For gaming: High processor speed or more cores?

[jkultimate]

I've going to purchase a processor
I've posted a thread yesterday, asking price for amd athlon ii x3 450 @ 3.3 ghz.
From some reply, amd athlon ii x4 635 is mentioned.

My question is, which is needed for playing games - (especially GTA iv, Shift 2 .....) - - - Number of cores or Processor Speed?

Here AMD athlon ii x3 450 has three cores and speed of 3.3 Ghz
In other hand, Amd athlon ii x4 635 has four cores and speed of 2.9 Ghz...
Price ways they are almost same.
Please tell me which to purchase.

Sys config:
Gpu = Saphhire hd 5670 1 gb gddr5
Motherbrd = Msi - 785gm-e51
Ram = Crosair 2 x 2GB ddr3
Psu = Fsp saga II 400 watts
Monitor = Intex 15"
Speakers = Creative "?????"
Keybrd and moues - Logitech

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Please help mea.!!

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

quad is futureproof here . you can always oc it.

example -
cilus upgraded his phenom x4 955 to x6 1090t. 955 with 6870 gave him max 45 fps in crysis2 while 1090t with 6870 gives him average 55fps now. both processors are running at 3.2ghz stock.

 

[desiibond]

given your choice, you should definitely go for A II X4 but see if you can increase budget by 2k and get Phenom II X4 955BE (around 6.5k). stay away from Phenom II X4 840. it's just a rebranded athlon II X4.

 

[bhushan2k]

actually all factors matter..more cores + more frequency + more cache = more overall throughput...
Phenom II x4 955 BE worth it..

 

[Piyush]

@jkultimate

AMD x4 is a clear winner here
most games in future will use all 4 cores
GTA 4 and some are benefited by multiple cores

also if you can arrange around 6.2k you can get AMD phenom 955BE which is a good combination of speed and cores as bhushan05d251 already suggested

rest of all is your choice

 

[Jaskanwar Singh]

i dont suggest a phenom 955 on this - Msi - 785gm-e51

msi budget boards lack good support for 125w processors.

 

[jkultimate]

Thanks. . . . I'll go for Amd X4 635 . ..
Cannot stretch budget beyond 5K.
Will it work fine on a 400 watts Fsp saga?

 

[Piyush]

yes it will work fine until and unless you add a high performance gfx card