The "REAL" price difference between a Phenom 2 and I7 System

36 dollars. That's not a typo. 36 DOLLARS


I7 920 230.00
http://www.microcenter.com/
Gigabyte Mobo - 199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128375
Tri Channel 1600 DDR3 = 84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231224

Total = 513.99


Now for an Amd P2 X4 System :

P2 X4 940 - 229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103471
790FX Mobo - 199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131361
4GB 1066 DDR2 - 47.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231226

Total = 477.97


Can't deny the numbers940

You can use cheaper mobos like Dek pointed out.
Whereas for i7 its at least $200 no matter what.

First of all the i7 920 wont stay at $230 for much longer, add $70. Also a Vista or W7 system will need more than 3GB so add another $70.

Also the AMD motherboards go down to $70, so subtract atleast $100.

So the difference is more like $250!

$100 = a high capacity HD, or the difference between a current gen GPU VS an older version.

Actually you could get a P2 X 4 940 for that price and level the playing field a bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103471

Since we are picking a pretty high end board for the AMD choice,
lets go with a higher end i7 board, that will add $100.
And you can buy a 920 Phenom for about 180, so take $50 off of that price.
That makes the difference more like $140-$180.
Not saying the price difference is worth going i7 or not going i7.
Not saying either one is better or worse for what you pay.
Just saying the difference is more than what you are showing.
And, I will add the Phenom 2 released at very competitive prices has helped to drive down the cost of the i7 parts. 2 months ago, before the Phenom 2 release, a motherboard, processor, and memory to build an i7 rig would have run you $900.

I just built a Phenom rig.
Bought everything at once from Frys,
Gigabyte board was $84.
920 processor was $180
2x2 gig (4 gig) of Crucial 7-7-7-24 1066 memory, rated to run at 1200 $49. -with a $10 rebate.
That is $303 total, no sales tax (wonderful state Oregon), no shipping, drove there bought it, built it, done and running in about 3 hours from the time I decided to head over to Frys and get some upgrades.
And I am very happy with it.

someone take the time to make the cheapest i7 processor/MB/Ram setup as well as AMD, im to lazy.
I will guess $203.49 difference.

For gaming yes. 4GB is the sweet spot for performance. Goign from 4GB to 8Gb gives little difference, but the extra 1GB over a 3GB option will make a large difference since it is quite easy to use up 3.5GB or more of RAM in Vista.

WOOT $1.51 off.... I will be waiting for The price is right to call tonight.

No one runs 4GB with a I7. The majority of us run Tri and its 5 dollars cheaper then the memroy you have up there.

Good point but lets not even bring the C2D into this. I don't want it to get ugly for the amd guys

Some tri-ddr3 isnt even expensive

for example, this g.skill ddr3 tri-channel kit...$110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231225
there is one same price but better timing...i cant find it

You can find very nice ddr3 without having to get super high end dominator...btw dominator (some) had price drop...the one im gonna purchase went from $224 to $195

Wait, no its not, your comparing super low end parts to total high end parts, that is not legit

oh...

You miss the point. 3GB can pretty easily be used up with gaming, while 4GB is the sweet spot. This means that to get the same and slightly better performance than the dual channel 4GB kit you need a 3 channel 6GB kit which costs a good bit more. My option performs atleast AS WELL as the Phenom II system, and not under it like a 3GB kit would.

I challenge you to actually notice a big difference between an i7 system with 3 gigs and an i7 system with 4 gigs WITHOUT using synthetics. The difference will be minor, if there at all.

I agree with Raven, here, I'd rather have a system with 4Gb in dual channel than 3Gb in tri-channel, even if I have to pay a few bucks more for the 4Gb.

phenom is a lot cheaper than an i7 setup anyway you look at it. the performance gained with the i7 is medocore in gaming. for other services, however, the i7 WHEN OVERCLOCKED rapes.

did i mention overclocked? yes i did. i7 sucks stock - only shows its potential when its overclocked so you should add an aftermarket heatsink to that i7 if you want it to compete performance wise to a phenom 2 there buddy. +$40-60

what about the fact that u can simply spend 230 bucks on the x4 940 and drop it in a year and half old computer and voila u have almost the latest tech and enough power any normal user would need atm .,,,,.now consider the i7,,,,,..is there any update option like that to it? no............u have to build a system from scratch for it...thats the main reason for the pIIs success in m view at least compared to the i7 atm...the core 2 is a different story though

I have virtual memory disabled, so yes my numbers are useful. I've noticed huge differences with adding small amounts of RAM, I just put in a 1GB stick and ran 3GB for awhile. Yeah you notice a large performance decrease, you can get 60FPS all day long but things wont load quickly so your still lagging. Main culprit for me was Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, and oddly enough ES4: Oblivion.

Yea but hell compare that AMD mobo to the Intel one you choose. It has only support for 16x/4x PCI 2.0 while the Intel mobo has 16x/16x or 16x/16x/4x. You can look at the features and see that the mobos are not fully able to be compared. Its like taking a $50 dollar cheap Dell mobo and comparing it to a top of the line Asus all the bells/whistles and kitchen sink mobo. Or that cheap RAM vs Corsair. You get whay I mean. I would prefer to compare mobos that are in the same league, not a mobo that was designed with HTPC/mid gamers in mind to a mobo designed for enthusiats and high gamers.

Yes you can use it as a "the cheapest" example but problem is the X58 mobo will do more than that 780G one will.

Screw Ferrari. Get a Ford GT. Cost about $150K and smokes most Ferraris 2x+ the price. And it looks damn good.

this thread is classic flamebait.

Not to disagree, but find a different chart. Those certainly aren't stock speeds.

To Jimmy: While the motherboard he chose was bottom end, I did post a much better board that was still significantly cheaper. And if you're looking at running a multi-card setup, I think everyone agrees i7 is the way to go. But it's not that the motherboards are equal, they CAN be, but with Phenom II you have a CHOICE of whether you need all the features of a very high-end, $200 motherboard, or whether you just need a cheap, 780G.

All it takes is a multi change on the 940. People dont seem left out at various ocing sites Ive ventured to lately on the "cheap" AMD boards. They ask more from their systems than most here do, and thats 60-100$ difference right there, which is where the Intel setup has its largest cost/perf problem, and why its so vigorously defended, as everyone knows a i7 mobo is high money vs anything else, and the mobo makers cant make em cheaper, too many tracings,layers and needs for extra componants . I agree this is a flamebait thread, and its obvious anyone can pick anything they want and say "its the bestest cheapest" when we all know a C2D or P2 setup is much more affordable than an i7 one

well said jaydee. i wasnt going to give this one that much effort but you are spot on.

You mentioned stock speeds, then posted a chart that wasn't at stock speeds as evidence. But it seems you're too wrapped up in Intel to notice that. For future reference, evidence (as in charts, tables, etc.) should pertain to what you're saying.

And Phenom II overclocking doesn't really deal with the motherboard, anyway, since it's just a multiplier change. But, really, people are pointing out very valid things and you're completely ignoring them. Stop looking for one minor thing to make a stupid comment on, make an actual argument.