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Dilemma: Core i7 920 or Phenom II 955

What would you guys get ?


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don't up the ram budget... 110$ will get you awsome RAM... btw, when you OC the i7, it is NOT related to RAM AT ALL... and vice versa... btw, after 1600mhz cl7, RAM performance gains after that are basically almost 0.... so choose between the 2 RAMs I linked you and you'll have NO PROBLEM.... the crucials are a great deal... and if your not scared of OCing RAM, it is the perfect choice... if you don't want to OC, those OCZ will do you good...

Alright. Those OCZs look good.

I think I am all set, thanks everyone and especially n-ster. First I need to finish the case and migrate my Q9650. Then when the DDR3 gets here, I'll start crackin' on the new build. Prices are bound to drop a bit here over the next couple of weeks, too.

What about some kit to fit my ultra 120 onto the LGA1336 ? Anyone knows about something of the sort ?
 
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I'll look into your CPU fan later.. (gtg) but no problem for the help ;) i7 is what I'm all about, even though I can't afford it xD

Yes I think I already saw a lga1366 backplate btw... I think that now they come with it....
 

DaMulta

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Be smart and buy intel ;) well at least in this situation...

I look over at the 3dmark boards and see Cheap 955 CPU out running Intels 1 thousand dollar CPU.

Looks to me AMD with overclock = WIN

BTW I'll have a QX9650 new in a box for sale next week for 450.....I see you have a Q9650
 

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Okay. Here's the situation.

I am building myself a second gaming rig to sit at my parent's place and in general re-organizing my computer hardware. Currently I have:

Rig 1:
Q9650
DFI LP JR P45 TR2S
6Gb DDR2

HTPC:
Q6700
Abit I-N73HD
3Gb DDR2

My latest project is modding a small case. I wanted to put the DFI LP JR 790GX in there and get the Phenom II X4 940 for that rig. The small case was supposed to run my 9600GT with a 8600GT thrown in for physics. My parents are flying over to the states in a few days, and I asked them to bring me 8Gb of G.Skill Pi 1100Mhz.

I sold a huge bunch of stuff, and suddenly I have plenty of money I wanted to spend on the other rig and this got me thinking: Why not put my Q9650 in the secondary rig with the mATX board, and get a full ATX mobo and CPU for my main rig instead ? The price difference is minor, but that way I don't limit myself to PCI-E 2.0 x8 slots on both my systems and I make the leap to DDR3.

The dilemma is between 3x2Gb of DDR3 and the Core i7 920, or 4x2Gb DDR3 and the Phenom II X4 955.

What do you guys say ?

dude. The i7. NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER...especially if you oc :toast:
 

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already, the PII 955 is a better choice than the 940... But i7 for sure...

Now the question is WHAT parts... I would go DFI DK x58 (220+ship = 230$), i7 920 (230$+tax from microcenter) and 3x2gb of cheap ddr3 1600mhz cas 7 OCZ RAM (about 80$... max 100$)

That should be about 550$! As gor GPU, wait for DX11 cards to come out in Q4 2009

MATX boards have terrible heat sinks... personally I'd go with the entry gigabyte board. Rock solid and supports SLI/Crossfire and the board will run more cool. I hate OCZ btw... I wouldn't suggest them. Go for the 1066 CAS 7 Crucials.
 
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MATX boards have terrible heat sinks... personally I'd go with the entry gigabyte board. Rock solid and supports SLI/Crossfire and the board will run more cool. I hate OCZ btw... I wouldn't suggest them. Go for the 1066 CAS 7 Crucials.

Seriously? you find that your board runs too hot? but doesn't the DFI DK let you OC with lower voltages, a big advantage no? He's looking for a 4ghz OC too, so I would still suggest the DFI DK... in my mind, the 2nd best would be Gigs ud4p :) But you don't like your DFI? At one point EVERYONE was praising them like there'S no tomorow lol...

