# Phenom II or Intel i7?



## bud951 (Jan 20, 2010)

I need a main PC since I have sold off most of my other stuff. I plan on building a no holds barred X58 this fall. I need something now that wont break my wallet too much but give me great performance and that I have fun toying around with like overclocking. I would like the newer features such as USB 3.0 and SATA III. I haven't built an AMD system in a while and I was leaning that way since the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is nicely priced. The GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 looks like a nice MB and has most of the stuff I need. I am looking at just under $400 shipped from Newegg for this pair. Is there an Intel setup that compares for about the same price? Any recommendations on DDR3 RAM for either? Looking for CPU, MB and RAM. Any info is greatly appreciated.


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 20, 2010)

Well i just sold my 965 Black Edition to go I7 so imma have to say I7 due to speed.

But since you want a *easy on the wallet* PC now then i suggest a small AMD qaud setup? 99$ quads cant be beat *in price*


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## afw (Jan 20, 2010)

check this combo (CPU+MOBO but No USB3.0/SATAIII) ... http://www.microcenter.com/specials...m=theme_banner&utm_campaign=ad_vehicle_id_456

OR ....

Get this combo ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.320294

RAM --> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0231277&cm_re=rip_jaws-_-20-231-277-_-Product


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 20, 2010)

i5 750.


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## bud951 (Jan 20, 2010)

So Intel mainstream i7 processors are just that much better than the top AMD's? Say Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz owns the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz?


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## nt300 (Jan 20, 2010)

bud951 said:


> So Intel mainstream i7 processors are just that much better than the top AMD's? Say Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz owns the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz?


You are correct and Intel has a better variety of motherboards to choose from. But or overall cheaper cost, AMD is the better choice.


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## PaulieG (Jan 20, 2010)

bud951 said:


> So Intel mainstream i7 processors are just that much better than the top AMD's? Say Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz owns the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz?



I'm currently running a couple of core i7 860 rigs and I'm putting together a 965BE rig too, for a gamer and daily driver. For raw speed, NOTHING is faster than i7. However, I really like AMD for a couple of reasons. First, there is just a "smooth" factor with running applications that I just don't get with Intel. I can't really explain it, but it's true. Also, AMD is currently more fun to tweak. Core i7 has just made it too easy to overclock. It frankly takes no skill to get high clock speeds from a 860 or 920. Because of this, I don't think I'd run Intel right now if I didn't need the raw power and virtual threads for crunching.


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## bud951 (Jan 21, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> I'm currently running a couple of core i7 860 rigs and I'm putting together a 965BE rig too, for a gamer and daily driver. For raw speed, NOTHING is faster than i7. However, I really like AMD for a couple of reasons. First, there is just a "smooth" factor with running applications that I just don't get with Intel. I can't really explain it, but it's true. Also, AMD is currently more fun to tweak. Core i7 has just made it too easy to overclock. It frankly takes no skill to get high clock speeds from a 860 or 920. Because of this, I don't think I'd run Intel right now if I didn't need the raw power and virtual threads for crunching.



If you don't mind me asking, what do you think makes the AMD setup "smooth" compared to the intel? It is real world stuff that I love and that is interesting. Being superior on paper is one thing but how a system works in everyday applications is another. I do appreciate the input. Thanks.


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## theonedub (Jan 21, 2010)

bud951 said:


> If you don't mind me asking, what do you think makes the AMD setup "smooth" compared to the intel? It is real world stuff that I love and that is interesting. Being superior on paper is one thing but how a system works in everyday applications is another. I do appreciate the input. Thanks.



I just want to give my input on this 'smooth' factor as well since I have an i7 and 965. As far as I have noticed he Phenom feels smooth on the desktop- whether it be browsing the web, in Office, etc it is smooth, crisp, snappy. My i7 in comparison actually seems to lag a little bit, stuttering sometimes. That said, I will add that my Q9550 was better than them both. 

