i7 or amd?

Nocky24

Nocky24

Nocky24

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Joined
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Worked out 2 specs and need your advice. Its going to be used primarily for gaming, namely css, half life 2, left 4 dead (most of the source games) and wow. What sort of fps would i get on both of the specs? If you've got a similar spec let me know :) The difference is £200 so i need to know if its worth it.

Here they are anyway:

specsheet2.jpg


specsheet2amd.jpg


I need a spec that will last me a good 2-3 years as a high end machine with good gpu upgradability and no future cpu bottlenecking within the next year or so. Also being able to have future compatible cpus will be extremely helpful aswell if i want to upgrade.
 
Personally I own an i7 but that's because I don't play games on my PC and I need it for other things.

Since you're just going to be gaming, just save the cash and get the Phenom II setup. You're not really likely to notice any real difference with those two in games and both AM3 and LGA1366 have upgrade potential - although it looks as if LGA1366 will support high end CPUs only in the future.
 
Hey i have just gone from a AMD 6000 3.3Ghz(very old skool) to a i7 4.0Ghz am i happy?...yes very much would do it again?...No for pure gaming i can see the differnece but defo not £700 worth, if im honest i do regreat it a little but then again im old and stupid and can afford to be:p My honest advise is get a 550BE set up oc the nuts of it which will be approx 4.0Ghz or if you want to future proof a little wait for the AMD 965 buy that or discounted 955 :D
 
I would go amd for just gamining.
Unless you do 3d type work or encoding or want to use nvidia cards for whatever reason. Then go i7
The i7 is not much better for gaming.
 
There isnt much of a diference between the two for gaming, though personally I feel you will get much more life out of your system if you go I7
 
Price difference really isnt worth it. the difference in gaming wont be noticeable - especially not on those games you listed.
You could put that extra money into getting a second 4890 =]
 
BIGBC said:
Price difference really isnt worth it. the difference in gaming wont be noticeable - especially not on those games you listed.
You could put that extra money into getting a second 4890 =]
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Ah ok thanks guys for the info, now the big question is how much performance will i gain from those those specs compared to a Q9550 rig @ stock? (4870 gfx)
 
Very little if any i would have thought.
Money would be better spent upgrading graphics (possibly mobo to get sli/crossfire) and possibly an aftermarket CPU cooler then overclock ur Q9550.

Post up ur full current system specs and we'll be able to give u better advice =]
 
BIGBC said:
Very little if any i would have thought.
Money would be better spent upgrading graphics (possibly mobo to get sli/crossfire) and possibly an aftermarket CPU cooler then overclock ur Q9550.

Post up ur full current system specs and we'll be able to give u better advice =]
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Ah ok thanks :) well my full specs are:

Q9550@ stock
Asus P5Q3 mobo
4GB Corsair xms3@ 1066Mhz
4870 1GB
900w psu (not exactly very good)

Using Vista 64bit premium
 
Surely you don't need a new pc for css, half life 2, wow and left 4 dead??

The one you have at the moment should be more than adequate.
 
Yeah what are you trying to gain here exactly? You won't gain much more gaming performance by upgrading from that system and CSS, HL2, L4D and WoW all run great with high settings on PCs of a much lower spec than that.

What is it you're trying to achieve?

Unless you have money to burn for no reason at all, then I can't think of a reason not to just overclock your current CPU - maybe after splashing out on a new heatsink. Much cheaper, and you'd probably get pretty much the same gaming performance as either of those two new systems anyway (aside from the obvious fact that the graphics card is slightly better). That's another thing too - surely upgrading from a 4870 to a 4890 is a little pointless? :)
 
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Something along these lines. Not sure if that case can hold two rads? can certainly mount one at the top. Possibly one on side panel?

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AcidHell2 said:
if you got money to burn. Get a decent water cooling system and case, several loops and an extra gfx card for crossfire or sli.
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Double that, and add good PSU on top as you said the one you've got isn't a proper one?

I wouldn't risk running this stuff on cheapo PSU : ).
 
PhoenixUK said:
Double that, and add good PSU on top as you said the one you've got isn't a proper one?

I wouldn't risk running this stuff on cheapo PSU : ).
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Yeh its a storm 900w so yep not exactly known for its reliability aha might put in a corsair 750w or something n get a decent cpu cooler. I think i'm just hankering after building my own rig now i know a lot more though. I bought the system pre-built and can see where i would have liked to change stuff eg psu, case (902 instead), etc. So yeh i think thats the reason :/ You could say i've got the building bug now and need my fix.
 
you not see an improvement in getting them 2 systems

the system you have there is fine (maybe overclock the CPU with an better heatsink)

you be better off buying an SSD (as it be like you just got an new computer with that as response times are super fast) and 4gb more of ram

you not see much improvement using an 4890 over an 4870 (maybe more AA if its the 1gb 4890) still not an good buy yet if you own an 4870 now, ATI will be bring out new video 5000 cards soon money be better spent on that as that bring DX11 support (Nvidia i guess will have something around as well)
 
Its not a question of Intel or AMD as they will both perform well in a good gaming rig, the real question is which high end graphics card(s) :)
 
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