thinking about finally having a new build in the not to distant future, my problem is which CPU is the best option, planning on making a micro ATX system, using my current watercooling setup, GTX 460 1024Mb, etc. the question is which gives best price/performance (trying to keep cost reasonable), so thinking either A) Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition with ASUS AM3 800 chipset, Micro ATX of course or B) Intel i3/i5 (likely not one of the quad core i5s, since i don't really wanna pay the extra premium if the Phenom is good CPU) with ASUS LGA1156 P55 chipset, mATX. general uses for the system with be gaming, music, internet and other day to day activities, not planning on doing any encoding or anything, though maybe some 3D rendering in Studio Max. thoughts anyone?
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Possible Upgrade on Horizon..?
- Thread starter Gashman
- Start date
I would get the Phenom II. Gives some better future-proofing in gaming since more and more games are supporting quad core CPUs. In addition the Phenom II will perform better in rendering since it has twice as many cores as the Intel processors in your price range.
well overclocking isn't a problem due to water, just thought i would ask since A) the 955 is well priced for quad-core, cheaper than intels i5 dual-core B) AM3 seem to be better priced motherboards as well. how much heat do phenoms put out, rough guess?
also out of curiosity would it be worth considering spending the extra £'s on getting the X6 instead of the X4? they are supposed to overclock better and chuck out less heat? because i would definately consider doing that, since the motherboards are so well priced. 
also out of curiosity would it be worth considering spending the extra £'s on getting the X6 instead of the X4? they are supposed to overclock better and chuck out less heat? because i would definately consider doing that, since the motherboards are so well priced.
If your budgets allows you to do it, then why not.