Fastest Single Core CPU 2012?

[dwaring28720]

is there still single core cpus still in production?, before people start saying use multicore etc I've already explored this and the reason behind my unusual question is that I am trying to run an old game server on my pc, however it will not run on multi core systems the usual solution which i have been recommended by the game developers and other server administrators was to disable the extra cores or less drastically run the server in a Virtual machine and set it to run on just the 1 core, neither of these is ideal so i don't mind shelling out a few quid for a new board and chip. any ideas on what's still readily available and what's the best out there, I am thinking an old P4 but i can't seem to find anything newer

thanks for any ideas

 

[Routaran]

I'd go AMD route. Pentium 4 is rather old now and parts will be harder to find.
AMD Sempron 145 is a great single core cpu, dirt cheap too. Mobo selection to pick from will be huge as its AM3 (new)

 

[rishi.sharma]

I think ,the new mobo for AMD is AM3+.

Well maybe, The fastest single core processor available for consumers in market from AMD is Athlon 64 3800+ with 2.4Ghz(real) upto 3.8Ghz(rated clocking).

Intel Pentium 4e has around 3.6Ghz (real) manufacturer frequency.

AMD 64 3800+ uses AM2 socket.

 

[Routaran]

yes, the AM3+ is the newer. But for the OP, its not really relavant as AM3+ added support for the FX series of chips which the OP cannot use. Any AM3 mobo will work just fine.

the 3800+ was a great chip but I would still recommend going Sempron, its newer, parts MUCH easier to find cheap in case something breaks.

 

[rishi.sharma]

A highly clocked single core CPU can be very handy at times , but I think the number of applications that are based on single core CPU , I mean applications that run on single threading/CPU utilization are getting less day by day. Specially the PC Gaming segment.

Btw , Routaran can you shed some light on the Bulldozer segment , and is it that FX series and bulldozer same.?

I heard a lot about this bulldozer thing from AMD , some sources said that the industrial version of this Bulldozer series will feature upto 16 cores !

 

[Routaran]

One of the things things that intel's had on AMD since core 2 duo has been shared L2 Cache. Having so much storage on the chip itself saved a lot of waiting time for the processor. Thats one of the things that AMD has remedied (somewhat) with the bulldozer architecture. I haven't seen any benchmarks myself but i would guess that intel still has the edge at the top end.

The FX series of chips were built under the bulldozer architecture so yes they are the same thing.

The Opteron 6200 series already has the 16 core processors in their line.

 

[dwaring28720]

thanks to all the replies i completely overlooked the semprons as an option as its been along time since AMD has been the primary choice for speed, i built a system for a workmate not so long ago, and slapped a little sempron init purely for cost reasons, and as a few people have said that's a very good reason to go that route over an ageing P4, the board I've got in my current pc is AM3 anyway so i think i may get myself a new board and use my existing one for the sempron server project.

Thanks again

 

[rishi.sharma]

Well in case if budget is not your primary concern here and you are looking for a new CPU for AM3 socket , then "Phenom II X4 965 3.4Ghz Black Ed, for ~$150" can be a good choice.
Its a quad-core cpu.

 

[dwaring28720]

Well in case if budget is not your primary concern here and you are looking for a new CPU for AM3 socket , then "Phenom II X4 965 3.4Ghz Black Ed, for ~$150" can be a good choice.
Its a quad-core cpu.

shame its a quad core, its kind of redundant for my purpose as the surplus cores would still have to be disabled before running the server files "the game files are very old and won't support multi core CPUs"
ive decided to go with the AMD Sempron 145 2.8Ghz purely coz its nice and cheap, will fit the AM3 board I've got atm "so i can use existing memory" and i should be able to clock it a little higher if needed

 

[Routaran]

shame its a quad core, its kind of redundant for my purpose as the surplus cores would still have to be disabled before running the server files "the game files are very old and won't support multi core CPUs"
ive decided to go with the AMD Sempron 145 2.8Ghz purely coz its nice and cheap, will fit the AM3 board I've got atm "so i can use existing memory" and i should be able to clock it a little higher if needed

when you buy the Sempron, make sure you get a heat sink/fan combo with it. a lot of places will just sell the CPU (without heat sink/fan) its part of the reason why you can get this thing for like $20-$30 some times.

 

[Bill Simpson]

shame its a quad core, its kind of redundant for my purpose as the surplus cores would still have to be disabled before running the server files "the game files are very old and won't support multi core CPUs"
ive decided to go with the AMD Sempron 145 2.8Ghz purely coz its nice and cheap, will fit the AM3 board I've got atm "so i can use existing memory" and i should be able to clock it a little higher if needed

You started this by saying money was no object and you would pay anything for the fastest possible solution. Now you have chosen the cheapest slowest solution.

This
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/midlow_range_cpus.html
scores the Sempron 145 at 865
This
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
scores the Intel I7-3770S at 10465

If you idle 3 of the 4 cores in that you may divide that performance by about 4, but it has turbo boost and when it is not power limited by all cores being busy it will internally boost the clock from 3.1Ghz to 3.9Ghz. That gives a rough estimate of this processor being about four times faster with a single core active than your Sempron.

Often you see people hyperventilating about how they upgraded and the new processor is blazingly fast, amazingly faster, but when you probe carefully you find they actually got 20% increase in speed. 4x is something you could actually see without needing a stopwatch. And if you ever were not playing a game that required you to idle the extra cores this might be up to a dozen times faster than your Sempron.

You never said what your previous processor was, but you might compare the benchmark score of that processor against your Sempron, both by looking up the numbers on those web pages and by actually doing a careful before-and-after-actually-using-a-stopwatch timing on a representative and reproducible task and report the results back here. That would be interesting to hear.

 

[dwaring28720]

You started this by saying money was no object and you would pay anything for the fastest possible solution.

i don't see where i said money was no object, i did say "so i don't mind shelling out a few quid for a new board and chip" however i was after the fastest solution which your answer correctly answers however it wasnt the specific answer i was lookin for, buying a £250 ($350/$380) intel i7 chip and a board compared to a £25 ($35/38) sempron doesn't really offset the cost compared to the speed difference, when my original question was purely "what is the fastest single core CPU in production" the i7 became mute really.

thank you though

 

[dwaring28720]

You never said what your previous processor was, but you might compare the benchmark score of that processor against your Sempron, both by looking up the numbers on those web pages and by actually doing a careful before-and-after-actually-using-a-stopwatch timing on a representative and reproducible task and report the results back here. That would be interesting to hear.

I should of specified that as i was looking for a new board/chip combo, then i will still be using my current pc on the side and just shove the server in a corner somewhere running this 1 task, I am currently running an AMD Athlon II X4 605e