I5 750 or Phenom II x4 955 for Gaming PC

[SUPER NAME]

Hey there!

I'd like to know whether to purchase an i5 750 or a Phenom II x4 955, and what motherboard to purchase with that choice, alongside a reliable PSU which is NOT from a no-name brand.

My budget is approximately $650 (give or take, which includes the parts I listed below).

I will be using it primarily for gaming, and occasionally some other various Windows based tasks (as I already own a MacBook Pro for my general computing needs).

I will NOT be needing a monitor, GPU, speakers, case, hard drive, optical drive and RAM (only if the AMD CPU is recommended), as I have already either chosen what to get to act as these components or will be reusing some components from a late-2007 Inspiron 530.

I would like the components preferably from the Canadian Newegg site.

Do not care for brand, but do want the motherboard manufactured either by Asus or Gigabyte.

I most likely WILL overclock (but not to insane speeds), and will most certainly NOT use Crossfire.

The 22" monitor I will be reusing has a maximum resolution of 1680x1050.

So far I have decided on the following components:

PowerColor PCS+ 5770 GDDR5 1GB PCIe 2.1 (although 2.1/brand doesn't really matter to me, this comes with a free copy of Dirt2): http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131327

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB (had bad luck with past WD drives, and the Seagate drive in my MBP has worked wonders, so decided on this): http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395&Tpk=seagate%20barracuda%207200.12%20500gb

Thermaltake V3 (I plan on buying this locally, not from Newegg, as one of my local shops has these on sale for $30. Plus, buying cases and having them shipped just doesn't seem worth it): http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094&Tpk=thermaltake%20v3

The RAM I get will be dependent on what motherboard I have recommended to me, which is dependent on what CPU is chosen. However, I already do have 4GBs of DDR2 RAM (compatible with AM2+), if that matters on the recommendations given.

Thanks in advance!

 

[143miah]

I'd go with the AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE since it saves you money. Although the i5 750 performs maybe a little better, the 955 can still be overclocked.

And then with the money saved, you can get yourself a better GPU or something.

 

[samdsox]

i agree with 143 miah. with your money you can't aford an i5 750,

 

[SUPER NAME]

i agree with 143 miah. with your money you can't aford an i5 750,

Money is particularly my main quarrel, it's whether shelling out about an extra $140 for the DDR3 RAM and extra $ for the i5 750 is worth it in the long run for gaming versus using the Phenom II x4 955 on an AM2+ mobo with the 4GBs of DDR2 RAM I already have.

It's also not really the performance of the DDR3 I want to know is worth paying an extra $100 for, but if I should do that over reusing the DDR2 RAM I already have, saving $100.

Wanting about 3-5 years of longevity. I do, however, plan on upgrading the GPU during that time frame.

 

[SUPER NAME]

I'd go with the AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE since it saves you money. Although the i5 750 performs maybe a little better, the 955 can still be overclocked.

And then with the money saved, you can get yourself a better GPU or something.

Just wondering, do you think the Phenom II x4 955 would end up being a bottleneck for games in 3-5 years? Obviously you can't see what game requirements will be in the future, but would it be anything a little OC'ing could fix, if there is a bottleneck?

 

[143miah]

That I can't really answer.

Games are just starting to take advantage of all four cores in a quad-core processor. So, I'd say it may be a good while until you'll need to upgrade your processor. Even today people are using dual core processors and still playing games without issues.

The GPU, however, is what will effect your system gaming-wise. So I still think that the money you save would be much more useful towards a good GPU.

 

[SUPER NAME]

That I can't really answer.

Games are just starting to take advantage of all four cores in a quad-core processor. So, I'd say it may be a good while until you'll need to upgrade your processor. Even today people are using dual core processors and still playing games without issues.

The GPU, however, is what will effect your system gaming-wise. So I still think that the money you save would be much more useful towards a good GPU.

Right! I just realised that quad-cores haven't been used to their full potential in games yet, so mind as well get the Phenom II x4 955 BE (as it preforms similarly as the i5 750 AND that Tom's chose it as the best $160 gaming CPU for this month: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2599-5.html), OC it to a nice clock, not pay for the extra RAM, save more money, and get an even beefier GPU.

Haha, thanks for that tidbit!

Can you recommend a great AM2+ motherboard (preferably from Asus or Gigabyte)?

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[SUPER NAME]

Best answer selected by SUPER NAME.

 

[143miah]

Right! I just realised that quad-cores haven't been used to their full potential in games yet, so mind as well get the Phenom II x4 955 BE (as it preforms similarly as the i5 750 AND that Tom's chose it as the best $160 gaming CPU for this month: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2599-5.html), OC it to a nice clock, not pay for the extra RAM, save more money, and get an even beefier GPU.

Haha, thanks for that tidbit!

Can you recommend a great AM2+ motherboard (preferably from Asus or Gigabyte)?

Thanks for the recommendation.

Can't really recommend a motherboard as I'm still new to the whole computer building business.

But I'd probably get this ASRock one or this MSi one as both are crossfire capable and seem to be getting good reviews. I heard that ASRock is also under AsusTek just like ASUS is, if that helps.

 

[SUPER NAME]

Can't really recommend a motherboard as I'm still new to the whole computer building business.

But I'd probably get this ASRock one or this MSi one as both are crossfire capable and seem to be getting good reviews. I heard that ASRock is also under AsusTek just like ASUS is, if that helps.

Double thanks! One for suggesting what seems like fantastic boards, and for using the Canadian site!

 

[143miah]

Double thanks! One for suggesting what seems like fantastic boards, and for using the Canadian site!

Haha no problem. I saw that you were using newegg.ca in your original post and figured I should use that site to search for a motherboard.