Phenom II vs Core i7

[Monkey_Business]

I heard that the Phenom II X4 965 at any clock speed, is only 1/3 as fast as the Core i7.

The Ci7 is so fast, it will shave Tens of seconds off of loading times in all games, as well as give a boost Tens of FPS compared to the Phenom II. The Ci7 is a bit pricey though....

Is it really worth it to pay a few more Hundred dollars for a Core i7 as opposed to a top-notch AMD computer?

 

[johnnyfiive]

This topic literally, has been beat to death. If your search you can find tons of threads relating to the same topic you made.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=113342&highlight=phenom+i7
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=104798&highlight=phenom+i7
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=104798&highlight=phenom+i7
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=91818&highlight=phenom+i7

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/9

thats a gpu limited senario

but all cpus from $190 - $1000 gave the same results\

and as posted above its been beaten like a dead horse

in a single gpu setup Phenom II Core2 CoreI7 they all provide the same basic performance

i7 wins in multi gpu senarios but usually core2duo/quad and phenom II also provide acceptable performance ie you wont notice the difference gaming unless you play with fraps on 24/7

http://hwt.dk/literaturedetails.aspx?LiteratureID=12792

pay attention to minimum frame rates

http://anandtech.com/show/2715/3

same applies pay attention minimum frame rate when possible stock clock phenom II 940 vs i7 920 minimum frame rate is usually similar etc avg and max are nice but the minimum frame rate is what matters as if it drops to low it gives that chugging hitching obviously not smooth feeling

 

[DonInKansas]

The best answer: it depends. But on beating the dead horse......

 

[Monkey_Business]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/9

thats a gpu limited senario

but all cpus from $190 - $1000 gave the same results\

and as posted above its been beaten like a dead horse

in a single gpu setup Phenom II Core2 CoreI7 they all provide the same basic performance

i7 wins in multi gpu senarios but usually core2duo/quad and phenom II also provide acceptable performance ie you wont notice the difference gaming unless you play with fraps on 24/7

http://hwt.dk/literaturedetails.aspx?LiteratureID=12792

pay attention to minimum frame rates

http://anandtech.com/show/2715/3

same applies pay attention minimum frame rate when possible stock clock phenom II 940 vs i7 920 minimum frame rate is usually similar etc avg and max are nice but the minimum frame rate is what matters as if it drops to low it gives that chugging hitching obviously not smooth feeling

What about load times?

 

[human_error]

What about load times?

Unless you have a RAID array with SSDs they won't vary by anything significant as the slowest part of loading games is due to hard drive speeds.

 

[Monkey_Business]

Unless you have a RAID array with SSDs they won't vary by anything significant as the slowest part of loading games is due to hard drive speeds.

How many SSD's is it physically and electronically possible to fit in RAID?

 

[human_error]

How many SSD's is it physically and electronically possible to fit in RAID?

As many as the RAID controller can handle - i can put 6 on my intel southbridge, but that would cost an absolute fortune and isn't the best raid solution there is. PCI-E RAID cards may be able to handle more, but to be honest 6 SSDs would cost an absolute fortune and you wouldn't ask what cpu to buy - you'd just get the $1000 6 core i7.

 

[Monkey_Business]

So the true gaming power of the Core i7 isn't noticeable unless you're using more than One GPU?

I would imagine that's because it is hard to bottleneck the Core i7.

 

[nt300]

GPUs don't get bottleneck anymore from CPUs. Either PII or i7 will do a great job for gaming. PII overall costs much cheaper. You can get PII, mobo and good ram for the price of one i7 CPU

 

[erocker]

Have you bothered to look at reviews? Google: "Phenom II vs. Core i7" and you will find hundreds of reviews.

 

[Yukikaze]

I heard that the Phenom II X4 965 at any clock speed, is only 1/3 as fast as the Core i7.

The Ci7 is so fast, it will shave Tens of seconds off of loading times in all games, as well as give a boost Tens of FPS compared to the Phenom II. The Ci7 is a bit pricey though....

Is it really worth it to pay a few more Hundred dollars for a Core i7 as opposed to a top-notch AMD computer?

First of all, in gaming, the difference isn't large between an AMD CPU and an i7 - After all, the GPU is far more important. Second, the price difference isn't a few hundred dollars, either.

 

[mdsx1950]

Phenom II X4s are pretty equal to i7s. Just that the i7 owns AMD in video encoding and other processor based work because of hyperthreading. You wont see a big difference in games. Maybe a few fps. But thats about it. But its never a bad thing to own an i7 Its worth every cent in my opinion.

