Phenom II BE 955 or 2500k

[trumbo091]

Im building a new pc in preparation for BF3
Im debating on getting the Phenom II BE 955 with an AM3+ motherboard of course and an 6950
or getting an 2500k with a 6870..
eitherway Im going to overclock the processor to 4ghz with aftermarket cooling
Im just not sure which would be better to have, I know the 2500k is superior but I could afford the 6950 with the Phenom..

 

[nna2]

well, i'd go for intel any day, but AMD is alot cheaper, so if your looking for a budget computer then go amd, if not go intel

 

[simon12]

It depends a bit on your upgrade path. If you plan to crossfire the 6870 soonish then get the 2500K. Otherwise I suggest get the 955 with the cheapest board you can get and scrap it when you upgrade to crossfire and a new CPU & board. As they are I think the better card will be more of an advantage if its a pure gaming machine, but if you get the 2500K and overclock it you can be confident it won't bottleneck 2 6870s.

 

[trumbo091]

Yeah its gonna be pure gaming no encoding or anything, and with the am3+ board i figured id be able to upgrade to bulldozer if need be,

 

[simon12]

Yes it would I suggested getting a throw away price board as gaming performance is unknown so you may want to swap back to Intel when you upgrade.

 

[Wisecracker]

I'd venture a guess that they would be so really close it would not matter ...

BUT, if your HD6950 was a dual-BIOS reference card, and you unlocked the shaders to an HD6970 that would be the way to go.

If you are in the USA, Newegg has a $15-off promo code on the PhII 965BE through Monday, and if you go with AMD be sure to get an AM3+ 'Black Socket' motherboard.

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

I suggest waiting for Bulldozer (oct 12, 20 more days), but if you dont want to wait, go for AMD 6950 and the Phenom.

 

[trumbo091]

So the date is confirmed?? If its only 20 days I think I could wait it out, even if its not a huge improvement Im sure it will cause some price drops on the phenoms..

 

[briansklein]

Check out microcenter they just did a huge price drop on their Intel processors. Saw a 2500 k for 159.00 usd.

 

[trumbo091]

showing up at 179.00 for me but thats still a steal :/

Looks like thats in store only price and I dont live near any of their stores damn :/

 

[simon12]

Though thats the bulldozer release date (not guaranteed) availability may not be immediate and prices may be high for a bit but at least there should be some info on how good it really is.

 

[Wisecracker]

Though thats the bulldozer release date (not guaranteed) availability may not be immediate and prices may be high for a bit but at least there should be some info on how good it really is.

Retailers would never price-gouge on a new release! :lol:

I'm old and frugal, and I don't believe the price premium will be worth it when a PhII quad or an SB would push a single video card quite well.

 

[FinneousPJ]

For gaming definitely go with the more powerful GPU. The Phenom II is powerful enough already.

 

[trumbo091]

Anyone out there playing BF3 on a Phenom II? thats probably gonna be my main game for the next 2-3 years and as long as I can maintaint 60 FPS id be happy

 

[FinneousPJ]

It's not out yet?

 

[trumbo091]

Yeah but people have alpha, but stupid question for me to ask anyways i know if i had alpha i sure as hell wouldnt be on toms forums

 

[mauler184]

The beta test will be out the 29th. 27 for origin preorders. Im running a E5800 and gts 450 w/ 4gb of ram. ill tell you how to game goes

 

[mauler184]

The alpha test finished a LONG time ago. like during the summer long ago. So yeah. the alpha ran pretty good :d