Core i7 or AM3???

Exeodus · Mar 19, 2009

This may have been asked before, but I am looking to upgrade the computer listed in my System Specs. Mainly, upgrade the CPU\MOBO\RAM. The 4870X2 will stay, as well as the PS. That being said, would you go i7 or should I wait till April for the AM3 955?

I know that the core i7 will ultimately be faster in benchmarks and encoding, but my primary concern is gaming. I have been very impressed with how my Phenom II has performed in games, it goes toe-to-toe with my Q9550, and easily beat my Q6600 (R.I.P.).

Based on current prices, I would save about 100.00 going the AMD route.

What are your thoughts? All opinions will be appreciated.

niko084 · Mar 19, 2009

AM3 isn't much improvement over the AM2, as far as the DDR3 vs DDR2.

If you were going to go AMD, you may as well just grab a Q9650 and keep everything else.

Go I7 if you want a heavy upgrade.

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

Darknova · Mar 19, 2009

Unless you NEED DDR3, then screw the 955. Tbh, I wouldn't get one if I wanted DDR3. I'd grab a 945, the only difference is .2 Ghz, which you can get by overclocking anyway.

If you want the biggest and baddest, definitely i7. Otherwise Phenom II is a good choice IMO.

niko084 · Mar 19, 2009

TheMailMan78 said:
Amd.

Give one solid reason why...

The AMD barely competes with the Q9ks, the cost to swap over to an AMD rig would be very high compared to the cost of a Q9650 which will beat out any Phenom 2.

And for $100ish more he can have an easily 20%+ faster machine.

AMD stepped up to the plate well here, but they are still not in the game.

crtecha · Mar 19, 2009

hahah I knew mailmans response but I'm right there with em AMD Baby!!!!

PaulieG · Mar 19, 2009

Here is a combo deal for the i7 for $520:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=W1333UX4GM

btarunr · Mar 19, 2009

If you're buying new, go for Core i7.

h3llb3nd4 · Mar 19, 2009

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r9 · Mar 19, 2009

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

niko084 said:
Give one solid reason why...

Because you said i7.

Paulieg said:
Here is a combo deal for the i7 for $520:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=W1333UX4GM

I built my whole system for 400 bucks man. i7 are WAY to expensive. Plus he already has a Phenom 2. He doesnt need an upgrade. What game NEEDS an i7 to run? I mean COME ON!

h3llb3nd4 · Mar 19, 2009

what?!? only that?

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

h3llb3nd4 said:
what?!? only that?

That and my avy is cooler than everyones on this forum.

Exeodus · Mar 19, 2009

niko084 said:
Give one solid reason why...

The AMD barely competes with the Q9ks, the cost to swap over to an AMD rig would be very high compared to the cost of a Q9650 which will beat out any Phenom 2.

And for $100ish more he can have an easily 20%+ faster machine.

AMD stepped up to the plate well here, but they are still not in the game.

Believe it or not, my Phenom II 940 @ 3.6 runs games just as well if not better than my Q9550 @ 3.4.

Even though my E8500 is at 4 ghz, and probably has more in it, my other two quad machines just feel much smoother at gaming when the options are all turned up. And I figure if i'm going to upgrade it, I might as well go for a major upgrade considering it is my main rig that I will use the most.

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

Exeodus said:
Believe it or not, my Phenom II 940 @ 3.6 runs games just as well if not better than my Q9550 @ 3.4.

Even though my E8500 is at 4 ghz, and probably has more in it, my other two quad machines just feel much smoother at gaming when the options are all turned up. And I figure if i'm going to upgrade it, I might as well go for a major upgrade considering it is my main rig that I will use the most.

Of course it does man. Save your money for a flesh-light.

Exeodus · Mar 19, 2009

Darknova said:
Unless you NEED DDR3, then screw the 955. Tbh, I wouldn't get one if I wanted DDR3. I'd grab a 945, the only difference is .2 Ghz, which you can get by overclocking anyway.

If you want the biggest and baddest, definitely i7. Otherwise Phenom II is a good choice IMO.

Part of what intrigues me about the 955 is that it is supposed to run stock @ 3.2 ghz on only 1.25 volts. Should make overclocking quite interesting

PaulieG · Mar 19, 2009

TheMailMan78 said:
Because you said i7.

I built my whole system for 400 bucks man. i7 are WAY to expensive. Plus he already has a Phenom 2. He doesnt need an upgrade. What game NEEDS an i7 to run? I mean COME ON!

How long have you been building? It wasn't more than 4 years ago that an AMD 939 Athlon 4000+ cost $300. Sometimes we take for granted the fact that mainstream prices have come down relative to performance. This doesn't mean that i7 is overpriced. It is an enthusist platform, which you will always pay a bit more for.

niko084 · Mar 19, 2009

Exeodus said:
Believe it or not, my Phenom II 940 @ 3.6 runs games just as well if not better than my Q9550 @ 3.4.

