Gaming computer: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE?

I want to build a new gaming pc and was initially going to get the intel i7-920 but upon reading up on the phenom 965, i discovered that it offers superior performance when playing games. My question is, is the phenom 965 Black Edition the best gaming cpu for the price (what are the best gaming cps?)?

Furthermore, if i do decide to go with AMD for my new pc then what would be the best AM3 motherboard to purchase performance-wise, especially for playing games? Preferable an ASUS motherboard (I've heard gigabyte boards aren't made as well as ASUS - i want quality not best value). My last gigabyte board blew up, only lasting 2 years.

My current system I'm thinking of is (already have a power supply):
-RAM: DDR3 6GB Kit 1600 Corsair C9
-Video card: XFX ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB DDR5
-Case: Midi ATX Case CoolerMaster Centurion RC-690 KKN1 (with 6 fans)
-Hard drive: 3.5" SATA 1TB 32MB Seagate
-DVD drive: 5.25" DVD Burner/Rw SATA Samsung DVD-SH-S223F 22x
-Monitor: WideScreen LCD Monitor 24" ASUS VW246H
-Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64Bit

The RAM from the online computer store I'm using is under 'i7 RAM' but will it still work with an AM3 board? Also i can get G.Skill RAM with exactly the same specs as the Corsair for 10$ less but i trust Corsair, unless you guys can offer your opinions?

On the last note, is the XFX and HIS 5850 on par? I prefer XFX but i also hear HIS is good. Which is better in your opinion? And is the monitor and all the other parts good/powerful and will last a while?

My budget is roughly $1500 USD although less is obviously preferable.

Thanks for any comments and opinions!

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Yes, if by price/value ratio, then yes, the Phenom 965 is a slightly better deal than the i7 920. But the i7 920 has a slightly better performance per clock ratio. But then the usual good mobos for the i7 are again, slightly more expensive than the good AM3 mobos for AMD processors.

Reply to stridervm

Thanks for your reply. From what I've read, the i7-920 has 8 cores and no current applications use 8 cores. By the time games do use 8 cores, the i7s will be well and truly obsolete (according to what I've read). I am 80% sure I'll go with the AMD CPU, just needed that extra bit of advice. I found an AM3 MOBO which seems really good: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

The ASUS Crosshair III i found out was the best but that is just too expensive and doesn't really offer anything extra in my eyes when compared to the M4A79T. Anyone use the M4? Is this a good choice? It's $100 less than the Crosshair III.

Reply to need_advice

The Crosshair is an extreme overclocking and multi-GPU board. Other than that, it has nothing useful justifying its price tag. The one you picked is more than enough, even cheaper ones will do nicely.

The RAM you selected is tripple channel (3x2), which is only supported by intel's x58 chipset. You'll have to pick dual channel (2x2 or 4x2) for an AM3 platform, or your RAM will be used at low speed

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Reply to Silmarunya

Silmarunya wrote :

The Crosshair is an extreme overclocking and multi-GPU board. Other than that, it has nothing useful justifying its price tag. The one you picked is more than enough, even cheaper ones will do nicely.

The RAM you selected is tripple channel (3x2), which is only supported by intel's x58 chipset. You'll have to pick dual channel (2x2 or 4x2) for an AM3 platform, or your RAM will be used at low speed

Thanks for your input! Now that i know about the RAM, do you think either of these: DDR3 Ram 4GB (2x2048MHz) PC12800 Kingston KHX1600C8D3K2/4GX or DDR3 Ram 4GB Kit (2x2048MB) PC12800 1600MHz Patriot PVS34G1600LLK 7-7-7-20 (Aluminum Copper Composite) will still be good? Will going down to 4GB of DDR3 1600 RAM reduce the computers gaming capability? Also, Kingston or Patriot. Kingston is $10 cheaper.

As for the motherboard, i found the ASUS M4A79XTD EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product One bad thing I've read is that it only supports PCI 8x with CrossFire not 16x as the M4 offers. Does this make a difference? I will eventually, when my computer becomes dated, upgrade to CrossFire. If there is really no BIG advantage in getting the M4, I'll definitely go the EVO.

Thanks everyone!

Reply to need_advice

4GB is more than enough for gaming, 6 and more is only needed for productivity. As for memory, low latency is the single most important factor. All of the above kits have decent latency, so pick the one you (and your wallet) like most. Actually, DDR1333 with low latency outperforms DDR31600 with higher latency.

