If I had to choose between the Phenom II X4 965 and the Phenom II X6 1090T, do you think the X6 would be worth the extra $70? Also taking in account the extra $45 for a motherboard with an 800-series chipset instead of a 700-series due to having 6 cores for a total of $115 extra spent if I get the X6.
Uses for my computer build: Light gaming, moderate photo/video editing, and *LOTS* (emphasis on that) of multitasking.
Verified answer
The more multitasking you do the more benefit you'll get out of the X6. Also if you do a lot of rendering, whether it's video or something like fractals more cores certainly make a hell of a difference. There's not many games. if any, that support six core processing yet but in the next year or two the numbers will probably grow. Anyway they're both great processors. Personally I went with the six core but pick based on what you'll be doing most of the time
I just upgraded from the 965 X4 to the 1090T X6, Almost everything I am doing I notice NO difference. The 965 is a great and fast chip, I thought I would get a bit more improvement (although the 965 was NOT a slouch), I didn't. If I really pressed my built computer...maybe then the 1090T would shine. Even windows 7, which gave the 965 X4 a 7.4 score, is giving the 1090T a 7.5 score. Over clocking on my Asus Crossfire III board with the 1090 is interesting also....when I set the multiplier up ...CPU-Z shows it at 800mhz @4multiplier at IDLE, I think that has something to do with the Turbo feature and relaxing power usages also. Also in the Bios, in an uneditable section it says something like "CPU variable ratio: Yes". Maybe a Bios update will come along soon to officially support it for the Asus Crosshair III Formula.
I would get the X4 you wont notice any difference in most games only in multi thread apps like encoding, so if you don't mind waiting an extra few seconds for you encoded video stick with the fastest X4 black and the 700 series motherboard. Bump up the clock multiplier in Bios a few notches for the cpu and it will actually be faster the than the 6 core.
the 785 and 795 am3 socket boards both take hex cores with a bios update
what the 800 series gives you is future proofing as most of them have sata 3 sockets and usb 3.0 sockets
i have a 1055t and so glad i went hex core!
Well...if you are using applications that can use 6 cores, go for the 1090T. If not, go for the 965