Need help choosing between these 2 setups

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
ok ive been reading ALOT on building my next gaming rig and im torn between the phenom II x4 955 BE or the i7 920 so im going to let you decide. Money is not an option.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: (Building this week: 1500 Budget but obviously want to stay cheap)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: (Gaming and Blu ray nothing else)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I dont need Monitor, Keyboard, Case, CPU Cooler, HDD or Drives
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: i want to stay newegg or zipzoomfly
PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type: doesnt atter as long as its good
OVERCLOCKING: Yes / No / Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: YES (Not sure if i need Crossfire or SLI because of my Resolution)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 acer h233h 23inch


Phenom II x4 955 Build:

OCZ OCZ3P16004GK 4GB PC3-12800+ (DDR3-1600+) DDR3 Memory
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008207

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AMD 790X AM3 Phenom II Socket AM3 5200 MT/s PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) ATX Motherboard
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010088

AMD HDZ955FBGIBOX Phenom II x4, Black Edition 3.2Ghz,8MB Cache,125W,45nm 3.20 GHz AM3 4 x 512KB
Processor
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010385

ANTEC EA650 EarthWatts Series 650W SLI Active Power Supply
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010587

Estimated Subtotal $480.38

*************************************************************

i7 Build

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
216527Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
216527OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK
216527Intel Intel BunnyPeople Gift - OEM Free with purchase!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216527

Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

$657.96
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
What GPU do you have picked out. AMD AM3 boards won't do SLI, so if you're nvidia and want the option of multi GPUs, then the i7 is your only choice. If its an ATI card, then the 955 would be more than enough for gaming. A suggestion would be choose a 790FX board instead of the X for better crossfire performance.
 
hunter315

hunter315

Champion
May 12, 2009
10,653
3
51,960
I would go for the i7 since the price difference is so little, if you OC the i7 it will outperform the 955 in every task, but i would suggest a different PSU, like the corsair 750tx so you can crossfire in the future.
 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
sorry i thought i put the gpu i have in there. right now im running a HIS 4850 512. I want to reuse the GPU to save money for DX11 cards. also is crossfire even worth it at 1920x1080 from what ive been told its not and its overkill at my res
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
Crossfired 4850s would do well at 1920x1080. Its a bit of a stretch to ask one 512mb card to do that on high settings. They are available for $90 amir. I'd see what you're new system can do whichever you choose, and if you want some more GPU power, its a good performance/price upgrade. Especially not knowing when dx11 will actually hit.
 
H

Helloworld_98

Distinguished
Feb 9, 2009
3,371
0
20,790
well. in Crysis from one 4850 @ 700MHz to two 4850's @ 650MHz, my fps on the first level went from about 15fps in big firefights to more like 24fps.

and the settings I was using was max settings with 0xAA @ 1900x1200, although I'm sure if you had dual GTS250's you could get 4xAA at that res.
 
Yoosty

Yoosty

Distinguished
Jun 3, 2007
788
0
19,010

If your will be using only Crossfire, then the Phenom II x4 955 Build would do. But, the i7 Build you posted will let you do Crossfire or SLI and it it easy to OC if you wish. Would suggest you also get an Aftermarket CPU Cooler for both.

These two will work fine.

Scythe Mugen II and Xigmatek Dark Knight.

Hope this answer your question.
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
That article is less than a week from being a year old. Drivers have come a long way to help the scalability of multi gpu setups. Its still not double and never will be, but better than +7 fps.

As far as the BEST system for gaming, the i7 will be the BEST. Now, the best is only a slight margin better in gaming than the AMD 955. Since all you're doing is gaming and movie viewing (not a consideration since the gaming criteria will cover the bluray,) then the AMD will perfrom VERY WELL and you save some money. Study this recent article that puts the two head to head and look at Don's conclusion. AMD can hang for gaming, but if money's not an issue and you do more than gaming, then look to the i7.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360.html
 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
well maybe u can asnwer this question do you like nvidia cards or ati cards better who is always top of their game. thanks for the link always up for a good read and ot answer you ? money is no issue and no i will not be doin anything but gaming and bluray period.
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
I have a 4850 myself. It dominates everything except crysis at 1280x1024. When I bought, it was the king of card for price/performance and that's what I based my decision on.