Even though my E8500 is at 4 ghz, and probably has more in it, my other two quad machines just feel much smoother at gaming when the options are all turned up. And I figure if i'm going to upgrade it, I might as well go for a major upgrade considering it is my main rig that I will use the most.

I would believe that, but 4+ghz from a Q9650 is CAKE on air, and you don't need a new board...

niko084 · Mar 19, 2009

Paulieg said:
How long have you been building? It wasn't more than 4 years ago that an AMD 939 Athlon 4000+ cost $300. Sometimes we take the fact that mainstream prices have come down relative to performance. This doesn't mean that i7 is overpriced. It is an enthusist platform, which you will always pay a bit more for.

And stepping into reality it's still not really that expensive, price out a Q9650, good mobo to take it to 4.2+ and 4gb of ram.

It's not much cheaper than a i7 920, with a x58 board and ram that will take it to 4ghz and it will stomp all over that Q9650.

I myself have been beating my head back and forth about grabbing an i7, I simply cannot justify the upgrade to a q9550 even with a new board and ram, considering the little price difference to jump to an i7 in reality.

n-ster · Mar 19, 2009

NONE!!! DON'T UPGRADE! You won't see a difference between q9xxx PII PIII or i7... your gonna get a performance increase of 0% to be EXACT... your CPU isn't bottlenecking ANYTHING... neither is your gpu actually... WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO UPGRADE!?! let me tell you something, your e-peen maybe will be longer, but it's hidden by your e-pants anyways! How much FPS you get in average? 100? you don't need more... trust me!

Save up your money, put it in a bank account that gives you 5% or somthing... then buy some 2000$ monster in 2 years to satisfy that e-peen of yours

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

Paulieg said:
How long have you been building? It wasn't more than 4 years ago that an AMD 939 Athlon 4000+ cost $300. Sometimes we take the fact that mainstream prices have come down relative to performance. This doesn't mean that i7 is overpriced. It is an enthusist platform, which you will always pay a bit more for.

Good point. However I personally do not see the price justified over their previous generation CPU. Its fast. Just not enough for the price. Also AMDs Phenom 2 may not be near as fast but as a gaming machine (which is what he wants) an i7 is over kill.

Now if time is money (professional) then i7 all the way.

niko084 · Mar 19, 2009

n-ster said:
NONE!!! DON'T UPGRADE! You won't see a difference between q9xxx PII PIII or i7... your gonna get a performance increase of 0% to be EXACT... your CPU isn't bottlenecking ANYTHING... neither is your gpu actually... WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO UPGRADE!?! let me tell you something, your e-peen maybe will be longer, but it's hidden by your e-pants anyways! How much FPS you get in average? 100? you don't need more... trust me!

Maybe you should check back on FPS results in some games, Crysis, Farcry 2, SupCom, the I7 destroys the Q9ks!

PaulieG · Mar 19, 2009

TheMailMan78 said:
Good point. However I personally do not see the price justified over their previous generation CPU. Its fast. Just not enough for the price. Also AMDs Phenom 2 may not be near as fast but as a gaming machine (which is what he wants) an i7 is over kill.

Now if time is money (professional) then i7 all the way.

For me, my hobby is testing and benching, so I'm always wanting the fastest stuff to play with. However, I did own 3 Phenom II chips, and certainly found them to be on par with my Q9550. So yeah, for his needs, the PII is plenty.

TheMailMan78 · Mar 19, 2009

Paulieg said:
For me, my hobby is testing and benching, so I'm always wanting the fastest stuff to play with. However, I did own 3 Phenom II chips, and certainly found them to be on par with my Q9550. So yeah, for his needs, the PII is plenty.

Of course. If you have to have the ABSOLUTE fastest out there then yeah i7. My point was as a "gaming" processor the i7 is "overpriced". I say that because there isn't a game out there that will use everything it has to offer. Why pay that kind of money for no notable difference in games. I guess I should have clarified. :toast:

Edit: Exeodus we have the same PSU & case.

h3llb3nd4 · Mar 19, 2009

n-ster said:
NONE!!! DON'T UPGRADE! You won't see a difference between q9xxx PII PIII or i7... your gonna get a performance increase of 0% to be EXACT... your CPU isn't bottlenecking ANYTHING... neither is your gpu actually... WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO UPGRADE!?! let me tell you something, your e-peen maybe will be longer, but it's hidden by your e-pants anyways! How much FPS you get in average? 100? you don't need more... trust me!

Save up your money, put it in a bank account that gives you 5% or somthing... then buy some 2000$ monster in 2 years to satisfy that e-peen of yours

LOL, I like the saving part... nothing else

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Core i7 or AM3???

Exeodus

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Darknova

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h3llb3nd4

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r9

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