I don't know if that is specifically what Paul has noticed, but thats my take as a previous and current owner. 

Excuse me while I plug my FS thread, which has both a Athlon X4 and Phenom 965 up that may interest you.


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## nt300 (Jan 21, 2010)

The Phenom II 975 is on its way with a nice 3.60 GHz Quad-Core speed.


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## PaulieG (Jan 21, 2010)

theonedub said:


> I just want to give my input on this 'smooth' factor as well since I have an i7 and 965. As far as I have noticed he Phenom feels smooth on the desktop- whether it be browsing the web, in Office, etc it is smooth, crisp, snappy. My i7 in comparison actually seems to lag a little bit, stuttering sometimes. That said, I will add that my Q9550 was better than them both.
> 
> I don't know if that is specifically what Paul has noticed, but thats my take as a previous and current owner.
> 
> Excuse me while I plug my FS thread, which has both a Athlon X4 and Phenom 965 up that may interest you.





bud951 said:


> If you don't mind me asking, what do you think makes the AMD setup "smooth" compared to the intel? It is real world stuff that I love and that is interesting. Being superior on paper is one thing but how a system works in everyday applications is another. I do appreciate the input. Thanks.



This is exactly what I'm talking about. Phenom II is just smooth like butter through daily task in comparison to my Intel rigs. Don't really know how to explain it, and others may think I'm full of BS. However, this does come from an owner of 2 i7 rigs.


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 22, 2010)

Paulie your right! i had a E5200 overclocked to 3.6ghz and a HTPC with a 5400+ black edition and i beleive the AMD ran so smooth i sold the Intel and built a bigger AMD but now i want back to the Intel side with there I7 rockin house


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## aCid888* (Jan 22, 2010)

My 945ES is the smoothest PC I've ever used......but there is no denying the power of the i7.


That being said...I don't think I need any more power so I'll keep my cheaper, smoother AMD rig, thanks.


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## MKmods (Jan 22, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> I'm currently running a couple of core i7 860 rigs and I'm putting together a 965BE rig too, for a gamer and daily driver. For raw speed, NOTHING is faster than i7. However, I really like AMD for a couple of reasons. First, there is just a "smooth" factor with running applications that I just don't get with Intel. I can't really explain it, but it's true. Also, AMD is currently more fun to tweak. Core i7 has just made it too easy to overclock. It frankly takes no skill to get high clock speeds from a 860 or 920. Because of this, I don't think I'd run Intel right now if I didn't need the raw power and virtual threads for crunching.



I agree, I sold my X58 stuff and went with AM3/965 for a few reasons, 
I couldnt tell any dif in speed in real life(only benches) AMD to me is a LOT smoother, cooler, more efficient, cheaper and easier to work with.


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 22, 2010)

LOL i can never leave well enough alone LOL i go from a Pentium D 805 to a intel 5200 @ 3.6ghz to a AMD X2 5400+ black edition to a AMD Phenom II 940 Black Edition to a AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition to a final Intel I7 920 D0


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## AddSub (Jan 22, 2010)

bud951, I'll tell you, the i7+X58 is the most stable and most overclockable high-end platform I had my pleasure of dealing with in a long time. I haven't seen anything this good since the nForce2+SocketA days. As for the financial angle, the prices on i7+X58 hardware have dropped so much that in some places older LGA775 stuff is priced higher. You can get your i7+X58 hardware even cheaper if you choose to go the used/refurbished route. I'm sure you can find somebody in the trade section of TPU soon enough. Also, check out the trade forums on HardForum and Overclock.net. Plenty of i7+X58 hardware exchanging hands at some great prices.

Also, by fall the X68 line-up will be out and we can probably expect 8-16 core CPUs soon after that, which will no doubt be LGA1366-only affair, and you will be half way there with a X58 motherboard (if you choose not to go the X68 route).

