Phenom II six core 2.8 vs i7-930????

[lostpike]

AMD HDT55TFBRBOX Phenom II 1055T Six Core Processor - 2.80GHz, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Socket AM3, Processor with Fan is currently on sale for $150 at Tigerdirect. Through in bing cashback of 12.3% and $20off for using Ebill me and it comes to around $105.

So I am now torn between building this or an i7-930. For the base of an i7-930 (including motherboard(Gigabyte $200), ram 6gb(G skill $185) and chip(microcenter $200) it would cost around $585.

For the base of Phenom 6mb we are looking at:

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard for $120


OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1333LV4GK x2 $176

This gives us a total of $401 (or $313 if go with only 4gb of ram). Thinking of current cost vs value you are getting between the two which would be a better build?
Definites for me only are my power supply (Corsair 650w) and 2x Radeon 5770.

 

[MadAdmiral]

What are you doing with the computer? I assume you're gaming, in which case, I'd say neither.

The X6 isn't that good for gaming (check the review on the front page). You'd be better off getting the X4 955 (assuming it's cheaper). If it isn't, then go with the X6.

Some comments on the rest of the build. OCZ RAM is very hit or miss. Grab this G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7. They're faster and higher quality. Also, 8 GB is overkill for a true gaming build, so just get a single kit for now.

Finally, I wouldn't start a build with Crossfire. Spend the same amount (less with the combo) and get the HD 5850 and Antec Earthwatts 650W . The Antec PSU is as high quality as the Corsair, but cheaper. Or you could spend a ltitle more and get the HD 5870 (combo with RAM), though you may want a 750W PSU if you want to do Crossfire later.

 

[lostpike]

Sadly I am starting with the crossfire as I already bought the 5770 last week. Right now I am just trying to figure out cost wise if it is really worth spending the $200 extra on an i7-930. I am definitely am considering future proofing.

Personally I am a gamer but also use my computer for a lot of watching of 1080p movies and am one of those people who usually has 30+ internet explorer windows/firefox open at one time plus downloading bittorrents while still doing something else...
I just found a M3N78-VM motherboard that I still have...though its not on the list of approved x6 motherboards(all are M4 or better.)

 

[lostpike]

And currently the x6 is cheaper then the x4 Phenom.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'd probably go with the X6. The CPU doesn't really affect gaming too much, and the X6 is better than the i7 in productivity. While you may not use the actual productivity apps, it's just indictive of the CPU power. Plus, it's a lot cheaper, which helps in other parts of the build.

On the motherboard, I would personally choose a board that's on the approved list. I definitely would get a USB 3/SATA III board. I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between the 790 and 890 chipsets, so either would be fine.

 

[lostpike]

I guess the best question then would be other then brand loyalty, why would you choose an i7-930 over this?

 

[banthracis]

790 vs 890 has only 2 real differences, PCIE lane expansion in the northbridge, and better larger northbridge to southbridge communications bandwidth. Neither change is necessary at this point, but was probably done to allow better utilization of USB 3.o and SATA 6.0 in the future.

As for your question, um i7-930 OC's better and uses less energy. That's the only advantages I can think of. IMO grab the x6.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Well, considering that the X6 is new (and thus untested), the i7-930 is still a decent choice for reliablity. The i7 holds it's own again the X6, so it's not like it's drastically underpowered. The i7 may even exceed the X6 in some apps, especially if they're multi-threaded (the i7s have 8 threads versus the X6's 6).

In terms of gaming, the i7 comes with the benefit of having a better chipset for video cards than current AMD CPUs. Also, the i7 is still better for gaming, but only if you've already spent the money on the best GPUs you can get.