Plan on upgrading system, need help with AMD or INTEL...

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BigGreg85

Gawd
Joined
Jun 19, 2003
Messages
910
Hi All,

I have been out of the game for a few years, and would like some input on what hardware to go after when upgrading my system...

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, web browsing, virtual machines, etc

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Under $1000 incl tax/shipping

3) Where do you live?
Chicago, IL

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, mobo, video card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
HDD - 2TB SATA drive

6) Will you be overclocking?
maybe

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
have 20" monitor, plan to get something larger

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
asap

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
As future proof as possible. What socket do you expect to be around the longest?

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

Win 7 ultimate 64bit


here is some hardware I have been looking at...

Intel-
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CORSAIR XMS 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model CMX6GX3M3A2000C9

AMD-
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL


Clearly the Intel setup is more expensive, but do you expect the LGA 1366 sock to stick around for awhile for 6 core CPUs?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Much appreciated!
 
Side note: I plan on waiting around for a video card until the 6000 series comes out from ATI. I currently have 8600gt that I can use in the mean time.
 
Neither socket will "last" very long as Intel and AMD will be releasing their new processors and sockets early next year. Intel's Socket 1366 will "last" a bit longer, as the initial release of Intel's Sandy Bridge processors is intended to replace Intel's mainstream (Socket 1156) product line, but it will be eventually "replaced" as well. If you see something that you like now, you should buy it with the intention of keeping it for the long haul. With that in mind, I don't know when or even if Intel's currently available six-core processors (the i7-970 and the EE i7-980X) will receive a price drop any time soon (but given Intel's past history, I doubt it).

A few more questions:

- Which games do you plan on playing? At which level of visual quality?
- When were you planning on buying the larger/better monitor?
- If you were to overclock, would you overclock right away?
- Are VMs going to be the most resource-intensive task you perform on this system?
- Can you specify the parts (brand/model) you plan on reusing? How long have you had each item for?
 
You're missing a PSU from question 4 and 5. Were you gonna reuse a PSU (if so, list the make and model please) or buy a new PSU?

Anyway, tiraides is right that neither socket is long for this world. You could always hope that Intel might do what they did with the Q6600 and slash the price of the $885 i7 970 pretty heavily. The Q6600 was $851 at launch and dropped to $200 after a year or two. Then again, that price drop was right before the release of Intel's new 45nm CPUs IIRC.
 
Hmm... depending on your current setup, if its a pretty outdated system, I wouldn't feel bad at all getting an AMD AM3 build or Intel 1366 build. You'll certainly get an improvement in performance and you won't pay the premium cost of it when it was first released.
 
I think it would be better to wait until sandy bridge and/or bulldozer arrives. I think the performance per watt will be better (and the raw performance). It's up to you to decide, if you need now more power i would suggest the am3 plattform with an X4 965. At least it's cheaper and probably you won't feel the lower performance compared to an i7 930.
 
My PSU is...

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT 500W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
 
BigGreg85 said:
My PSU is...

ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT 500W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I'd recommend a new PSU since the Enermax Liberty PSus weren't known for lasting long without dying or causing issues. Not to mention that the Enermax Liberty 500W is now 5 years old. Considering that a PSU's power output capability declines over time due to quality and wear and tear, not a good idea to use a 5 year old PSU whose capability is now unknown. .

So yeah, you're definitely looking a new PSU. Go for one of the following:
$90 - Corsair 650TX 650W PSU
$110 - Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
$120 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 750W PSU
$130 - Corsair 850TX 850W PSU

Also some additional notes:
- Unless you're planning on doing some high-end overclocking past 4.2Ghz, no reason to get DDR3 2000 RAM for the Core i7 build. No you won't notice a difference between DDR3 2000 and DDR3 1600 RAM in most situations. So you can drop down to DDR3 1600 if you want good overclocking or DDR3 1333 for a little overclocking

- The AMD setup is not really that good for the money. I recommend this combo instead:
$270 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD 890GX ATX Motherboard Combo

Equally fast CPU but now you get a better motherboard as well as USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s for future hardware.

- Also note that the Core i7 950 now costs about the same as the Core i7 930
 
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