more specific amd vs intel question

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 19:53

So, ive done some reading which kinda puts me off amd's 8 core cpus.

Ive got a budget of c£300. Need to buy a new mobo with that as well. Thus wondering whether i should ditch my phenom 955 and go to intel, or keep with amd and get a top mobo and upgrade the cpu at a later date?

What would you guys do?

Martini1991 · 9 Dec 2012 at 19:56

If you've got the money to spend, buy the best you can for the purpose you need the PC for.
300 quid = an i5 3570k and Z77 board, or an FX83 and a 990FX board, purely depends on your needs.

RJC · 9 Dec 2012 at 19:56

Something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £23.99
Total : £295.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:17

Cheers guys. Im a bit p****ed at gigabyte at the mo. My mobo literally died about 4 months outta warranty. Intels confuse me somewhat cause there are so many of them. What sorta things should i be looking for? Im assuming they all have 4 cores. Would they be an advancement on my old amd at that price?

RJC · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:20

Most Intel's have 4 cores with the 3770k having the hyperthreading cores which shows up in Windows as 8 core cpu, for general usage the 3570K is the one to go for.

K series like I specced allow you to overclock the cpu using the Z77 board also specced which gets excellent reviews.

A rough comparison between the AMD and Intel:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=701

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:28

Thats a useful site! Cheers! Looks like my amd got spanked. So youre of the opinion that id be better off ditching amd now rather than getting a newer amd later on?

How futureproof is the intel socket you recommended? Will i be able to upgrade the processor in 3 years without a new mobo or will that never happen?

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:28

Martini1991 said:
If you've got the money to spend, buy the best you can for the purpose you need the PC for.
300 quid = an i5 3570k and Z77 board, or an FX83 and a 990FX board, purely depends on your needs.

How do they differ depending on needs? Is like one better for gaming?

Martini1991 · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:29

Socket 1155 is pretty dead, due to be replaced by Haswell 1H of 2013.

floz said:
How do they differ depending on needs? Is like one better for gaming?

The Intel stuff is ahead at gaming, but the FX83 can offer better performance in productivity (Software depending)

With Intels its consistent excellent performance, with AMD you've got acceptable performance/good performance/excellent performance depending on the situation.

RJC · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:32

Future proof is very hard to predict, Intel should be launching Haswel next year which offers that little extra performance boost over Ivy Bridge.

What is the main use of the PC?

Martini1991 · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:33

The only future proof socket at this present moment in time in my honest opinion is socket 2011.
Sure, you might not be able to whack in the latest top of the line CPU (In 3 years time), but IB-E AFAIK brings across 8 cores, and there's already 6 cores available, that's offering ~50% and ~100% more performance over the 3820 option, situation depending (Kinda like Phenom II X4 to X6)

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:42

Main use is a bit of everything bar high end gaming. So editing and media are the main uses.

Tbh if i can get 5 years out of it ill be happy to totally replace it all.

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 20:59

Just looking at that benchmarking site. For my needs im gonna go intel. If i dont need the ram is it worth spending extra money on a better mobo? What makes mobos great these days?

Kaapstad · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:00

Martini1991 said:
The only future proof socket at this present moment in time in my honest opinion is socket 2011.
Sure, you might not be able to whack in the latest top of the line CPU (In 3 years time), but IB-E AFAIK brings across 8 cores, and there's already 6 cores available, that's offering ~50% and ~100% more performance over the 3820 option, situation depending (Kinda like Phenom II X4 to X6)

For brute power socket 2011 + 3930k will out perform anything Haswell will offer in the mainstream.

floz said:
Main use is a bit of everything bar high end gaming. So editing and media are the main uses.

Tbh if i can get 5 years out of it ill be happy to totally replace it all.

It will cost a far bit more than your budget but a socket 2011 X79 mobo and 3930k will last 5 years. Also editing/media are things that it does better than other CPUs by a fair margin.

They make mean gaming rigs too.

Martini1991 · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:01

Asus motherboards are my go to boards, but they leave a lot to be desired with some stupid support choices.
Gigabyte/MSI are both pretty good and have decent UK support.

Half surprised you're not going Piledriver, may suit your needs better for price/performance also.

Martini1991 · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:01

Kaapstad said:
For brute power socket 2011 + 3930k will out perform anything Haswell will offer in the mainstream.

Indeed, hence why I think it's the only future proof socket right now, especially with 8 core IB-E's.

RJC · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:02

I assume your ram is DDR 3

Its down to overclocking options, do want to run dual GPU'S at 8x.

Range of boards below:

Ones over £79 can do dual gpu's @ 8x

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LE Plus Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £737.53 (includes shipping : £10.50).

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:41

Yeah it is ddr3

Im so confused lol. So is it basically intel 3570 vs an amd piledriver for my budget?

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:43

RJC said:
I assume your ram is DDR 3

Its down to overclocking options, do want to run dual GPU'S at 8x.

Range of boards below:

Ones over £79 can do dual gpu's @ 8x

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £129.98
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LE Plus Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £737.53 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Sorry for multi posts. Doing everything by phone. What makes the top 3 worth more than the £80 equivalents then if above that they do the 8x? Ill only have 1 gfx card

RJC · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:50

The others will have extra parts on the board which helps the cpu when overclocked and improved motherboard cooling, also extra ports like firewire and esata connections.

Thread with review regards the gigabyte D3H.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18424906

floz · 9 Dec 2012 at 21:58

Thanks very much. Really appreciate the help. Reckon its worth going for the asus you posted? Ive heard their quality is the best. Which given that my gigabyte lasted just over 3 years kind of makes me prefer it. Or am i just unlucky?