AMD Phenom II X4 945 vs AMD Phenom II X4 960T

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The AMD Phenom II X4 945 and the AMD Phenom II X4 960T are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The AMD Phenom II X4 945 has 4 cores and 4 threads, and the AMD Phenom II X4 960T has 4 cores and 4 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 3 GHz and 3 GHz.

Platform, power and price

Both chips use the AM3 socket, so they fit the same motherboards. You can swap one for the other without changing the board.

Rated power is 95 W for the first and 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the AMD Phenom II X4 945 cost $165 and the AMD Phenom II X4 960T $120, which gives 6.1 and 8.3 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the AMD Phenom II X4 945 can feed a card up to the Arc A380 before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The AMD Phenom II X4 960T reaches the Arc A380. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the AMD Phenom II X4 945 if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the AMD Phenom II X4 960T if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.