Phenom X3 710 or E8400?

LW07

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Alright, I'm upgrading from an S939 Athlon 64 x2 4800+, and am looking very closely at the Phenom X3 710 and the E8400. I mainly use this system for games, primarily RTS/RPG/Flight Simulator games(mainly IL2 1946, but will get Storm of War:BoB when it comes out).

I mainly play stuff made by Blizzard, Valve, and Company of Heroes/Dawn of War stuff, although I do like FPSs as well.

The thing about my build is, I want the best guarenteed performance(just in case I have bad luck OCing), along with the most longevity/"future-proofedness", and I want all of that for the cheapest i can get.

So far, I've got a potential E8400, 4 gig G.skill ram, and this mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372

For around $317.

On the X3 710 side, I've got the same 4 gigs of ram, the 710, and this mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376

For $256 shipped.

So which of those should i get? Or should i consider something else?
 

blackpanther26

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I would personally say this. The Phenom II X3 710 is about $20-$30 cheaper than the E8400. And being that the Phenom II X3 has three cores where the E8400 has only 2 cores makes the Phenom II X3 a much better buy as of right now. Get an AM2+ motherboard for the X3 sence it can be backwards compatible with it. Make sure though the BIOS is up to date before buying. Like make sure it has somthing like AM3 support ready.
 

werxen

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are u guys kidding me...? the 8400 will blow that thing out of the water - especially overclocked...

get the 8400 bro. you can hit 3.6 on stock voltage and 4.2 within safe limits. it will eat the x3 up in anything..


btw: stop saying more cores = more performance. dumbest thing ever.
 

spathotan

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Ok werxen, dont turn yet another thread into one about you pumping up your E8400. The chip has been around for awhile, everybody already knows its numbers and vitals.
 

werxen

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oh sorry i thought this was another one of YOUR threads where you stupidly say more cores = better. spath i didnt buy a wolfdale to brag about having it. i got it because it performs, k? dont get the 2 confused.


LW07, dont take our word for it - go look at benchmarks and see which processor out performs. the quad core fanboys will always say theirs does better but get dumbfounded when real numbers are brought up. its almost within the same realm as the PS3 vs. xbox 360 debate. all the ps3 fanboys said its ok, it will get better when developers learn to code with the cell yadda yadda but all the while the 360 guys have been enjoying the games. by the time developers learn to code the cell, the ps4 etc. will be out. stick to the 8400 dude.
 

Dekasav

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Have you read? The X3 710 and 720 are hitting very impressive mid 3Ghz overclocks also on stock voltages. Either way, at ~3.5Ghz he'll be GPU limited until more cores are utilized.

Forgot to mention, you might want to spend a little more and grab the X3 720, it has an unlocked multiplier so overclocking is VERY simple, and should still be cheaper than the E8400.
 

spathotan

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I didnt say more cores = better. Its commonplace for you to have selective reading on these forums werxen.

BTW, we wont be discussing this over PM's so you can make a thread about it. QQ
 

werxen

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blah blah blah. more of the same. gpu limited my ass. why is it the more i overclock the higher frame rates i get even past 3.5. blah blah blah more of the same unlocked multiplier = better yet still limited overclock. blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. all i heard. sorry what?

LW07 do not listen to these fools, go look at the benchmark numbers yourself and decide. this forum is too heavily dependent on bias and situational advice.
 

4745454b

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First, I don't know what the two of you have a problem with, but the OPs thread is NOT the place to air out your problems. Go the F away, no body cares about your issues.

So the question is, E8400 or 710/720? Lets start looking at benchies.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3512&p=8

Look at the L4D benchmark seeing as you play steam. 8400 gets 117, the 720 gets 112, and the 710 gets 107. The 8400 gets 10 extra FPS, or about 10% faster then the 710. All chips are over 60FPS, its not like either gets you that much more. The other game reviews from this site show the same 10% faster, except for Farcry 2 which is only 2FPS faster.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3512&p=5

If you do any kind of encoding/video work, the 710/720 is faster with the exception of encoding to WMV. Windows media encoder 9 only recognizes even numbers of cores, so the extra core that the 710/720 has isn't used. Using other programs however show the 710/720 is faster then the 8400.

