Which Processor for Star Craft 2 and other Gaming?

[waloshin]

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Am3+
- 3.1ghz
- 6mb cache L3
- 1mb cache L2
- 2000mhz (4000 MT/s)

Versus

AMD Phenom X4 9850 AM2+
- 2.5ghz
- 2mb cache L3
- 2mb cache l2
- 1800MHz (3600 MT/s)

On a Asus M3N78-VM paired with a Geforce GTX 460 1gb.


Now my other question would be would either of these processors be a bottleneck for the GTX 460?

I believe the Phenom 2 x2 550 would be the better cpu because it has more cache, faster hypertransport, and higher GHZ. Besides Starcraft 2 only uses up to 2 cores.

I would love to run the monitor at it's native resolution of 1920x1080.

So which cpu would be best?

[Lucradia]

AMD Phenom II X6 @ 3.2 GHz, Only 310 USD. (AM3, MUST have at least 140 Watts on the mobo)

StarCraft may only see 2 cores, but your OS can move programs to other cores forcibly if needed.

[cascade9]

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Am3+
- 3.1ghz
- 6mb cache L3
- 1mb cache L2
- 2000mhz (4000 MT/s)

AMD Phenom X4 9850 AM2+
- 2.5ghz
- 2mb cache L3
- 2mb cache l2
- 1800MHz (3600 MT/s)


I'd take the X2 550 over a 9850 for gaming. I'm using one right now for general desktop use. One minor mistake, Hypertransport is 2000MHz for both CPUs.

Not that you can do this on your motherboard, but you can 'unlock' cores on the Phenom II X2 CPUs. The 550 here unlocks to X4 no problems.


AMD Phenom II X6 @ 3.2 GHz, Only 310 USD. (AM3, MUST have at least 140 Watts on the mobo)

Wow! A $300 CPU is better than a $75-90 CPU. But thats soooo lame, only 6 cores? Lets up that to a Opteron 6174, 12cores of thunban goodness. It doesnt help waloshin at all.......

BTW, the X6s are 125watts TDP, not 140watts TDP.

[Drenriza]

For gaming and no multi-tasking in the background then a 2 core processor is the way to go. Both in sense, and money.

Unlocking a x2 is NOT RECOMMENDED!

EDIT:
If i was gonna go for a 6 core processor i would go
Phenom II X6 1055T 6 MB

[LowSky]

550 is a better chip.

Unlocking a x2 might not be recommended, but very possible. Mine unlocked to 4 cores no problem, and Its even over clocked slightly to 3.5Ghz.

I have a 9950 which is a step up from the 9850 and its an ok processor but runs kinda hot, and the 550 x2 even on 2 cores does much better due to the higher clock and cache.

But CPU isn't going to matter. I would worry more about the graphics card. The new Nvidia GTX 460 w/ 1GB of RAM is the card to get.
I got the Giggabyte version and I have yet to hear the fan at 100%.

[sprocket10]

tomshardware and I think one other site did a hardware review and found that CPU clock speed is much more important for performance in SC2 than GPU. So far, it seems a 460 will run it very well! I'd go with the x2 solely because it has a higher clock speed.

I can't recall the Tomshardware review link at the moment. But, here's a review of graphics cards for it: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/starcraft_ii/2.htm

[waloshin]

Would the Nvidia 8200 unlock all the cores of the Phenon 2 x2 550?

Also how long will the Nvidia GTX 460 last before it's ancient and cant play new games?

[LowSky]

Would the Nvidia 8200 unlock all the cores of the Phenon 2 x2 550?

Also how long will the Nvidia GTX 460 last before it's ancient and cant play new games?

A graphics card has nothing to d with unlocking a processor. Some processors are capable of unlocking the extra cores because of a feature that was supposed to allow people to modify the clock speed per core. Most of these boards are based on ATI chipsets, as Nivida isn't really making many AMD motherboards anymore.

The GTX 460 should last you 2-4 year depending on your gaming habits.

[cascade9]

Would the Nvidia 8200 unlock all the cores of the Phenon 2 x2 550?

Unless someone has released a very hacked BIOS, no. Only ATI chipsets have ACC (advanced clock calibration) that lets you unlock cores.


Also how long will the Nvidia GTX 460 last before it's ancient and cant play new games?

How far is up? Impossible to answer. I'd expect at least a year or two, but I have no idea what is in the pipeline as far as games go. You never know, they could release something tomorrow that will need at least a GTX480/ATI 5970.


A graphics card has nothing to d with unlocking a processor. Some processors are capable of unlocking the extra cores because of a feature that was supposed to allow people to modify the clock speed per core. Most of these boards are based on ATI chipsets, as Nivida isn't really making many AMD motherboards anymore.

8200, its a chipset, AND a GPU! Though technically, I think its actually a 730a chipset.

nVidia has released a DDR3 chipset for AMD, but yeah, they arent really making many chipsets anymore. Outclassed by the ATI chipset for AMD, and Intel chipsets for Intel. Things have fallen a long way from the days of the mighty nForce2......