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I7 920 or AMD P2 955 Gaming PC

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - I7 920 or AMD P2 955 Gaming PC

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s1lent   05-10-2009 at 07:54:01 AM

I am stuck trying to decide between these two CPU's---i7 920 or Amd P2 955. I know that intel has the best CPU's. But I also heard between these two the Amd for gaming purposes is better! I would like to build a new Gaming PC starting with either of these two CPU's. I have around $2000 budget for this build. I also would like to know if it would be better to run two 9800 GTX SLI or to buy one GTX 295. I would like to be able to learn how to overclock sometime, so I would like to have the capability with this build.


Below is what I am running right now! Is there anything I could salvage for my new build?

Tower--Ninja (478x260x540mm) ----This Tower only has two fans and seems to run very hot!!!ASUS Crosshair 941 pin motherboard (Nvidia chipset board) ---***not a Crosshair II***
AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core 5600+ 2.91 ghz
XfX Geforce 9800 GTX + 512 DDr3
ValueSelect---4 gb
372 gb harddrive
Rocketfish 550w power supply---not a very reliable PSU
Vista 32bit

This is a new build starting from scratch, with the exception that I have Mouse, Keyboard, speakers, 2 drives and Monitor.

Any opinions would be great.

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daidalas   05-10-2009 at 09:54:58 AM
- -2 +

one gtx 295 will be faster.....lbut cost alot more. save your money unless you play on a 60" hdtv

Reply to daidalas
Bronze Home Brew badge Proximon   05-10-2009 at 10:06:25 AM
- -1 +

Get an i7 920. Not only is it faster, but you'll have a good chipset capable of SLI.

Get a decent X58 board that supports SLI and overclocks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] eluxe%20v2

DRAM- OCZ 1600 6GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227381

KEEP your current card and add a second. Unless you have a 30" monitor.

Here's a reliable PSU at a great price that will meet your needs for many years:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] &Tpk=850TX

A good, fast hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319

Case
I have saved you a bit so far so if you want to go in for a bit more on the case, go for it :)

A few suggestions:

Cooler Master HAF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 60&Tpk=HAF

NZXT Tempest
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811146047

Antec 1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] c%20twelve

Thermaltake Speedo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811133073

------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
 Reply to Proximon
rewindlabs   05-10-2009 at 10:11:57 AM
- 0 +

Ehh...Silent it would seem that your account won't receive pms so i go ahead and just throw my question out there

 

Are you interested in getting rid of any parts from your current build? im looking for just about everything you currently have such as cpu/gpu/case/ram/mobo/hdd etc

 

Let me know if you want to chat about it and work up a deal if you are looking to sell em

 

Thanks and enjoy your soon to be built exceptionally powerful new system!


Message edited by rewindlabs on 05-10-2009 at 10:18:05 AM
------------------------------ http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/RSSRM/ay14s5-1.jpg
 Reply to rewindlabs
Helloworld_98   05-10-2009 at 11:45:43 AM
- 1 +

is it ok if you stray away from nvidia?

if it is then drop the 295 for two 4890's, they will perform better.

and since it's a gaming PC I suggest dropping down to a P2 940 and ddr2 790FX motherboard with some 1066mhz ram, it will save you some cash which you could put toward a third 4890.

Reply to Helloworld_98
yonef   05-10-2009 at 12:05:14 PM
- 0 +

^ +1 ^

------------------------------ AMD Phenom II 940 OC @ 3.6 Ghz, 1.43V(cooled by Zalman CNPS9700-NT)
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4 (SB750); Corsair 2x2GB 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15 HDD Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB; HDD Seagate Baracuda 7200.10 250GB;
LG DVD-RW; ATI Radeon HD 4870 @ 850/4200 Mhz; 22"LCD;
 Reply to yonef
Bronze Home Brew badge batuchka   05-10-2009 at 07:38:02 PM
- 0 +

Hmm at what resolution is gaming to take place?

Message quoted 1 times
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s1lent   05-10-2009 at 10:33:51 PM
- 0 +

batuchka wrote :

Hmm at what resolution is gaming to take place?




I am running at full specs 1680 by 1050

Reply to s1lent
Helloworld_98   05-10-2009 at 10:35:34 PM
- 1 +

yeah do what I suggested then, get a P2 940 and a nice FX board with some 1066mhz ram and a couple of 4890's, infact that will last you for 2560x1600 but at least you'll get high fps's.

Message quoted 3 times
Reply to Helloworld_98
s1lent   05-10-2009 at 10:44:47 PM
- 0 +

Helloworld_98 wrote :

yeah do what I suggested then, get a P2 940 and a nice FX board with some 1066mhz ram and a couple of 4890's, infact that will last you for 2560x1600 but at least you'll get high fps's.







