Core 2 or i7

Skilid

Skilid

Skilid

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Joined
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Hi guys,

I am going to be building a new machine once I get my pre-ordered copy of Windows 7 in October.

I am in a bit of a pickle because I don't know whether to go for Core 2 Duo/Quad or Core i7.

All I want is the machine to be nice and fast, and play pretty much any game I though at it (but it will be being used as more of a media machine) (being connected to a TV).

My two choices are:

Core 2 Quad @ £304 (just CPU, mobo, memory(4gb ddr2))
Core i7 @ £498 (cpu, mobo, memory(6gb ddr3))

I am also going to be getting an ATi 4890 for those gaming moments (i'm not going to be gaming very often at all).

What do you suggest? I just want a nice fast media PC (thinking of going micro atx as well) that will also play games and deal with HD content no problem.

Thanks guys.

El.
 
I know it's on it's way out, but it's still a very strong platform. And i'm just thinking about the whole games thing, maybe just spend half the money on a decent mid-range machine instead of spending £900 on something i'm hardly ever going to use for games. The only games i'll probably play are Sims 3, Call of Duty games, UT2004 and UT3.

I don't know whether to go i5 or not. Is there a huge increase over Core 2 Quad?

Cheers.

El.
 
Do they not do Micro ATX for i5 yet?

Bugger. I liked the idea of a tidy small little machine.

Don't get any performance drops do you going from ATX to Micro?

El.
 
Cripple said:
Do they not do Micro ATX for i5 yet?

Bugger. I liked the idea of a tidy small little machine.

Don't get any performance drops do you going from ATX to Micro?

El.
Click to expand...

Aye, you can do micro-ATX with the i5, here is the mobo i'd go for.

it doesn't have all the bangs and whistles of other p55 boards, but seems to overclock fine and considering the price is rather well featured.

have a look at this review, in games it is faster than top end Core 2 Quads and you can pick an i5 for only £140 this week.
 
Last edited:
cmndr_andi said:
Aye, you can do micro-ATX with the i5, here is the mobo i'd go for.

It doesn't have all the bangs and whistles of other P55 boards, but seems to overclock fine and considering the price is rather well featured.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help, what exactly do you mean by bangs and whistles? What am I missing out on?

Probably not going to be oc'ing for a while.

El.
 
Cripple said:
Thanks for your help, what exactly do you mean by bangs and whistles? What am I missing out on?

Probably not going to be oc'ing for a while.

El.
Click to expand...

That motherboard only supports ATI crossfire but not Nvidia SLI. It also has a less robust power system compared to other boards. It also has less PCIE and PCI ports compared to full ATX boards (due to size). However, few if any of these drawbacks will effect your media/gaming experience and by all accounts the board still overclocks well.
 
Never going to be using SLi, so not a problem, and only PCI card I would be putting in is a wireless one, or MAYBE a tv card lol.

What's everyone's experience with the Lian Li V351? I've heard people have struggled to get PSU's in there, I want something reasonably quiet too.

I appreciate all your help guys. Cheers.

El.
 
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