which cpu

[dlundie]

AMD Phenom II X3 720 BLACK EDITION Triple Core 7.5meg CACHE 2.8Ghz Socket AM3


INTEL CORE 2 DUO E8500 3.16Ghz 6m CACHE 1333FSB LGA 775


which is best for a gaming rig guys, thanks for any feedback regarding these two choices

[Lemur]

The Intel Core2Duo will yield better results in gaming. It's just a better design, runs faster, cooler, etc.

However, you're going to find that the GPU affects your gaming experience even more than your CPU does ...

[ICantSpellDawg]

what about the phenom x4 over an intel quad?

[Lemur]

My understanding, from looking at the benchmarks, is that a dollar-for-dollar equivalent CoreWhatever is going to outdistance what AMD's offering. This is quite a turnaround; for years AMD was spanking Intel's booty all over the floor.

AMD is a great choice in budget boxes. For gaming, at this moment I'd say go with Intel.

[Whacker]

CoreWhatevers are great stuff, solid performance for a decent price. I have a CoreWhatever and it works fine!



OK, really though.

i7 is the latest offering from Intel, and they're apparently both well received by gamers and still manage to whoop what AMD can throw out right now. If I were to upgrade right now, that'd be what I'd get.

[Papewaio]

I've got a Q6600 (the minimum Quad Core from Intel). Plays DoW II very nicely.

I would love to get an i7... they have gotten through the FSB hurdle by redesigning the whole thing. In fact the chip architecture looks very much like a star hub for networks with duplexed paths so the RAM and Chip have a separate in and outbound pathway direct to each other and no slowing down for interrupts such as I/O for harddrives... very cool.

[ICantSpellDawg]

does anybody buy from newegg? I'm narrowing it down and looking for advice. Here are three pc's that I am looking at. The intel is an "open-box" that I want, but am wary of.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16883227116R

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229063

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229074

Here is a monitor that I'm about to pull the trigger on

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236052

Here is the UPS that I'm going with for the right price

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16842101344

I have no idea what backup drive I'm getting, but this one gets good and consistent reviews for an acceptable price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822204069

I have a sickness that causes me to take forever and get an absurdly low price before I buy, so I'll be asking for advice for a long time - until I A: find one that has fallen off of a truck or B: learn anough that advice is redundant.

THanks guys - I love these forums.

[dlundie]

thanks for the info guys, i was leaning to the dual core because of power and heat issues, the amd offering is great but seems to be a power munger and runs pretty hot, i already have a 4870 graphics card planned and dont want extra heat in the box. the Duo is still a little more expensive but seems a good choice for a budget gaming rig

[Lemur]

does anybody buy from newegg?

Everybody. Everybody buys from NewEgg. It's kind of a geek shrine. Although most people buy parts, not boxen.

[Furunculus]

roughly speaking there is a price/performance parity between AMD and Intel right now when talking about:

AMD PII X3 vs Intel C2D (100 - 130 GBP)
AMD PII X4 vs Intel C2Q (140 - 180 GBP)

It used to be that quality intel boards cost more than quality AMD boards, but they are both in the same 100-125 GBP ball-park these days.

Where this doesn't apply is the <100 GBP market as AMD A64 dual-cores are not competitive and the >200 GBP market where AMD does not compete at all.
As a general rule of thumb I would never spend more than 66% the price of the intended graphics card for the CPU, so if you are buying a 1GB nVidia 280GTX GPU for £270 then i would not spend more than £180 on a CPU which would mean either a Phenom II X4 3.0GHz or a C2Q 9400 at 2.66GHz to create a well balanced system.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Everybody. Everybody buys from NewEgg. It's kind of a geek shrine. Although most people buy parts, not boxen.

The prices on pre-built are good, from what i see. I don't usually buy online though.

[Lemur]

roughly speaking there is a price/performance parity between AMD and Intel right now when talking about:

AMD PII X3 vs Intel C2D (100 - 130 GBP)
AMD PII X4 vs Intel C2Q (140 - 180 GBP)

It used to be that quality intel boards cost more than quality AMD boards, but they are both in the same 100-125 GBP ball-park these days.

Where this doesn't apply is the <100 GBP market as AMD A64 dual-cores are not competitive and the >200 GBP market where AMD does not compete at all.
As a general rule of thumb I would never spend more than 66% the price of the intended graphics card for the CPU, so if you are buying a 1GB nVidia 280GTX GPU for £270 then i would not spend more than £180 on a CPU which would mean either a Phenom II X4 3.0GHz or a C2Q 9400 at 2.66GHz to create a well balanced system.

Um, if you want to get into the nitty-gritty you might as well do your own reading. Here's Anandtech. Whacker likes HardOCP. Do a little digging around those two sites and you'll get a good idea of which CPU is for you.

[Furunculus]

i am into the nitty gritty, i build gaming PC's for me and my mates.

been a member of those sites since 2002'ish.

[naut]

If I were you TuffStuff I'd have a look on IBuyPower first, which is where those NewEgg rigs are from anyway. Since you can swap out anything you don't like, etc.

[ICantSpellDawg]

I figure that price is more important, so i'd like to have a rig that they set up and put on clearance. The prices on Neweg for cyber/ibuy are lower than the site itself.