Intel vs AMD

[Dkt3]

Hello,

I'm debating on whether to buy the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition which is 130$ or the intel Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz which is a substantially more, 260$ dollars. Each have near or close specs and I was curious to why the intel chip cost so much more. I have read on many forums that AMD is good aswell as intel. So do I have to spend the extra money? Is the intel chip that much better?

Thanks

 

[huron]

Just a quick question...is there a reason that you'd buy the i7 950, when the newest line of Intel chips (Sandy Bridge) far outperform it? The i7 2500k is only a little over $200, cheaper if you go to Microcenter.

You can check the benchmarks here or at anandtech.com and look at items you care about - if you are doing encoding, check those. If you are gaming, check those...etc.

The most recent Sandy Bridge chips are quite good, but it really depends on your budget and what you plan on doing with the computer.

If you can elaborate on those items, we can probably help you even more.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Forget the 1st generation Intel® Core™ i7-950 and look at the 2nd generation Intel Core i5-2500K. The Intel Core i5-2500K will outperform the Intel Core i7-950 in every way and does so while costing a less. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=100.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Onus]

As huron said, if you're considering Intel because you need the CPU performance, then it is Sandy Bridge you should be examining. If you're not an overclocker, the i5-2400 would probably be your choice; the i5-2500K is the overclocker's chip with an unlocked multiplier.
On the other hand, if you are interested more in platform features than raw CPU performance, AMD's 990FX chipset has a lot more PCIE lanes and can handle more slots, ports, and other features than similarly (and even higher) priced Intel boards.

 

[r3xx3r]

the intel core i5-2500K (or any sandy bridge cpu) blows everything else on the market away. They are top of the line right now. dont even think about buying anything else, you will be wasting money. your two options are to buy sandy bridge now, or wait until ivy bridge/lga 2011/sandy bridge-e

 

[Onus]

...dont even think about buying anything else, you will be wasting money...

I call BS. Not that Sandy Bridge isn't the top performer, by far, but when you consider that a $70 Athlon II can play any game, to assert that anything other than Sandy Bridge is a waste of money is absurd; especially if the money saved on the CPU makes the difference between a $100 GPU and a $200 GPU.

 

[mdd1963]

I think the implication was that the i7-950 was a waste of money, as it is more expensive than the i5-2500k

 

[Dkt3]

I was planning on doing some gaming such as Battlefield 3 and Movie editing.

 

[carlsberg]

Similar issue. Building a PC from scratch, but am not sure what processor use. I think it's going to be i5 2500k or i7 2600k. Trouble is, the latter costs about £70 more, and I'm not sure whether I will benefit from its hyper threading capability. I will primarily be using the PC to create DVD slide show movies, as well as the usual guff of MS Office, internet, plus a little gaming (when I have time). The specific software I use is PhotoDex Producer to create the movies, which includes a load of special effects, music, sound, and video clips. Any offers?

 

[Onus]

I think the implication was that the i7-950 was a waste of money, as it is more expensive than the i5-2500k

Perhaps, although I didn't read it that way. In any case, people should buy the power they need (and certainly some "cushion"), but not be convinced to spend more than necessary just to have the latest/greatest/fastest/whatever-est.

Carlsberg, you will likely get any number of useful responses if you start your own thread.