As for AMD? I used AMD exclusively from 2002 to 2008 in my builds, and I mean *exclusively*. However, the times _have _changed. Even today AMD has trouble competing with Intel and their now ancient LGA775 platform, much less with the stuff coming out of Intel nowadays. A sad situation no doubt, but I really can't recommnend the AMD's AM2+/AM3 platform unless: a) you really like a challenge when it comes to overclocking/troubleshooting, b)have a strong innate liking for the "underdogs", c) have money to burn, d) all of the above.

AM2+/AM3 motherboards are pretty feature deficient compared to what can be seen with LGA1366 or even LGA1156 hardware, and are in my opinion priced way above what they are worth. Heck, when you compare the evolutions of platforms: from Socket 939 to AM3 for AMD and from Socket 478 to LGA 1366 for Intel, only then do you realize how far AMD has fallen back.

As for the entire "smoothness" argument, I think it has to do the fact that Intel is generally considered a big bad evil corporation that is out to crush the competition (hey, it might not be far from the truth) and the whole feeling of smoothness is just an emotional response to that. However, in my personal opinion "emotional responses" are not something worth spending hard earned cash over. Especially when it comes to PC hardware.

Since you say this is going to be your main workstation, I say go with i7+X58, you won't regret it. Don't get me wrong, AMD's platforms still have a place in the budget HTPC or laptop arena, but take it from a long time AMD overclocker/tweaker (and a shareholder), for your primary machine, i7+X58 is what you are looking for.


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## [Ion] (Jan 22, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> This is exactly what I'm talking about. Phenom II is just smooth like butter through daily task in comparison to my Intel rigs. Don't really know how to explain it, and others may think I'm full of BS. However, this does come from an owner of 2 i7 rigs.



I'll see if I can confirm this tomorrow, I'll be replacing the Q9400 with a Phenom II X4 955, which, theoretically, should be about the same speed (maybe a bit faster), but I'll see if it "feels" any smoother.


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## bud951 (Jan 23, 2010)

I think what this is boiling down for me is the lack of feature rich motherboards supporting the AMD3 platform. I also wish the new generation of X58 motherboards would just get on the market. I know Intel is and has been better for years. I do have some feeling of support for AMD (the underdog) which I hope does not just go away. If they do then Intel will have there way with all of us as far as pricing goes. It seems like they already do as far as the top CPU's go. $1000 is just insane! I am actually hoping this "smooth" aspect really does exist since it does give a reason to consider an AMD platform at least for now and the 965BE is just priced so nice.


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## PaulieG (Jan 23, 2010)

AddSub said:


> bud951, I'll tell you, the i7+X58 is the most stable and most overclockable high-end platform I had my pleasure of dealing with in a long time. I haven't seen anything this good since the nForce2+SocketA days. As for the financial angle, the prices on i7+X58 hardware have dropped so much that in some places older LGA775 stuff is priced higher. You can get your i7+X58 hardware even cheaper if you choose to go the used/refurbished route. I'm sure you can find somebody in the trade section of TPU soon enough. Also, check out the trade forums on HardForum and Overclock.net. Plenty of i7+X58 hardware exchanging hands at some great prices.
> 
> Also, by fall the X68 line-up will be out and we can probably expect 8-16 core CPUs soon after that, which will no doubt be LGA1366-only affair, and you will be half way there with a X58 motherboard (if you choose not to go the X68 route).
> 
> ...



Not at all an emotional response from me. Just my experience with a total 18 different i7 chips (920 and 860) and nearly as many i7 boards. They are just pure brute speed. I'm certainly not saying that Intel is full of stuttering and choppy performance. I'm just saying that there is something about how programs load on AMD rigs. It's subtle, but it is real. 

One could argue that we are so far beyond overkill regardless of whether you chose AMD or Intel right now. There is simply nothing that an overclocked i7, Phenom II or s775 C2Q can't handle. So, in reality the only thing you really gain when upgrading to i7 is benching stats and crunching, which is why I still own 2 i7's.


