FM1 APUs- Dual or Quad core?

[Saryn]

So hopefully I will finally be purchasing a FM1 CPU for my new board soon. At the moment I am not sure if I want to spend the $70 for the dual core 2.7GHz APU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103955) or shell out the extra money for the 2.6-2.9 GHz quad core APU's.

I run PS3 media server which is used a couple times a day, so a small amount of video encoding, web browsing, email, watching videos and a lot of gaming. What would be a better investment?

[ET3D]

A recent review at Xbit-labs compared these APU's (and Intel low end CPU's) and IMO based on that the A6-3500 (triple core) is the best choice. It's a good combination of low power, performance and price. But take a look and decide for yourself.

[Joshua_Mahr]

I have the quad core one and if you want to do any video encoding or editing I would recommend the quad. Unless the software you use relies on your GPU. Give more info if you can.

[ET3D]

Saryn, looks like what you're interested most in is gaming. Do you plan to add a discrete card or do you plan to use the integrated graphics, and what are your requirements from game performance? The thing is IMO the 2 core versions should be pretty good for games if you use a discrete graphics card, but if you plan to use integrated then they include a pretty weak GPU.

Edit: AMD has CPU's without integrated graphics for FM1. The Athlon II X4 631 is already available and AMD just announced the Athlon II X4 651 (3GHz). If you want to use a discrete graphics card that may be a good way to go, as these provide the same or better performance than the top Llano APU's at a lower price.

[MichaelLovejoy85]

I think the best choice would have to be the quad core A8-3870k paired with a Radeon HD 6670 in dual graphics mode. On that note...if you can afford to upgrade to FM2 pairing the dual core A6-5400K with a Radeon HD 6570 in dual graphics mode should pretty good as well....plus you can buy a "Kaveri" APU when it comes out to pair with a 7000 series GPU!

[ryandigweed]

Get the Quad processor. It's better to upgrade with a higher margin, otherwise you might be wanting more from it's performance and then wanting to upgrade to a better processor. :D

So I guess it's better to make the investment right now