Hi everybody, just looking for some decent input on a new rig im planning on building soon. I had my heart set on building an i7 rig for the past few months. Did tons of research and decided on an i7 930 and an Asus Rampage III Formula or Sabertooth,(other parts can be chosen later just looking for the main 2 components. CPU/MB). But now Ive decided to take a look at what AMD has to offer. I know AMD is great for budget rigs and Bang for Buck builds. Ive researched and knocked the mobo down to the Asus Crosshair IV Formula and a PII 965 BE for the board and CPU. I want this to be a High Grade Rig! But looking at the specs of the boards, the Crosshair has 6 6 gig Sata ports to the Rampages 2 6 gig Sata ports. I would Like some educated input on this subject with what one you would choose and why by the specs of the components and experience. Thanks guys, and looking forward to hearing from you.
AMD or Intel???
- Thread starter glitch666
- Start date
Sabertooth and a 950 with some Mushkin 998826 ram would be where my money would get spent. Add to that a Noctua NH-D14 and youve got a fast 4GHZ capable system with plenty of upgrade options further down the line.
alienware
Banned
The 965 BE is an absolute waste of money mate. It gets trounced by the I5 750 and doesn't even set foot in I7 territory.
I wish people all knew and understood this but the Phenom 2 X4 is about on par with a 45nm Intel Core 2 Quad. That's it, honestly there's nothing more to say.
The clock speeds sound impressive (and aren't bad) but they're so so chips that cost more than they're worth. When the 965 released it was the same money as the I5 750 and the I5 just absolutely tore it apart. So, once again it was only really a good idea for people who already owned a board and ram.
When I got my 940 there was only really the I7 920 or Core 2 Quad. And, at that time a Q6600 (which was 65nm old hat by then) was the same price. I decided to go for the AMD setup (already had the ram) because it worked out £60 more expensive than a Q6600 and the Q6600 was the last upgrade I could have put in the board I had (680i didn't support 45nm quads).
There are certain situations where I will strongly recommend AMD but this isn't one of them. To build a brand new system now with an AMD at the center is quite frankly mad. The 1090T and CHIV make for a fearsome combination but you're pretty much at the end of the road just as you start. I could recommend the 1090T/CHIV but only to people who would not be interested in ever upgrading it in the future and will ride it til it's done.
I wish people all knew and understood this but the Phenom 2 X4 is about on par with a 45nm Intel Core 2 Quad. That's it, honestly there's nothing more to say.
The clock speeds sound impressive (and aren't bad) but they're so so chips that cost more than they're worth. When the 965 released it was the same money as the I5 750 and the I5 just absolutely tore it apart. So, once again it was only really a good idea for people who already owned a board and ram.
When I got my 940 there was only really the I7 920 or Core 2 Quad. And, at that time a Q6600 (which was 65nm old hat by then) was the same price. I decided to go for the AMD setup (already had the ram) because it worked out £60 more expensive than a Q6600 and the Q6600 was the last upgrade I could have put in the board I had (680i didn't support 45nm quads).
There are certain situations where I will strongly recommend AMD but this isn't one of them. To build a brand new system now with an AMD at the center is quite frankly mad. The 1090T and CHIV make for a fearsome combination but you're pretty much at the end of the road just as you start. I could recommend the 1090T/CHIV but only to people who would not be interested in ever upgrading it in the future and will ride it til it's done.
Nice, thanks for that bit of info, I was just wondering, whats your thoughts on having more 6 gig sata ports on a 890fx board then x58. That was really my only concern because I already know the x58 is better(sli and crossfire native and many other features.). But your right if im gonna build a bullet proof/power house rig I should base it off the i7. Also your right the am3 sockets is pretty much on its last legs with am3+ coming out.
alienware
Banned
SATA 3 at the moment isn't much better than SATA 2. It's marginally better as with most new tech. Don't base your decisions on a board on that (just my opinion of course).
This will probably improve in time but for right now it's not something I find terribly exciting.
And yes, AM3 is indeed on its last legs. When I got my 940 a year ago AMD promised to support the socket until 2011. So far they have been good on their word but I haven't seen any reason to upgrade tbh. I feel now that money would be far better spent on 1156.
This will probably improve in time but for right now it's not something I find terribly exciting.
And yes, AM3 is indeed on its last legs. When I got my 940 a year ago AMD promised to support the socket until 2011. So far they have been good on their word but I haven't seen any reason to upgrade tbh. I feel now that money would be far better spent on 1156.
Thanks for your wise words, I take stuff into account, but im definitively going Intel with this build. Thanks and Ill be keeping a thread on the build im going to do soon with a list of the other components.
I know the 950's are cheaper than ever, but if you're only going for 4GHz, why would you pay extra for the 950 over the 930 seeing as they have the same cache and only difference is the stock frequency and a bump in multi.
Jujumonkey
New member
Another thing to take into consideration......... x6 1090T/180 quid + dual channel ddr3 gskill ripjaw/65 quid + Asrock 890fx deluxe3/115 quid = 360 quid........ i7 950/222 quid + tri channel ddr3 mushkin/153 quid + asus sabertooth x58/150 quid = 530 quid
Do you want to pay an extra 170 quid for the marginal extra performance you'd get? or would you prefer to put that 170 quid into an ssd and a better graphics card?
you cant even put that asrock mobo and the sabertooth in the same league.
Jujumonkey
New member
indeed you're right, but i was trying to offer another point of view into the mix in regards to price vs performance
More then likely Im going to postpone building my new rig. I think im going to wait and see how sandy bridge is going to play out(also the new Asus Maximus p67 board is Dead sexy). I know that if I built a rig now it would be based around a i7 1366 cpu, but I also wanna see whats gonna replace 1366 and how well its gonna outpace its ancestors..... Any thoughts on this? Should I take the plunge now or wait?
1366 replacement is waaaaaaaaaaay off
If you can wait (Sandy Bridge is set to release January 5, 2011) I would say wait since its always good to look at whats coming next. However 1366 is an enthusiast platform where as 1156 and now 1155 (Sandy Bridge) are more mainstream products. So if you want a enthusiast/high end gaming PC go with the 950 and the Sabertooth now since they are an outstanding bang for the buck, especially if you are going to do some overclocking.
I am in exactly the same boat as you, my little core2duo e6600 is aged and so is my BFG 9800GTX+.
I think I am going to push for a nice solid 1366 build before Jan, the reason being is that 1366 is still a way off from being replaced and, if you're in the UK, the VAT will rise in Jan.
My build so far is as follows;
NZXT Phantom
NZXT Hale90 850W PSU (mainly because it matches the case)
Asus TUF Sabertooth x58 Mobo
Intel i7 950
Mushkin 6GB Ridgeback 998826 (having trouble with a place to get this from, aria still do not have stock)
Noctua NH-D14 HSF (will need to lose the side fan on the case but its worth it I think)
MX-2 Thermal Compound to replace the provided, never seen any provided compound that I like so...
Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 60GB Sata-II SSD
The only major dilemma I have at the moment is what freaking GPU, 460 range would be ideal but I need to spend some time and go through a massive amount of reviews. On top of all that I need to decide whether to run dual 460 and figure out if the PSU will play nice when doing so.
An 850 should handle 2 460s fine with a good clock on you 950, but it also depends what kind and how many hard drives you plan on having. I think im just gonna go ahead and build a 1366 rig, screw sandy bridge.
