AMD Athlon II 620 X4
Gaming Benchmarks
Published: 3rd November 2009 | Source: AMD | Price: £77.12 |
Gaming Benchmarks
Having exhausted the synthetic tests, it's time to run some gaming benchmarks and see how this budget system performs.
If there is any form of entertainment that it's impossible to have enough horsepower for, it's Chess. Quad Core processors are a boon for these, and Fritz 11 is one of the finest available. Using the default engine and the in-built benchmark you can see that the difference between the stock and overclocked processors is marked. The amount of extra thinking the CPU can do in a given time ensures it will play a much sterner game.
Devil May Cry 4 is, along with Street Fighter IV, one of the games that Capcom uses to make a mockery of anyone who says that a good console port can't be done. As with all CPU based tests the resolution and details were reduced to ensure that the loading was on the CPU rather than the graphics card. Surprisingly this benchmark showed almost no difference between the two. It's still more than playable, and the graphics can be ramped to the max without issue, but this is one case where having no result speaks as much as having a good one.
Far Cry 2 is an old favourite of OC3D, so it's no surprise to see it here. It scales very well and has a very comprehensive built in benchmarking utility. Firstly a typical low detail, low resolution run. You can see that even at default speeds it provides a perfectly playable frame rate. The improvement in overclocking the processor is typical for gaming, which doesn't tend to see as much reward for high overclocks as from a better graphics card. Finally, let's crank those details right up to something most people will actually play at.
At 1680x1050, and everything set as high as possible, we're still averaging just under 50 frames per second. Considering that the pace of this game ensures it's playable at anything over 40, and that the Ranch Small benchmark is very heavy with the fire and explosion effects, this is a sparkling result indeed.
Most Recent Comments
Welcome to the team VB! 
The X4 620 certainly is a stonking processor for the money, though my hunch is that the OC limitation lies with the motherboard. 250HTT can often be a real struggle for some boards. It may have been a CPU related limitation if the mobo didn't offer a decremental NB multiplier.
Good work!
The X4 620 certainly is a stonking processor for the money, though my hunch is that the OC limitation lies with the motherboard. 250HTT can often be a real struggle for some boards. It may have been a CPU related limitation if the mobo didn't offer a decremental NB multiplier.
Good work!
Thanks Mul.
It was the most frustrating OC I've ever attempted. Usually you get towards it and gradually strike the balance between stability and the CPUz screengrab of death. This was just all or nothing.
It's amazing value for money though.
It was the most frustrating OC I've ever attempted. Usually you get towards it and gradually strike the balance between stability and the CPUz screengrab of death. This was just all or nothing.
It's amazing value for money though.
Picked one of these up last week actually... Gotta say for the cash it is a complete bargain. I managed 3.4Ghz but unstable. Running at 3.2GHz very stable
At £70-80 for a 3.2GHz Quad CPU you can't complain at all
Nice review VB
At £70-80 for a 3.2GHz Quad CPU you can't complain at all
Nice review VB
Great review VB.
I think I'm alone in feeling uneasy about the pricing on this.
I do accept that, yes it's quad core, and yes it'll capably handle what's thrown at it - and I can see oc'ers liking this.
So why the uneasy feeling... perhaps if the £77 is mrrp and it onlines at £70 or a snatch under, I'd feel a little better.
But I think I latch onto the superpi score (which there is a multicore version available now I think I've seen), just under 25s for an oc. Then look over at Intel's camp, especially considering the £220 mobo/cpu idea. Intel are ofc making the adjustments too, and they're 'pentiumizing' previous c2d cpus, and yeah they're 2 cores (if u bank on 4 cores, or have a legit reason to think ur software will use it - ur not really on a budget imo) - but they are more attractively priced imo, and ofc they oc too.
Tough one.
I think I'm alone in feeling uneasy about the pricing on this.
I do accept that, yes it's quad core, and yes it'll capably handle what's thrown at it - and I can see oc'ers liking this.
So why the uneasy feeling... perhaps if the £77 is mrrp and it onlines at £70 or a snatch under, I'd feel a little better.
But I think I latch onto the superpi score (which there is a multicore version available now I think I've seen), just under 25s for an oc. Then look over at Intel's camp, especially considering the £220 mobo/cpu idea. Intel are ofc making the adjustments too, and they're 'pentiumizing' previous c2d cpus, and yeah they're 2 cores (if u bank on 4 cores, or have a legit reason to think ur software will use it - ur not really on a budget imo) - but they are more attractively priced imo, and ofc they oc too.
Tough one.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='VonBlade'
Thanks Mul.
It was the most frustrating OC I've ever attempted. Usually you get towards it and gradually strike the balance between stability and the CPUz screengrab of death. This was just all or nothing. It's amazing value for money though. |
Hi, new here.
1. Nice review, man. 'Cause that's real life, where the silicon you buy does only a part of what most reviews say.
2. It looks to me that the notorius and long praised 785G chipset is somewhat stucked in OC. I don't especially blame a certain producer, but the chipset/BIOS combination. AMD770 + SB710 appears more OC-friendly, since I personally jumped over the 250 mark, and I bet I'm not the only.
3. Picked one of these nano-beasts last month. I've come along with a CADAC. After getting around 3.7 GHz with decent voltage, finally managed the 3.9 GHz with 13 x 300 on air cooling, but at 1.6V (see validation below). By the way, was it possible to set the memory to "Ganged" in the BIOS? I've noticed that you may OC further in this way.
It is also a question of luck: during more than a 6-year period, this is only the third CPU I own in a long series which proved to be highly OC-able.
Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links.
1. Nice review, man. 'Cause that's real life, where the silicon you buy does only a part of what most reviews say.
2. It looks to me that the notorius and long praised 785G chipset is somewhat stucked in OC. I don't especially blame a certain producer, but the chipset/BIOS combination. AMD770 + SB710 appears more OC-friendly, since I personally jumped over the 250 mark, and I bet I'm not the only.
3. Picked one of these nano-beasts last month. I've come along with a CADAC. After getting around 3.7 GHz with decent voltage, finally managed the 3.9 GHz with 13 x 300 on air cooling, but at 1.6V (see validation below). By the way, was it possible to set the memory to "Ganged" in the BIOS? I've noticed that you may OC further in this way.
It is also a question of luck: during more than a 6-year period, this is only the third CPU I own in a long series which proved to be highly OC-able.
Sorry, I'm not allowed to post links.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Judderman'
did you drop the multiplier down?, this may give an indicator if the 250fsb is the problem or the 3.2ghz clock is the limit
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Another test is in the pipeline.
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