PC Upgrading Discussion

[James Yates]

AMD is not catching at all to Intel at the moment. Actually, the gap is only getting bigger. AMD's latest and greatest can barely compete on performance with Intel's from about 6 months ago (their 6 cores/socket < 4 Nehalems). The Nehalem EX will be the final nail in the coffin. AMD's problem is that it is slowly bleeding $$$ every quarter while even in this tough economical times Intel still makes $1billions dollars per quarter (that's profit).

Not entirely true with the Phenom II, they aren't too far off the older 65nm intels. If you want to get the best from it you will need to overclock it a good amount. Those 955 Black Editions overclock rather well and once overclocked aren't too far off most things intel offer.

 

[Eric. K]

Not entirely true with the Phenom II, they aren't too far off the older 65nm intels. If you want to get the best from it you will need to overclock it a good amount. Those 955 Black Editions overclock rather well and once overclocked aren't too far off most things intel offer.

There is a reason why they are not released at those frequencies I can then return and say you could overclock the Intel processors as well...

 

[Eric. K]

There is an i7 vs Pheonom II. Both overclocked:

The i7 is nearly 50% faster on all Video benchmarks
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-6.html

30%~50% faster on productivity benchamrks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-7.html

and again 30%~50% faster on all gaming
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-8.html

All off that for only $250 more for the entire platform (which is less than 25% of total cost).


Finally a table that compares a Phenom II vs a Core 2 Quad (Q9450) and a Core i7 based machine.
[ame]http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15035[/ame]
PhenomII barely compares with the Core 2 (which is now 3 years old).

 

[Christopher Aponte]

I think for Lee if he feels that it's better to save some money...and most likely won't overclock his pc
than indeed AMD is the way to go
but like Damian said, if you are a bit concern on electric bill, then still Core i7 is the way to go (think as a return on investment )

in a final word
AMD and Intel are both good
Intel for its power that it shows right now and AMD pure for it's price position that they have right now which makes sometimes a better price/performance for AMD
(same position as AMD / nVidia graphics card )

 

[Eddy Laamers]

I wil buy a compleet new pc only for gaming , most race games whats the best buy a can do , i wont not do every month a upgrade , so please tel what to buy.

Gr.

Ed

 

[Damian Henderson]

Whats your price range ?

 

[Eric. K]

Price range and if you want to build your own or just buy everything ready to go...

 

[James Yates]

There is an i7 vs Pheonom II. Both overclocked:

The i7 is nearly 50% faster on all Video benchmarks
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-6.html

30%~50% faster on productivity benchamrks:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-7.html

and again 30%~50% faster on all gaming
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-phenom-ii,2119-8.html

All off that for only $250 more for the entire platform (which is less than 25% of total cost).


Finally a table that compares a Phenom II vs a Core 2 Quad (Q9450) and a Core i7 based machine.
http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15035
PhenomII barely compares with the Core 2 (which is now 3 years old).

I just had a look at those and while the i7 is better, something like a Q6600 is much closer to a Phenom II than most people realise. Overclock that Phenom II and you certainly won't be wanting performance.

 

[Eric. K]

I just had a look at those and while the i7 is better, something like a Q6600 is much closer to a Phenom II than most people realise. Overclock that Phenom II and you certainly won't be wanting performance.

Q6600 was released 2 years ago??? and now sells for less or same as the Phenom II? Why not overclock the q6600 then?

Of course you will want more performance every new generation of processors and video cards allows more advanced and elaborated games. It is like asking why Ferrari needs a new car in '09? can't they use the one from 2 years ago:laugh2::laugh2::bulgy-eyes:

 

[James Yates]

Q6600 was released 2 years ago??? and now sells for less or same as the Phenom II? Why not overclock the q6600 then?

Of course you will want more performance every new generation of processors and video cards allows more advanced and elaborated games. It is like asking why Ferrari needs a new car in '09? can't they use the one from 2 years ago:laugh2::laugh2::bulgy-eyes:

Only reason I compare it to that is because its a very common cpu and still costs around the same as a Phenom II hence it has comparable £ to performance.

 

[Eric. K]

I would not recommend anyone to buy a Q6600. It is a 3+ years architecture (Core 2) on the 65nm process. So, my original statement stands The latest and greatest from AMD competes with a 3 years old stuff from Intel. If you can spend an extra $100 get the lowest i7 which will open a World of possibilities that neither the Q6600 nor the Phenom have.

 

[Lee Madden]

guys i said i didnt wont to start an Intel Vs AMD thing here !!

Im gonna put it like this... when the time is that i need the i7 power or more !! i could pick up an i7 pros and board cheap...very cheap so untill then im more than happy with what iv got for my money and i reckon most of you would agree !! this is gonna last me a long time (in a game sence) b4 i
even need to think about an upgrade so please just be happy for me instead of " well this is what you could of won " attitude ..:good: this complete rig "everthing" has cost me £977 inc VAT built ready to use
so ill say it again im more than happy with it :smile-big:

 

[nab2488]

Building a new PC so I can play rfactor and I am curious if you guys think this will be enough to possibly run rfactor 2?

HD: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"

Memory: CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D

ASUS P5QL PRO LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

MSI N9400GT-MD512H GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card

RAIDMAX Mustang ATX-889WUP Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

I am thinking I might need a stronger power supply and a better video card to make sure it is up to whatever Rfactor 2 comes out with. What do you guys think? Thanks for the help.

 

[Christopher Aponte]

That HD cache might slow you down..(but that is my opinion )...try to go for a 16mb cache HD :wink:
as for the Graphics card....it is indeed low...you can go faster

but it is good to point out on what for budget you have right now....

 

[nab2488]

That HD cache might slow you down..(but that is my opinion )...try to go for a 16mb cache HD :wink:
as for the Graphics card....it is indeed low...you can go faster

but it is good to point out on what for budget you have right now....

I am trying to look around the 5 to 6 hundred dollar range off of newegg. Would go higher but would really like to stay under 700 but can go higher. Right now I am at 430 and I have a buddy that will probably put it together for me for a case of beer.

 

[Damian Henderson]

gpu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127422

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824



+ hdd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152099

PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

 

[nab2488]

Damian,
With these Video cards I am going to be using my old monitor for a while and it only has a VGA connection. Would I be able to use a adapter with the video cards you suggested.

 

[Damian Henderson]

Yes, they will come with DVi > VGA connector

If you can push it try get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131140

If not the GTS250 or 4850 will do you good, but the 4870 will last you longer, quite bit faster and will handle rFactor2 better.

 

[nab2488]

Yes, they will come with DVi > VGA connector

If you can push it try get this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131140

If not the GTS250 or 4850 will do you good, but the 4870 will last you longer, quite bit faster and will handle rFactor2 better.

Yeah that is beginning to push it on price. I am gonna look over these and swap stuff out to see which of these will work for now. I want it to work and be open to be upgraded later.

After looking at it I could afford this card but what I am worried about is if I got this card would I have to get a better processor? Right now I am looking at this one. Also I am worried about running hot which apparently this one does.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206

 

[Christopher Aponte]

this processor will run cool and is still capable of handling it
if you are worried about overall hotness, maybe it is good to point out what kind of case are you going to use or planning to buy a new one...