Sub £600 Intel only build

moppy89

moppy89

moppy89

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So Im relatively clued up on what AMD have to offer at this kinda price hold and have decided that the "future proofing" that the AM3 socket has to offer is useless if all they do is put out cpus that are 200mhz higher clocked than the previous. And Id like to know what Intel have to offer at this price. I wont be buying till September, so prices should drop when i5 hits, but basically I wanna know what chipsets are good for Intel mobos and what cpus are the better ones.

Go!
 
Am3 is reletavly new, and new CPU's will come out that have more than as you say a 200mhz faster than previous, which is no slouch.
i5 will be mid-range whereas AM3 will cater for all price brackets which is way i see it
 
He's right, i don't think there's anything planned for AM3 apart from more 200MHz Phenom II increases, all the way up to 4GHz. Then i think they plan on changing socket for their next big thing, Fusion/Bulldozer. No facts here, just speculation. 1156 looks as though it'l be around for a lot longer.
 
If its a full build, you can't get an i7/X58 system without severely compromising on all other areas.

Core 2 (socket 775) is pretty nice value and still rather quick. But as you mentioned "futureproofing", my response in relation to this platform is "move along, nothing to see here".

Intel Core i5 (I say i5, but I should really say Lynnfield s1166 i7) is a bit of a conundrum. It looks like it will be nice and fast, plus the board should be cheaper - so when it arrives It is certainly the main platform to be looking at.

However, I am rather stumped by your opinion of AM3. It is a very fast platform, well price (cheaper than Core 2 Quad) it is already available and the current chips are only the first generation to use the platform. All in all it is a great platform and should net you a superb system within your budget.

Bottom line, if you can - wait for Lynnfield to arrive and see what the state of play is when the dust settles. But certainly don't discount AM3, that platform has legs.
 
Oh I am planning on getting an AMD build, PII 955, 1gb 4870, 4gb DDR3 etc. What I meant to say was, a lot of people when speccing builds argue that the AM3 socket is futureproof. Sure, while it may have new cpus like the 965 which come clocked higher, its jus that, a higher clock, so its not really "futureproof". So I dont mind going with 775 and not being futureproofed.

I just want to see if Intel have anything that can compete with an AMD spec at this kind of price range. And it all has to be stock. I dont plan on overclocking anything immediately.
 
Ahhh sorry i got my wires crossed. :D

TBH at the moment I'd wait for i5 at least. 755 is defiantly a dying socket. AM3 may me may not who knows.
 
Jonny Wright said:
Ahhh sorry i got my wires crossed. :D

TBH at the moment I'd wait for i5 at least. 755 is defiantly a dying socket. AM3 may me may not who knows.
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775 is dead. Nothing new there. I reckon AM3 is still in it's infancy. The current chips are still only first generation, so it's the same as 1366, I definitely don't think AM3 is dead yet.
 
q9550 performs pretty much clock for clock with the pII 955

Also saying am3 has no real future upgrade abilty is bull.

people said am2 was dead then we found out that am3 was backwards compatiable & its likely that am4 will be the same.
 
PwnDirect said:
q9550 performs pretty much clock for clock with the pII 955

Also saying am3 has no real future upgrade abilty is bull.

people said am2 was dead then we found out that am3 was backwards compatiable & its likely that am4 will be the same.
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Thats a fair point actually, hadnt though of that.

Q9550 £20 more expensive than Pii 955? And how much is a decent 775 mobo? Does this support DDR3?
 
For a decent s775 motherboard you will be wanting to spend at least £80 (if you plan on overclocking that is) this and this are good examples of these boards.

Most s775 boards only support DDR2, but that X48 balckops board does support DDR3 - so it would be a rather good choice as the RAM would likely carry over to a future build.

In comparison, a good AM3 board can be had for a similar price. This 785 chipset board is only £71 and very well featured (plus uses DDR3 like almost all AM3 boards). If you want the top-of-the-range AM3 boards, these use the 790FX chipset and cost atleast £125.
 
If you want future proofing, AM3 really isn't bad at all. Don't let the pricing and its disappointing 965 release disappoint you so much. Like what others have said, AM3 is still a relatively new socket. You will be gauranteed cpu support all the way until Fusion/Bulldozer (which isn't until 1-2years time).

However, if intel is a must, then you should wait for the i5 to hit the shore and wait for the professional reviews before upgrading. It leaves you with only two alternatives if AM3 Phenom II's isnt you cup of tea, and that is the i5's or the i7's.
 
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