Which AMD processor would be best?

[gmaster456]

I don't go all out on graphics anyway. Processors don't seem to matter too much in games. I am running vanilla Skyrim on high to medium settings with a amd athlon 64 x2 4800+ completely stock, albeit at 15FPS in Markarth. The only thing wrong seems to be bottlenecking of the GPU. I would say that is really not bad. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I expect the much higher tier x6 to keep up just as well.

An X6 would be night and day over that CPU.

 

[Puppies04]

I don't go all out on graphics anyway. Processors don't seem to matter too much in games. I am running vanilla Skyrim on high to medium settings with a amd athlon 64 x2 4800+ completely stock, albeit at 15FPS in Markarth. The only thing wrong seems to be bottlenecking of the GPU. I would say that is really not bad. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I expect the much higher tier x6 to keep up just as well.

Unsure if you are gpu limited as you list neither your gpu or resolution but I can pretty much guarantee you that you are cpu limited in that game aswell.

 

[rdsn]

I am fairly sure I am mainly CPU limited. I ran Skyrim with a 5850 and then a 4770 OC after the 5850 broke. There wasn't much of a difference between the two, indicating the CPU is seriously slowing down the GPU.

An X6 would be night and day over that CPU.

Not all of us students can afford i5s!
Hence, overclocking

 

[JimmiG]

If planning on overclocking, I would get the 1055T. You should be able to reach close to the same clockspeeds as the X4 980 and you get two extra cores. But it will take some more effort to OC, as it's multiplier-locked.

At stock, the clock speed of the 1055T is a bit low at 2.8 GHz, and Turbo Core only increases that to 3.3 GHz, when three or fewer cores are being used.
Don't worry about the life span of the CPU. Five years from now, you can probably find used Phenom II CPUs virtually for free.

Another option is to get an i3 now to compensate for the more expensive Intel motherboards, then buy a used or new i5-class CPU down the road. Keep in mind that an i5 running at 3.5 - 4 GHz will be significantly faster than anything you can get from AMD.

 

[Binky]

I don't understand the "intel motherboard too expensive" part. Are you in a country where this is true? It's certainly not true in the U.S. I think they are about the same price, or at least close enough to not really be a significant factor.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I don't understand the "intel motherboard too expensive" part. Are you in a country where this is true? It's certainly not true in the U.S. I think they are about the same price, or at least close enough to not really be a significant factor.

The AMD mobos tend to offer more features at the same price. True in Europe.

 

[JimmiG]

Not just Europe. Cheapest X79 mobo on Newegg: $214
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157287

Cheapest 990FX mobo on newegg: $129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157281

This makes a big difference when we're talking about CPUs that cost $160. Also you can find a lot of AMD motherboards below $150 where as most Intel boards are $250 and above except a few outliners.

 

[Binky]

Uhh, you can find a mainstream Z68 board for $90-$100. Your comparison to the latest and greatest X79 board is completely absurd.

 

[Rvenger]

I would recommend the Phenom II X6 anything above 1055t. Bulldozer performance is all over the board.