 

[n-ster]

if you live near a Microcenter, then i7 is still a great way to go IMO, but if you don't live near one, and you don't live near fry's either, your best best is a Phenom II 955 (since you seem to not want to OC much / at all), and a not so expensive board and a 5850/5870, and 4gb of average to good cheapish RAM, another TX 750 (unless you are dumping/selling your old build and you can reuse yours)

 

[afw]

Off topic ...

You could have asked these questions (PHII Vs i7 and raid) on the previous thread that you created regarding a system build ... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=119289 ... :shadedshu

and BTW have you made your decision on the stuff you're gonna purchase ...

or are you going to keep on researching until the next gen stuff arrive and you'll start all over again .... .. just kidding ...

 

[Monkey_Business]

Off topic ...

You could have asked these questions (PHII Vs i7 and raid) on the previous thread that you created regarding a system build ... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=119289 ... :shadedshu

and BTW have you made your decision on the stuff you're gonna purchase ...

or are you going to keep on researching until the next gen stuff arrive and you'll start all over again .... .. just kidding ...

So the true gaming potential of a Core i7 isn't noticeable unless you're running more than a single GPU? I would imagine that's because it is very difficult to bottleneck the Core i7 with graphics cards.

 

[erocker]

So the true gaming potential of a Core i7 isn't noticeable unless you're running more than a single GPU? I would imagine that's because it is very difficult to bottleneck the Core i7 with graphics cards.

No. As far as plain ol' gaming with something like CrossFire, a more expensive (microcenter and fry's aside as not everyone lives by one) processor like an i7 is a waste. Look at dual cores.

 

[alexsubri]

AMD = More of budget, everyday user type and gaming rig - some cases beats Intel in gaming
Intel = More of multi tasker , better for encoding/producing videos/music, plays games similar to AMD

So if you have $1,000 buy the new intel or if your only purpose is to surf the web and play games like me, stick with AMD

Or

Wait till AMD releases their new one similar to intel sometime this year

 

[dark2099]

I remember in some comparison, a 965 did compete nicely with a i7 920, or beat it, as people have said. Here's my take on the whole situation after that review, dollar for dollar, AMD and Intel probably perform similarly, but as comparing performance, AMD top of the line can't match Intel. If your budget allows for either the AMD 965 (or what ever is top of the line AMD chip, don't follow closely myself) or an Intel 930 (I'd do that over the 920 for the extra multi, even if you don't OC, more is better), get the AMD, will be cheaper most likely, and probably give you same game results. If you go into benchmarking, you will see the difference there, but those aren't reflective of entire system performance.

 

[Monkey_Business]

I remember in some comparison, a 965 did compete nicely with a i7 920, or beat it, as people have said. Here's my take on the whole situation after that review, dollar for dollar, AMD and Intel probably perform similarly, but as comparing performance, AMD top of the line can't match Intel. If your budget allows for either the AMD 965 (or what ever is top of the line AMD chip, don't follow closely myself) or an Intel 930 (I'd do that over the 920 for the extra multi, even if you don't OC, more is better), get the AMD, will be cheaper most likely, and probably give you same game results. If you go into benchmarking, you will see the difference there, but those aren't reflective of entire system performance.

Would there be any performance increase while gaming with an AMD 965 or a Ci7 than with my current C2Q Q9400 @ 2.66 GHz? What about the DDR3 1600 MHz RAM from my 800 MHz DDR2? Would I notice any gaming boost from that, and the faster processors.

*Faster bootups
*Slightly faster load times
*More FPS

 

[Wile E]

Would there be any performance increase while gaming with an AMD 965 or a Ci7 than with my current C2Q Q9400 @ 2.66 GHz?

With that video card? No. Your current cpu is fine with a 5750. If you want more gaming power right now, you need a better video card, not a new cpu.

 

[Monkey_Business]

The enormous throughput most graphics cards put on a processor in crossfirex/SLI sometimes demands a super-clocked Core i7 to see the real potential of a multi-GPU setup.

I believe this is called a bottleneck.

 

[n-ster]

Nowadays, the processors are usually not the bottleneck... to bottleneck your CPU, you'd need a gtx 480 tri-SLI

 

[DonInKansas]

If you want more gaming power, upgrade your video card unless you're running a ridiculously low resolution. THOUSANDS of reviews online will tell you this. Don't be so damn hardheaded.

 

[n-ster]

and looking at your screen, you are not...

So if you want better gaming power, Get a 5850 or something, and Overclock your current cpu (with our help of course), and you will be mighty happy