AMD Phenom II 955 x4 or Intel i5

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gidgiddonihah

gidgiddonihah

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I was wondering which had more power for games, is the i5 worth the extra 40$? Planning on OC'ing to 4.0GHz for either one and turning off turbo boost for the i5.

My Intel Build

OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit for System Builders
Case COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP
CPU Intel I5-750 Lynnfield 2.66Ghz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 59W Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard (Mobo) EVGA 111-CD-E630-TR LGA 1156
Power Supply (PSU) Coolmax Silent Fan CXI-500B
Video Card Nvidia Geforce 9600GT
Memory Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 72000 RPM 16MB Cache
DVD/CD LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM
Keyboard LITE-ON SK-1688A/B Black 104 Normal Keys


My AMD Build
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit for System Builders
Case COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP
CPU Amd Phenom II 955 x4
Motherboard (Mobo) ??
Power Supply (PSU) Coolmax Silent Fan CXI-500B
Video Card Nvidia Geforce 9600GT
Memory Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 72000 RPM 16MB Cache
DVD/CD LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 - OEM
Keyboard LITE-ON SK-1688A/B Black 104 Normal Keys


Just to let you know, i already have the video card and PSU. Im just wondering which CPU is better. Please NO BIASED answers, and benchmark links would be nice. :lol: I want the real facts :lol: . Oh and im getting 4 gigs of Corsair RAM not the Kingston 2x1GB.

Thanks Ahead
 
Solution
Raidur


The i7 came up because someone said, "Phenom II beats even the i7 - 950 sometimes so I doubt an i5 would beat Phenom II." It's hogwash, ignore it (although it is true to an extent, Phenom II will win a couple benches under certain circumstances). :)



You probably won't get more than 5% from OCing your cards. As for your CPU it depends on the games but you likely won't get too much of an increase with those cards from a CPU OC. CPU dependent games would...
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LePhuronn

LePhuronn

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with a graphics card as old and underpowered as that you wouldn't even need to go higher than an Athlon II X2

But for the most part the Phenom II and i5 are pretty much head-to-head in gaming. The Core i5 build will be a bit more expensive because the motherboards are a bit more expensive.

As far as benchmarks go, you're on a site full of them! Doesn't take 2 seconds to go find them.
 
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RetiredChief

RetiredChief

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Feb 22, 2007
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For graphic intense games I dought you would see any diff.

ME, I would spend the extra $40 on the intel build Unless the ONLY thing is games.

MB - The Intel MB are often cited as higher cost than AMD. But remember the HDD is the lowest performing (Most improvement comes from improving the Lowest performing device).- Here I think is part of the reason I'd go with the Intel chipset.
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3778&p=6.

CPU Comparision links
I5-750 vs 955 X4 Link to summary, but you can back track to see Benchies.http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/819/12
Vs x4 965
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-x4-965,2389-2.html
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3619&p=10

Benchies that includ the i3-530
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/03/03/overclocking-intel-core-i3-530/6

Intel - Lower power generaly and easier to hit the Higher OC as a Norm - not exceptions
 
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Raidur

Raidur

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The i5 is the better gamer and since you are overclocking it is much better. The i5 has more OC headroom since it has a much lower stock clock. The i5 also has better power usage.

However, if gaming is your main concern then both of these CPUs are very much overkill for a setup with a 9600GT. Get that GPU upgraded when you can. :)

I'm on my phone or i'd get you links but go look it up. Since you will be overclocking and they both have a similar max OC clock, try and find some clock for clock benchmarks. I guarantee however that i5 will be in the lead 95% of the time. Hell higher end Core2Quad is faster clock for clock than Phenom II. That itself should answer your question. :)
 
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hvanpelt

hvanpelt

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If you looked at Benches carefully The Phenom's II 955/965 are sometimes better than an I7 950. so i dont believe the that the I5 is better. the only thing that is better on the Intels is Overclock, although amd isnt far behind in that.
 
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saaiello

saaiello

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I believe I said "for the most part" I didnt say it was the best for everything so don't act like I'm posting false info.

"The Phenom's II 955/965 are sometimes better than an I7 950"

I would like you to show me where it is better then an I7 950.
 
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Raidur

Raidur

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The only difference between the i7 950 and i5-750 is a higher stock clock (and multiplier, making it a little more OCable) and HT (if you don't include the chipset benefits from 1366, which make little difference in gaming). He will be overclocking so stock clock means nothing, and HT makes no difference. In other words for his uses an i7 950 and i5 750 are near equal.

Yes there are times when the Phenom II will beat i5/i7 but these are usually seriously GPU bottlenecked instances and is only by an insignificant 1-5%.

Don't get me wrong, Phenom II is still great, and is plenty for most gamers out there.
 
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Raidur

Raidur

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Id say 9600GT SLI is around the performance of a 4870. Still overkill yes, but not quite as bad. :)
 
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gidgiddonihah

gidgiddonihah

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What if I SLI them, them OC to the max? Would i hit very far up the totem pole?

If i just OC them how far up the totem pole would i hit?
 
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andy5174

andy5174

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Both CPUs are fine for any single video card setup. However, i5-750 would be the no brainer choice for HD4890/HD5830 or better card in CF.
 
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Raidur

Raidur

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The i7 came up because someone said, "Phenom II beats even the i7 - 950 sometimes so I doubt an i5 would beat Phenom II." It's hogwash, ignore it (although it is true to an extent, Phenom II will win a couple benches under certain circumstances). :)



You probably won't get more than 5% from OCing your cards. As for your CPU it depends on the games but you likely won't get too much of an increase with those cards from a CPU OC. CPU dependent games would see benefit though.



Yes, 4870 ~= GTX 260.

And as andy said, the Phenom II is enough for 9600GT SLI so it will work for you as well. However if you plan on having a 4890 crossfire setup or better (some time in the future maybe?) then i5 would be great.
 
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gidgiddonihah

gidgiddonihah

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Yea i wish i could afford that...

And right now im partial to the 9600GT because my parents got it for me for Christmas...lol

The problem is Power, i only have 500 watts so i have to be pretty careful... Lol got that for christmas too, thats why ill prolly SLI another one then OC them. Then in about 3 years maybe 2 ill get something else... Who knows what will be out then, besides Windows 8! :)

 
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gidgiddonihah

gidgiddonihah

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Yea, well that will be in a little while, i checked a PSU calculater and i had 100 watts to spare with extra fans and either the AMD or Intel Proc at 4.0GHZ. I checked and i could even SLI my 9600GT and still have 75 watts to spare :). But that was with 100% CPU utilization and 100% system load. I plan on in a year, maybe two ill get the 5770.

But who knows! :)
 
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enzo matrix

enzo matrix

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errr.... are you referring to the core i7 980x that was originally rumoured to be released as the core i9? Where did you get "phantom" from?
 
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