AMD Phenom II 810 or I7 920

[uhyu]

I'm making my first Gaming PC on a budget.
I built two computers in Newegg.
One is a I7 920 costing $826.93 + $17.99 SH = $844.92 http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12500528
The Phenom II 810 costs $744.92 + $29.62 SH = $774.54 http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12500448

*Prices in the wish lists are different because there are combo deals applied to my prices*
*In case you were wondering the case comes with a power supply*

Which gaming computer do you think is better considering the price and components?

I might not want to do this till later, but add in a little side note If its possible to over clock with any of these components

*If the computer doesn't look like it would work please tell me what I need*

 

[buzznut]

I'm making my first Gaming PC on a budget.
I built two computers in Newegg.
One is a I7 920 costing $826.93 + $17.99 SH = $844.92 http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12500528
The Phenom II 810 costs $744.92 + $29.62 SH = $774.54 http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12500448

*Prices in the wish lists are different because there are combo deals applied to my prices*
*In case you were wondering the case comes with a power supply*

Which gaming computer do you think is better considering the price and components?

I might not want to do this till later, but add in a little side note If its possible to over clock with any of these components

*If the computer doesn't look like it would work please tell me what I need*

Well, you've proven its pretty simple to build an affordable core i7 system. However, I would get a much larger hard drive. The WD 640GB drive is a favorite amongst enthusiasts. Personnally if I was buying today I'd prolly go for the WD 1TB black drive,
Only reason I can see to get a smaller driver is if I got a raptor, prolly the 300GB velociraptor.

Oh yeah, if you wanna overclock you should look at an aftermarket cooler.

 

[xthekidx]

I voted i7 between the two builds, but I would discourage you from building either. IMO, DDR3 is not worth the cost, you see very minimal performance gains between DDR3 and DDR2, which costs less than half the price. I would not recommend building an i7 for less than $1500 because you end up skimping way too much on the parts, and you don't get enough return in performance for the money spent. Especially for a computer that is for gaming, you will build a much better gaming system for the same price if you go with a Core 2 build or PII using AM2+ mobo. The CPU and ram have some effect on gaming performance, but it is dwarfed by the the amount of effect the GPU has, so the place to spend the money is on the GPU, not the CPU or ram.

On the Phenom build, you should get the PII 940 instead, the amount of performance boost you will get there is huge compared to the extra cost, plus it has an unlocked multiplier which will enable you to overclock it better and maximize performance, but again don't go AM3.

So since this is a gaming build, and you seem to have a max budget of around $850-900, don't go for quad core. Games don't use quad cores yet, they are programmed to only use 1-2 cores, so your extra cores are sitting idle while 2 cores do all the work. Instead get a Core 2 Duo. Here is my build suggestion to you:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14507967

You can combo the cpu/mobo for $15 off, and you get $45 MIR. The PSU allows for xfire by adding another GPU, if you didnt want to do that then you could save money by getting a cheaper PSU and cheaper mobo, but I always build with expansion in mind.

 

[batuchka]

I didn't vote because both systems ran with PSUs that came with the casing and a 9800GTX+ is only like a HD4850 so i agree - DDR2 more bang for buck so my config
$703.93
-$20 MIR
$7.92 shipping
$691.85

 

[xthekidx]

I missed the fact that both builds use bundled cheapo PSU's, that is a big no-no, always go with a good reputable manufacturer for the PSU, otherwise your system is a ticking timebomb, and when (not if) the PSU fails, many of your other system components go with it to the grave.

 

[aznguy0028]

I didn't vote because both systems ran with PSUs that came with the casing and a 9800GTX+ is only like a HD4850 so i agree - DDR2 more bang for buck so my config
$703.93
-$20 MIR
$7.92 shipping
$691.85
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q205/batuchka/7XXDeneb.jpg

i agree with most parts on batuchka's list, but i have a few extra suggestions for your build. i recommend you replacing the PSU and case with the ocz stealth 700w in case you ever want to upgrade any parts. ie. SLI/Xfire. the antec earthwatts is good, but it's only 500 and 10$ more. 2nd is the Antec 300, one of the best entry builders cases.

OCZ stealthstream 700w 59$ after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

Antec 300 Case 44.99$ flat rate.
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283272

that should shave 15$ off your build