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## nt300 (Jan 23, 2010)

AddSub said:


> AM2+/AM3 motherboards are pretty feature deficient compared to what can be seen with LGA1366 or even LGA1156 hardware, and are in my opinion priced way above what they are worth. Heck, when you compare the evolutions of platforms: from Socket 939 to AM3 for AMD and from Socket 478 to LGA 1366 for Intel, only then do you realize how far AMD has fallen back.


I believe you need correcting on your opinionated statement.
AM2+/AM3 being feature deficient is not entirely true, though Intel being in the chipset business for ages compared to AMD merits there slightly deficient features.
In regards to prices, hi end AMD motherboards are somewhat priced too high, but that is the highest of high for those motherboards but still MUCH cheaper than Intel motherboards. Intel’s higher than high motherboards is like giving away your arm for one.
Once again, AMD has not fallen behind because they’ve just started designing there own chipsets a few years ago. (Thank goodness for NVIDIA chipsets) The chipset that will bring AMD and Intel on par with each other in my honest opinion will be the chipset for the upcoming Bulldozer micro-architecture. 
We got to cut AMD some slack, they don’t have anything near in R&D as Intel does. For a much smaller company they are doing alright though they need to keep there head above water. 

If Bulldozer fails, so does AMD. But we all have to ask ourselves why would AMD name its upcoming design Bulldozer? So they can Bulldoze the competition lol


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## trt740 (Jan 23, 2010)

theonedub said:


> I just want to give my input on this 'smooth' factor as well since I have an i7 and 965. As far as I have noticed he Phenom feels smooth on the desktop- whether it be browsing the web, in Office, etc it is smooth, crisp, snappy. My i7 in comparison actually seems to lag a little bit, stuttering sometimes. That said, I will add that my Q9550 was better than them both.
> 
> I don't know if that is specifically what Paul has noticed, but thats my take as a previous and current owner.
> 
> ...





nt300 said:


> The Phenom II 975 is on its way with a nice 3.60 GHz Quad-Core speed.


 Thats true and man I gotta say it your Avatar, geezs, that girls has some tits.


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## trt740 (Jan 23, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> Not at all an emotional response from me. Just my experience with a total 18 different i7 chips (920 and 860) and nearly as many i7 boards. They are just pure brute speed. I'm certainly not saying that Intel is full of stuttering and choppy performance. I'm just saying that there is something about how programs load on AMD rigs. It's subtle, but it is real.
> 
> One could argue that we are so far beyond overkill regardless of whether you chose AMD or Intel right now. There is simply nothing that an overclocked i7, Phenom II or s775 C2Q can't handle. So, in reality the only thing you really gain when upgrading to i7 is benching stats and crunching, which is why I still own 2 i7's.



Now thats spot on and the breast, I mean the best statement so far   Damn I Double DD posted


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## Super XP (Jan 24, 2010)

I think that avatar with the tits is his wife or something, that is what he said in another thread I think


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## TheLaughingMan (Jan 24, 2010)

trt740 said:


> Thats true and man I gotta say it your Avatar, geezs, that girls has some tits.



I have been avoiding saying that since I saw that pic.

Honestly, you say this is your primary workstation.  Unless you need bragging rights, cruching or some other CPU heavy task, then the extra money is just not worth it.

And I didn't have any trouble OCing my Phenom II.  I hit 4 Ghz just to know I could and downed it back to 3.5 at stock voltage because I didn't need it to run at the speed for anything.

As stated previously, CPU's PII and i7 are very OP right now.  Both will walk all over anything you through at them.  I will disagree with the "feature rich" motherboard comment as well.  There is nothing additional or special in an i7 board you can't get from an AM3 board that I know of outside of SLI support.

The difference in price can be added into your GPU budget to give your system a better overall performance bonus.

