Best Gaming Experience. 2 Setups. Which one?

[bosey85]

Hey guys, I am a semi-newbie. I love building computers and hardcore gaming rigs and use for computer aided drafting and design. I am about to do a rebuild of my current system. I have dwindled it down to two possible setups. Until now all my systems I have built have been AMD. However I have been debating whether or not to try out a Intel setup. I have a budget of $510. I have 2 Nvidia GTX 260's from my previous rig that I am going to transfer over along with my HDD's and an 850watt PSU. I am not in the market for the parts I have just listed; only a motherboard, cpu and ram. Here are the setups I am thinking of using:

#1. -Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
-ASUS SABERTOOTH 55i LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
or
#2. -AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
-MSI NF980-G65 AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

I am pretty dead set on one or the other. Can I please get you all's opinions on which would give me the best gaming experience? Thank you guys in advanced for you help. 😛

 

[JofaMang]

So close in actual gaming performance once both oc'd, stock values I would probably guess the 965 will perform beter, but not noticeable so, unless you are a benchmarker.

Personally I would go 965, purely because I am comfortable with AMD, as performance levels would be so similar that comfortability would be the deciding factor.

 

[JDFan]

I'd agree with JofA - but I'd also change the CPU to the 955 @3.2Ghz and save the $15 - $30 price difference and then as soon as I assembled the system increase the CPU multiplier by +1 to change the clock to 3.4Ghz. to get the same performance as the 965.

 

[bosey85]

JofaMang and JDFan, Thank you very much!! I was thinking the same thing exactly. I have only built AMD pc's, and I have grown to love AMD. I just was thinking about switching up. But if there is gonna be no real difference in performance and I am going to spend almost 70 bucks more on the Intel rig = no sense LOL. Thank you guys very much!

 

[bosey85]

I am kinda at a loss as to who I should choose for the best answer because both of you had very good points. So please don't hold it against me...

 

[bosey85]

Best answer selected by bosey85.