in a real world situation what are the advantages of an amd 64 over the budget sempron processor?

convince me to shell out more money for the more expensive processor.....what would i be missing out on?

can a sempron do anything a 64 can? can you play PC games with them?

help help HELP!!!!!!!!!

Lower L2 cache on the Sempron vs Athlon 64 means less overclcocking ability and yields lower performance for today's graphic demanding programs that utilize larger L2 cache sizes on AMD processors.

64bit Oses utilizes from larger L2 cache sizes which post better overall performance in not just for 64bit Oses and graphic demanding programs, but also for all 64bit programs across the board.

Semprons are for basic computing needs. If you do everything but games on your system then get a Semrpon, but if you want a system that will game get an Athlon 64.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7900GT
SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI

Which versions are you talking about Socket 754 or AM2 (940) , also be aware that different versions have different L2 cache so a blanket answer is not feasible...

Also some motherboards are better than others...

The A64 has either 512k or 1024k (1MB) L2 cache. The S64 has either 128k or 256k L2. If you do go for an S64, make sure to get one with 256k L2. However, if you're gonna build a socket AM2 system (even on a budget), I wouldn't bother...the difference between the S64 3000+ w/256k & the A64 3000+ w/512k is less than $20.

If you're gonna build a budget S754 system, go for the S64 2800+ or 3100+...both have 256k L2 & overclock reasonably well. And because of the different CPU architecture (onboard memory controller) & better S754 chipsets (ex, nForce3 250 or 250Gb), it will easily out perform the best socket A system.

thanks for the replies,

so your saying a sempron 3100+ would crap all over an athlon XP 2600+ etc?

interesting to know that and have a comparison.

help help HELP!!!!!!!!!

<<so your saying a sempron 3100+ would crap all over an athlon XP 2600+ etc?>>

No, he said a Sempron 64

"Lower L2 cache on the Sempron vs Athlon 64 means less overclcocking ability"

I'm pretty sure that a smaller L2 cache increases overclocking ability. There's less cache that's likely to get messed up at the higher clock speeds. Cache is usually what limits overclocking (at least it did in the old days).

Ah the less cache the less the overclocking preformance. You overclock a processor that only has 128k L2 cache to it, you are wasting your time.

I have never seen a Sempron overclocked to 2.7ghz without crashing. I see AMD Athlon 64's get overclcoked to 2.8ghz and they are stable. L2 Cache does play apart in it from a preformance standpoint and a overclocking stable standpoint as well.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ OC 2.7ghz
2GB Dual Channel DDR 3200
Nvidia 7900GT
SATA II 2x 200gig 7200rpm 16mb cache RAID-0
Gigabyte Nforce 4 SLI