I honestly think the smoothness factor is the fact Intel chips downclock themselves to save power.  The Phenom's downclock un-used cores to save power and 1 or 2 are usually always at full speed.  I honestly thing that is what is creating that occasional shutter.


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## Super XP (Jan 24, 2010)

No, Phenom II cores also downclock. It's called Cool & Quiet. It auto reduces the CPU's vCore and reduces the core's clock speed. I've seen it many times in system builds. Not sure about turning off extra un-used cores though. I need to look into that. Perhaps the AMD Opterons do that



> Cool 'N' Quiet™ 2.0 Technology
> With the next generation of award-winning power saving technology, Cool'n'Quiet™ 2.0 Technology reduces heat and noise so you can experience amazing performance without distraction. Combined with core enhancements, included in the AMD Phenom™ processor, that can improve overall power savings, deliver seamless multitasking and energy efficiency. Work, play, talk, and share on a PC that's seen, not heard.
> 
> New features:
> ...


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## bud951 (Jan 24, 2010)

The input here is awesome. Thanks guys! I am gonna build a nasty i7 or i9 X58/68 later this year for sure with EVGA or ASUS MB's. I think for right now I'm gonna build a 965BE with a GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 motherboard unless there is any other board that I should be looking at which has the newer features. Let's talk about RAM.. I think 4 gigs should do but I know some think the more RAM the better. What should I purchase for say.. $150-175? Speed or quantity? Thanks again for the input!


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## PaulieG (Jan 24, 2010)

bud951 said:


> The input here is awesome. Thanks guys! I am gonna build a nasty i7 or i9 X58/68 later this year for sure with EVGA or ASUS MB's. I think for right now I'm gonna build a 965BE with a GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 motherboard unless there is any other board that I should be looking at which has the newer features. Let's talk about RAM.. I think 4 gigs should do but I know some think the more RAM the better. What should I purchase for say.. $150-175? Speed or quantity? Thanks again for the input!



Nice choice on the board. However, the UD4 has most of the same features too. I only mention it because you are talking about i7 later, and buying the UD4 will save you a bit of cash.


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## Aleksa (Feb 1, 2010)

*Best mobo for now GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5*

IF your are building your rig now the best mobo is GIGABYTE GA-790FXTA-UD5 it is the only mobo with USB3 and SATA 3, good overclocking capabilities and crossfire ready for AMD platform. ASUS, MSI and other mobo manufacturers didn't bother putting USB3 and SATA3 on a 7xx chipset cause the 8xx and SB850 are to be launched by 10th of April, very good choice


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## r9 (Feb 1, 2010)

PII or i7 how about i5 . Best balance price/performance.


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## phanbuey (Feb 1, 2010)

+1 for i5


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## SUPERREDDEVIL (Feb 1, 2010)

and here we go again! Another thread for Fanboy Wars!


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## majestic12 (Feb 1, 2010)

Those i5's are pretty impressive if I must say so.  You could hold over most of the components and have a respectable i7 860 system for minimal upgrage costs.  If you're planning on going full blown i7 in the future anyway though, you could always get a cheaper x58 board and pick up an i7 920 for $200 at microcenter!


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## Binge (Feb 1, 2010)

bud951 said:


> So Intel mainstream i7 processors are just that much better than the top AMD's? Say Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz owns the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz?



you never ever ever ever ever ever ever keep the i7s at stock for long.  They OC far and easy, and even at stock the i7 feels faster.


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## Aleksa (Feb 1, 2010)

*Consumer choices  longevity of fast fix*

True the i5 is best for oc, the AM3 is longevity forward compatibility platform, and 790FX top of the range mobo with quad crossfire cost as much as mid range i5 mobo 1/2 PCIx lanes, consumers understand choices. The revision of AM3 socket is the question, based on the previous AMD socket revision e.g AM2r2=AM2+ so AM3r2=AM3+ that is how it looks, as noted on slides AMD refers to AM3r2 - Q1 2011 Bulldozer and Bobcat.


