Help me decide on which CPU

[blakehanson]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next week or so.

Budget: <$800

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, movies, internet, home work

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, Mouse


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, cheapest

PARTS PREFERENCES: Too new to be picky about this stuff

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Prob not

MONITOR RESOLUTION: all of the above

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
This is my first build. I am very new with everything. Ive done research to figure out stuff on my own but can only go so far. THANKs FOR YOUR HELP.

Also, Im just trying to build this comp up for gaming and movies.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heres what ive picked out so far:

Bfg Tech 550W EPS12V Power Supply - BFGR550WLSPSU

http://www.buy.com/prod/bfg-tech-550w-atx12v-power-supply-bfg-tech-550w-eps12v-power-supply/q/loc/101/207955009.html


SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824


WESTERN DIGITAL WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Hard Drive Bulk

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005615&prodlist=celebros


LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30 - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827136152


ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 DDR3 AMD 790GX ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 813131366R

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227287

Acer X193W+BD Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2000:1 (ACM) - Retail
High resolution 19” monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009127


Now, heres a big question. My first choice for the cpu is the 3.2 X4 core below. Although, for sake of saving money(kinda important) I was wondering how much of a difference would I notice if I used a 2.8 X3 core, below, instead of the quad. Is it worth the extra 100 dollars? Or will i not notice and should go with the X3?


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

Or

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

Let me know what you guys would do?

Also, any recomendations would be great! And I dont plan on using crossfire thats why ive chosen the 4850 video card.

Thanks!

 

[Outlander_04]

If its in your budget then the 955 is a stronger cpu ,
but the 720 be is not going to be a disadvantage in games with that video card and monitor resolution .

I would buy the 720 be and if the extra money was available I'd get a 22inch 1680 x 1050 monitor instead . You might have to turn some detail settings down on some games but its probably worth it to play with the bigger monitor

Its a good build .

 

[blakehanson]

So, if I go with the X3, what would I notice in difference from the X4?

Examples, so i can weigh it out better?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Why don't you just read some reviews and let the charts speak for themselves? If you'll see a difference or not depends on your intended use. I think it'd be hard to tell the difference in the tasks you mentioned in your OP. You'll see a definite improvement in video editing and other tasks that will use all four threads, but you won't notice much of a difference in most games.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3551
http://techreport.com/articles.x/16796
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-x4-955,2278.html

 

[xthekidx]

In games, you will not notice a difference unless you play FSX. You would notice the difference in Video editing and 3D rendering, and things like photoshop or CAD. If none of those things fit the description of what you like to do, then the X3 sounds like the better option...for now. In a year or two though its possible that games will be able to use 4 cores, and you may wish you had a quad.

I personally think that the 955 is a waste of money. Why? because its basically the same thing as the 940, which is $60 cheaper. It has 200mhz faster clock, and it achieves that by having a faster bus speed. However to get that higher stock bus speed, it must also have a higher stock voltage. That means that the silicon in the 955 is no better than the silicon in the 940, if it were, you wouldn't need to increase the voltage. If you will not overclock, then there might be a reason to go for the 955, but honestly its not worth 30% price increase for a 7% speed increase. If you are going to overclock, then I see no good reason to get the 955, since they will both overclock to the same speeds. DDR3 memory doesn't really make a difference in any benchmarks except for 3Dmark. So I would shoot the middle of those two processors you are considering and get the 940 with DDR2 memory on the AM2+ socket.

IMO the PII 940 is the best value in a quad core processor anywhere.

 

[Outlander_04]

So, if I go with the X3, what would I notice in difference from the X4?

Examples, so i can weigh it out better?

I think there wont be a difference in gaming since the limitation of your system will be the gfx card and not the processor

Elsewhere the 955 will pull ahead . Having said that I personally dont care if an encoding job takes 10 minutes or 9 minutes . Either way I wont be sitting there watching happen . I'd be getting a coffee or making a phone call etc

You have to decide what is the right balance for you