I5 750 vs I7 920 vs amd x4 955be

[DavidTJ]

I posted this in the wrong forum yesterday and it was clear that I should still consider the i5 750 so ive put it back in.

I got some money or my birthday which is why I've upped my budget from last time

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within 2 weeks apart from graphics card

BUDGET RANGE: UK £800-£1100

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Schoolwork, Watching Movies, surfing web

PARTS NOT REQUIRED/Already Bought:

Mouse, Keyboard, Belkin media reader, WD 320gb external hard drive

Graphics card £150 (amount i'm keeping back for one either a new ati dx11 card or ati 4890)
Trust 2.0 speakers £9.56
Windows 7 Pre-Order £63.99
Benq g2220hd 22" 1900x1080 monitor £131
1tb WD green (WD10eads) £57
Colermaster HAF 922 £89.94
Noctua NF-P12 case fan £17.04
Ocz Freeze £3.13
Scythe Mugen 2
Corsair tx750
Lg GH22NS50 dvd rw
£662.82

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:
www.ebuyer.com
www.overclockers.co.uk
www.scan.co.uk
www.cclonline.com
www.Amazon.co.uk

OVERCLOCKING: Yes (slight at first; maybe even stock with undervolting, Then ramping up when I feel I need more)

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes but after 1 year or 2 (I plan to keep the system as long as possible which is why I feel dual 16x pci lanes are neccessary)

MONITOR RESOLUTION:1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Want quieter components if equal or near equal performance.

So after all that I have £437.18 left

I'm either going with this I7 build

6GB OCZ Intel XMP 1333MHz DDR3 Triple Channel Memory Ki
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=30389

MSI X58 Pro Motherboard
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?id=31563

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 D0 stepping 8MB Cache OEM Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161171
£425.25 (would be 456 just buying from ebuyer, 445 just from cclonline)

Or this 955be build

MSI 790FX-GD70 AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =MB-110-MS

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =MY-042-GS

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =CP-244-AM
£356.88

Or this i5 750 build (thanks to obsidian from my previous thread on this)

Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed £149.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755


ASUS P7P55D iP55 Socket LGA 1156 8 channel audio ATX £115.52
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173451


Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Memory Kit CL7 1.5v £75.57
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169488

£341.08

I also don't imagine i7 prices to be falling so if that seems the best option, I'll buy asap. (which I'm leaning to at the moment)

I may have to buy something to may mugen 2 fit on i5-750.

As of now i5-750 is even cheaper than 955be but I assume the 790fx is a better board.

So any thoughts or changes or comments please post

 

[gkay09]

If you are planning for multiple card configuration, then the i7 is the better option...And I would suggest you spend a little more and get a better board - Asus Rampage Gene...It is better to invest in higher quality boards as you will be keeping the PC for a long time...

 

[DavidTJ]

I may consider a slight board upgrade, I personally think the msi pro e is possible best board in the line-up in the toms hardware review. For the UK at least.

The boards Ive seen that seem a reasonable upgrade in price are the
asus p6t
msi x58 platinum

However I haven't seen any really bad reviews of the msi pro e SO i may stick with that one anyway.

The pro e doesn't seem to lack many features, but I'm not exactly knowledgeable about motherboards.

So anyone have more thoughts on either upgrading the i7 board or the other builds feel free to comment

edit: the asus rampage I saw was the mATX version at £170 which is £90 less than the atx version so its not an option seeing as my budget is £1100 not £1240

 

[gkay09]

^ Then you can check out this board...It saves you more money for the graphics card and is one of the best budget boards for the X58 and doesnt lack in features...
ASRock X58 Extreme
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Intel+Socket+1366/Asrock+X58+Extreme+-+EuP+Ready+Motherboard+?productId=37516

Review - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cheap-x58-motherboard,2368.html
Customer Reviews at newegg - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163

 

[dndhatcher]

The real question is do you want to spend 75 monetary units extra on the more powerful CPU ( i7 ) or hold it back to make sure you can afford one of the new GPUs and just have a strong processor (i5).

For gaming performance, getting the i5 and a better GPU now is the short term winner. The i7 has the capability to be faster later if you go dual GPUs or ever get into heavy multi-threaded applications. The new DX11 5800s should ship in europe in 8 days (Sept 23rd).

The AMD cpu is slower, more expensive and has no upgrade room. Not a sensible option right now.

 

[DavidTJ]

From what i've seen the 955be may be more future proof (i.e last a few months longer than i5 750) the board is ace.

Well i'll look at the asrock extreme aswell, it was a great find, ive only seen the deluxe version which is a fair bit more. I still don't know if its better than the pro e but I'll find that out later, if its not worse than the pro e I may go with that board since its cheaper.