Yet another Intel or AMD question

[cynip]

I'm picking a new CPU for my next system,
and would love to have your comment.

Selection criteria:
It is a gaming PC but I'm not going for extreme
(e.g. I'd get 5850 but not 5870 or 5770
I hope you get the idea)

[strike]1. Is core i5 700 a good choice to build next month?
- Should I wait for 32nm product?[/strike]
answered

2. How about AMD's phenom II X4? I'm not getting 2 5850 for Xfire but couldn't rule out the possibility
(It will drop price eventually~)
- I've heard phenom might be the bottle neck in high end, dual card setup, will 5850x2 one of the case?

3. Anything I should know about clock speed and RAM?

Sorry if questions are not presented well enough...
And thanks in advance for the advice.

edit: edited

 

[jbl91]

See this guide:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/273518-31-homebuilt-buying-guide#t2012454

 

[alikum]

1. 32nm is still some time away. If you need a PC now, build it now. No one can really tell the performance of 32nm, the answer to it is wait and see. As far as rumors go, Gulftown is 1366 exclusive. You do not benefit much from triple channel, or shall I say, the benefit is negligible. As for buying an i5, get a motherboard that does not have socket made by Foxconn. Otherwise, I would advise against overclocking i5.

2. Phenom II x4 is still a good, solid choice if you are on a tight budget. Depending on the resolution you play at, it may/may not bottleneck. However, it shouldn't present too much of a problem once you've overclocked it.

3. Get DDR3, 1333MHz is where you should start. If you do not do intense overclocking, get Kingston Value Ram. They are true budget rams that perform very well.

 

[cynip]

I'll most likely play at 1280*1024, so I think CPU won't be the bottle neck if that's what you mean?

On the Oct 09 "Best gaming CPU"piece they've put the phenom II x4 945 and i5 750 at $170 best buy and $200 best buy. Makes it a tough choice for me. I could afford the $30 but the problem is does it worth it...

Also, for gaming purpose, wouldn't higher memory bandwidth helps a lot?
i7 would be out of reach for my budget though, sadly lol.

 

[alikum]

cynip, if you play at that resolution, you do not even need a 5850. At low resolutions, games tend to be CPU-dependent. If you were to pit Phenom II against i5 with the condition that you CAN afford the extra $30, get the i5. However, avoid boards that have sockets made by Foxconn. Do some research on google just to safeguard your investment.

No, RAM is the least deciding factor when it comes to gaming. 4GB DDR3 1333MHz will serve you well especially if you are not particular with benchmarking. Otherwise, you may want to look at RAMs with lower timings.

 

[cynip]

Thank for the reply

 

[cyndi]

if my fan that covers the cpu was very dirty and it caused my computer to shut down did I fry my cpu out?

 

[coasterman]

A really fast gaming configuration for a pc is to have an Intel Core i7-920 processor with a Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2, which actually has crossfire on one graphics card, since it has 2 GPUs. That setup has been letting me max out the graphics qualities on my games without the slightest bit of performance reduction.

In my opinion, Intel is always the better choice.

 

[roofus]

Phenom 2 is an excellent gaming platform. The only real drawback of the AMD platform is the inability to do CF and SLI on the same board. That usually isnt a concern for someone who has a favorite brand but that flexibility is nice. Conversely, I bought an nForce AMD board and a AMD CF board both for less than the cost of my single i7 board. Just some food for thought there.