Im AMD Stupid, Help

I'v been a intel man for a while so i havent really payed attention or kept up with AMD, so i was wondering which series is the best and so forth, im considering a amd processor since its cheaper then the i7 but i have no idea what processor is even close to the i7 speed and oc abilities..

In benchmarks which are GPU dependent, we do find that the CPU doesn't matter much.

Understand that all you're determining at that level is whether or not the available CPU power limits the southbridge/graphics from performing to their potential. So gaming benchies are more a test of whether a processor is "good enough" rather than an reliable indicator of one or the other's (real or perceived) superiority.

Cant wait for the new cards to come out

Id go for the 955 and save the money tho, as the 965 just isnt there, unless you really dont wanna bump the 955 200Mhz

AMD is a very nice product, really cant go wrong here
The 955 will do what the 965 will, save your money

Don't worry, you're not the only person who is AMD stupid on this forum.

Unfortunately, AMD doesn't really have anything that can compete all around with the i7. However, if you don't need the best, the Phenom II 955 (not the 965 - it doesn't really OC a whole lot better, and isn't worth the extra money) is probably the way to go. It's quite a bit cheaper than an i7 920 for the whole system, and is a great value for the money. It'll be pretty close to the i7 for gaming too - you'd only really see a difference if you were running something like a rendering or video encoding program (something completely CPU dependent, and preferably well-threaded).

If you're so convinced that I'm wrong about the performance of the Phenom II, then prove it. I've already shown you how an i7 920 at stock clocks outperforms a Phenom II 965 at stock clocks by around 12%, averaged over a wide range of applications.

+1 @scotteq. The i7 is the superior chip, in some things considerably, but in most cases it simply doesn't matter. You won't actually see or experience a difference.
The AMD 965 is also an answer in search of a question. Basically it appears to be little more than a pre-overclocked 945, so you can do it yourself for a whole lot less. The bang for buck chip right now is the X3 720BE. It has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking, and except for specific apps that can use all four cores, runs as well as a X4. Check out the Tom's article on how many cores you really need for some benchmarks; going from 1 to 2 is a howling difference, 2 to 3 is pretty notable, but 3 to 4 doesn't matter as much.

cjl, you dont even have the best my friend

Well... I *do* want to help something survive. But I'm sure you'll all pardon me that I prefer to focus my altruistic efforts on the behalf of the local Seeing Eye Dog trainer, rather than a semiconductor corporation.


{edit to add link} http://www.seeingeye.org/

The 965 is exactly the same as the 955. Basically it's a 955 with a higher stock voltage and multiplier. The only difference is that the 965 FINALLY has a properly calibrated thermal diode (those readings have been wacky since the Brisbanes). The overclocking potential is the same though and thus your final overclock speed will just depend on your particular sample.

So yeah go with the 955. If you have a high enough budget it would be nice to go with a 920, but if not then the 955 will serve you well. Just make sure to go with an AM3 board and DDR3 rather than an AM2/AM2+ board. AMDs next chip, based on Bulldozer, will only have a DDR3 controller and thus be incompatible with the older AM2/AM2+ board. At least if you get a good AM3 board from ASRock, ASUS, or Gigabyte there is a pretty good chance you will be able to upgrade to the Bulldozer based CPU when it comes out.

Exactly, slong. Good enough is good enough.

(not the falling in love comment, the prior one!)

Actually, you could do something to change my opinion. If you posted benchmarks showing across the board performance leads, or even across the board ties between the PhII and i7, I would definitely go for the PhII over the i7. The problem is, those benchmarks don't exist.

so hopefully, bulldozer beats i7 to a pulp

I would be delighted if that were the case. If AMD could reclaim the top spot for a while, it would do wonders for their profitability and place in the market. I'll be somewhat skeptical of any performance claims until it actually comes out (remember PhI?), but if they even manage to compete with Intel all the way to the high end ($500+ desktop CPUs), I'd be ecstatic.

Shadow, two things:

Your guitar avatar was better than ur stoned cat

and LN2 cooling, AMD can reach 7 ghz+

LN2 doesn't count

AFAIK, I never had a guitar as an avatar. Only had this and a sniper as my avatar.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] am3/11.htm The 720X3 does a fine job of keeping up for less then half the price ill sacrifice an average of 1 fps @high resolutions Look at the deal you can get on this cpu pre oced it would cost almost twice as much to get similar gaming performance from an intel PC and this 1 comes with windows even http://cgi.ebay.com/Phenom-II-3-4- [...] 286.c0.m14

All the phenom II CPU's use the same cores just different voltages and speeds.they all overclcock about the same and perform close to the same clock for clock.The number doesnt really matter unless you want to show off to your friends the only thing that matters is clock speed.So really the 810 in this comparison is O.C.ed higher than a stock 965 so use that as your reference

nobody answered my question in those 6+ replies lol

Look at the benchies even an I7 included http://www.overclockersclub.com/re [...] am3/11.htm

sorry man, wasn't thinking. Looks great, lots of room for Crossfire, should OC well, good brand.

One thing you said is triple channel board, it is not a triple channel board, AM3 does not support ddr3 triple channel just ddr3 dual.

you were asking about this board right?

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/def [...] =102&p2=47

Just to be clear.

The phenom II 965 wins 6, the i7 720 wins 24. The i7 will never be caught up in certain synthetics, but a large number (10+) of those i7 wins were by less than 5%.

The phenom II 975 might win more overall, doubtful but possible. Either way, there is next to nothing between both cpu's. The same can be said about a Phenom II vs a Q9000 intel. The gap is so close that you just won't notice it at all.

The i7 is still 'more better' than the Phenom II than the Phenom II is 'more better' than the Core2 but the gap is closing. You won't be able to tell any difference regardless.

Only problem is that graph doesn't include many of the other phenom II cpus being discussed nor any of their Overclocks, or the i7's OC.

With that 720 at 3.7 it will likely beat most of those CPU's on the graph at stock.