Anthlon II X4 630 or Phenom II 550be

[abhishekshukla1989]

Well I am building a budget gaming system and want to know which one of these cpu's would be good.i know 550BE has unlocked multiplier and can be overclocked but same can be done with 630.Older games just need dual core with high frequency but then there are games like GTA 4 and resident evil 5 which require a quad core for optimum performance.Which one i should go with ?
I can overclock both of them.

 

[JDFan]

between the 2 I'd go with the higher speed dual core with the L3 cache ! - for gaming the higher clock frequency and the L3 Cache speeds things up more than having the 2 additional cores (though I'd spend a few $ extra and get a new 555 instead of the 550 since it is a new revision and runs at lower voltage so provides a bit more headroom for OCing with less heat output) - Additionally if you get lucky you might get a CPU that can be unlocked and wind up with a cheap quad core for your $.

 

[saaiello]

+1 get a Phenom II x2 555be alot of people have had success at unlocking this processor.

 

[mfernicola]

I faced that same question myself lately, and, respectively, I believe the 630 was the better choice. If you want to take the risk that your 550 (or 555) will unlock then go ahead, but I wouldn't count on it.

My components: ASUS M4A79 Deluxe, 4gb of 1066 ddr2 ram, 2x4850 in xfire.

I was running a 550 at 3.7ghz, and when running COD4 my CPU was at about 90%. I recently picked up a 635 processor at a screaming price, so I plopped it in to see how it would do. At the stock speed of 2.9, it ran COD4 at about 65% capacity. I am now running a stable 3.3 at stock voltage with this chip.

When you consider this, plus the quad core benefits for non-gaming applications, I would go with the 630 and overclock it. You should be able to get to 3.2 on stock voltage, but even if you can't I think it beats out the dual core chip.

I will be using my 550 for an HTPC that I am building

 

[xaira]

ive heard many rumblings about gta4 performance on less cores, id get the quad but thats just me

 

[abhishekk89]

+ xaria... i know a friend who experienced tremendous leaps in frame rates(GTA IV) once he jumped onto the quad-wagon

I suggest you get the 620 instead of the 630... i believe its cheaper back here in india...

 

[mindless728]

ive heard many rumblings about gta4 performance on less cores, id get the quad but thats just me

yeah, GTA IV is one of those games that can utilize a quad, mine hovers around 80% usage in game

 

[Raidur]

If GTA IV is your main game, I'd go for the Athlon II X4.

If it isn't, I'd go for the Phenom II X2 and try your chances with unlocking the cores.

Remember, most games are not going to see any benefit from 4 cores.

 

[swifty_morgan]

As much as I like to have the L3 cache, the extra cores come in handy more and more. My dual core gets bogged down a lot making me wish I had that extra core or two to make things run more smoothly. I'd go for the quad regardless. Games are relying on the extra cores too. It's only going to get worse.

 

[abhishekshukla1989]

I faced that same question myself lately, and, respectively, I believe the 630 was the better choice. If you want to take the risk that your 550 (or 555) will unlock then go ahead, but I wouldn't count on it.

My components: ASUS M4A79 Deluxe, 4gb of 1066 ddr2 ram, 2x4850 in xfire.

I was running a 550 at 3.7ghz, and when running COD4 my CPU was at about 90%. I recently picked up a 635 processor at a screaming price, so I plopped it in to see how it would do. At the stock speed of 2.9, it ran COD4 at about 65% capacity. I am now running a stable 3.3 at stock voltage with this chip.

When you consider this, plus the quad core benefits for non-gaming applications, I would go with the 630 and overclock it. You should be able to get to 3.2 on stock voltage, but even if you can't I think it beats out the dual core chip.

I will be using my 550 for an HTPC that I am building

I am an extremely unlucky guy when it comes to pc components.So i don't think i will get a phenom II 550BE which can be unlocked (cores).I am leaning towards quad core myself as in future were going to see many threaded applications including games.I also want to know how much overclock i can get out of 630 with the stock cooler and stock voltage settings.Thanks for all the help.

 

[Upendra09]

most Athlons can't be unlocked anymore, nor a phenom BE 550

Athlon 630 probably will give you up to 300 mhz OC on stock cooler

 

[dirtmountain]

An excellent article by Paul Henningsen on overclocking a locked AMD CPU. It's well worth a read if you go for the AthlonII x4 620 or 630.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-cpu-overclock,2396.html

 

[abhishekshukla1989]

Thanks all of you for your help

 

[ainarssems]

Get 630, I built PC with it for a friend recently overclocked to 3.2 with stock cooler and stock voltage on a £40 motherboard, HD5770 and 4GB RAM, runs everything you throw at ait including GTAIV.

550 might be slightly faster for some games at the moment(with some exceptions like GTAIV or FSX) but in the long run 630 will be better.

 

[abhishekshukla1989]

Best answer selected by abhishekshukla1989.