Yea I know you hate OCZ... but you gotta admit at at ddr3 1600 cl7, if it runs fine on stock, your good to go!

but I'm looking forward to your comments on DFI DK/UT vs UD3/UD4p/ud5...
 
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MATX boards have terrible heat sinks... personally I'd go with the entry gigabyte board. Rock solid and supports SLI/Crossfire and the board will run more cool. I hate OCZ btw... I wouldn't suggest them. Go for the 1066 CAS 7 Crucials.

We weren't discussing an mATX board for the Core i7 build though. The DFI DK X58-T3eH6 is a full sized board, not an mATX one. The JR X58-T3H6 is mATX.

I'd rather get RAM that is faster at stock, and I have a pair of OCZ Platinum Low Latency DDR1 in my P4 still going strong (and still doing 2.85v CL2-2-2-5 at DDR-390Mhz). Even the OCZ Value sticks I've had overclocked like crazy (I ran OCZ Value DDR2 800Mhz at 1110 with CL6-6-6-18 and 1.85v). Never had any problems with OCZ, so I am going to get those, unless there is a problem with the specific tri-channel kit that was mentioned.

What about the Asus P6T or the Foxconn X58 Renaissance?

Heck, screw it, if a P6T Deluxe, or the X58 Extreme by GB would be better bets, let me know. This won't break the piggybank, either.

Edit: The Foxconn X58 Bloodrage is highly praised by the Ninjalane review. It is priced competitively here, considering that it comes with a Creative Sonar X-Fi and seems to overclock very well.

Bah. Market research in a new tech zone, gonna take a while to make a decision...
 
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1Kurgan1

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i7 no contest.

IS there any thought behind this? The i7 for sure is a synthetic monster, but gaming performance the PII's are sweeping the feet out under the i7's, even the lower PII's.... He didn't really say a benching rig.

Just qouting you, I did read the rest, but no point in quoting basically the same answers.
 

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Gaming Performance and Price would tell me the Phenom 2 Rig will suffice for sometime.
 
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in multi-GPU, PII doesn't "sweep the feet out of" the i7 at all.... if anything, it'll be the opposite... and in single GPU, i7 equals PII pretty much...

I tell you... DFI DK OCs VERY well for the price.... if there are boards similar in price or lower, but look better or something, and you like that, then you can get it... but sseriously, here at TPU, the DFI DK is looked as godly... kinda like those crucials too... because they yielded the best OCs for us... but there are some others that are good, so just name the model and we can inform you ;)
 

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When you have a PII 920 (yes with a single GPU) beating a i7 965 in Crysis I would calll that sweeping feet, thats over $800 difference in price right there.

The big advantage to the i7 is the HT, and that isn't applied in gaming, so imo just not worth it. I mean it's a great setup, but if it's just going to be for gaming, both will be great choices, but the PII will get it done and done well for a bit less.
 
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Please don't flame me for this :eek:

I've run my scythe infinity on my Q9450 and my 720BE with 4th core unlocked, both at 3.6Ghz, and the Heatsink felt considerably warmer to the touch with the Q9450. With the 720BE it felt almost cold. Keep in mind I was running fully passive on both so with a fan it could be moot.

I know that is about as unscientific as it gets, but I trust thermal sensors so little it is possibly more accurate making a comparison by touch than what numbers the different CPU's/mobos report.

I've heard a good amount of folks that I consider to be unbiased say the PII's are cool running chips, but that doesn't necessarily imply the 45nm C2Q's are hot running.

it is widely known that i7 runs very hot. Those with an i7 setup have reportedly done away with their central heat.
 
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it is widely known that i7 runs very hot. Those with an i7 setup have reportedly done away with their central heat.

and stove/BBQ

:roll::roll:
 
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I tend to run multi-GPU setups (previous one was 8800GT SLI, now the HD4870X2) and this is another reason I prefer the X58 based system - It allows for both CFX and SLI if one is more appealing than the other at the moment.

The DFI DK is pretty much decided for me as the motherboard.
 
