Athlon II vs. Phenom II

I have read all of the material out there and understand the key differences between the Athlon II and Phenom II. Benchmark results make the decision a little more difficult. If anyone noticed, I posted about my new video card incompatibility issues and my subsequent need to upgrade. I have a Gigabyte MA78LM-S2H mobo and 2GB of some generic 667 DDR2 ram. I have a 520W Corsair power supply and my newly acquired (but annoyingly incompatible) HD5670.

Here is my issue:

Funds are very tight. I need to spend $100 or less for this CPU. I narrowed down the results to two main contenders.

First, I have the Athlon II x4 640 here.

Second is the Phenom II x2 560 here.

Research has left me hungry to find an AM2 Phenom II x4 but they are rather scarce these days...Plus I need something quick, so the aforementioned CPUs are stocked at store locally as well.

My dilemma here is the comparison of the dual core to quad core. I understand the L3 will definitely offer an improvement, but enough to overcome the 2 extra cores? I do moderate gaming (not all the latest and greatest), photo editing, web surfing, word processing all that usual stuff.

Would there be a noticeable everyday difference in performance from one to the other? Also, which would be the best bet for future proofing?

Edit: for calling an athlon an athlong

Here is a link to a nice Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition for a good price. I got one of these and the 4th core unlocked easily. I have not tried overclocking it yet. Cheaper than both and if you already have a cooler you are all set. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652

That's enticing! Will my socket 939 cooler swap over to the AM2 board?

striker85 said:

That's enticing! Will my socket 939 cooler swap over to the AM2 board?

Click to expand...

I'd be careful about trying to use a socket 939 CPU heatsink on an AM2 board, even if it fits, it may or may not be sufficient to cool a newer, faster processor. A cooler for socket 939 would theoretically fit on AM2 boards if it is designed to be used with a stock mounting bracket, but as I said it may or may not be good enough to keep a faster CPU cool, as the newer CPU's have a higher TDP (Thermal Design Power) and/or heat output than the older S939 CPU's.

What cooler do you have, stock AMD 939 single-core heatsink, or something else?

Could you upload a pic of this cooler?

It's a Scythe Ninja, the first version. And that CPU is a bundle only deal however one of the bundle selections is with a Gemini ii cooler and it comes in at $99 with free shipping. Very nice find. I will most likely be ordering that tomorrow morning