Should I wait for phenom?

[duke]

Was about to take the plunge and buy a Q6600 based rig, although I'm very VERY torn between the Duos and the brand new Phenoms. I know it's an age old question that can spark a lot of flaming and generally is down to personal preference, but talking facts, which of the chips is likely to perform better?

For the AMD route I'm looking at probably the Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6 board (mainly because its about all thats available at the moment for the AM2+) with probably the Phenom X4 9500.

For the Intel route it's probably gonna be the Asus P5K-E board and the Q6600 chip.

The rest of the system is likely to be identical; 2GB RAM, LCS, 8800 GT (unless you guys reckon it would be better to stick to an AMD based vid card)

To date I've owned both Intel and AMD powered systems and neither has really given me any grief so I'm not biased one way, although I'd like to know I'm making the right decision.

Many Thanks

 

[Ham]

Whens phenom due? The intel 45nm chips are due Q1 next year, and theyre looking to be pure evil, if ya willing to wait.

 

[duke]

Should be widely available in the coming weeks. Can always play the waiting game but I'd be doing it forever!

I've been reading reviews that the Conroes are faster than the Phenoms but that doesn't take into account overclocking.

Argh why is it so hard lol

 

[darkorb]

well if ur gonna overclock then right now the intels are spanking, even if the phenom oc's from 2 to 2.6 (im not sure of the clock speeds) the q6600 can oc from 2.4 to 3.2 (with enough cooling that is)

so intels can OC higher atm

 

[FarFarAway]

SCAN are already selling the 9850 aren't they?

 

[Bungral]

well if ur gonna overclock then right now the intels are spanking, even if the phenom oc's from 2 to 2.6 (im not sure of the clock speeds) the q6600 can oc from 2.4 to 3.2 (with enough cooling that is)

so intels can OC higher atm

With proper cooling and a decent chip, the new revisions of the Q6600 with overclock from 2.4ghz up to 4ghz...

 

[darkorb]

heres a review

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3153

 

[duke]

and on THG also

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Phenom_9700-Spider_Platform-790FX,review-29761.html

after reading this one I think I'm gonna buy into the Q6600

 

[duke]

actually, only just read the conclusion, the Phenom / Spider setup offers a lot more future proofing than the Q6600 with the AM2+ socket, and when the next wave of AMD quads are released it will be a simple CPU swap rather than a messy mobo upgrade

I'm still slightly torn, but my sensible half is pulling me towards the AMD

 

[ali_james]

From what I've read so far Phenom looks pretty poor in comparison to Intel's Quad range. I have strong feelings for AMD, all my first PC's were AMD's, Athlon Thunderbird, Sempron up my old rig with an A64, but really they seem like they're on the down.

It was supposed to :intelwar: but hasn't. Its cheap and it's compatible with AM2 and future motherboards. Which could be what saves it.

 

[jabski]

SCAN are already selling the 9850 aren't they?

yes and it costs a bomb

 

[ionicle]

i say just go with intel

acording to hexus's review, amd cant even come close...

so just do it lol

you wont regret it i dont think

 

[duke]

I'm all about future proofing, AMD have stated that these quad chips are mid-range and THG have shown that you get the same bang-for-buck as the Q6600, it may not be as fast but in a years time when I wan't to upgrade my CPU to the high-end AMD quads it will be a hell of a lot cheaper!

It's always been a risk choosing a route and sticking to it, it's all about making that first leap of faith, and I think I'm gonna make mine towards AMD

 

[duke]

gaah wish I could edit my posts

How long do you chaps think it will be until the retail price drops to that of the AMD RRP? At the moment it isn't very cost efficient, still costing more than the Q6600 although is likely to drop to £135 soon.....but when?!

 

[Rastalovich]

i say just go with intel

acording to hexus's review, amd cant even come close...

so just do it lol

you wont regret it i dont think

These reviewer doods need to be a bit more realistic too. We know it`s gonna be AMD`s launch into quadcoreland, but in all honesty it`s not there to compete with the likes of the QX9650, but a comparison with the Q6600 would probably be fairer.

Looking at it pricewize should give the reviewers a little hint. All this `best from both stables` is all well and good, but it`s not real world imo.

If AMD had a chip to compare with the QX9650, the QX9650 wouldn`t cost $1k+.