So what does all this mean? The 8400 is a bit faster for gaming, and a bit slower in other tasks. None of these chips are so much better then the others that one MUST purchase it above all others. I would get which ever is cheaper, spending your money on better GPUs or drives.
 

blackpanther26

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also consider cost 4745454b. I'm not a fanboy but I say as of right now the X3 710 and 720 are a better deal. look at the prices. The Phenom II 710 is $125.99 and the 720 is $165.99 where the E8400 is $164.99 and the E8500 is $187.99. But he said 710 vs E8400. Figure that out. He'll save $40 going the 710 and can spend that on somthing else. Also the 710 is not a quad it's a triple core. let's not get started on motherboards next. Plus when newer games takes advantage of more cores (ex. GTA IV) the E8400 would look like a Celeron compared to quads. but right now game codes are now just going into multithreading coding.

PS. I have a Q9650 and a E8400 and right behind my I have a Phenom 9850.
 

Helloworld_98

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Get a 720 x3, you'll get the extra few mhz, it's cheaper and you have the bonus of an unlocked multiplier.

Wow there's a big price difference in between the 720 and 710 in the USA, over here in the UK it's only about £18 ($29), there's also a £15 price difference in between the 720 and E8400 with the latter being the most expensive.
 

spathotan

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At $125 its hard to pass up the X3 710. Like I said above, the use "money saved" in the AMD build to change the motherboard to something with the 750SB for overclocking, like gigabytes new 790X.
 

psycoshot

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I'm totally looking at the 790X right now.

Anyone else got any issues or wanna pump this up?

It seems like a really affordable 790 chipset board :D Without all the other crap...

Edit: Damn it... I was on newegg.COM I hate Canada's high priced parts...
 

someguy7

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Get which ever can you can get for cheaper. The intel seems to do slightly better in most games right now. But its like 10fps at over a 100fps. So it doesnt matter.

Also as somebody else stated. You should get a AMD board with the sb750. That will drive up your price a lil bit. But its worth it. Even if you dont overclock right away or only a modest one. With the better overclocking southbridge you can get a longer life out the system by being able to overclock it higher.
 

werxen

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hey dude maybe YOU should READ the ops thread. hes looking for something that is EZ to overclock. those benchmark #'s u got are stock - lets see em overclocked next time, k? its gonna be more than 10 extra fps.

edit: im done, i have done too many of these threads with links and benchmarks n such:

bottom line is if you game the intel dual core is a superior choice. if you video encode the AMD is a superior choice. thats that.
 

Helloworld_98

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werxen, stop being such a fanboy

If the game has quad core optimization then even if they are both overclocked to the max with the 720 at 3.8/3.9 and the '8400 at 4.4 if you get a good chip then the 720 will pull ahead because of the extra core that the game can use. Sure if you're on a dual optimized or single optimized game then yes the '8400 will pull ahead but we're just coming into the quad-core optimized games and you'll notice the difference with that extra core.
 

roofus

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it doesn't get much easier than overclocking a Core2. you can go almost 600 Mhz overclock on stock cooling and invest 40 bucks in a Xigmatech 1283 and be humming along at 3.8-4 Ghz 24/7.
that being said, i would trade my e8400 in a minute for one of those X3 720's if i could find a good SLI board. that is one amazing CPU. i am more impressed with it than the 940 to be honest.
 

4745454b

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The thing about my build is, I want the best guarenteed performance(just in case I have bad luck OCing),

Are you sure he's into OCing? Seems to me he's into stock numbers as well. Unlike you, I'm not going down this road with you. Panther, I did consider cost, thats why I said to get whichever is cheaper. Doesn't anyone read?
 

jason73

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I cant help think that LWO7 is prob still confused about which to go for after reading all these opinons, this just turned into a argument for some people instead of a diplomatic solution, the 8400 really is a good cpu I will not dispute that, but I think the AMD option is a bit more future proof, the only thing putting me off the AMD is finding a good motherboard, I know a few people that have had trouble with GIGABYTE motherboards so thats put me off them, so it looks like its a waiting game for me.