Final Spec Thread!
- Thread starter Anewbe4u
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I very much doubt that the new AMD Bulldozer chips coming in 2011 will use AM3... I will be very shocked if they do...
In the meantime, the intel spec I gave you will be far superior, which is annoying I know as I am an AMD fanboy
I very much doubt that the new AMD Bulldozer chips coming in 2011 will use AM3... I will be very shocked if they do...
In the meantime, the intel spec I gave you will be far superior, which is annoying I know as I am an AMD fanboy
Shhh you, its taken me days to come to this spec! I won't be able to Crossfire will I?
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Trust me... im a specDoctor
I'm sure most others will agree with the spec i've given you... best wait till tomorrow now when lots of people are on just in case they recommend any tweaks i've overlooked
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I'd just go with the am3 spec tbh as at least you have an upgrade path to an x6 even if bulldozer doesn't come out on am3
If you were to go lga1156 i'd save yourself £60 and get an i5 750 and clock it to 4ghz
Either way i'd upgrade the case to a variant of the cm690 II case
If you were to go lga1156 i'd save yourself £60 and get an i5 750 and clock it to 4ghz
Either way i'd upgrade the case to a variant of the cm690 II case
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well either way they're both gonna last a long long time and in most games it's gonna come down to your gpu which i imagine you'll upgrade eventually (again not that you'll really need to for a while), so in the end it comes down to personal preference
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Cases are always down to taste tbh m8... as far as the CPU goes, i5 will be fine for gaming & still faster than the AMD if you wanna save yourself a bit
Cases are always down to taste tbh m8... as far as the CPU goes, i5 will be fine for gaming & still faster than the AMD if you wanna save yourself a bit
Yeah, pretty settled on that case, not sure what the difference is between the lite and the advanced though. Only thing I can see is External SATA dock. Not sure I'd ever use that.
I've been looking at benches between the 955 and i5 but I do plan to OC, so, are there any benches showing them at an average OC. Say 3.5 for the 955 and 4 for the i5.
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i'd just go am3 just so in the future you have the option to chuck another 2 cores in there, the performance difference is not gonna be so huge between the 2 chipsets that you'll need to worry about it considering your gpu
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Just Google i5 vs Phenom & im sure you will find some reviews... The Phenom chips are only on par with Intels last generation so a 955 is about equal to a Q6600 or maybe a Q9400 at a push. The i5 chips far superior
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Just Google i5 vs Phenom & im sure you will find some reviews... The Phenom chips are only on par with Intels last generation so a 955 is about equal to a Q6600 or maybe a Q9400 at a push. The i5 chips far superior
at an average res 1680x1050-1920x1080 there really isn't much of a difference, at the most it's about 8 in a couple of games according to the review sites i've just looked at so why suggest the chipset with no upgrade path?
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He could upgrade to an i7-875k next year if required... either way the 1156 socket will give him more performance than he will get from any current AMD cpu including the X6!
There might only be a few FPS in certain games its true and any level of AM3 or 1156 cpu will be fine for gaming but the fact is that AMD is at least a generation behind Intel so he may as well get a better setup if it's within budget
Much as onboard has improved, its still not as good as a dedicated GFX for serious gaming. But I like the AMD approach of incorporating good onboard GFX on their motherboard chipsets. I like to think of it as back-up in case your GFX fails or even, years later you could still have a spare/2nd system which doesn't need a GFX card but is still pretty decent.
I'd be concerned with the AC Freezer 7 Pro clearance & tall RAM (such as that OCZ Reaper). If the AC Freezer 64 Pro which I own is anything to go by on my last few motherboards (including current Asus M4A785D-M PRO), it doesn't leave much height room for the closer RAM slots.
Right, really stuck now.
Both in budget.
955 or i5.
Upgrade comments, in future could I not upgrade to an i7 which would give me a fair boost or do people feel I'll be much better with the AMD route for upgrades. Might an i5 set-up last me longer anyway?
To many options!
Both in budget.
955 or i5.
Upgrade comments, in future could I not upgrade to an i7 which would give me a fair boost or do people feel I'll be much better with the AMD route for upgrades. Might an i5 set-up last me longer anyway?
To many options!
The chance of an upgrade to Bulldozer will likely be dependant on individual motherboard manufactuers, and their willingness to provide a BIOS update to support "AM3+". It's a gamble. The upgrade to a current 6 core AMD still won't push performance much, if at all, past a quad core i5 due to current poor utilisation of multiple cores (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=109).
At the end of the day, if you're gaming, processor choice (out of i5/955/1055) is only going to make <10% fps difference in most games. GPU performance is much more important and I'd say the vital parts to consider if you want futureproof is ensuring your motherboard supports symetrical Xfire; your case is big enough to contain and cool two high performance GPUs and that your PSU can provide the power needed.
Going AMD would free up more budget for a second GPU in the future, AM3 motherboards support a lot more tech (Symetrical Xfire, SATA III and UBB3.0) for less money.
However an AM3 board on an 8** chipset will stop you going SLi if you did decide to go nVidia. And there's the previously mentioned ~10% less performance, choice is yours
.
At the end of the day, if you're gaming, processor choice (out of i5/955/1055) is only going to make <10% fps difference in most games. GPU performance is much more important and I'd say the vital parts to consider if you want futureproof is ensuring your motherboard supports symetrical Xfire; your case is big enough to contain and cool two high performance GPUs and that your PSU can provide the power needed.
Going AMD would free up more budget for a second GPU in the future, AM3 motherboards support a lot more tech (Symetrical Xfire, SATA III and UBB3.0) for less money.
However an AM3 board on an 8** chipset will stop you going SLi if you did decide to go nVidia. And there's the previously mentioned ~10% less performance, choice is yours
.
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Hi,
Some excellent points. I think I'll stick to the AMD route then and put the money saved away for possibly an SSD or another 5770 in future. I think Xfire in the future will give me a much larger boost than any CPU upgrade. Seeing as its a gaming machine, this makes much more sense to me. I'd also like a few more fans in the case which with the AMD budget would allow.
Some excellent points. I think I'll stick to the AMD route then and put the money saved away for possibly an SSD or another 5770 in future. I think Xfire in the future will give me a much larger boost than any CPU upgrade. Seeing as its a gaming machine, this makes much more sense to me. I'd also like a few more fans in the case which with the AMD budget would allow.
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