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When you have a PII 920 (yes with a single GPU) beating a i7 965 in Crysis I would calll that sweeping feet, thats over $800 difference in price right there.

The big advantage to the i7 is the HT, and that isn't applied in gaming, so imo just not worth it. I mean it's a great setup, but if it's just going to be for gaming, both will be great choices, but the PII will get it done and done well for a bit less.

if you would test them OCed... a i7 920 would be VERY close to a PII 955 ... in single GPUs... i7 940 or 965 SUCK... 920 owns (price/performance wise)... a 4 to 4.2 ghz OC on air on i7 is very common... as for heat, i7 is DESIGNED to take heat... you can run them at 80 to 90 centigrate no problem... in multi-GPU, especially 3+, i7 920 KILLS PII...
 
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IS there any thought behind this? The i7 for sure is a synthetic monster, but gaming performance the PII's are sweeping the feet out under the i7's, even the lower PII's.... He didn't really say a benching rig.

Just qouting you, I did read the rest, but no point in quoting basically the same answers.

of course there is... the Phenom II 955 won't last as long as the core i7 will... and show me one review where the Phenom II "sweeps the feet out under" the i7. That's a lie. The only instance of that is a crossfire review by annandtech and that had more to do with the 790FX being a better Xfire chipset - and only in two games out of many. In single-gpu and in CPU bound instances, the phenom loses.

Once the next gen cards come out, you will see the phenom start to fall behind the i7, especially in multi GPU configs. The only reason that the phenom II keeps up is that it has enough juice to run everything you need today. The i7 on the other hand, has enough juice to keep up for some time to come. If you can get the fastest tech right now, for not all that much more, then why not do it?
 
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phanbuey... in your 1st paragraph, you mean that in multi-gpu phenom loses no? anyhow... what I want to make as a point is that the reviews have a PII 955 at 3.2ghz vs a i7 920 at 2.66... i7 OCs much better than PII... but they could at least test this in 4ghz each... in that case i7 wins hands down... If he wouldn't OC, then its a different story
 

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if you would test them OCed... a i7 920 would be VERY close to a PII 955 ... in single GPUs... i7 940 or 965 SUCK... 920 owns (price/performance wise)... a 4 to 4.2 ghz OC on air on i7 is very common... as for heat, i7 is DESIGNED to take heat... you can run them at 80 to 90 centigrate no problem... in multi-GPU, especially 3+, i7 920 KILLS PII...

I'm sure it would be very close, both are awesome processors. Really for gaming the performance difference is going to be neglible is what I'm trying to say.

and show me one review where the Phenom II "sweeps the feet out under" the i7. That's a lie.



There you go, even PII 720 > i7 lineup. And look at that Q9550S kicking it!
 
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Okay. Here's the situation.

I am building myself a second gaming rig to sit at my parent's place and in general re-organizing my computer hardware. Currently I have:

Rig 1:
Q9650
DFI LP JR P45 TR2S
6Gb DDR2

HTPC:
Q6700
Abit I-N73HD
3Gb DDR2

My latest project is modding a small case. I wanted to put the DFI LP JR 790GX in there and get the Phenom II X4 940 for that rig. The small case was supposed to run my 9600GT with a 8600GT thrown in for physics. My parents are flying over to the states in a few days, and I asked them to bring me 8Gb of G.Skill Pi 1100Mhz.

I sold a huge bunch of stuff, and suddenly I have plenty of money I wanted to spend on the other rig and this got me thinking: Why not put my Q9650 in the secondary rig with the mATX board, and get a full ATX mobo and CPU for my main rig instead ? The price difference is minor, but that way I don't limit myself to PCI-E 2.0 x8 slots on both my systems and I make the leap to DDR3.

The dilemma is between 3x2Gb of DDR3 and the Core i7 920, or 4x2Gb DDR3 and the Phenom II X4 955.

What do you guys say ?

