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New build - please help me decide.

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Hello everyone :) 
Please help me as I'm torn between these two builds.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week or next.
BUDGET RANGE: £800 (give or take a little)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Digital photography (RAW/JPEG editing), games, audio, software synths, web/office, video editing, maybe some programming.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, mouse, keyboard, sound card.

OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, Linux

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.ebuyer.com
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
I don't want a PC that's too noisy.


Build 1: AMD £800 with delivery


PARTS PREFERENCES:

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Socket AM3
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T BE
G-Skill 4GB DDR3 1600MHz
CM Storm Scout + Coolermaster Silent Pro 700W Modular PSU
2x Xilence 120mm fans
Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB SATA II 7200RPM
Lite-On 24x DVD RW
HIS ATI HD 5770 1GB

OVERCLOCKING: Likely, but only air cooling.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: 95% certain I don't need this.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Top-end AMD chip and possibly future-proof (ie Bulldozer) AM3 board.


Build 2: Intel £810 with delivery


PARTS PREFERENCES:

Intel Core i7 930
ASUS P6T SE iX58 Socket 1366
Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz
CM Storm Scout + Coolermaster Silent Pro 700W Modular PSU
2x Xilence 120mm fans
Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB SATA II 7200RPM
Lite-On 24x DVD RW
HIS ATI HD 5770 1GB

OVERCLOCKING: Likely, but only air cooling.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: 95% certain I don't need this.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Possibly future-proof with hex-cores. Can upgrade to triple channel if needed.

This is not an easy decision. I've seen lots of reviews of the CPU's with curiously differing conclusions, which is not helping.
I also considered Socket 1156 with i5-750 or i7-860. This would be a little cheaper and use less power, but I worry that 1156 days are numbered.
I really want something that I can upgrade (ie new CPU/GPU) for the next few years.
£800 is a lot of money for me right now, so I need to get this 100% right. So no pressure :lol: 
I look for ward to your expertise in helping me make the right decision.
Many thanks.
Matt

More about : build decide

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Some suggestions...
Check out this build...
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz Socket 1366 D0 stepping 8MB Cache OEM Processor
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/161171

Asus P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition Intel X58 - This is a high-end mobo at very low price dont know how...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB...

CPU Cooler - CM Hyper 212+ -> Should be able to handle 36-3.8GHz overclock without any issues...
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coolermaster-Hyper-212-P...

Crucial 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory -> A highly overclockable RAM...
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159890

HDD - Samsung F3 1TB
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173804

DVD and video card - Same

CASE - CM 690 Black
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177119

PSU - OCZ StealthXstream II 600W Power Supply - is a 80+ certified PSU...
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204353

Total - ~£765 and if am not wrong, all the parts from ebuyer have Free delivery but not sure about the parts from scan and overclockers...

The p6t deluxe is a pretty old board even it's replacement is regarded as old. I had one screen never worked and the board broke soon after. I'm pretty sure that was just bad luck though, it's a very good board and has most features the new ones have exept sataIII and usb3.0. For that price I wouldn't miss out on it ;) 

^ Ya the P6T is old, but for that price, IMO its a very good buy...
The basic X58A-UD3R is about £35 more...
And if you want SATA 6GB/s and USB 3.0, you can always use add-on cards...
Related ressources
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Thanks for the board suggestion.
In all honesty, I'd rather get everything from ebuyer so it's delivered together (I've used ebuyer alot and they are excellent).

Any thoughts about which system may perform better for my needs?

Hereisphilly said:
the intel i7 930 definitely, blows the s*** out of the amd when overclocked
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/04/27/amd-ph...
(jus skip to the conclusion)

Cooler - Titan Fenrir - £29
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1000983...
One of the best cpu air coolers bar none, only easily avaliable in the UK, so fits perfectly for you.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/979/17/


Thanks for the benchmark link.
Now here's what drives me mad:
This handbrake benchmark shows the 1090t beating the i7 930 - at least at stock speeds.
Your link gives the score as some undefined number. My link gives the score as frames per second. How do I know exactly what is being measured?
(Please note: I am not having a go at you for your link. I'm just trying to get across how confusing benchmarks can be).

LosingHair said:
Thanks for the benchmark link.
Now here's what drives me mad:
This handbrake benchmark shows the 1090t beating the i7 930 - at least at stock speeds.
Your link gives the score as some undefined number. My link gives the score as frames per second. How do I know exactly what is being measured?
(Please note: I am not having a go at you for your link. I'm just trying to get across how confusing benchmarks can be).


Yeah its a bit tricky to understand, if you look at the top of that page, it explains it

"A score of 1,000 means that the test system is as fast as our reference PC, which used a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 at stock speed, 2GB of Corsair 1,066MHz DDR2 memory, a 250GB Samsung SpinPoint P120S hard disk and an Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard. The scoring is linear, so a system scoring 1,200 points is 20 per cent faster than our reference system. Equally, a system scoring 1,200 is 4 per cent faster than a system scoring 1,150."

Hey Matt,
Here's a couple of changes you can make to save a few quid :) 
Antec 300 case
XFX 650W PSU

You don't need 700W unless you are SLI/Xfire - and even then you need more like 850W.

Don't read too much into benchmarks. Too many websites have hidden agendas.
Just know that whichever system you get will be very good for a few years.

Personally I'd go for the AMD build because I just don't like giving money to criminal organisations like Intel.
Intel are like the CPU mafia.

But a mate of mine has an i7 920 system and it's sweet. Just not as sweet as my 1090 can be ;) 

Good luck with your decision.

Hereisphilly said:
Yeah its a bit tricky to understand, if you look at the top of that page, it explains it

"A score of 1,000 means that the test system is as fast as our reference PC, which used a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 at stock speed, 2GB of Corsair 1,066MHz DDR2 memory, a 250GB Samsung SpinPoint P120S hard disk and an Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi-AP motherboard. The scoring is linear, so a system scoring 1,200 points is 20 per cent faster than our reference system. Equally, a system scoring 1,200 is 4 per cent faster than a system scoring 1,150."


Well OK, but I still don't really see how a score of 1992 in your link relates to 72.3 FPS in my link.
Either way, one test favors Intel, the other AMD. Both use Handbrake. So idk which to believe.

marshan10 said:
Hey Matt,
Here's a couple of changes you can make to save a few quid :) 
Antec 300 case
XFX 650W PSU

You don't need 700W unless you are SLI/Xfire - and even then you need more like 850W.

Don't read too much into benchmarks. Too many websites have hidden agendas.
Just know that whichever system you get will be very good for a few years.

Personally I'd go for the AMD build because I just don't like giving money to criminal organisations like Intel.
Intel are like the CPU mafia.

But a mate of mine has an i7 920 system and it's sweet. Just not as sweet as my 1090 can be ;) 

Good luck with your decision.


Thanks for the case/PSU advice.
So you reckon you AMD is sweeter? In what ways? Games? Apps? Tell me more...

And don't be too hard on Intel :) 

LosingHair said:
Thanks for the case/PSU advice.
So you reckon you AMD is sweeter? In what ways? Games? Apps? Tell me more...

And don't be too hard on Intel :) 


Well you've seen the b/marx.
The 1090t owns in encoding - well basically anything multi-cored. Some newer games are no problem for it.

And I'm only giving facts on Int£l.
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