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Phenom II 965 vs. i5 750?

LLBDTiberio

LLBDTiberio

LLBDTiberio

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Joined
8 Jan 2007
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1,118
Location
Glasgow
Hi guys,
currently looking at buying myself a brand new system but have been out of the loop for some time in regards to CPU's.
Just a quick question, which CPU would provide the best bang for buck in terms of future proofing and performance in gaming?
Is the i5 an excellent choice in the long run or should I stick with the AM3 phenom?
 
tiktok said:
i5 generally beats the 965 in most games and is most likely slightly cheaper
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Edit: just re read, see you have said "most likely" not "is", so I'll let you off ;).

I would dispute this, UK pricing seems to favour the 965, check the prices on this site,

CPU AMD 965 £145 vs i750 £160 (retail CPU's)
M/B AMD start at £68 vs P55 start at £82.

Of course the truth of the matter is both very good in general usage terms, but if there's one app you are mostly concerned about ie vid editing etc, check the benchies around the net to see which CPU suits your needs better.
 
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Thanks Bandit,
I've decided to go with the Phenom as I'm mostly gaming and the difference in performance is probably too little for me to notice. It's a really hard choice though, both processors are excellent performers!
 
The general consensus is that if you're not planning to overclock then get the 965 as it's 3.4Ghz stock (versus 2.66Ghz), but if you do plan to overclock then get the i5 as it will probably do 3.8Ghz-4Ghz comfortably and is clock for clock faster than the 965.
 
there was a guy on here who went from a p2 to a i5 and he wasnt impressed with the gaming side as he said the phenom was smoother.

there about the same so its a toss up really. whichever you fancy more.
 
I know people are gonna harp on about it being a dead platform and all that...

But simple truth is for gaming for this generation the Q9550 is still the king... at stock is runs close or faster than much higher clocked AMD CPUs and once you start clocking it leaves them in its dust... and it feels far smoother in game than the i5/i7.

And it will probably last you until the next generation of CPU sockets anyhow.

Otherwise the i7-860 looks to be a good choice.
 
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Assuming you already have some DDR2 you could always got the 965 on an AM2+ board... around £137 for the 965 and £80 for a decent AM2+ board. So for less than £220 (assuming you do indeed have DDR2 to reuse) you could get very good performance.

Ok, that wasn't the question asked but it's still an absolute bargain!

Also, I'd probably get the 955 and overclock it for even more saving.
 
Hades, I fully agree, the AM2+ is a great way to save a few pounds while still getting an amazing performance boost. As I had nothing left from my old build I went AM3 as the chipset does provide a great performance for the price and I quite frankly, don't care much for benchmarks as the average user won't see the difference between say 65 fps and 75 fps.
 
It's a tough one between i5 and AM3 to be honest. But on balance I'd probably go AM3 for future upgrades (hexacore is on the AM3 roadmap but ot on the i5 roadmap).

i7 is wonderful but poor value compared to i5/AM3. C2Q is a dead end platform with nowhere to go. I have a 9450 and it's fantastic but I wouldn't buy a whole new kit around it unless it was an upgrade to the CPU alone.
 
I was considering an upgrade on my Q6600 @ 3.5ghz, I would have gone AM2+ as well, I can then save £90 on DDR3 ram.

I'm assuming its not worth upgrading my Q6600 to either AMD or Intel i5? Intel i5, with having to buy DDR3 is to much money for me to justify atm.
 
Oxy said:
I was considering an upgrade on my Q6600 @ 3.5ghz, I would have gone AM2+ as well, I can then save £90 on DDR3 ram.
I'm assuming its not worth upgrading my Q6600 to either AMD or Intel i5?
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From AMD you won't be getting really anything for gaming. 965 is mostly left behind by Q9550 at stock (2.83) and your overclocking on Q6600 surely makes it faster than Q9550 at stock.
Again Nehalem's strong point is in other areas than gaming and it consumes more power than Yorkfield quads. (similarly PII 965 at stock consumes rather horribly much)
 
so some who have tried phenom 2 955 or 965 overclocked have said at gaming it feel a better experience than i5 and i7 in some games if not most. yet you say a q9550 is better :confused: have you tried them ?

from a highly clocked quad q6600 not worth going any tbh unless you do countless photoshopping or play at having the best stuff all time .

ive noticed with my rig a smoother experience and sometimes more stable fps than some of my clan mates who a lot have high clocked i7 rigs. this is in games though not apps.

at end of day read a lot of reviews make your own mind up . a lot will justify there own purchase :p
 
well i have just went from a Pll [email protected] to a i5 ant the i5 feels a lot sharper and snappier in everything i do which includes gaming and encoding and there is no bias here in the last 18 months my chips have been
6000+ - e6750-Q6600-Pll 945-Pll 955-i5
by far the i5 has been the best chip
 
There is another thread on here at the moment that the new stepping of the 965 are coming out shortly.Hopefully that will mean lower power consumption and better overclocking potential.
:)
 
kieves1 said:
There is another thread on here at the moment that the new stepping of the 965 are coming out shortly.Hopefully that will mean lower power consumption and better overclocking potential.
:)
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Yeh i'd wait a little while longer before you decide. Apparently the new x4 965 is out very soon!
 
Rroff said:
I know people are gonna harp on about it being a dead platform and all that...

But simple truth is for gaming for this generation the Q9550 is still the king... at stock is runs close or faster than much higher clocked AMD CPUs and once you start clocking it leaves them in its dust... and it feels far smoother in game than the i5/i7.

And it will probably last you until the next generation of CPU sockets anyhow.

Otherwise the i7-860 looks to be a good choice.
Click to expand...

I actually agree with you.

Socket 775 may not be the newest platform, but the cpus on it generally equal or better current AMD cpus and are quite good value, especially the cheaper ones so why not go for it?
 
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