Hardware advisors assemble

The time has come to get a CPU with more cores, because 2 just won't do.

Firstly my current setup is:

CPU:E8500
MB:Asus P5Q Deluxe
RAM:2x2GB 1066 DDR2


Anyway i picked out a few possible models.

Q9650 It's pretty expensive for a last generation CPU but it would allow me to keep my current MB & RAM .

i7 950 (LGA 1366)

i7 870 (LGA 1156) In the benchmarks i looked @, they seemed pretty even and the price is also about the same. So i guess it's about which socket is better. I actually know very little about the differences, so feel free to enlighten me.


From AMD:

X4 965 The price is certainly very competitive but the performance seemed less than stellar in the tests. And it's 140W TDP.

X6 1090T Six cores sounds awsum but again it only seemed to do well in some applications. Still it was faster than the X4. I've also heard that the Motherboards are cheaper for AMD but I've been too lazy to check.


So which do u think is the best choice or maybe there is something better that i missed. Also all recommendations for new Motherboards are welcome (for a non 775 CPU)

I wanted to buy:
i7 930
MSI Big Bang XPower
.
.
.
But now?

Seems that the main problem is future availability of hexacore processors for 1366 based platforms!!!

So i will wait till Brink...just to see what direction they will choose...

Core i3 for mainstream, Core i5 for performance, Core i7 for high performance, and Core i9 for extreme.

If you use your PC mostly for gaming then get an AMD rig.
Save some money from mobo and cpu and get a better video card or SSD or whatever.

Phenom II X4 955 and 790FX bards are cheap. Intel 1366 platform will cost you 2 times more but will you get 2 times more performance? I don't think so. FPS gaming is all about video card anyway. The only problem with AMD is that you have only a few boards supporting SLI. You need a Nvidia chipset for SLI. I have one. If future games needs more than 4 cores then I'll buy the 1090T.


My board price is ~ 130€
Phenom II X4 955 ~ 140€

Can't beat that price.
For gaming you don't need a 300€ board and 300€ CPU. You need a 300€ video card.

Quote :

If future games needs more than 4 cores then I'll buy the 1090T.

BBC2 needs quad core...

iXs. wrote:

I wanted to buy:
i7 930

As u know They dropped the price of the i7 950 last week. So it now costs the same as the 930.

iXs. wrote:

Seems that the main problem is future availability of hexacore processors for 1366 based platforms!!!

What are they gonna do then, put them on the 1156 or make a new socket?

needforWeed wrote:

Save some money from mobo and cpu and get a better video card or SSD or whatever....
...Phenom II X4 955 and 790FX bards are cheap. Intel 1366 platform will cost you 2 times more but will you get 2 times more performance? I don't think so.
...The only problem with AMD is that you have only a few boards supporting SLI.

I actually wish they had a few more expensive models. Because even their top CPU-s get beaten by mid-class intels.

Anyway i still wonder if the 1090T is worth the extra price over the 965. It's still a few € cheaper than all the intel CPU-s i listed. I'm not planning to upgrade my GPU right now anyway and i don't care about SLI

Also would u be able to tell me if the AM3 socket uses the same coolers as the AM2, i mean are the screw holes in the same place?

you've lost me, sorry

Intel will have 2 new sockets next year to replace 1156 and 1366. AMD will have AM3+ for Bulldozer but it will support AM3 CPUs.

I don't know about AM2 coolers, cause I moved to AM3 from Intel 775 this year.
You have a good board. Why not just buy a Q9550 or something. If you want something new then
you can buy an older AM2+ board and slap the 1055T 6 cores on it. Overclock it to ~ 3.8 Ghz and keep your memory. Wait for the new sockets to spend some big money. If money is not a problem and
you choose Intel then go for the 1366 platform. 1156 will not get 6 cores. 1156 is for i3 and that shit.

There is no point of getting the latest 890FX chipset AM3 board. New socket coming for Bulldozer and all AM3 CPUs work just fine on AM2+/790FX AM3 boards.

Quote :

What are they gonna do then, put them on the 1156 or make a new socket?

Thats what im waithing for...

needforWeed wrote:

Intel will have 2 new sockets next year to replace 1156 and 1366.

That's good to know, i need stay on top of these things more.

needforWeed wrote:

You have a good board. Why not just buy a Q9550 or something.

Well that was my first choice. The problem is that the Q9650 (i don't want anything slower, because in older apps Ghz matters, not cores) is quite expensive for last Gen. I will certainly get it, if i can find a used model.

needforWeed wrote:

...you can buy an older AM2+ board and slap the 1055T 6 cores on it. Overclock it to ~ 3.8 Ghz and keep your memory.

Why do u always mention the second best model (like the 1055, 955 & 9550), do u think the top models are overpriced? Because my first thought would be to get the best in those series.

needforWeed wrote:

There is no point of getting the latest 890FX chipset AM3 board. New socket coming for Bulldozer and all AM3 CPUs work just fine on AM2+/790FX AM3 boards.

I will certainly keep that in mind.

If you can overclock then always get the second best

Phenom II X4 955 is onlt one multy away from 965. Both have a wall @ 4 Ghz.
1055T is a lot cheaper and harder to overclock 'cause of the locked multy but will overclock about the same as the 1090T.

I don't know much about Intel 'cause I did my homework for my AMD rig

Thanks for the help everyone.

My CPU (and everything else) is finally here.





All thats left now is to cut up my new case.

COOL, should be no excuses now

oO thats a badass CPU. Are you going to overclock?

I'm certainly gonna try.

Post #420, beat you to it.

I'm sure you will do better then I. My Phenom II X4 is @ 3,7 Ghz . I'll swap it for the X6 1075T soon. First I'll get another GTX 460 for SLI.

Upload some pics when you are done. I'll show my shit when I have the second GTX 460.

needforWeed wrote:

My Phenom II X4 is @ 3,7 Ghz .

Mine is only 2.5 or 2.8 i think

needforWeed wrote:

I'm sure you will do better then I. My Phenom II X4 is @ 3,7 Ghz . I'll swap it for the X6 1075T soon. First I'll get another GTX 460 for SLI.

Upload some pics when you are done. I'll show my shit when I have the second GTX 460.

Well i did a little better, should work for gaming. Will try the limits a little bit later.





As for the entire setup it wont be finished anytime soon.

What kind of cooling do you have? You should hit 4 + Ghz . Just needs more voltage

Now I need a new chip

Well my PC is up and running but my case is far from finished. I'm not really making a "mod" just some changes to allow my custom components to fit better.

What i wanted to know is, is anyone one interested in seeing some sort of a PC build log. It would be just a topic with some (out of focus ) pics and a little text to go along with it.

bring it on.

go