenom II 955 equivalent for 5k, that's a done deal

MOTHERBOARD:-

ECS 785GM-M @ 4.5k

Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 @ 5.6k
 
comp@ddict said:
^^+1

Wait for the new X2 555 which has a high chance of becoming a X4...then u get a X4 Phenom II 955 equivalent for 5k, that's a done deal

MOTHERBOARD:-

ECS 785GM-M @ 4.5k
Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 @ 5.6k
Click to expand...
IIRC that mainboard doesn't support unlocking cores. Did that change with any bios updates?
 
according to anandtech's article the BE-555 will provide more guarantee of being unlocked to a quad core over its predecessor BE-550.

i would say wait for the BE-555.
 
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