What kinda of increase would I see in gaming from what I am running right now.

Reply to s1lent
s1lent   05-10-2009 at 10:45:07 PM
- 0 +

Helloworld_98 wrote :

yeah do what I suggested then, get a P2 940 and a nice FX board with some 1066mhz ram and a couple of 4890's, infact that will last you for 2560x1600 but at least you'll get high fps's.







What kinda of increase would I see in gaming from what I am running right now.

Reply to s1lent
s1lent   05-10-2009 at 10:45:15 PM
- 0 +

Helloworld_98 wrote :

yeah do what I suggested then, get a P2 940 and a nice FX board with some 1066mhz ram and a couple of 4890's, infact that will last you for 2560x1600 but at least you'll get high fps's.







What kinda of increase would I see in gaming from what I am running right now.

Reply to s1lent
Bronze Home Brew badge Proximon   05-11-2009 at 12:42:15 AM
- 0 +

What you will SEE at that resolution will be no different than your SLI 9800GTX+ config. You'll just see higher numbers when you run Fraps :p

SLI 9800GTX+ is about the same as crossfire 4850s. That's still extremely strong. You can spend more if you like, but that's $400 you can do something else with.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ My Guide to choosing parts
A big list of recommended parts
Troubleshooting Guide w/links
 Reply to Proximon
apache_lives   05-11-2009 at 01:39:37 AM
- 0 +

also get your hands on a vista x64 dvd - you can use your licence for both aok

------------------------------ Q6600@3510/1560 + TT BigTyphoon+Mod
8gb Kingston 800mhz
Gigabyte EP35-DS3P
XFX 8800GT/512
 Reply to apache_lives
s1lent   05-11-2009 at 05:51:00 PM
- 0 +

Proximon wrote :

What you will SEE at that resolution will be no different than your SLI 9800GTX+ config. You'll just see higher numbers when you run Fraps :p

SLI 9800GTX+ is about the same as crossfire 4850s. That's still extremely strong. You can spend more if you like, but that's $400 you can do something else with.




So how would two SLI 9800 gtx + compare to 1 GTX 260???

Also, you said I would see high numbers when I run FRAPS. What is Fraps? Is it a programs? If so where can I download it from?



Message edited by s1lent on 05-11-2009 at 05:52:56 PM
Reply to s1lent
yonef   05-11-2009 at 06:20:25 PM
- 0 +

http://www.fraps.com/download.php - FRAPS
this app shows the (frames per second) in games. This helps you determine how good/bad is your gameplay.

SLI 9800GTX+ is better than 1 GTX260, but will recommend you none of these;
just drop that nvidia stuff and go buy a HD4890 - cheaper than the competitors, better!

------------------------------ AMD Phenom II 940 OC @ 3.6 Ghz, 1.43V(cooled by Zalman CNPS9700-NT)
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4 (SB750); Corsair 2x2GB 1066Mhz 5-5-5-15 HDD Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB; HDD Seagate Baracuda 7200.10 250GB;
LG DVD-RW; ATI Radeon HD 4870 @ 850/4200 Mhz; 22"LCD;
 Reply to yonef
s1lent   05-11-2009 at 11:23:58 PM
- 0 +

Thanks for all your suggestions. I will keep them all in mind when deciding.

Reply to s1lent
AMD4Life   05-12-2009 at 11:09:35 AM
- 1 +

Getting both processors is a killer, but just to warn you if you are by any means getting a processor from Core2 family. Core2's DO NOT HAVE L3 CACHE! It may sound stupid now, but in gaming it is very, very important. I personally have a Core2Duo and will be upgrading to PII 940. Every single game lags, but not due to low fps, yet due to low memory accessibility and lack of L3 Cache. Fortunately, Intel fixed this with i7's, but still dude, AMD rules in gaming.

Now, comparing i7 and Phenom II's is a bit stupid. These are the two completely different processors, made for different consumers and different purposes. If you get an i7, you will see a killer performance in 3D rendering, movie making and compressing in WinRAR for example. On the other hand, gaming performance will be solid, but not so good for the price. If you really want to stretch your arms in gaming, go PII straight away. Phenom II is a cheap processor, bogeyman in gaming and solid in compressing. Still, it has no match for i7 in the last thing.

Conclusion:

Phenom II Choice: If you are a gamer enthusiast, do not want to spend your money on more expensive stuff just because you want other people to be jealous, go for this. Killer gaming experience at super price!

I7 Choice: If you are a serious programmer, movie maker or you like to play with graphics studios like Photoshop and other, it's a no-brainer. I7 offers unbelievable performance for a quite low price nowdays, so you should consider it in this case.

Hope I helped a little!

Reply to AMD4Life
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