top end AMD or i7 which to go for

bigjimmyauk

bigjimmyauk

bigjimmyauk

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still stuck supposed to be getting everything together to buy next month and i still can't decide
like the look of the i7 especially for how easy it can OC
but i'm wondering if all that power is really neccessary
i only need mobo,ram,cpu and heatsink got everything else already
£400 for a top AMD
£700 for the i7 (i like the p6t deluxe board cause of the spacing for cross fire)


i'm really stuck with this the only thing next on the list for this year would be another GFX card later on when i see what nvidia and ati are doing so i don't need the £300 saving on the amd but don't wanna buy into the i7 just cause i can afford it. i do lots of gaming, multiple programs open at any one time and use photo shop X-2 ultimate edition a lot
how much faster would a oc'd i7 to 4.0 be than a oc'd 965 black edition (not sure how much overclock these can do)
 
for gamimg the phenom II or the i5 is best got gaming, the i7 isnt worth the exta cash if its just for gaming
 
One suggestion: It might be worth going the AMD route (or an 1156 i5) and using some of that £300 to investing in one or two SSDs for OS and primary applications. They'll probably make a bigger real-world speed difference.
 
MeMeMeMe said:
One suggestion: It might be worth going the AMD route (or an 1156 i5) and using some of that £300 to investing in one or two SSDs for OS and primary applications. They'll probably make a bigger real-world speed difference.
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photo shop x-2 can get quite intensive i really don't think a SSD will help me at the moment maybe in the future but i find access times acceptable on my current HDD i can boot to browse in 30 secs in rig in sig.
 
If you're just gaming, go for a phenom II 955 or 965 and overclock. That way you'll have a great cpu now and be set to upgrade to a six core later. i5 is great, but i don't think you'll have that upgrade option.
 
bigjimmyauk said:
photo shop x-2 can get quite intensive i really don't think a SSD will help me at the moment maybe in the future but i find access times acceptable on my current HDD i can boot to browse in 30 secs in rig in sig.
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Adding an SSD to my system was the best upgrade I ever did. Certainly better than any CPU upgrade.

I don't think the i7 is worth it, and neither do I think the AMD is! If you're gaming go for an i5 with extra cash on SSD and/or graphics. It's not all about the CPU.
 
i5 may be a more attractive option as not only is the cpu cheaper, the motherboards are too. You should be able to pickup an i5-750, P55 mobo and 4GB RAM for around £300.
 
Out of i7 and the 965 go for the 965 and save your cash.

AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE can be overclocked to 3.91GHz on air cooling
With the Phenom you can use a AMD3 Motherboard which makes it more future
You can also use xfire with the 965 at x16-x16. So maybe with the money you save you could buy another GFX card :)
This is where the i5 the has its down falls, its not future proof and supports xfire at x8-x8

Therefore for gaming the phenom would be a wiser choice IMO
 
clv101 said:
Adding an SSD to my system was the best upgrade I ever did. Certainly better than any CPU upgrade.

I don't think the i7 is worth it, and neither do I think the AMD is! If you're gaming go for an i5 with extra cash on SSD and/or graphics. It's not all about the CPU.
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overall wouldn't the i5 be slower than the amd?

really tempted by the 965 after what people are saying
 
If i can trust toms hardware like i always have just read a few big test i7 vs 965 and the i7 comes out on top on all bar 1 test
but i come to the conlusion we know amd's 6 core will use AM3 but will Intels new proccy use the same socket as the i7.
 
THIS REALLY

Why would we ever need 6 cores for gaming ? Programmers cant even fully utilise 4 cores as it is

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £140.99
(£119.99) £140.99
(£119.99)
Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £135.99
(£115.74) £135.99
(£115.74)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) £72.99
(£62.12) £72.99
(£62.12)
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B CPU Cooler (Socket 775/1156/1366) £46.99
(£39.99) £46.99
(£39.99)
Noctua NF-P12 Vortex-Control 120mm Quiet Case Fan - 3 Pin £17.61
(£14.99) £35.22
(£29.98)
Sub Total : £367.82
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £66.03
Total : £443.35
 
Its obvious that the i7 is a better CPU than the Phenom thts why its more expensive. In video encoding etc the i7 would be worth the extra £300 but in games your getting an extra couple of FPS is it worth the extra £300? i dont think so.

With the spare cash I would rather spend it on a H50 and a 5850, which will give you better graphics than the i7 with a standard GPU
 
The Phenom II x4 965 BE seems to be similar performance to the Intel Q9550 and Q9650, no? The i5 750 is a good bit faster.

Also, doesn't the i5 overclock better then the Phenom II? The Phenom's power consumption is also too high. I don't see how the Phenom II is competitive against the i5.
 
clv101 said:
The Phenom II x4 965 BE seems to be similar performance to the Intel Q9550 and Q9650, no? The i5 750 is a good bit faster.

Also, doesn't the i5 overclock better then the Phenom II? The Phenom's power consumption is also too high. I don't see how the Phenom II is competitive against the i5.
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It isnt :)
 
I read that the new 6 core chips will be called gulftown, running at 3.6ghz with a huge 12mb of l3 cache, and drop into a 1366 socket x58 board with a bios update. I hope its true :)
 
Im an I7 monkey and couldnt be happier with my systems overall performance, I havent suffered any performance problems what so ever and have been running solid works and other intensive programs....

The way I look at it is, if you can afford it then why not get it? As far as im concerned you then have an element of future proofing and your almost garunteed a system that will be able to handle anything you throw at it for years to come!
 
NW_SKINHEAD said:
Im an I7 monkey and couldnt be happier with my systems overall performance, I havent suffered any performance problems what so ever and have been running solid works and other intensive programs....

The way I look at it is, if you can afford it then why not get it? As far as im concerned you then have an element of future proofing and your almost garunteed a system that will be able to handle anything you throw at it for years to come!
Click to expand...
+1 I second that
 
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