Can't decide which build to go with. Help!

[James_N]

Hi Everyone,

I am back and forth among these 3 builds & I can't make up my mind. I use the computer for gaming only.

Basically, the X4 955 and the Q9550 builds cost about the same. The Q9550 build performs a bit better than the X4 955 build, but has no upgrade path. The i7 build costs about $200 extra and it can be upgraded later. Please share your thought on this.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Deneb 3.2GHz
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3
OCZ Platinum 4GB (OCZ3P13334GK) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (P45)
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 (OCZ2RPR10664GK)

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
ASUS P6T X58 ATX LGA1366 DDR3 LGA1366
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800 CL 7-7-7-24) (OCZ3P1600LV6GK)

Common parts
Corsiar 750TX
Gigabyte 4890 1G
22" monitor

James

 

[fullmetall]

Gaming, you'll get the best performance out of the i7, your Budget would be?

and which parts do you already have? mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, etc....

 

[Onus]

I'm not sure you need to worry much about the upgrade path for the CPU. You can lower the price of the Q9550 build a little by getting DDR2-800. That's really all you need. If you get DDR2, get RAM that will run at its advertised timings on the JEDEC standard 1.8V. Anything else is a factory overclock that may not go much higher, especially without even more voltage and heat.
Gaming is so much more dependent on the GPU that it really doesn't matter. Go with the one that interests you the most, and/or is cheapest.

 

[nerrawg]

Hmm... could I suggest that if you really wanted to save money and gaming is all you do: go for an AMD phemon II 720 BE or 940 BE and go for a DDR2 build on an AM2+ AMD mobo (like a 790X/GX/FX). This will save you some money and I kinda doubt you will lose that much performance in your gaming - use the extra on your GPU or save it for something else.
Just a suggestion - although Fullmetal is right here and budget is important - if you are wondering how much to spend check out my article on it here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/264181-31-best-bang-buck-spend-system

 

[James_N]

I already have a monitor, 4890 video card, and Corsair 750Tx, HD, OS, CDROM, Case. I can spend up to $1000 for CPU, MB, RAM, & Cooling, but I don't want to waste money if it does not benefit me.

 

[nerrawg]

It is really up to you then - I think that you probably won't see more than possibly a few fps increase from a DDR2 AMD solution to a core i7 solution when it come to gaming - and you will be able to play at 1680x1050 at max settings on all games with well over 30 fps on the AMD solution - which I assume is your res on that 22inch. So from my philosophy that future proofing is BS I would save the money and get the AMD .
However there are many good arguments for i7. Your normal encoding/decoding apps and other things like that will fly in comparison to the AMD. Also you may in the future find it a good platform to upgrade on - I think there will be a 32nm 6 core i7 coming out in a year and if todays mobos can support this given a simple bios upgrade or something that is definitely worth taking into consideration.

 

[Helloworld_98]

the 6 core comes out in Q1 2010.

 

[James_N]

Hi,
Is there any compatibility problem with the three core components below? I am planning to build this if it looks good.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Deneb 3.2GHz
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

 

[nerrawg]

well for the first if you are gonna OC then you save a lot of money buying this CPU instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471&Tpk=phenom%20II%20940%20AMD
actually just get the 940 anyways - much better bang for the buck than the 955 right now
as for memory go with this and overclock it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

then again if this the corsair memory you mentioned then this is a hell of a mail-in-rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145215
so that is good as well

 

[Kill@dor]

Core i7 w/3.8 OC + Gigabye X58 + DDR3 2000 + Nice Case w/beer cooling shaft = Pure Pwnage James!

+1 post

 

[nerrawg]

Core i7 w/3.8 OC + Gigabye X58 + DDR3 2000 + Nice Case w/beer cooling shaft = Pure Pwnage James!

+1 post

ROFL, nice specs there - like the beer cooling -could use it right now actually;
anyways complete overkill and waste for gaming - specially that high speed memory