Which Cpu would be right for me

[mar100]

Hello

I am currently trying to put a new rig together, however I am torn on which cpu to choose. At first I thought to take the AMD x6 1090T - $300, then I thought maybe intel's i7-930 - $300, AMD x4 965 BE also crossed my mind - $150. The only game that I will really be playing on this computer is FSX, which I read somewhere that that game is very cpu intensive as compared to most games being gpu intensive. For the everyday I just want a nice quick computer, for web surfing and watching movies and running programs like photoshop, sketch up, powerpoint, and word. Any suggessions on the cpu ?

 

[geofelt]

You might want to check the FSX forums to find the best processor. Whatever you get, if it is good for FSX, it will be very good for anything else.

I think the i7-930 is stronger than amd 6 core except when you can keep all 6 cores very busy.

If you can walk in to a microcenter, they will sell you ai7-930 for $199. A very good deal.

 

[mar100]

How does the i7-930 compare to the x4 965. x4 technically is faster @ 3.4Ghz and both are quad core. However the intel is supposedly better. Why?

 

[geofelt]

How does the i7-930 compare to the x4 965. x4 technically is faster @ 3.4Ghz and both are quad core. However the intel is supposedly better. Why?

It is not really technically faster.

The i7 executes more instructions/work per cycle.
The i7 has, in addition to 4 cores, 4 more hyperthreads which can do additional work. The hyperthreads are about 1/4 the capability of a full core.
The i7 uses the X58 chipset which allows triple channel ram, supports 24gb, and has multiple X16 pci-e slots.
It appears that currently, the i7 can overclock higher.

If you look at tha anand benches, the i7 wins out in most workloads.
What makes the amd processors competitive is their pricing.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

 

[mar100]

Cool thanks.

 

[mar100]

Best answer selected by mar100.