Phenom II X2 555 Vs. Pentium G6950: The Rematch

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Benchmark Results: Games

We won't compare the Core i5-750 results from our previous review here, because the newer graphics drivers showed some notable performance differences compared to the older results.

As we saw in our previous review, the first thing we notice is sub-par performance from the stock Pentium G6950. If you're a budget gamer and uncomfortable with overclocking, this processor should probably be avoided in favor of something faster.

The Phenom II X2 555 fares a little better at its stock clock rate, but it really takes overclocking to get both the Intel and AMD solutions at a similarly impressive level of performance.

Unlocking the Phenom II X2 555's dormant CPU cores only seems to deliver a noticeable advantage in Far Cry 2. Otherwise, most of these games don't seem to care if there are two or four CPU cores present.

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57 Comments Comment from the forums

Verkil

I would love to see a comparison between i3-530 and X3 435 with GTA4.
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This is exactly what I've been waiting for. The numbers matched what I had already assumed. I got the 555 but I will consider the intel next time to change it up.
Reply
ta152h

One thing to consider is the Pentium G6950 is tied to a crippled platform, whereas the Phenom II can be used with an 890FX, which has more PCI-E lanes for Crossfire, comes with SATA 6Gbps, and can have USB 3.0 added without either running degraded, or using PCI-E lanes used for the video card.

The AMD platform gives you more choices (integrated graphics, discreet graphics in several flavors, a lot of PCI lanes, or a few), and an unlocked multiplier.

All these are important considerations.

Reply
Considering you fryed one of the intel cpus quite quickly with only 7% more voltage...

Id like to see a serious stability test on both cpus. A couple days with a graphic benchmark on loop as well as prime95 running an instance on each core would do it.
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lashton

I dont understand they talk about the dormant cores and you may not be successful, this is a dual core shoot out, so you intended buying a dual core, why not get the phenom II 555 and see if the cores unlock if they dont well no biggie still a fast CPU but if they do BONUS, also they dont tell you that with 2 cores the phenom can easily get OVER 4GHZ, this is typical of toms not putting everything into the tests, definately Intel fans
Reply
notty22

9494982 said:
One thing to consider is the Pentium G6950 is tied to a crippled platform, whereas the Phenom II can be used with an 890FX, which has more PCI-E lanes for Crossfire, comes with SATA 6Gbps, and can have USB 3.0 added without either running degraded, or using PCI-E lanes used for the video card.

The AMD platform gives you more choices (integrated graphics, discreet graphics in several flavors, a lot of PCI lanes, or a few), and an unlocked multiplier.

All these are important considerations.

9494985 said:
I dont understand they talk about the dormant cores and you may not be successful, this is a dual core shoot out, so you intended buying a dual core, why not get the phenom II 555 and see if the cores unlock if they dont well no biggie still a fast CPU but if they do BONUS, also they dont tell you that with 2 cores the phenom can easily get OVER 4GHZ, this is typical of toms not putting everything into the tests, definately Intel fans
I don't know if this is ROFL or just sad ? Try reading the article. Your embarrassing yourself.

More faulty logic by AMD fanboys. Which is it ? A budget bang for your buck rig,
H55/Clarksdale=200 dollars
or
890FX ($160.00 MIN)+ 555=260, all so you can buy another cpu, next year, that does not exist yet ?
and 890fx, you HAVE to buy a DISCRETE graphics card now.

AMD will love you , if you invest in all of this hardware , with plans to buy more, lol.
Reply
Reynod

Thanks Don ... another solid article without the fanboi slant.
Reply
C00lIT

I don't know of any business who is better off with an Intel CPU these days...

Businesses do not overclock and the AMD Platform with an ATI4200 onboard is just so much better then anything intel has to offer... Encoding ? Use and AthlonX4...

The only good thing about the Pentium would be trying to break overclocking records... other then that... it's just a cheep cpu that fails against any amd tricore.
Reply
ta152h

notty22I don't know if this is ROFL or just sad ? Try reading the article. Your embarrassing yourself.More faulty logic by AMD fanboys. Which is it ? A budget bang for your buck rig,H55/Clarksdale=200 dollarsor890FX ($160.00 MIN)+ 555=260, all so you can buy another cpu, next year, that does not exist yet ?and 890fx, you HAVE to buy a DISCRETE graphics card now.AMD will love you , if you invest in all of this hardware , with plans to buy more, lol.
Hmmmm, talk about embarrassing yourself - didn't you even bother to find out if your numbers were right before posting? You can get a 890FX for $140, not $160 MIN as you stated. For $155 you can get one with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps, and it's not implemented with the compromises inherent with the LGA 1156 platform.

You're quite incorrect about needing a discreet GPU. AMD sells the 890GX, 790GX, 785G, 760G, and 880G. In fact, the platform they used had an integrated GPU. The nice thing with the AMD platform is, they have sideport memory, so you don't degrade CPU performance when you use the IGP due to memory contention.

So, I can get the AMD platform with motherboards around $60 with an IGP, or I can get a powerful platform with two real PCI-E 16x slots, USB 3.0, and SATA 6.0 Gbps for $155. You don't have the same choices with the Pentium G6950 platform in either direction. AM3 processors have a very diverse selection of platform.

So, is your contention that choice is bad?
Reply
ubercake

You know they do this all the time... When they start comparing the game performance, they drop the i5 from the comparison charts. WHY??????
Reply