I5 (750) or 955?

[robin banks uk]

what cpu would be best for gaming? they both come to the same price.


i5(750)

955



also when i put the i spec in a psu calculator it says the i5 uses a lot less power than the 955 is right?

 

[warmon6]

For thoses cpu's, games run virtually the same between the 2.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=88

 

[robin banks uk]

i am up for overclocking,if that helps

 

[Pro Llama]

i am up for overclocking,if that helps

Considering you said that you could get them for the same price you have to ask another question. Do you plan on upgrading components around the motherboard down the road? If so go 955, if you don’t do i5. Your situation is a bit different than mine, for me there is no point in look at the i5 it is either 955 or i7 because in my area the 955 setup is about $50 cheaper than the i5 and the i7 is about $100 more than the 955.

You also mentioned overclocking: I have heard of both going over 4ghz. With that being said i5 starts lower. You also don’t get the same from overclocking them both one scales a little better, but that is another argument that I personally would not like to get into.

 

[robin banks uk]

955 got it thanks

 

[Pro Llama]

955 got it thanks

That was quick, good luck with your system build.

 

[robin banks uk]

955 l2(old)orl3(new) (is that right)also will a i5 use less power? is it better to save for a i7?if so witch modle ?will a i7 use less power than a 955?

 

[Raidur]

If you plan on upgrading your CPU before going around 5870 crossfire or better then go Phenom II.

You need powerful GPUs to tell the difference between these CPUs, but the difference is significantly in favor of the i5-750.

Yes, the i5 uses less power.

Is it worth it to go i7? For gaming, no.

 

[robin banks uk]

is i5 hard to over clock? also the card i will use are 5770fxf(crossfire) would it still be best to go for i5?

 

[wolfram23]

i5 is a higher quality CPU, generally does better in benchmarks and while they both OC decently well, i5 can OC a decent amount without breaking a sweat. In my case, I'm at 3.68ghz with turbo on (well, enabled from C states but not actually on), meaning 1 thread goes up to 4.2ghz, 2 threads at 4ghz. If it's the same price the i5 is the better core, however, for gaming you probably won't see a difference one way or the other unless getting a 5970 or crossfire/sli the high end cards. So then it really depends on the other components, compatibility, and if you need to buy new things cost as well.

 

[robin banks uk]

is i5 hard to over clock? also the card i will use are 5770fxf(crossfire) would it still be best to go for i5?

 

[wolfram23]

worth checking out: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2570-6.html

 

[Raidur]

The locked multipliers are known to be 'harder' to overclock because they force you to overclock your ram/NB at the same time. Where as on a black or extreme edition their unlocked multipliers allow you to overclock the CPU seperate from everything just by changing the multiplier.

IMO i'd call the i5 easier considering the massive amount of headroom it has starting at such a lower clock than the 955's 3.2.

With 5770 crossfire I doubt you'd notice a difference between Phenom II and i5 so take your pick. If the i5 is significantly more expensive go for Phenom II. If not take the i5.

 

[robin banks uk]

would it be hard to clock the i5 to 3.8ghz

 

[Pro Llama]

would it be hard to clock the i5 to 3.8ghz

I wouldn’t say that the i5 would be hard to overclock, but it will take a little more work than the 955. With crossfire you see little to no difference between the i5 and 955 don’t buy into certain peoples hype…

Pretty much if you are mainly going for gaming; buy the cheapest chip out of the 955 and i5. They are both strong performers and both overclock well.

 

[Raidur]

An i5 should hit 3.8ghz with a little added voltage. I suggest read this.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i5_750_overclocking_guide,1.html

For 3.8 you'd likle have to turn off C1E/Speedstep (thermal controls) and turbo. Then up the cpu/ram volts and move bclock up to 3.8 and adjust ram ratios accordingly. However I have very little experience overclocking newer intel chipsets.

Any questions about overclocking you have, post in the overclocking section and I'm sure you'll get all the help you need.

 

[wolfram23]

i5 is very easy to overclock to 3.8 ghz even 4ghz - but only if you don't mind exceeding Intel's specs for maximum VTT voltage, which is 1.21V. With a BCLK of 175 I have 1.197VTT and 3.68ghz very stable, turbo mode enabled as well so it can reach 4.2ghz with just 1 thread operations. If you want to go higher, a 200bclk needs about 1.28-1.3V VTT or so, but then you can easily hit 3.8+ghz. Any OCing takes a lot of time if you want to do it right, no matter which core. Check out some OC guides for each core if it's really important to you.

 

[robin banks uk]

with the 955 i have seen a vid on youtube how to overclok it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7HB9OMJSs) ((3.8ghz))


but with the i5 i get lost, is there a way to overclock it like in the amd vid?

i am going to use a good cpu cooler so heat wont be too much of a prob

if not i will go with 955

 

[wolfram23]

There's OCing applications for any core, but use them at your own risk. It's highly recommended to learn how to use your BIOS instead.

 

[robin banks uk]

is there any vids or site that could help me overclock a 955to 3.8?

 

[Pro Llama]

is there any vids or site that could help me overclock a 955to 3.8?

Here is a form with a guy talking about his overclock: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/254080-29-black-edition-phenom

Overclocking all depends on your BIOS. Each one is a little different. Some motherboards come with overclocking software which does work, but I would do it in the BIOS.