Which rig would be better for gaming? AMD vs Intel

J

jjolin

Gawd
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Dec 21, 2005
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they will both be using the same cpu, case ect, only memory, motherboard and cpu will be different. now, on to the hardware.i play alot of new games like final fantasy xiv, battlefield bad company 2, ect. also note on the amd rig, there are 2 5870s in crossfire. i game at 1920x1200


I7 920
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

12gb of ocz 1600 memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...22&cm_re=ocz_gold_12gb-_-20-227-422-_-Product

msi pro e motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...130226&cm_re=msi_pro_e-_-13-130-226-_-Product

and a single 5870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product

VS

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

12 gb of ripjaws 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231310

ASRock 890FX DELUXE3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157196

2 5870's IN CROSSFIRE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product
 
Last edited:
You only need half the ram. If you insist on 4GB sticks just get two.

You don't need a 920 and the X58 chipset. You could cut down the price significantly going for P55 and squeeze in crossfire gpus at that point.

You don't even need quad core. A minimum of 3 cores will be more than enough for every game out there. Since Intel doesn't offer triple core you have no choice but with AMD you do have the choice to save additional costs.

Just compare the costs of going P55 vs AM3 and pull the trigger.
 
Also, I would skip the OCZ memory entirely in favor of another brand if you're going with that i7-920 system since the quality control of OCZ's memory modules has been iffy. I had those Gold PC3-12800 modules when I first got my i7, and the system would crash repeatedly when I tried to do something more than just surfing the Internet even with that memory running at the system's slowest supported memory speed (DDR3-800, or PC3-6400) and very loose 6-6-6-18 timings (for that slow memory speed). And yes, I did try running one 2GB stick of that memory in single-channel to isolate the problem - but the results were exactly the same no matter which stick or memory slot I used. I used an Intel DX58SO mobo at the time - and that mobo, although it is otherwise stable, is one of the pickiest mobos that I have run across recently in terms of memory compatibility.
 
strictly gaming in mind you really don't need to go with the x58 build, i5 750/760 is more than enough and will allow you to save ~$200+. that said there's no point in paying more for the phenom II 965 BE when the pII 955 BE will do exactly the same thing.

12Gb is also way more memory than you need for gaming. you're wasting a lot of money with what you're currently looking at.

i5 750/760, mobo ~$150 or less, 4Gb ram under $100, 2x gtx 460 1Gb

pII 955 BE, mobo ~$100 or less, 4Gb ram under $100, 2x gtx 460 1Gb

not listing any real specifics since there's more to know about what else you're doing, and your budget as well as other components, but that basic outline 'll help you save a ton of cash and show no real difference in gaming performance over what you had planned.
 
jjolin said:
which of these 2 setups would give me a faster framerate?
Click to expand...
Probably the AMD setup.

But as others have pointed out, both setups are crap buys for the money. Reasons why:
- The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $200 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

- As for the HD 5870 Crossfire setup, it's been shown time and time again that GTX 460 1GB SLI will perform as well, if not better, than HD 5870 Crossfire in most games:
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/10/08/ati_crossfirex_vs_nvidia_sli_new_games_performance/1
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/09/27/gtx_480_460_sli_vs_5870_crossfirex_redux/
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/09/geforce_gtx_460_1gb_sli_vs_radeon_hd_5870_cfx/

As such, HD 5870 Crossfire is a poor buy.

Alternative setup:
$360 - Intel Core i5 750 CPU + Asus P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard Combo
$85 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$440 - Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card
---
Total: $885 plus tax and shipping.

The above setup will outperform the AMD setup in both CPU and GPU power, but provide close to the same performance as the i7 setup in terms of CPU power but at a much lower cost.

Not many reasons to go with either of those setups you've listed unless you have those setups on hand already. As others have pointed out, you do not need 12GB of RAM for gaming as 4GB of RAM is all that you need.
 
ok, so say i already own a single 5870, and i knock the memory down to 4 gb each. also would 2 x8 lanes be noticably different that 2 full x16 with 2 5870s?
 
Like the others have said. i5 is just about as good as I7's when it comes to gaming. Both are usually better then amd's but by how much usually depends on which game.
 
jjolin said:
ok, so say i already own a single 5870, and i knock the memory down to 4 gb each. also would 2 x8 lanes be noticably different that 2 full x16 with 2 5870s?
Click to expand...

no difference in the lanes. with a bit of overclocking you probably shouldn't even need a second 5870 to max out most setting at your resolution in most games though.
 
jjolin said:
ok, so say i already own a single 5870, and i knock the memory down to 4 gb each. also would 2 x8 lanes be noticably different that 2 full x16 with 2 5870s?
Click to expand...

It was recently shown that there was no noticeable difference with GTX 480 SLI between full x16 and x4 SLI:
http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/25/gtx_480_sli_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x4x4/

So basically, no you won't notice a difference at all with HD 5870 Crossfire with PCI-E x8 and PCI-E x16.

As for your updated spec I guess, I recommend just selling off HD 5870 card you have now and switch full on to GTX 460 1GB SLI if you're going with the Intel setups. It'll be more cost-effective than buying a second HD 5870 and you'll have a lower chance of a scaling issue with certain games. Not to mention lower heat and lower power usage to boot. $100 more lower power usage, lower heat, 16% to 20% more performance and lower chance of scaling issues is worth it IMO.
 
IMO a single GTX 480 would better. I hate SLI and CF Micro-stuttering and drive issues.
 
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