Athlon II X2 for gaming??

ouzopower

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Hi again,
on my first question you have been very helpfull about my mobo(AM3) and phenom II X2 (545, 550).
My problem is that i live in Cyprus where the price for 550 is only 103 Euros :fou: .
Scan co doesn't deliver to Cyprus and Pixmania who does comes up to 104.90 Euros(with delivery).
I was wondering if Athlon II X2 245 is good enough for my children gaming.
Pls advise cause i got stressed. My son's birthday is on next friday so i got to move fast :(
Thanks again
 

Cryslayer80

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And there aren't, he thinks the I5's are new gods of performance that will bring AMD to it's knees and force it to lower prices of all it's products to $1 :D But anyway, I'd suggest investing in Athlon 250 at least, as I think it is not so much more expensive. However, if you can't afford it, 245 is still a great choice.
 

ouzopower

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motherboard:GA-M720-US3 (rev. 1.0)
ram:Kingston hyperx khx8500d2k2/2g
video card:radeon x700Pro Advantage 256MB v/d/vo
Pes9(he wants also pes2010), Call of duty, NBA, The sims, Need for speed, Age of Mythology and so on
 

Cryslayer80

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A great mobo, nvidia chipset, but it might have compatibility issues with AM3 CPUs (even though it says it's AM3, it is actually an AM2+ mobo with support for some AM3 CPUs). So I'd suggest something like M4A78T-E combined with 4GB OCZ Gold AMD edition memory.

 

ouzopower

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AMD Phenom II X2 545 = 96 euro,
AMD Phenom II X2 550 = 105 euro,
AMD Athlon II X2 245 = 75 euro
AMD Athlon II X2 250 = 88 euro
 

Cryslayer80

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Hm, well that is a good mobo and it would get my recommendation if you can't get AM3. It would support those CPUs, the only question is does it have an applied BIOS update as it is needed on every AM2+ mobo to run AM3. But I guess they wouldn't be advertising it for AM3 CPUs and include Athlon II in the CPU support list.
 

ouzopower

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the problem is that i have allready bought all exept cpu:(
 

bige420

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The Athlon II 250 is a little better than an E5300, which is a good budget gaming cpu. It will work fine for most games, and if you ever wanted to try your hand at overclocking you could always buy a good aftermarket cooler and clock it up a bit.

But if possible you should try to get the Phenom II X2 550 or 545. They perform a good amount better than the Athlon Ii and theres always that chance that it could be unlocked to a full blown quad core.
 

Kithzaru

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Hello,

These may help, they are links for CPU charts here on Toms.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts/Left-4-Dead-1.0.0.5,1403.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts/GTA-IV-1.0.3,1402.html

The reason i am linking these two is because these two games (while your children may not play them) are very CPU intense, so they should hopefully give you an idea of how they will perform in games.

Obviously, there is a difference, but if the cost of the build is a factor, then this is a good way to go to help save $$.

I think considering the rest of the build, mainly the x700pro and the games you mentioned, this will be more than adequate to play the games they want.

Now, my geography isn't the best but, Cypress is east Mediterranean, (near Iran?) so i would imagine it gets hot (correct me if i'm wrong ^^ ) so overclocking may not be a good idea. There is no reason to "risk" expensive, difficult to get parts for a slight performance boost.

I really hope this helps. Best of luck 8)
 

threednonsense

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Your the only person on this forum who thinks that amd's prices are perfect.


Well... I suppose the op isn't really into overclocking, because when you go to a few different computer sites, it shows the Intel winning by the time both cpu's reach 3.5 ghz despite the AMD being at 3.75 ghz instead, and having the advantage. So either, he's not really overclocking, or he rather have the "upgrade path" from the AM3.

The Regor is actually the better choice currently if you aren't overclocking. But, what most people don't see is that Intel cpu's scale much better then AMD offerings when overclocked to high speeds.

This is with the safe assumption that he isn't going to overclock cause he probably would have mentioned it more in detail by now.

In the situation you are overclocking, find a good Intel option within your budget. Basically anything in the same budget with overclocking is going to go to Intel.

Overclocking is definitely not meant for novice computer users.
 

4745454b

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Exactly Kithzaru. His video card is the x700pro, nearly junk. Has the actual speed of the 9800pro, and only supports SM2. A great gaming machine this will never be. Just get whatever CPU you can afford, and let the kids play whatever they can. With that video card, its not going to make any difference. (I don't mean to be rude, but facts are facts.)
 

threednonsense

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Huh? He mentioned that it was adequate and you call it junk? Don't suggest anything that is going to cost the guy more money if it's good enough...

Honestly, he could have saved money by using the stock hsf but my post wasn't really directed at him since he said he already got the parts. Because, on a serious note, it can't be that hot that you would need an aftermarket cooler. If you said you did, I'd have to say your exaggerating.

The recent cpu's run cool, so I'd be more worried about motherboard and case temps if anything.
 

Cryslayer80

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Okay, yeah. And psychosaysdie is really a fascinating human being :D
 

ouzopower

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Don't worry 4745454b.
Actually a new vga is on schedule. I know this is not a "heavy" one, but for the moment..:)
About overclocking, although i'm Greek it sounds Greek to me. he, he
Kithzaru: Larnaca, Cyprus 34°55'0.38"N, 33°38'10.44"E
Sunny most of the time. If schedule to come mail me.
 

ouzopower

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kithzaru: the second link is a game they both want to play (they had an older version San Andreas i think, but i find it very violent and inhuman...
 

ouzopower

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I agree though, with that video card, the cpu really doesnt matter.

I suggest you get a new video card to if your kids want to play COD and NFS.

We started playing NFS Most Wanted with an Athlon XP 2100+ 1.7Ghz, 1GB Ram and GForce FX 5700LE 128MB and we found it great game
 

Kithzaru

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Woa woa, hey guys, let's not start a flame fest on the GPU lol. It is for the kids ^^ i was just pointing out that there is no real need to be concerned with a CPU bottle neck and that any of the CPU's listed would be on par or higher with the other components.

ouzopower, yeah that second link should help a bit. I think it will be fine with the 250 Regor core.

May i ask, what resolution are the games going to be played at? 1280x1024?

I think i am going to stay on the side of voting against overclocking, unless you are really familiar with it. (also, guys, this isn't the place to fight about AMD vs Intel OCing, let's help out here).

If you DO decide to overclock and get more out of the CPU, then the 550 is really the way to go with the unlocked multipliers. Experienced OCers have hit near 4ghz on air cooling with these CPU's.