To answer the question if you have the money a I7 rig will be faster but run a bit hotter. If you want to build it cheaper, have it run cooler and have extra money for a better GPU go PII.
 
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I'm sure it would be very close, both are awesome processors. Really for gaming the performance difference is going to be neglible is what I'm trying to say.



http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/R/206379/original/image031.png

There you go, even PII 720 > i7 lineup. And look at that Q9550S kicking it!

:twitch: well... alright then. The Q9550 beating it makes me a little suspicious tho, I gotta say...

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i7-multigpu-sli-crossfire-game-performance-review/19

"Far Cry 2 is not different. As you can see FC2 is very CPU limited on both the E8400 Dual Core processor yet also on the snazzy QX9770 based platform. But again a massive win on Core i7."
 
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Well, your forgetting one thing...

GPUs are only JUST now starting to benefit from Quad cores, and even then its marginal. Go look at say, Tomshardware.com or any other benching site and you'll see how little difference is really made by quad cores, and the new i7 architecture, with reference to games in the 1680x1050 category. My E8400 at 4.0ghz plus a HD 4870 X2 destroys every game I throw at it, with max settings and 1680x1050. That includes; TF2, Far Cry 2, Crisis(original, warhead, and wars), and many many more. CPU doesn't matter nearly as much as GPU and it seems you have that covered. So I'd do which ever was cheaper.

The prior paragraph is based on the idea that your talking about gaming. So I am assuming that your using a standard LCD moniter with no higher than 60 hz, so any benchmarks that show games with 160fps, are stupid. Applications wise the i7 does a good job of kicking the AMD in the nuts however. Unless you REALLY wanna blow the cash, go with which ever is cheaper.
 
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I'm sure it would be very close, both are awesome processors. Really for gaming the performance difference is going to be neglible is what I'm trying to say.



http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/R/206379/original/image031.png

There you go, even PII 720 > i7 lineup. And look at that Q9550S kicking it!


Who in their good mind would run an i7 at 2.66?

Do you agree that i7 OCs to 4ghz easy? so does the PII 940? 4ghz is an average OC for both right?

GUESS WHO WOULD KILL THE OTHER??? i7 :D

PII 955 sucks (for the price I mean) so do i7 940 and i7 965

IMO, you can't go wrong with PII 940BE or 720BE :)
 
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support the under dog, you save over ~$100 you can use on a SSD, bigger harddrive or faster graphics card like 4870 X2 ;)
it all depends what you are gonna us it for to, if your a gamer then just get the Phenom II, its even faster than i7 in games at high detail/AF/AA and resolution
 
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support the under dog, you save over ~$100 you can use on a SSD, bigger harddrive or faster graphics card like 4870 X2 ;)
it all depends what you are gonna us it for to, if your a gamer then just get the Phenom II, its even faster than i7 in games at high detail/AF/AA and resolution

Well, the decision to go i7 already fell for me and the thread was already half-derailed into "This ! That !".

In an attempt to bring it a bit back to the track, here's the rationalization behind going with the Core i7:

Support the underdog is hardly an incentive to buy, at least for me. Besides, my paycheck is paid by the guys who make the i7 :D

For real though: I am a gamer and a tinker/bencher both, and I already have the HD4870X2 which will be used in that rig (My Q9650 gets the 9600GT and the 8600GT for PhysX). I cannot buy a SSD for 100$ here (not even for 200$, actually) and I run RAID0 setups which are more attractive in perf * size / price ratio. Finally, CPU-wise the Core i7 costs approx. as much as the Phenom II 955 (Again, over here), with the 50$ difference between the DFI board and a good AM3 board over here being a moot point since the X58 allows me to run SLI or CFX, while on the AM3 platform only CFX is an option (And I am no GPU fanboy, I want to be able to buy whatever is best at the moment, and always have the option to expand to a multi-GPU setup by the same manufacturer down the road).

Finally, as to why not buy the 940BE - That was the original plan, but I'd rather buy a system with RAM which will be reused in the future, so DDR2 is out.
 
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