AMD or Intel?

[xnomad]

I haven't been in the gaming hardware market since maybe 2003. I'm completely overwhelmed by all the choices these days; I've completely lost touch!

I'm tending towards the intel i5-2400 what do you guys think?

Tom's hardware reckons that it's only marginally worse than the i5-2500K and you won't even notice the difference, plus it's much cheaper. It also has some good over-all scores beating a few of the i7 series. Only problem is this intel H67/P67 chipset issue that kind of stops you buying a Socket 1155 motherboard at the moment!

Also why is anyone even going for the i5-2500k rather than just the i5-2500? Look at the specs on the intel site. The only difference I can see is that the 'k' version has virtualization technology that you won't need for gaming unless you are running Xen etc. for dedicated servers or something why pay the extra for the 'k'??? In fact the 2400 has VT; So you want to run Xen? Then get that

[T}{OR]

Originally Posted by xnomad

Also why is anyone even going for the i5-2500k rather than just the i5-2500? Look at the specs on the intel site. The only difference I can see is that the 'k' version has virtualization technology that you won't need for gaming unless you are running Xen etc. for dedicated servers or something why pay the extra for the 'k'??? In fact the 2400 has VT; So you want to run Xen? Then get that

The fact that 2500k can reach 5GHz makes a pretty strong case. 2600k on the other hand equals waste of money for gaming. Skip the 2400 and go for the 2500 - once chipset issues are sorted out. And don't believe everything Tom says.

[ChrisDNT]

Only clever thing to do NOW is to wait until next month to see how good or how bad AMD Bulldozer is.

[kendo65]

Originally Posted by ChrisDNT

Only clever thing to do NOW is to wait until next month to see how good or how bad AMD Bulldozer is.

I didn't realise they were launching so soon.

In that case, and given the fact that you won't be able to get a P67 motherboard for another month or so, definitely the sensible thing to do is wait.

[T}{OR]

Originally Posted by kendo65

I didn't realise they were launching so soon.

In that case, and given the fact that you won't be able to get a P67 motherboard for another month or so, definitely the sensible thing to do is wait.

Unless someone has a link with the latest info...

There are rumors that we will know more about the new Bulldozers till the end of this month. At best they will be released in late April / May - or sometime in Q2. Again, this is a rumor.

[Widowmaker214]

Before getting a sandy bridge chip... you might want to read up on thier PCIE bandwidth and Memory.
From what I have read, they don't have near the lanes that the X58 has. Only 16 lanes. You wont see that upgraded until the the new 1356 socket comes out Q3 '11.

Short term builds, Id say they would be ok. But Ive never liked having to upgrade all the time. Usually the PCs I build have a working life of 4-5 years.
Considering the 1155 is more of a mainstream board, it would make a little more sense with an X58 now, or wait till the 1356 boards come out towards the end of the year.

Im building a new X58 I7 990x machine as soon as the new gigabyte or asus board is available. (G1 Assassin, X58-OC or the asus Rampage III black edition)

Dont know if COD will use physx yet, but having two or three video cards is a bit more important IMHO. If physx is used, I'll add a third card dedicated to physx.

Also.. on the sandy bridge boards, its DUAL channel RAM, not TRIPLE. So again.. X58 I believe is still the way to go.

[kendo65]

Originally Posted by Widowmaker214

Before getting a sandy bridge chip... you might want to read up on thier PCIE bandwidth and Memory.
From what I have read, they don't have near the lanes that the X58 has. Only 16 lanes. You wont see that upgraded until the the new 1356 socket comes out Q3 '11.
...

Also.. on the sandy bridge boards, its DUAL channel RAM, not TRIPLE. So again.. X58 I believe is still the way to go.

Still, on the many tests produced by various magazines and online it is clear that currently Sandy Bridge produces results that challenge (and often beat) much more expensive core i7 processors running (more expensive) triple-channel memory.

For me the aim is to get 'powerful enough' equipment for a reasonable price - not gain bragging rights about having the best spec system.

Originally Posted by Widowmaker214

Short term builds, Id say they would be ok. But Ive never liked having to upgrade all the time. Usually the PCs I build have a working life of 4-5 years.
Considering the 1155 is more of a mainstream board, it would make a little more sense with an X58 now, or wait till the 1356 boards come out towards the end of the year.

Im building a new X58 I7 990x machine as soon as the new gigabyte or asus board is available. (G1 Assassin, X58-OC or the asus Rampage III black edition)
...

Unfortunately, in my own case, I want to upgrade for the imminent release of COD. There is ALWAYS more advanced and faster computer technology just around the corner. Sooner or later you have to 'jump'.

[Codex]

Originally Posted by Widowmaker214

Before getting a sandy bridge chip... you might want to read up on thier PCIE bandwidth and Memory.
From what I have read, they don't have near the lanes that the X58 has. Only 16 lanes. You wont see that upgraded until the the new 1356 socket comes out Q3 '11.

Short term builds, Id say they would be ok. But Ive never liked having to upgrade all the time. Usually the PCs I build have a working life of 4-5 years.
Considering the 1155 is more of a mainstream board, it would make a little more sense with an X58 now, or wait till the 1356 boards come out towards the end of the year.

Im building a new X58 I7 990x machine as soon as the new gigabyte or asus board is available. (G1 Assassin, X58-OC or the asus Rampage III black edition)

Dont know if COD will use physx yet, but having two or three video cards is a bit more important IMHO. If physx is used, I'll add a third card dedicated to physx.

Also.. on the sandy bridge boards, its DUAL channel RAM, not TRIPLE. So again.. X58 I believe is still the way to go.

Yeah at the end of the day frame for frame you get the same results with the cheaper chipset.

The trouble with a X58 setup is its setup price compared to what you can get with a P55/P67 setup. You'd be hard pressed to max out the PCIe lanes with even Crossfire / SLI using a single monitor using P55/P67.

Unless you're running triple graphics cards with triple screens at an insane resolution the X58 option is just expensive overkill, and becoming more out of date as time goes by.

[imaca]

Originally Posted by ChrisDNT

Only clever thing to do NOW is to wait until next month to see how good or how bad AMD Bulldozer is.

+1

[Oldschool61]

Originally Posted by T}{OR

The fact that 2500k can reach 5GHz makes a pretty strong case. 2600k on the other hand equals waste of money for gaming. Skip the 2400 and go for the 2500 - once chipset issues are sorted out. And don't believe everything Tom says.

Your buying a Ferrari to drive in a parking garage!! Dont waste so much money.