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## Super XP (Feb 1, 2010)

The i5 & the AM3 are both great CPU's but my problem is the expensive motherboards for the i5. The high end and mid range are expensive where as the AM3 they are priced quite well. It all depends on cost. For Price/Performance, I would go for the AM3. For raw performance, I would go for the i7 Oh, look where did the little i5 go


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## Binge (Feb 1, 2010)

Super XP said:


> The i5 & the AM3 are both great CPU's but my problem is the expensive motherboards for the i5. The high end and mid range are expensive where as the AM3 they are priced quite well. It all depends on cost. For Price/Performance, I would go for the AM3. For raw performance, I would go for the i7 Oh, look where did the little i5 go



no idea, you said something about price/perf and AM3... Though it's more like saying what you pay for is what you get, cheap stuff.  Don't knock it until you've tried it.


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## MK4512 (Feb 1, 2010)

High End Phenoms only preforms slightly worse (in gaming tests, not benchmarks) than the i7 series.

If you plan to do alot of video encoding, etc. go with Intel.

If you plan to game, and have a budget, go with AMD.


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## n-ster (Feb 1, 2010)

The i7 has much more power than the PII systems... right now it does very little difference since they both are overkill for most of today's applications, but later on, I think the i7 is worth it...

Though the PII systems aren't bad, depending on the price, maybe an i5 750 would be better... If you are beside a Microcenter, IMO, there is no reason to go PII, else it would be a viable option

EDIT: there are 2 in TX so IMO, i7 920 or i5 750 are your best options


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## PaulieG (Feb 1, 2010)

After more than a dozen i7 chips, I decided to build an AMD rig for a daily driver and gamer, and leave the 2 i7's to do WCG crunching. So, two weeks ago I built the AMD 965BE C3/Giga UD4 rig, and overclocked it to 4.0. It was just fine. Just fine for everything. So, I've already sold it. Apparently, after spending so much time with i7, "just fine" was not acceptable anymore. So, I'm in process of building another i7.


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## Super XP (Feb 1, 2010)

MK4512 said:


> High End Phenoms only preforms slightly worse (in gaming tests, not benchmarks) than the i7 series.
> 
> If you plan to do alot of video encoding, etc. go with Intel.
> 
> If you plan to game, and have a budget, go with AMD.


That is what I mean. i7 is a super fast CPU but when it comes to gaming AM3 is just fine. It all depends on how these games are being designed for. It`s too bad gaming companies are not pumping out massive multi-core intensive games.


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## bpgt64 (Feb 1, 2010)

I think cost per-performance all comes down to if you can get an i7 920 from a microcenter.  If you can, I'd get a i7 920.  They over clock well into the 4ghz+ with ease.  However that's not an option, I would go with the AMD solution.  Now that I am back with ATI based GPUs, I am even considering swapping back to an AMD based rig.


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## n-ster (Feb 1, 2010)

bpgt64 said:


> I think cost per-performance all comes down to if you can get an i7 920 from a microcenter.  If you can, I'd get a i7 920.  They over clock well into the 4ghz+ with ease.  However that's not an option, I would go with the AMD solution.  Now that I am back with ATI based GPUs, I am even considering swapping back to an AMD based rig.



I kinda said that  but there are 2 Microcenters in TX so I'm guessing there is a good chance it will be available to him...


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## Binge (Feb 1, 2010)

That and there's no shortage of helpful people on TPU.


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## johnnyfiive (Feb 1, 2010)

i5 750.


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## Binge (Feb 1, 2010)

People here seem to think p55 is not attainable on the cheap.


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## Super XP (Feb 2, 2010)

Binge said:


> People here seem to think p55 is not attainable on the cheap.


For a good mobo, no they are not.


