Which cpu..

[platypus]

Just after some advice from those who are more upto date with processors then myself, as I haven't bought hardware in quite a while.

I'm not really sure which is the best route to go; AMD or Intel, i5 or i7. I basically want to build a new PC that will be used for the range of things: rendering, graphic design, gaming (not so much top end, but Diablo III will require a hefty pc), and folding.

There are so many different processor types now it will take a while to read around them, which I will do. But I was just hoping someone knowledgeable could give me advice.

 

[OLDPHART]

Buget plz, but if you can go for i7 920 it's just the job for you especially with you rendering, graphic's design, etc.

 

[platypus]

Aye silly of me, sorry.

I'm going to say a max of £1,000, but the less spent the better.

 

[oggiet]

i7 920 is def the way to go Are yo gonna upgrade full out ....ie. case, psu, gpu, etc ?

 

[platypus]

Yeah it will be a new build.

 

[platypus]

Just looking at TWO..AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz £147.98. Very tempting you see.

 

[oggiet]

Well if you gof i7 build without monitor you should be ok for £1000

 

[yashiro]

If you wont be overlocking and want the most power for your pound then the new i5/750 is the CPU to get.
The accompanying P55 boards are relatively cheap too especially when compared to an X58/920 setup.

If you want a little more power than the 750 then splash out on the i7/860. Avoid the 870; a pointless waste of money.

People will advocate the 920 in here because it's a stonking overclocker for 200 quid. But it does need to be overclocked.
At stock it's not that great when stood next to the newer Intel chips.

 

[oggiet]

Gotta agree with above, i5 is much cooler and uses less electricity. But also keep in mind that i5's dont have HT

 

[platypus]

Thanks yashiro - to confirm that I won't be overclocking.

@oggiet - I don't know much about the HT on the icores - I understand it effectively doubles the cores (like HT on the old P IVs?), but just how useful is that at present?

The Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail at £159.99 looks like a good building block to build a system around to me. So my next question would be to ask for motherboard recommendations .

And I suppose the advantage of that i5 is I could always upgrade to an i7 860/920 at a later date (I presume I can as they share the 1156 socket)?

Hmm, Tri-channel memory kits only work with the i7, or with socket 1366?

 

[BIGBC]

Its the X58 chipset with the 1366 i7's that utilise DDR3 triple channel.
1156 P55 is dual channel.

I dont think there is a 1156 920 is there ?

This seems good to me http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-360-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495
I dont have any experience with P55 motherboards though.

 

[platypus]

I dont think there is a 1156 920 is there ?

No you're right, I'd misread it.

This seems good to me http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-360-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495
I dont have any experience with P55 motherboards though.

Was looking at that, have always liked Asus, though thats ATI only, the Evo is both but more expensive - bugger!

Cheers .

 

[oggiet]

Main way i find Ht usefull is that i can assign different application to different threads so no core/thread gets overloaded.
As BIGBC said its different memory and you can only use 920 on X58 boards.
Here is little article thats good to read ...
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=1

 

[Nocky24]

For rendering and encoding definitely go for the i7.