(01-28-2010, 09:35 AM)Syberproxy Wrote: [ -> ]Just the same with CKL went from a e7200 INtel prcessor to AMD Athlon II x2 240 at 3.55 Ghz. The extra speed came in handy.
actually, you could just easily overclock the 7200 to 3,5 GHz, which would be a lot faster than 3,55 GHz of the Athlon II. the e7200 is capable of reaching 4,2 GHz on a good air cooler and a sufficient mobo.
even now the Athlon II 3,55 GHz isn't that much faster than the e7200 on stock, I'd say it's about as fast, as a C2D 3,0-3,2 GHz.
OP, for most games you'll need about 3,2-3,5 GHz (that's C2D GHzs, with AMD you'd need about 3,4-3,8 GHz). most C2Ds from 2,4 to 2,8 range should overclock to 3,5 GHz without a hitch. you said you need a quad core though, that's going to be hard with the Phenom, since it doesn't overclock well, and 3,2 GHz isn't that good. you'll run a modest amount of games nicely, but some of the tougher players (Tekken, Xenosaga, God of War etc.) won't be playing nicely. are you on a tight budget? if not, just add 30 bucks and buy an i5 2,66. it'll overclock even to 4 GHz if you want, and besides extreme video rendering prowess (much, much better than Phenom's) you'll get unsurpassed performance in pcsx2. even without overclocking it'll be very nice (still, God of War will want that overclock ;).
my proposition:
i5-750 - $199
MSI P55-GD65 - $160 (I know it's MSI, but supposedly it's fantastic, it's getting great reviews)
nVidia 9800 GT for $100 or GTS 250 for $150
Xigmatek Thor's Hammer (cooler) - $60 - this one's neccessary if you want to get nice, cool and quiet 4 GHz (not necessarily Thor's Hammer, you could also find something cheaper, I'm just listing what I know works ;), but you can postpone this purchase till later.
Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB - $100 (you could also buy non-i5/i7 version for $80, it's just a little worse)
all in all $620. a bit much just for pcsx2 performance, but you won't get that from that Phenom. you could get much, much cheaper with a C2D or even Athlon II (and of course, overclock it extensively), but you say you need a quad... so, here's a quad for pcsx2. you could also go for older quads like Q8400 for $170 (and mobo for $100, so that's $540 for the whole package), but they don't overclock that elegantly, generate more heat and consume more power.