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## MKmods (Feb 2, 2010)

bud951 said:


> I am looking at just under $400 shipped from Newegg for this pair. Is there an Intel setup that compares for about the same price? Any recommendations on DDR3 RAM for either? Looking for CPU, MB and RAM. Any info is greatly appreciated.


I always love watching these threads ...

GO i7 its faster bla bla bla...

How about if the OP has a budget we try to stick to it...

Hey bud951 are you firm with under $400 or do you want to spend more?

I did i7/X58 for around $400 (I cheated and picked up a w3503 Intel Dual for $100 off eBay)  and 3 gigs of plain ol Corsair mem. That would leave you with the option of throwing in a 6 core when they show up..
(however I sold it and went with AM3 and am perfectly happy)


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## trt740 (Feb 2, 2010)

I just went back to AMD after building several Gigabyte am2 rigs for friends. I have found a good dual core AMD with 4 gb of ram and a fast sata drive is more than enough for anything, from games to daily use. We will see how I feel in a few weeks but if you ask Paul why he changed I bet it was truly just to change not because of performance. Heck my father inlaws AM2 6400+ powered a 295 gtx and maxed just about any game I threw at it. It is just these chips are fast and overkill, from core 2 duo, AMD AM2+ up the line. The machines are driven more by GPU in most cases.


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## n-ster (Feb 2, 2010)

MKmods said:


> I always love watching these threads ...
> 
> GO i7 its faster bla bla bla...
> 
> ...



if he can get to a Microcenter, 200+ tax for CPU and 175-190$ for the mobo makes it damn close to 400$

else an i5 750 is much cheaper


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## MKmods (Feb 2, 2010)

memory


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## phanbuey (Feb 2, 2010)

Super XP said:


> For a good mobo, no they are not.



I have i5 the ASUS p55 WS w/nf200 chip to spread for full x16 2.0 slots, and it was $50 more than a comparable 965 C3 build and still $100 cheaper than the cheapest i7 build...

Just built an i5 for a friend with a $109 Gigabyte p55 board that hit 4.2 with ease, had to back down to 4.0 since it was aircooled and we live in FL.

I would have to say that prices aren't that terrible for i5...


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## Super XP (Feb 2, 2010)

Well that's just my point, how good is the $109 Gigabyte P55 board? Does it lack features or something because the mid/high end boards costs more between $250 to $500+ here.

Well you go for the best price/performance whether it's AMD or Intel. So long as you can game.

Read this Quote:


> In most scenarios Core i5 and Phenom II X4 achieved the same performance level and in most cases when one particular CPU was faster than the other the performance difference was practically negligible.
> 
> The performance of Core i5-750, Phenom II X4 955 and Phenom II X4 965 was within the same level, showing us that at least for this game picking the right video card is more critical than picking the right CPU.
> 
> One very important discovery made during this review is that *if you have a high-end video card, the CPU has almost no influence in the system gaming performance.* *So if you are building a high-end gaming machine, maybe it is better to pick a cheaper processor and invest the price difference on a faster video card*.


http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/819/12


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## Fourstaff (Apr 10, 2010)

Actually, a 720BE is already good enough to play all new games with minimum problems. Sure, you might lose a frame or two over the i7, but its not significant enough to buy an i7 and lose out on a better graphics card. Personally, I can live on 2 cores (a 555BE or i3 530 is good enough) but then again, I don't demand eyecandy, and I am patient (I don't mind video encoding taking an hour or even a day longer). However, I noticed that many people demand only the best and the fastest (Paulie, I am looking at you), in which case the i7 is your friend. I would put my money on i7 for upgrading options, bur then again, by the time you want to upgrade the i7, its probably time to overhaul your rig anyway, so its rather pointless. I would go for bang for buck, most mid end processors are powerful enough to run most games at reasonable framerates when backed by powerful graphics cards, and they can do everything else a high end processor can do, just a slower.


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## n-ster (Apr 10, 2010)

this is an old thread.....


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## Kitkat (Apr 12, 2010)

phenom II


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