I5 or Phenom II?

Shayshunk

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May 4, 2012
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Now I can buy either a Phenom II x4 970 BE or i5 2500 or i5 2400 (the locked CPU multiplier versions) and I was wondering which would deliver better performance gaming-wise considering the Phenom has an unlocked CPU multiplier and the i5 doesn't so I can OC the Phenom much higher while the Intel processors have hyper-threading abilities. Also, if I get the i5, I'll have to stay with a 6850, on the other hand, the Phenom will allow me to get a 560 or 560 Ti, which combination/overclock would get me the best performance?
 
Solution
For gaming, the combo of a phenom II x4 (assuming overclock) and a 560 Ti should outperform an i5-2500 and a 6850. The 560 Ti is just a much better card, and current games are much more likely to be GPU-limited than CPU-limited, though it does vary a bit from game to game (e.g. Starcraft II is notoriously CPU-intensive; BF3 in multiplayer needs serious CPU).

However, especially if you're only gaming, you could also consider getting the 560 Ti along with a Sandy Bridge i3 in a Z77 board (with the possibility to upgrade later to a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge i5/i7). Even though it's only dual core, the i3 will outperform the phenom. Tom's has numerous articles about it.

manocool

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Aug 25, 2011
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i5 2500k is best in terms of Overclocking and Gaming

check for benchmarks Intel always wins .. may be features will be more for AMD products but they cant give complete output

m' using I5 2500k processor and 6850 sapphire Card .. both are working awesome ..

For my requirements They are enough .. I dont need to change processor or card upto 5-6 years ..

And about overclocking till now I didnt get that requirement to use .. when time comes I will do it definitely
 

motorneuron

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Dec 8, 2011
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For gaming, the combo of a phenom II x4 (assuming overclock) and a 560 Ti should outperform an i5-2500 and a 6850. The 560 Ti is just a much better card, and current games are much more likely to be GPU-limited than CPU-limited, though it does vary a bit from game to game (e.g. Starcraft II is notoriously CPU-intensive; BF3 in multiplayer needs serious CPU).

However, especially if you're only gaming, you could also consider getting the 560 Ti along with a Sandy Bridge i3 in a Z77 board (with the possibility to upgrade later to a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge i5/i7). Even though it's only dual core, the i3 will outperform the phenom. Tom's has numerous articles about it.
 
Solution
I would grab the i5 aswell. sure the 560ti is a nice increase but its just not worth the price/performance from your current 6850.

crysis2_1920_1200.gif


Assuming best case scenario it would be around a 10fps increase in crysis 2, check other benchmarks just to be sure though.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6850/28.html

6850 vs a bit above a 5870 (its actually comparative to the 6950 but its not up their so lets just assume its somewhere in the middle of the 5870 and 295)

200 bucks for a 30% better graphics card just doesn't seem worth it to me babe.

With the i5 you would most likely get more for your money.
 
Now I can buy either a Phenom II x4 970 BE or i5 2500 or i5 2400 (the locked CPU multiplier versions) and I was wondering which would deliver better performance gaming-wise considering the Phenom has an unlocked CPU multiplier and the i5 doesn't so I can OC the Phenom much higher while the Intel processors have hyper-threading abilities. Also, if I get the i5, I'll have to stay with a 6850, on the other hand, the Phenom will allow me to get a 560 or 560 Ti, which combination/overclock would get me the best performance?

If you overclock the 970BE as far as you can push it, it still under performs the i5 2500 or the i5 2400, and an overclocked i5 2500K, unmercifully slaughters it.

If I were you and had intentions of overclocking the 970BE out of the box, I'd find the extra money for the 2500K!

IMO This explains it pretty well!

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/276097-29-3dmark-scores