While I think ATI is a much better value than nvidia, I do think nvidia is doing the right things to add extra value to their cards. Mainly in "The Way Its Meant To Be Played." PC gaming takes a long time for the software to utilize the hardware tech advances. But the proactive approach and support Nvidia gives code writers is accellerating the process, but for just their cards. ATI is way behind the power curve on Havok and licensed support for coders. When have you seen the dragon insignia on any game startup? They will recover, but its just like AMD and the phenom 1s, they were behind the power curve and couldn't compete. Even with price cuts, they couldn't gain market share. It took the phenom IIs to crack the CPU fortress intel had made. Since software still isnt using all the power of quad cores, AMD can compete even though intel is already on their next gen CPU. See, I'd come around to making sense eventually. So right now, if a single card solution is good, or you can afford the i7 platform, I like nvidia better. The GTX 275 is an awesome card where the 1920x1080 crowd should look.
 
O

Outlander_04

Titan
BANNED
Nov 18, 2008
20,308
4
74,960
At $1500 its a coin toss

The i7 is more powerful as a processor , and your budget is large enough for an i7 build and a GTX295 [ or a pair of GTX 275 or ATI 4890's]

You wont need all that processor power for gaming though . What you need is graphics card power for gaming and especially high quality settings .

The Phenom 955 with the GTX 295 [ or a pair of 4890's ] may produce a better gaming experience because some reviewers have found that the minimum FPS on these cpu's is stays higher than on i7 rigs .. But then again with that budget and monitor resolution this is not going to be a huge issue
Keep in mind that conventional LCD's refresh at 60 HZ , or 60 fps . It doesnt matter if you make a computer that can run a game at 100 fps because you will never see it .
The other thing to consider is that the GTX and 48XX radeons are quite old cards if you consider the history of the industry . A new generation cant be far away for both companies , as they move to DX 11 and attempt a die shrink . Ati will manage better with the die shrink , nVidia might not be able to do that for the next generation .

All told , given the limited use of the PCI'd go
790 FX mb
955 phenom
2 x 2 gig of RAM
and a single 4890

If you dont get the performance you hoped for then put out the cash for a second 4890 , or wait a few months and buy into the next generation of gfx cards

 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
yeah i got you and i was just thinking that myself. i have a friend who runs an i7 with one single 260 but he paid so much for it that. to me i do have the cash but i dont really want to spend it all. i want to be able to invest in other things for my pc. im gonna put together a 955 build and see where that leaves me.

thanks for all the advice i will switch up the mobo to the fx
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
While this is a debate for a different forum section, Outlander, will Nvidias next gen be able to increase perfromance by higher bit DDR5 ram? ATI has basically financed the build up to get to economies of scale. If they can use their knowldege of high bit buses with DDR5, they should be able to compete with ATI.
 
skora

skora

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2008
1,498
0
19,460
Two 4890s will be fine on 650w, but a 750w is prefered since it will come with 4x pcie power connectors where most 650s don't. If you are thinking about a pair of 4870x2s or GTX 295s, I think 850w is the min you should consider.
 
O

Outlander_04

Titan
BANNED
Nov 18, 2008
20,308
4
74,960



yes

and so would a 4870 x2 , a gtx 295 and an SLI pair of GTX 275's , but theyre all possible in your budget

Thats why I'd stick with a single 4890 for now , and see if you get the performance you need .
At 1080p I think a 4890 will max out every current game , except crysis , at very playable frame rates
 
O

Outlander_04

Titan
BANNED
Nov 18, 2008
20,308
4
74,960



Very good idea

Thats should be comfortably more powerful than a single 4890 and cost about $90 for the gfx upgrade


 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
i dont think i want to do that. the HIS 4850 turbo that matches my card is 125 dollars for that price id rather just fork out for a 4890
 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
ok this is the build i have at zipzoomfly

i cannot do this build at newegg it just cost 2 much. almost 100 bucks more


CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX TX 750W Power Supply Retail 1 $109.59
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007112

OCZ OCZ3P16004GK 4GB PC3-12800+ (DDR3-1600+) DDR3 Memory Retail 1 $79.90
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10008207

MSI 790FX-GD70 AMD 790FX AM3 Phenom II/Athlon X4/Athlon X3/Athlon X2 Socket AM3 5200 MT/s PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) ATX Motherboard Retail 1 $169.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010173

HIS H489F1GP Radeon HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express x16 (2.0v) Video Card Retail 1 $189.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010252

AMD HDZ955FBGIBOX Phenom II x4, Black Edition 3.2Ghz,8MB Cache,125W,45nm 3.20 GHz AM3 4 x 512KB Desktop Processor Retail 1 $199.99
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010385

617014 Wheelman PC DVD 1 Free Gift

Estimated Subtotal $749.46
 
4

4lc4pon3

Distinguished
Aug 2, 2009
116
0
18,680
and here is the i7 build

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK
Intel Intel BunnyPeople Gift - OEM Free with purchase!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216527

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

SAPPHIRE 100269SR Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830

$872.95
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom