AMD Phenom or Intel i7... For Intensive video editing

Well, I'd recommend the Core i7 930 over the Phenom II X4 965 for video editing or video encoding, and that kind of work etc. I'm not sure if CS4/CS5 supports HyperThreading, but if it does, it would provide a significant performance boost. Intel Core i7 930s can be bought for $200 from Micro Center pickup only, otherwise it's around $300 everywhere else.

A good board that supports the latest features would be the ASUS P6X58D Premium for $350 IIRC. Otherwise you could just pick up an ASRock X58 Extreme 3 for a very nice $200, and it also supports SATA III and USB 3.0.

Thanks a lot. How about the new AMD X6 processors.. are they better than i7 930

I'd recommend sticking to your computer now, perhaps getting more RAM, HDs or maybe overclocking it a bit. You computer is no slouch. It's as fast as any Phenom II X4 and getting an i7 doesn't make sense.

Well, the Q6600 at stock is slower than a Phenom II X4 955 I'd say, and I suppose OP can only justify an upgrade depending on how intensive the video editing is going go be.

As for the Phenom II X6, I believe it will be a bit better than the Core i7 930 for multi-threaded applications, which is your main priority. It could be another choice. Do you feel your Q6600 is limiting your video editing? If it doesn't really, and you only want to cut down on render times, then I don't think really you should upgrade. If you think you are RAM limited, then simply add more RAM. Otherwise you could just buy a cheap yet decent aftermarket heatsink and overclock it.

If you feel you really do need an upgrade, then I'd go for a Phenom II X6 1055T or 1090T Black Edition, any decent AM3 motherboard (with SATA III and USB 3.0 if you are interested in transferring large amounts of data) and 4GB/8GB of RAM, depending on your apps. AFAIK, AE and Premiere Pro is an epic RAM hog and 8GB would be a better option.

I would say the i7 for now, but if you wanted more performance for your buck i would wait for the new Phenom II X6's to arrive, the most expensive of which can be had for $290USD (if your lucky), clocked at 3.2GHz per core, 6 cores.

As for the motherboard, if you can stretch your budget a bit more you could get the Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H for about $90, or better yet you could get a board for $50, Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3.

EDIT: Forgot to mention it's only DDR2 but performance differences aren't really significant between the two from my experiences..

And for some general info, The i7 is not really 6-8 cores (however many threads), but 4 physical cores with hyperthreading, and the hyperthreaded cores will not perform as well as real, physical cores.

as others have already said.. overclocking might extract some more juice from the system... but if u must have to buy a new setup consider phenom x6... its got extra cores over the core i7 and performs similarly when only 4 cores are stressed...

I need to upgrade as this comp is being shifted elsewhere..
i was thinking bout an amd x6 1095t or in that range an intel i7 940 or 950
i need a suitable motherboard.. total budget is $700 max for cpu mobo and ram. lesser the better.

and the problem with 6600 is that it is overheating even with a water cooling system installed and i have not even overclocked it!!!!!!
Mobo is dam good but if u see the asus site its not supported by win7 and adobe cs4 requires atleast windows vista and win7 is better than vista..

i am now rating AMD above i7 because of the problems with the newest chipset and the burnout issues.. whats the use of a $400 cpu without a decent mobo??

core i7 by far. When it comes to gaming they are equal but in everything else core i7 is far superior to any AMD CPU.

Don't bother with anything higher than the 930 unless you're the type that uses money in place of toilet paper. Its the same chip minus a few multipliers. NOT WORTH THE PREMIUM.

Anyways, you can wait for benches for the Phenom II x6. This will also possibly mix the market up and force intel to bring down their i7s in price.

However with numbers like this (linked below, i3 2+2 cores vs 720 3 cores, kind of like i7 4+4 vs ph2 6 cores) i'd go intel any day for your uses.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/118?vs=83

Oh yeah, and OS support on hardware is crap sales schemes. As long as your computer meets/beats the minimum requirements you can use vista/win7.

Vista
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/syst...

Win7
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-r...

You might be able to reuse your RAMs with a mobo similar to the Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H combined with a Phenom 1055T --- get you in for less than $300.

14x240MHz=3.36MHz with turbo-cores of 3.96MHz  

Thuban turbos to 4ghz or is that theoretical? Is that for all 6 cores?

Will Phenom II x6 work on AM2+?

My understanding is....

If the proc model ends in '5' (like the 1055T), AMD turbo-core will add 2.5 to the cpu multiplier.

Otherwise ---- models ending in '0' add 2 to the cpu multiplier.

So a Phenom 1055T would run 14x200MHz=2.8GHz at stock --- with turbo-cores at 16.5x200=3.3GHz

Max turbo-core is on 3 cores ??? AMD may be introducing revised 'gates' (IIRC they call them 'low-k) which helps reduce stock temps to 1.2v. IIRC the turbo-core mode will boost the volts along with the multiplier (and I'm just guessing the max for 24-hr round-the-clock use will drop to the 1.4-1.45v range but I really have no clue - LOL)

The 1055T has been popping up on AM2+ (DDR2) cpu support lists for a month or so  

Ah, were you talking about a different version with your numbers before? (240mhz)

6 cores on AM2+, GJ AMD.  

Will the nerfed HT hurt performance more than it does a quad?

Are there any official/real benches of Thuban yet?

Maybe this will answer most of you questions, except for the benches with should be out today.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3641/amd-divulges-phenom-...

For years with the arch the deal with an increase in the AMD clock from 200MHz to 240MHz on most memory ratios works like this ....

200MHz dropped ratio ---> 166MHz
400MHz dropped ratio ---> 333MHz
800MHz dropped ratio ---> 667MHz

By dropping the ratio a notch, and then raising the clock from 200MHz ---> 240MHz the memory returns to stock speed and the CPU is overclocked 20%.

So .... let's say I'm running DDR2 800MHz and drop the ratio from 400MHz to 333MHz (AMD RAMS are 'double-pumped') ---- my DDR2 800MHz memory is now running 667MHz.

With a Phenom 1055T (I wish - LOL) at stock I'm running 14x200MHz=2.8GHz --- with my turbo-cores at 16.5x200=3.3GHz.

Upping the clock 14x240MHz=3.36MHz (with turbo-cores of 3.96MHz) and my RAMs speed is now spec 800MHz again (with the 'dropped ratio' at 333MHz).

As an additional benefit the NB/IMC is now running 2400MHz (10x240MHz).

And, at a 20% OC to 3.36GHz, my turbo-core OC is 40%+ at 3.96MHz.


Did I make this even more confusing ??