From Phenom II 560 to I3 550 for $100?

[turbominnow]

I posted a thread in the gpu forum for my new build and one poster mentioned that I should return my recently purchased cpu/mobo combo and buy an I3.

I bought this for $108 at micro center
BIOSTAR A780L3G
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/content.php?S_ID=479
AMD PHENOM II X2 560 BLK ED

I could "upgrade" to this, below, for about $100, cpu/mobo total $210.
Intel Core i3 550 3.2GHz
MSIP55-CD53
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317952

I play a little WoW and source games, would the i3 and new board be worth the extra $100?

 

[defaultluser]

Not really, not unless (1) WoW is your life and (2) you intend to overclock the hell out of the i3 and (3) you have no intention of ever playing any other game. If you run stock, that Phenom II will be about %20 slower in games that don't take advantage of more than 2 cores (e.g. WoW and Source games). But of that list, only WoW is demanding enough for you to care - a Phenom II should be plenty fast enough for any Source game.

Any game that uses more than two cores will perform better on the Phenom, even if the i3 is overclocked. And most new games (Blizzard and Valve excluded) seem to be making this move.

 

[paperwastage]

AOD ACC, maybe try to unlock the other 2 cores on the Phenom II?

with the unlock, definitely stay with the Phenom.

if it doesn't unlock, i'll still stay

 

[Kueller]

Spending an extra $100 going from a 560BE to a i3-550 wouldn't be nearly as big a performance jump as spending another $125 to go from the i3-550 to a i7-950 + X58, of course at that point you're not too far from moving up to a Sandy Bridge combo...

Bottom line the 560 will be great (especially if it unlocks) and is the best bang for the buck.

 

[Rauelius]

I barely saw a diff. going from a 1090t to a 2600k, so I doubt you'll see a diff going from a x2 560 to an i3 550.

 

[Exeodus]

I have had both the i3 and the 560 and IMO the 560 is a snappier chip. I had both chips at 4ghz too. I yhink the larger cache helps the 560. I also found the memory controller on the i3 was pickier about what memory it used.

 

[Rauelius]

I have had both the i3 and the 560 and IMO the 560 is a snappier chip. I had both chips at 4ghz too. I yhink the larger cache helps the 560. I also found the memory controller on the i3 was pickier about what memory it used.

I LOVE the system in your sig....