AMD Phenom x4 955 Or Core i 7 920 ?

[jagsir]

I am planning to buy a new quad core PC.
choices are DDR3 capable i7 920 or Phenomx4 955.

I think when it is just a regular PC, you should buy a x4-955 not i7-920.

 

[jsh1284]

Well, the 920 is certainly faster. But do you NEED the extra speed? If you aren't a heavy gamer or doing strenuous stuff on your computer, you would be fine spending a little less and getting the 955.

 

[jagsir]

Youngster,

I see you have a 955 with DDR3 but only 4GB of it.

1. Doesn't DDR3 need to be installed in sets of 3 to get optimal performance ?

were you able to find any difference while you overclocked (its kind of obvious you are running it at overclock already).

2. how much can you overclock it ?

3. Can the 955 processor be dynamically overclocked, like the intel turbo boost. ?

I am all out waiting for a i7 920 .. upgrade chip, I hear intel will come out with one soon, entry i7 9xx processor I mean (not i7 920)

 

[Wisecracker]

Youngster,

I see you have a 955 with DDR3 but only 4GB of it.

1. Doesn't DDR3 need to be installed in sets of 3 to get optimal performance ? Nope. In this case it's the amount of RAMs that bring better performance.

were you able to find any difference while you overclocked (its kind of obvious you are running it at overclock already). For each 10% you increase the IMC/NB speed, memory bandwidth increases 3-4% and latency decreases 3-4%. 'Generally' in typical daily use it doesn't matter and only looks good in synthetic benchies but Anand showed equal and comparable increases in frame rates in Far Cry when increasing both the CPU clock and the IMC/NB speed (IIRC he got an increase of 6 fps with CPU OC and then an additional 6 fps when subsequently increasing the IMC/NB speed). Typicall 'desktop' applications are not starved of memory bandwidth though a handful of programs do benefit (like WinRAR ...)

2. how much can you overclock it ? At stock volts you may typically add 400MHz. Beyond that, it depends upon the chip, your cooling solution and the operating system - 3.8-3.9GHz is typical.

3. Can the 955 processor be dynamically overclocked, like the intel turbo boost. ? Not sure what you mean by "dynamically overclocked". AMD Overdrive and Game Fusion allow substantial manipulation of background services, system settings, overclocking profiles, program settings, etc.

I am all out waiting for a i7 920 .. upgrade chip, I hear intel will come out with one soon, entry i7 9xx processor I mean (not i7 920) I'm not certain but my understanding is the 920 is the entry level and when it is phased-out there is not a chip that is really slated to take its price point. S1366 is being shaped as the 'high-end' enthusiast desktop and future CPU offerings will be faster, limited and more expensive.

 

[jagsir]

Thanks for a very descriptive and carefully crafted reply.

Triple Channel DDR3 does work in set of three.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1665/intel_core_i7_memory_analysis_can_dual_channel_cut_it/index4.html

but the whole article concludes we are not yet starved of DDR3 Triple Channel, yet!.

A really nice insightful reply.

thank you.

 

[jagsir]

yeah, I have concluded on i920, DDR3 triple channel(~3GB or 6GB).

I will be running MSA algorithms on that, need memory ~=~ CPU interation to be faster for that. (At least that is what my wife will allow me to invest in ;D, don't tell her that though).

And I am really sure other than those darn algorithms, I won't be able to make any use of this i920 or OC version of it. Anybody looking for this thread to make similar decision should really care for spending less and getting a AMD dragon compiled..


If I get a chance I will post my benchmarks for those algorithm runs.

thanks a bunch.