I agree AMD is definitely better bang for buck at the budget end but I don't agree about the mid range which is your typical gamers price point.
For example an i5 750 is about $20-30 more than a Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition at the moment but the i5 750 out peforms the X4 965 in all reviews I've seen, so if you look at price/performance they are on par.
The AMD Phenom X6 has been released! Benchmarks are starting to show up, early reports seem to place it between the i7 930 and the i7 980x processors in terms of performance which is very promising!
Im almost sold on AMD now, the fact that they dont change sockets all the time is a huge selling point for me.
socket 1156 offers some great processors but its limited in PCI-e bandwidth and future CPU upgrades so is not very future proof IMO.
At least if i got a 790FX or 890FX AM3 Motherboard , i would at least get a few more compatible CPU upgrades and will have heaps of PCIe bandwidth for future high end graphics cards.
Ill be waiting a little longer for more X6 reviews(and to save more money!) to see if i should go with the X6 or the X4. Benchmarks show the X6 and X4 have basically the same performance in gaming, but what happens in the future when more games/applications actually start making use of more cores? ..i spose by that time the X6 will be cheaper anyway.
Im almost sold on AMD now, the fact that they dont change sockets all the time is a huge selling point for me.
I agree, is a big point for me too. I got a fairly low/mid range AM3 socket processor. And I feel quite safe in the knowledge that in a couple of years when I feel like upgrading their will still be AM3 socket processors being sold, which are much cheaper and more powerful than my current one.
Intel's socket changes have been a bit to frequent for my liking also BUT....
Do you actually buy a system then 2-3 years later upgrade only the cpu?
I find it pretty much always works out better to upgrade from a well balanced (cpu, motherboard, video card) combo to another well balanced (cpu, motherboard, video card) combo after 2-3 years.
There will have been advances in USB, SATA, PCI-E that are worth getting or those interfaces will have been replaced with something faster.
Ragnor:. Do you actually buy a system then 2-3 years later upgrade only the cpu?
.
well iv never built my own PC or upgraded a CPU so no i dont. BUT, the way things are going, it seems to be the CPU and GPU's that are making all the difference/advances in gaming and there is room to upgrade both of these on the AMD platform. The only thing i see that Intel really has over AMD(for an equal sum of money, or slighty less if AMD) now is the triple channel memory on X58 but from what iv read that only makes a couple FPS difference if that.
In saying that - if the AMD setup/socket/mobard wasent up to the task in 2-3 years i could look at upgrading the whole system - as i would have to do anyway with the intel setup.
Sorry im starting to sound like some kind of AMD fan, i havent owned one yet
Hi all, its been along time since i posted any progress re my build. Iv slowly been gaining parts as my megar wages allow...but im almost there!
My progress is as follows, i now have:
i7 930 CPU Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mboard. RAM <----still need
2 Asus 4870 graphics cards to run in crossfire. Asus 24x dvd writer Samsung F3 1TB HDD Silverstone Decathlon DA850 w PSU Lian Li/Lancool PC-K62 Dragonlord case
I plan on getting RAM this week, and CPU cooler and two HDDS to run in RAID0 at a later date.
So thats my progress...but i have a question regarding the RAM. In my mboard manuel it states it supports 800/1066/1333/2200MHz DDR3 ram and also intel XMP. (xtreme memory profiles)
This is where things get confusing, can i only use RAM rated at the above speeds? I see many modules rated at 1600MHz etc. For example im considering (if its compatible) Kingston 6GB 1600MHz C8 DDR3 HyperX Non-ECC CL8 (8-8-8-24) DIMM (Kit of 3) Intel XMP
So the above memory is rated at 1600Mhz (a value not listed in my manuel) but supports intel XMP. So simply - would this be compatible? and if so is it even needed? I only plan on a mild overclock at this stage, proberbly 3.4 - 3.6ghz.
The other options i am considering is the corsairXMS TR3X6G1333C9 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v kit or the Kingston ValueRam 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM which is believe is rated the same 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v and slightly cheaper. **note both of these 1333MHz memory models are actually listed as being compatible on the Gigabyte website + the manufacturers website.
so yea...what do you guys think about the ram choices i listed? - or any other reccomendations/info would be awesome.
powerforce: Hi all, its been along time since i posted any progress re my build. Iv slowly been gaining parts as my megar wages allow...but im almost there!
My progress is as follows, i now have:
i7 930 CPU Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mboard. RAM <----still need
2 Asus 4870 graphics cards to run in crossfire. Asus 24x dvd writer Samsung F3 1TB HDD Silverstone Decathlon DA850 w PSU Lian Li/Lancool PC-K62 Dragonlord case
I plan on getting RAM this week, and CPU cooler and two HDDS to run in RAID0 at a later date.
So thats my progress...but i have a question regarding the RAM. In my mboard manuel it states it supports 800/1066/1333/2200MHz DDR3 ram and also intel XMP. (xtreme memory profiles)
This is where things get confusing, can i only use RAM rated at the above speeds? I see many modules rated at 1600MHz etc. For example im considering (if its compatible) Kingston 6GB 1600MHz C8 DDR3 HyperX Non-ECC CL8 (8-8-8-24) DIMM (Kit of 3) Intel XMP
So the above memory is rated at 1600Mhz (a value not listed in my manuel) but supports intel XMP. So simply - would this be compatible? and if so is it even needed? I only plan on a mild overclock at this stage, proberbly 3.4 - 3.6ghz.
The other options i am considering is the corsairXMS TR3X6G1333C9 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v kit or the Kingston ValueRam 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM which is believe is rated the same 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v and slightly cheaper. **note both of these 1333MHz memory models are actually listed as being compatible on the Gigabyte website + the manufacturers website.
so yea...what do you guys think about the ram choices i listed? - or any other reccomendations/info would be awesome.
Hey dude, just come across your post.
I am planning to build a very similar rig to the one you have built (using the ud7 instead)
From what I have read else where you are best to get the RAM that is listed as being compatible on the gigabyte website, other guys have had issues with the system not starting with different RAM.
How does the rig perform? I am guessing that you are either finished or almost finished now.
Hi Jaymz, ended up getting the kingston value ram as it was listed as compatible. the comp started first press of the button. No problems at all. Im currently running @ 3.5ghz, turbo on, undervolted to 1.175vcore on the stock cooler! (iv got a megahalems on the way though, should have it tomorrow) Prime95 max load temp is about 72 C @ 3.5Ghz, stock cooler, hyperthreading on. Not at home to give exact numbers but im currently getting around 11.3secs in 1M SuperPi, 70fps in cinebench GPU test, and 6.5 processor score on cinebench CPU test. I can post some benchmarks later on if your interested?
Hi If only I had seen this post sooner. I have recently built a system with same motherboard and CPU but the RAM i used was G.SKILL Ripjaws 6GB Tri-Channel kit (2GB x 3) DDR3-2000 CL9-9-9-27. It worked great, it didnt have a good graphics card in it though so dont know what its like for games but in guessing its good if you haven't selected your RAM yet jaymz you could consider the RAM listed above
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