Budget Gaming rig : Phenom 9550 or AMD 6400

[Leeghoofd]

Lo, need a quick answer here. I need to configure a budget gaming rig for a friend and he's a very loyal AMD fan...

So either it will be an AMD X2 6000 or 6400 or a Phenom 9550.

Rig will be mainly used for gaming and will be bundled with a 9800GTX or a 4850...4gb of PC6400 ram, Coolermaster 520w and an Asus mobo (NO OC'ing)

thx for any replies ... choice is really limited ( due to budget between these cpu's )

Kind regards Leegie

[moiraesfate]

Ok, I'm a total AMD fan but I really have to say that none of those are a good choice. The old Phenoms can't remotely compete with anything that Intel released.

If you want a budget rig for that level go Q6600. They're about $189 and they overclock really easily. If you're willing to spend more money, THEN go for the newly released Phenom II. Its better than the Q6600 and much cheaper than the Q9500 and the i7 (though the only reason why an i7 rig is so expensive is that the stupid motherboard and ram manufacturers increased their prices massively. The chip itself is actually about the same price or less than the Phenom II).

[=[PULSAR]=]

I have a 6400+ and DFI 790FX-M2R for sale if your interested.

[Oese]

i'd buy a pII920. will work with same mb/ram/nt/grafics as a 6400+ and will only cost 100€ more (dont know prices overseas xD probably cheaper, 100$ more?). So only a few % more pricewise... And will be MUCH more fun, particularly in about half a year's time...

possibly, a 7750 or x3 would be a good choice also. better then 6400+ and cheaper then 9550...

[chew*]

For all you thinking there is a world of difference in performance while gaming between cpus.

If it's gaming here's a comparison of my old amd 939 dualcore clocked at 3.0 with an x1900xt
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=100686

here's intel core 2 quad Q6600 clocked at 3.2 gig with an x1900xt
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=4982736

the only difference is the core 2 is 200 mhz faster and the score reflects 200mhz boost...

Anyway both cpu's at the same speed are going to be comparable, regardless of quad core/dualcore I would just get the highest speed you can get for the lowest price seeing as there will be no ocing.

[DYM]

I would just get a 6000x2. Spend some money on a mobo that you will do fine with a Phenom 2 at a later stage. That way he can just swap it in when he gets the cash and also add another 4850 when needed. A 6000x2 and a 4850 will run most games quite nicely on a 22" panel (I assume he won't be getting anything bigger than that).

[Leeghoofd]

yes it's a 22TFT... K guys plz limit yourselves to the CPU's proposed, max budget for the CPU is 115 euro's ( price of the 9550 ) not a penny more.... and plz vote in the poll

I really need some help to get this guy going as I haven't been watching AMD the last year... I hardly can find a comparison between these 3 CPU's... I might just go for the 6000 as it' s nice in his budget and a CPU at 3ghz might do the job nicely... mobo is AM2+ certified so he can upgrade later down the road to a PII

[Oese]

@ chew*: yep but phenom regardless of x2/x3/x4 has better ipc so i would choose this.

[roofsniper]

where can you get a 9550 from? i didn't see a phenom II 920 or a phenom I 9550 or newegg but on mwave i see a 9550 goes for 130 and a 925 goes for 235 as we all know. im not going to make a recommendation but for $100 more you can get way faster cpu that should be cooler and can overclock a lot better if he ever does overclock. i see newegg offers a phenom 9600 black edition for 105. i did pick the 9550 in the poll tho.

[Extelleron]

I would go for an X2 7750 for ~$75. It's not the best but it is a better choice for gaming than the 9550 and X2 6400+.

[Leeghoofd]

Here's the shop I order the most from :

Jaha AMD price list

[roofsniper]

Here's the shop I order the most from :

Jaha AMD price list

ok well that helps. if i had to decide i would pick the 9550 or the 7750. the 9550 should have equal if not a little bit better performance in games over the 7750 and should have much better performance for everything else. but the 7750 is 34 euros cheaper. what resolution does he use?

[G0ldBr1ck]

I would go with the 6000+ on an AM2+ board for future upgrades, but if your not dead set between only these CPU's then 7750 would be best choice for gaming and its cheaper. 2 core Agena will outperform the windsor or brisbane and tho its 2 less cores its clocked allot higher then the 9550 Agena

[Morais]

what resolution does he use?

For what he said, probably 1680x1050

I really would not opt for a quad core in a game machine.Go for the x2 6000

[Corsa]

Lo, need a quick answer here. I need to configure a budget gaming rig for a friend and he's a very loyal AMD fan...

Rig will be mainly used for gaming and will be bundled with a 9800GTX or a 4850...4gb of PC6400 ram, Coolermaster 520w and an Asus mobo (NO OC'ing)

7750 & OC for him, what kind of friend are u !!

[Frontl1ne]

Depending on the monitor size, I would get a 6000 and spend the rest of the money getting a 4870 instead of a 4850. Yeah you might have a cpu bottleneck, but I don't see the point in spending more on a mid ranged quad core when the next generation of Phenoms are already coming out. If you get the X2 6000, your friend can upgrade that to a Phenom II (the Phenom II X4 940/920 are compatible with AM2+ motherboards, only need a bios update) when he feels his system isn't up to scratch. This way, he will still have a viable system consisting of a 4870 and a Phenom II later down the track.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...9550_b3_cpus/7

As you can see from the results in that review, there is only about a 1 to 5 frame difference between the 9550 and the X2 6000+

I'd say go with the X2 6000+

[Leeghoofd]

7750 & OC for him, what kind of friend are u !!

looooool I don't Oc unless requested due to his budget it's a cheap asus mobo so I won't take a risk there... it will have to do...

[topdog]

I have an AMD Athlon X2 6400+ that will do 3450Mhz 24/7 easily if you are interested, I've just upgraded to a phenom II 940 so the 6400 is for sale if you're interested. I'm in the United Kingdom so posting is no problem.
I can sell for 90 Euros

[Glow9]

7750 & OC for him, what kind of friend are u !!

^- I'm with this guy

[Leeghoofd]

Seems the most votes go for the quad CPU, it will be the 9550 then...

[Extelleron]

Seems the most votes go for the quad CPU, it will be the 9550 then...

Phenom @ 2.2GHz is not a good gaming CPU at all....it will be a big bottleneck for a 9800GTX or HD 4850.

Go for the X2 7750, 2.7GHz makes it a lot better for gaming purposes.

[Stoner133]

With the choices you list don't go with that Phenom its to slow without overing it. Take the dual core and the faster clock speed.

[Dr_Swizz]

Don't buy the 9550, it has way to low clock speed to good for gaming.

[biohead]

yea 6400 + 4850 is a nice combo.

better yet get an X2 7750.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/cpu-me...ack-Edition/p3

better in gaming and overall vs the 6400.

[Meizuman]

I would say Athlon X2 7750... That is cheap.
Guru3D gaming performance test...