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N8DOGG · Jul 27, 2006, 05:37 PM // 17:37

This

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Socket 939 Processor ( Fan 2MB Cache 2000MHz FSB Dual-Core ) - $249

or This

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Socket 939 Processor (Fan 1MB Cache 2000MHz FSB Dual-Core ) -$247

both will be a very nice upgrade form my Athlon 64 3200+ but which one?

According to AMD the 4600+ is slighlty better over all.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/cont...mp_Q2-2006.pdf

How much does the Cache Memory of 2mb(1mb x2) -vs- 1mb(512kb x2) have on the over all performance? Gaming Performance?
Normally I would go for the higher Cache Memory but it lookis like the 4600+ is still better.

What do you think?

Ismoke · Jul 27, 2006, 05:49 PM // 17:49

if price wasnt the main issue id go FX-60;s but thats just me!! I do like the 4800's was a very good setup with no problems stillin use today~ And i think its slightly more expensive that the ones you;ve posted here.

As for the cache id say the higher the memory cache the better, less bottlenecks on the system.........

sumasage · Jul 27, 2006, 06:32 PM // 18:32

between those two, i would go with the 4400+ because it have 2mb L2 cache. I think AMD going to have price cut some time in august. You might want to wait till then to upgrade.

bpphantom · Jul 27, 2006, 06:50 PM // 18:50

Huge AMD price cuts hit today/yesterday for AMD.

Recheck pricing and look around.

I'd go with the 4600 myself but check the perfomance against a 1MB Cache 4400 as well. That cache will make a big diff.

Lurid · Jul 27, 2006, 07:01 PM // 19:01

The price cuts do not affect models with 2 x 1MB L2 cache, or Opterons. The larger cache will make about a 5% increase in performance at best. Simply put neither one of those are worth their salt, just get an X2 3800+ for $169 and be happy. If your overclocking the stock clock speed will be of little value (sans a higher multi, which is sometimes useful)

If the machine is slated to run at stock for the entirity of its lifetime, then 200Mhz will not be noticeable, and deffinately not worth the price difference.

gabrial heart · Jul 27, 2006, 07:13 PM // 19:13

I agree with Lurid up there. I wouldn't stress on processor speeds as much or even cache sizes when your talking about gaming machines. Unless you plan on doing CGI, intensive photoshop work, or other various number crunching processes, you're not going to see a difference in gaming quality between the x2 models.

3 things are very important issues in 90% of game machines.

*hard drive speeds (sata 150 raid 0 config's being about the best cost option)
*Video Card (either nvidia or ati) 9250 and up to x800xt cards for ati, but for gw you can get away with a x300 with some lag. I have a go 5200 on my laptop and it runs pretty decent (dont even try running oblivion though!!).
*Bus/RAM speeds and size typically if you have a motherboard with an sata 100 or 150 option and a pci-e slot or agp8x, you're good to go.