Deciding between i5 2500K SB and X4 955 BE build

[Nate_88]

I am trying to decide between these two builds what are your thought?

Option 1:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
ASUS P8P67 Pro
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB)
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Option 2:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti

This is the rest of the build and baring other suggestions will be the same for either option.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V
COOLER MASTER HAF 922
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
Win 7-64 Home Pre
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[aznshinobi]

For sure the 2500K build.

2500K vs 955
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=288

I like the 955, but if you can get the 2500K, get it and don't hesitate. But I think you should change the Caviar Black for a Samsung F3 1TB. It's cheaper and performs just about the same as the WD Black. Another thing, you may want to look into the Asrock Extreme 4 instead of the P8P67 Pro. Save you some money. Asrock (150$) P8P67 Pro (180-190$)

Review: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-extreme4-p67-and-fatal1ty-professional-p67-vs-x58-with-core-i7-950-review-asrock-p67-extreme4.html

 

[joelmartinez]

go for the i5 2500K build you need changes though to optimize performance.

asrock p67 extreme4 (same features and quality but cheaper)
samsung spinpoint f3 1tb (cheaper and just as fast)
get an asus burner I'm extremely unhappy with my samsung
xfx 750w (better)
scmg-2100 (better) get shin etsu g751, gelid gc-extreme, or TX-3 for TIM

 

[Richard_nixon]

I would go with the 955. Save yourself 90$ on the CPU and another 90$ on the motherboard. Then use those savings to buy an SSD.

Also, I would stay with the WD drive if plan on going the i5 route. Since the WD is SATA6 and the P8P67 will be able to use it.

 

[joelmartinez]

the i5 2500K is far superior at stock and when overclocked can beat the crap out of a 955 like 70 times it's worth it to spend the extra cash for the i5 2500K

 

[Nate_88]

scmg-2100 (better) get shin etsu g751, gelid gc-extreme, or TX-3 for TIM

Showing my ignorance here...what do you mean by these terms? Thanks!

 

[joelmartinez]

scmg-2100 (this is a heatsink that goes on your CPU) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142&Tpk=scmg-2100

the other terms are TIM (thermal interface material) they go between your CPU and heatsink

 

[Why_Me]

I am trying to decide between these two builds what are your thought?

Option 1:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
ASUS P8P67 Pro
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB)
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Option 2:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti

This is the rest of the build and baring other suggestions will be the same for either option.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V
COOLER MASTER HAF 922
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW
Win 7-64 Home Pre
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212

Thanks for your thoughts!

The difference between a 2500k and a AMD anything is the difference between a Ferrari and a Ford Taurus wagon. It's a no brainer imo for anyone with a budget of $900+. I see peeps on here with $1,200+ budget want an AMD build for gaming, and that's like a race car drive saying they want to buy a race car, but they want the slowest one out there. AMD doesn't even beat Intels third string line which is the 1156's. It gets worse when any AMD goes up against the 1336 line, and it's a total slaughter for AMD when it goes up against Intel's lates line the 1155 Sandy Bridge.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-2100-phenom-ii-x6-1075t,2859.html <----- here's benchmarks of AMD's 6 core "Thuban" getting slapped around by an i3 dual core.

 

[aznshinobi]

Uhh correction to that. i3 2nd Gen dual core. The 1st gen gets smacked around by the Phenoms.

 

[Why_Me]

Uhh correction to that. i3 2nd Gen dual core. The 1st gen gets smacked around by the Phenoms.

Thank god AMD beat out Intels first generation dual core. Maybe THG should give AMD a break and start doing AMD vs Intel LGA 775 cpu's...like the 9650.

Buying an AMD cpu if you have a large budget is like spending $200 on an over priced paper weight imo.

 

[we_san]

Correct me if i'm wrong:

1. choose AMD route and allocate the extra $ to stronger GPU, means higher resolution, more eye candy, etc
or just say if GPU is the bottleneck.

2. choose Intel route means if CPU is the bottleneck.

Talking about games :

IMO AMD's are oc-able but not as good as Intel's, but I can't remember any games make 955BE oced to 4 GHz struggles.

 

[Why_Me]

Correct me if i'm wrong:

1. choose AMD route and allocate the extra $ to stronger GPU, means higher resolution, more eye candy, etc
or just say if GPU is the bottleneck.

2. choose Intel route means if CPU is the bottleneck.

Talking about games :

IMO AMD's are oc-able but not as good as Intel's, but I can't remember any games make 955BE oced to 4 GHz struggles.

AMD for gaming is a smart buy if a peep has a budget of $500 or less, otherwise they suck wind compared to Intel. Peeps can try and twist it any and every way about how great AMD is for price per dollar, but that actually translates to "budget gamers" who don't have a choice for the fact their budget doesn't allow for an Intel build.

A car that does 200mph beats a car that tops out at 150mph ten out of ten times.

 

[Guest]

I run AMD x6 at 3.8Ghz daily speed, but I cannot not like the 2500k, it is faster for sure, the Phenom will run everything perfectly though and will not feel underpowered in any way.

For raw speed in CPU department, go 2500k

For faster Booting, Application load times, system responsiveness and Game load times with perfectly acceptable performance, go AMD and use savings on SSD!

Or for higher resolution gaming (1920x1080 or above) Go AMD and Spend more on the GPU.

If you encode or create Video content, use 3d software or spend large amounts of your time running databases or converting file formats, the 2500k is better! (or you still game at 1280x1024 which makes both chips completely overpowered as athlon x3 will do fine here)

 

[RetiredChief]

(1) for Richard_N1xon comment on SATA 6 Hdds.
Sata 6 HDDs are a marketing/advertizment "tool" The only benifit is in burst speed other than that they preform no better than a SATA II on Sata II interface - save your money go with other's recommendaion on F3.

(2) My vote is for the intel 2500K. Most pros and cons have already been idenified.
As too MB being $90 cheaper, features and quality play more a function of cost than if it is AMD or Intel.
Additional reason that I go with intel. Intel has a much larger base and because of this 3rd party developers tend to optimize for Intel based systems (if any diff, Intel wins).

Before starting a Flame war - case in point - SSDs using the SF1200 controller, Best performance was with Intel AHCI driver (ver 9.6 and later), followed by microsoft AHCI default driver. AMD users had to go with uSoft could not use amd driver to get optimium performance from their expensive SSD. I think, cannot verify that AMD finally fixed their driver.

 

[Nate_88]

asrock p67 extreme4 (same features and quality but cheaper)

Where are you finding this Mobo? Newegg doesn't have this or atleast not in stock right now.

 

[aznshinobi]

They don't have the Asrock Extreme4 P67 in stock right now..... Every other country does however.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-P67-EX4&title=ASRock-P67-Extreme4-LGA1155-Intel-P67-DDR3-Quad-SLI-Quad-CrossFireX-SATA3-USB3-0-A-GbE-ATX-Motherboard

 

[Nate_88]

Best answer selected by Nate_88.