Help me decide - i5 760 vs x4 970 builds

[Valenciente]

Greetings!

Here's another build thread by me.. I've had a couple, but due to some real life stuff I've never gotten anywhere with my plans.

However about an hour ago the motherboard of my current rig got fried, sparks and everything.
Therefore I NEED to get some other hardware (not that I mind, but I don't really have the budget for it at the moment).
My initial plans was to put down this rig when the next line of CPU's get released sometime in 2011, but I'll have to dish out now.
Anyhow, seeing as my lga755 motherboard is dead, I'd rather get something new and shiny than invest in another "old" board.

So, I've been looking at both a i5 build and a Phenom II x4 build, with the following specs and prices, and would like some advice on what to get and maybe some suggestions, though I can't really go with a higher total price:

i5:
Intel Core™ i5 Quad Processor i5-760 @ £175.14
ASUS P7P55D @ £101.81
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz 4GB CL8 @ £81.89
Total @ £358.84

PII:
AMD Phenom II x4 970 Black Edition @ £157.57
Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H @ £111.18
Crucial DDR3 BallistiX 1333MHz 4GB CL7 @ £87.86
Total @ £356.61

3rd option:
*insert random lga775 here* @ ~£50-120
Wait for new CPU's in 2011 @ boring..?

I have no clue at all about the i5, so I've basically just tried to find some reviews and stuff to evaluate the stuff. I'm also all new on DDR3, so I might not have picked the right stuff.

Thanks for your time

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

i5 is faster overall but you can get away with a 965 for cheaper and will hit the same OC for the price of the 970 id just go 1055T instead but eitherway the intel chip would probably serve you a bit better

 

[n-ster]

how much is a 1035/1055t over there?

 

[cyriene]

If budget is a concern I'd just get a decent cheap S775 board for now anyway. Yeah, it is "old" but with new sockets and chips coming from Intel soon, S1156 will soon be old as well.

 

[Valenciente]

how much is a 1035/1055t over there?

The 1055t costs about £175.14
And I don't even think the 1035 is available here

If budget is a concern I'd just get a decent cheap S775 board for now anyway. Yeah, it is "old" but with new sockets and chips coming from Intel soon, S1156 will soon be old as well.

I've had a bit of a rough time with some bills these last few months, but my budget should be much more flexible around 2011.
I should be able to dust up the ~£350 for these parts; I can always resell them later.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

if u can spend more then grab a cheap 775 board and if all your other parts still work just fine go that route. Take it from me dont go piece meal either do what u need to get by now or bust out the wallet and do a proper upgrade.

 

[Valenciente]

if u can spend more then grab a cheap 775 board and if all your other parts still work just fine go that route. Take it from me dont go piece meal either do what u need to get by now or bust out the wallet and do a proper upgrade.

The problem is that I actually have no clue if my Q6600 still works or not. The mobo did die kinda roughly.. Sparks, smoke, burned tech smell. Heck, as long as my HD 5850 survived, the rest can go die in a fire xD
I'd love to go all out and get a 1090t or i7, but as mentioned, I've had a rough time lately

 

[n-ster]

1055t is your best bet... get the 81.89 RAM and you can probably find a cheaper mobo than that

 

[Valenciente]

Thanks for the advice guys; I've read up a bit on the 1055t, it seems people prefer it over the i5, so I'll probably go with that, the Corsair XMS3 ram and some motherboard. I think I might just get together the last bit of money and stick with the Gigabyte one. It's got some really great reviews.

Going with AMD should also let me upgrade easier in the future, even with the new AM3+ socket.

Edit: According to my hardware site, those exact Corsair XMS3 ram doesn't fit in the Gigabyte motherboard, so I'll probably have to look at some other ones.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

look for some low latency 1600mhz ram dosent need to be super awesome AMD chips like low latency not insane speeds.

that said 1600mhz gives you room for overclocking which is a good thing no matter the platform and future AM3+ socket your 1055T will be able to drop in and work granted AM3+ chips will not function in AM3 socket eitherway your ram and cpu can be carried over untill bulldozer chips drop in price. so you still have a upgrade path of sorts

 

[Valenciente]

no matter the platform and future AM3+ socket your 1055T will be able to drop in and work granted AM3+ chips will not function in AM3 socket eitherway your ram and cpu can be carried over untill bulldozer chips drop in price. so you still have a upgrade path of sorts

Exactly what I was thinking as well

 

[phanbuey]

dude people prefer it HERE because its an AMD heavy forum. I would do some searches for benchmarks and research and decide for yourself. If you're gaming on it, and OC'd i5 is substantially faster than a 1055T and uses a hell of alot less power.

as far as upgrading and bulldozer, that would really be the main reason to go 1055T. Kind of excited to see what that platform can deliver.

 

[Valenciente]

I didn't look here at all, I just randomly searched google.
I do much more computer related work than actual gaming so I think the 1055t would be nice.

And I'm also really looking forward to the Bullldozer

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

which is why in my first post i said an Intel chip would probably better fit his needs then again most ppl dont change parts every 5-6 months either and prefer to have a less of a wallet hit at upgrade time eitherway it dosent matter a 965 /970 1055t w.e or i5 75-/760 will all be a step up from his Q6600 which may or may not be fried if everything but the board was dead id say stick with the socket 775 and wait for sandybridge and bulldozer simply because everything out right now is about to become EOL in the matter of a few months as the transition to the new sockets begins

 

[Valenciente]

I haven't changed my build at all since I bought it some 3 years ago, apart from the HD 5850.
Would be nice to get some new hardware =P

On another note, I've looked at the Gigabyte card, and it states the following:
"Support for DDR3 2000(OC)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules"
on the manufacturer's website.

Now this might be a somewhat silly question, but should I then presume it doesn't support 1600MHz modules?

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

it supports them all fact is i7 1336 only officially supports 1066mhz DDR3 and AMD supports 1333mhz as its main DDR3 speed but u can run them all its a matter of overclocking / setting the right divider to get proper speeds and timings

 

[francis511]

Wait for sandy bridge. Those chips sound SWEET ! But if you can`t then get the i5 760 and this mobo http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1068206&source=froogle. £10 more for a much better motherboard.

 

[Valenciente]

Wait for sandy bridge. Those chips sound SWEET ! But if you can`t then get the i5 760 and this mobo http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1068206&source=froogle. £10 more for a much better motherboard.

I'm rather leaning towards the AMD, especially for the easier upgrades in the future; but thanks