PCI x8 performs marginally worse than x16 (the highest difference I've seen is 8%, and it was mostly under 5%). It's not worth paying a high premium just for that. The EVO is an Asus motherboard, it has a lot of nice features and it's very reasonably priced. Go for it, you'll hardly notice the difference.

About the rest of your system: I'd personally get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD rather than the Seagate you propose. It's faster, just as reliable and it's very modestly priced.

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Reply to Silmarunya

Silmarunya wrote :

4GB is more than enough for gaming, 6 and more is only needed for productivity. As for memory, low latency is the single most important factor. All of the above kits have decent latency, so pick the one you (and your wallet) like most. Actually, DDR1333 with low latency outperforms DDR31600 with higher latency.

PCI x8 performs marginally worse than x16 (the highest difference I've seen is 8%, and it was mostly under 5%). It's not worth paying a high premium just for that. The EVO is an Asus motherboard, it has a lot of nice features and it's very reasonably priced. Go for it, you'll hardly notice the difference.

About the rest of your system: I'd personally get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD rather than the Seagate you propose. It's faster, just as reliable and it's very modestly priced.

Thanks! What RAM would you personally recommend? As for the HDD, the Samsung is only 500gb and the seagate 1tb. The seagate is 32mb cache and the samsung 16mb cahce. Doesn't cache influence the speed at which the hardrive functions (not rpm). I'm not too tech savvy with HDDs. If you could clarify this for me that would be great! I'm very close to finalising my spec. Just now need advice further on RAM and HDD. Also, if 8x pci-e doesn't make much of a difference i think i'll go the evo, thanks for that Silmarunya.

Reply to need_advice

There is a Spinpoint F TB for your information, which has a 32mb cache. Yes, cache has an influence, but there are more important factors. RPM, build quality, platter density,...

I'd go with Kingston. It's a good brand (so is Patriot, but I don't know anyone who used it, as it's rarely sold here in Europe) and it's far lower voltage memory (1,65V vs 1,90V). It's clock latency is slightly higher, but you can always reduce the clock speed to 1333 and reduce latency. Both are great however.

Message edited by Silmarunya on 11-08-2009 at 05:45:01 PM

Reply to Silmarunya

get the 955 its basiccally the same as the 965 and get the asus 790xtd board

Reply to obsidian86

It depends. If the 965 is a new one with a 125w design, it will overclock higher and it's worth it. If it's an old 140w 965, get a 955 indeed.

Reply to Silmarunya

Thanks for your feedback guys. I didn't know there was a 125w version of the 965, so thanks heaps for notifying me! By 'asus 790xtd' do you mean the EVO 79xtd?

Also i found a 3rd RAM i'm interested in: DDR3 Ram 4GB Kit (2x2048MB) PC12800 1600MHz G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ 9-9-9-24. At new egg, this RAM is rated 2nd best under the Corsair Dominator. Although it has higher latency than the patriot (which is 7-7-7-20) and the Kingston (which is 8-8-8-24). Now i'm really confused. Should i go the G.Skill purely based off its good reviews on newegg even though it has higher latency? The patriot to me seems the obvious choice with the lowest latency but maybe i'm missing something?

Well i've narrowed everything down except for the RAM and have almost made up my mind on which of the two motherboards to buy.

Reply to need_advice

the best gaming cpu price: performance is the i5 750...

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Reply to overshocks

overshocks wrote :

the best gaming cpu price: performance is the i5 750...

I have read pros and cons on both. The i5 is cheaper but i sort of gathered they performed roughly the same with some reviews showing the 965 out ahead and some others, the i5-750. If there is really a big advantage in going wit the 750 i won't hesitate to change. It's just at the moment i haven't really read anything that clearly shows one CPUs superiority over the other.

Reply to need_advice

The i5-750 is a great value. However, it leaves very little for an upgrade path (the cpu uses an LGA 1156 socket). With the AMD AM3 platform, you have that upgradeability later on.

Reply to camelflage

You sound to be building the same system that I was looking into building. Though I am new to building (this being my first) ... I've been doing a little bit of research. And though not being that computer savvy .. I figured my build would start off with the

AMD Phenom II x4 965

ASUS m4A79T

Corsair XMS PC10600 RAM - 8GB, DDR3, Dual Channel, Class 9, 1333MHz(4x2GB)
Latency is a .. 9-9-9-24 (not entirely sure what this is but I'll look it up)

two 3.5" WD Caviar Green 1.5TB 32MB/SATA-3G 7200 Hard drives ...

and that's about as far as I've gotten ... Please tell me if I'm doing this all arsed up .. but I feel I'm on the right path ...

Reply to Ori Jin

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