AMD or Intel? £200 Difference

jakesnake

jakesnake

jakesnake

Associate
Joined
24 Aug 2010
Posts
1,084
Location
Ulster
Ok guys!
i know ive posted a couple of threads about different hardware and wot road to go down. im probably starting to get on some peoples nerves but then again some of you guys like a good debate. so please forgive me for posting again because i no ive been from 1 thing to another and back again lol. I just wanna get this build right:)

My new Rig consists of 11 parts, 8 of which are the same on both setups because its hardware/components that work with AMD or Intel (monitor/ssd type things) so ill list the 3 different parts from each build first, which make it AMD or Intel. Then ill list the 8 items underneath which are the same on both.

AMD
Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 125W
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX
Memory - G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Dualchannel

Intel
Processor - Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz (Bloomfield)
Motherboard - Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3
Memory - Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Triplechannel

General Parts
Graphics card - EVGA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Solid State Drive - Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s
Hard Drive - Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Power supply - BeQuiet Dark Power Pro P8 750W Modular
CPU cooler - Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom
CD/DVDRW - Sony Optiarc DRU-870S 24x DVD±RW SATA
Case - NZXT Phantom Enthisiast Full Tower
Monitor - BenQ G2420HDBL 24" Widescreen LED

AMD totalcost - £1200
Intel totalcost - £1400

The reason ive done this is because i made Baskets up and the difference in cost is basically £200 bar a few pounds.

I just wanna hear wot peoples final thoughts are because my budget
has been smashed from £1000 till 1200 or potentialy 1400 and i dont
if ive got carried away :confused:

The rig is for Gaming. I just want the Futureproof foundations in place that will do me for atleast 3years then a decent upgrade path after that. Is that possible with 1 of these 2 rigs?

:):)
 
Last edited:
well the intel one has 2GB extra memory and hyperthreading, which are probably only going to help if you intend to use the system for numbercrunching type stuff, for general usage and games there probably isnt much difference for the intel to be worth paying £200 more.
 
I have been watching your other thread regarding overclocking the AMD chip.

Both are solid setups. If this is for gaming, the difference will not be discernable whichever way you go.

But, and this is quite important, your AMD setup will have a longer shelf life.

You state you want it to be as futureproof as possible.

If you stick with the AMD AM3 socket, you will be able to buy a new chip in the next couple of years at least, as AMD are sticking to the same socket.

With the Intel setup, if you decide you want a new chip, even in one years time, you will need to buy a new motherboard as well as they are changing the socket. :)
 
PapaLazaru said:
If you stick with the AMD AM3 socket, you will be able to buy a new chip in the next couple of years at least, as AMD are sticking to the same socket.
Click to expand...

isnt the new amd chips next year going to be AM3+ ??
which makes the 1090T the furthest i can go on AM3.

and is the potential of having a 980X wen they come way way
down in price better than a potential 1090T. or is AMD going to be
releasing more AM3 chips better than 1090, is that wot you mean?

:)
 
You planning on going dual dpu at some point? 750 psu isnt needed unless you are thinking about it. Dropping down to a 600-650 would still give enough juice easily with a little spare and save you some ££.

Same with the case, unless you really love the looks you could save some more and get a good coolermaster cm690 or the haf and save a bit more - or maybe its just me that thinks the phantom is a bit like a wonky melted stormtrooper face.... System looks good otherwise and even with/without my preferences I would be more than happy with it at that price - i would personally get the AMD though as the hyperthreading and extra memopry etc wont give you £200 extra performance for games.

You will need to upgrade Mobo ram and cpu if you ever wanted to upgrade either in the future to newer tech anyway.
 
If you want to go for gaming, i dont think the i7 is worht the £200.
Consider the 1055T thou. I know games dont utilise the x6 cores, but this allows you to run other programs in the background run without the gaming performance being affected?
Also your more likely to hit the 4GHz with the hex core than the x4
 
Kotu said:
for general usage and games there probably isnt much difference for the intel to be worth paying £200 more.
Click to expand...

w1llyg said:
If you want to go for gaming, i dont think the i7 is worht the £200.
Click to expand...

PapaLazaru said:
If this is for gaming, the difference will not be discernable whichever way you go.But, and this is quite important, your AMD setup will have a longer shelf life.
Click to expand...

I think thats it ther in black and white guys. :D

As you can see from the sig i have backed the AMD route
for the last number of days, i just wanted to clarify;)

AMD it is!

Brilliant guys the info and help youve provided has been priceless.

:cool:
 
Just quickly going to throw a spanner into the works.

Spec up an i5 build.

This is purely gaming what I say right here:

i5 760 (stock) > i7 920/930 (stock) > AMD 955/965 (stock)
 
Mason- said:
Just quickly going to throw a spanner into the works.

Spec up an i5 build.

This is purely gaming what I say right here:

i5 760 (stock) > i7 920/930 (stock) > AMD 955/965 (stock)
Click to expand...

here we go again. LOL:D

but isnt the 1156 the most deadend you can go
with 1155 coming? i think ive read that around.
 
None of them are future proof as they will all be replaced within a year. 1156 at the end of this year, 1366 in Q3 next year unless that get's moved forward as well, AM3 will be replaced by AM3+ when Bulldozer is released. No upgrade path on any of them. Either wait and see how good Sandybridge on 1155 is or just buy the best you can afford now and make it last as long as possible.
 
jakesnake said:
isnt the new amd chips next year going to be AM3+ ??
which makes the 1090T the furthest i can go on AM3.
Click to expand...

yes, apparently bulldozer is coming with socket AM3+, so this means no bulldozer on plain old AM3. However, as it stands at the mo, it seems AM3 chips will work in AM3+ boards. How this is so, i dont know (i love rhymes...). I have a hunch AMD maight backpedal on this at the last minute, but like i siad, thats how things stand at this time.
 
i would say the i7 is definatly better, and u get the extra memory as well.

u could jsut stick to 4gb dual memory instead to bring down the price, althou i would just go with 6.

althou right now, games dont need the power of the i7, so its power is wasted abit, it does however mean that it will last longer before needing an upgrade.

also, the platform support both crossfire and sli with 2 16x lane

if u have the money, i spend the extra, if not, u could get an i5 which will work out cheaper and give u simlar performance in games as both the AMD and i7. And an i5 would be around a simlar price to the AMD, or abit more if u want the SLI option
 
If im honest i hope the bulldozer chips work on a completely new board and i hope the old chips dont work in them so they can become more of a competition against the high end sandy bridge chips.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom