Ok first off, I am torn between the AMD Phenom 9950 and Q9550, but since this i7 came out.. I am just baffled as to which unit set up I should go for.. I am looking for something that will last several years.. such as 5+ and will EASILY play anything that comes out in that time frame without a new setup.. so here is my basic system setup without CPU/MOBO and RAM: HDD: OS HDD (Vista 64 bit Ultimate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296 Storage HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148301 Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102768 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 Now that is my standard rig setup as of right now.. here is the CPU/MOBO and Ram choices I've made.. just which one will be the best option for the next 5 years? i7 setup: CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 MoBo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130215 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145222 Q9550 setup: CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041 MoBo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131274 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145198 And finally the Phenom CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291 MoBo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131292 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214 Well I think I got everything covered.. besides the dvd burner and players but that is standard, Well let me know what should be the better option again.. looking for something that will play anything for the next 5 years, with MINIMUM upgrades.
Phenom - cheap, slow Q9550 - expensive, fast i7 - Really expensive, very fast A system that can play games well for 5 years plus will never exist, games just change too much. The best system in my mind for that is the Socket 775 Q9550 one, as it is close to the i7 in performance and half the price. In fact, with a motherboard that good, you could probably beat the i7 system purely on how far you can overclock the Q9550 (the i7s only make 3.8Ghz on a good motherboard, and the Q9550s will make the same, if not further)
if you want the system to last longer you should go with i7. the new socket will compatable with at least the next revision of i7. a nice i7 setup could last up 3 years with a video card upgrade in between. i7 is not that much more expensive. the cpu is actually cheaper than the q9550 but memory costs 4x as much. i would personally get the i7 system. but i would get this motherboard instead. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362
Yeah I was crunching the numbers and the i7 system was going to cost me about 300-800 more.. for 2 systems.. forgot to mention that ><.. I am building 2 identical systems for me and my wife, anyway.. I had actually moved from the MSI board to the Asus Rampage II LGA 1366 board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813131352 Now the only difference I can tell; of importance atleast, not the sata & raid hook up differences, and the ob audio, is that the Asus system has 3 pci express 2.0 x 16 slots.. and doesnt mention any others, ill have to check it out on there site but I believe it has more. Well let me know if it is worth the extra $100 than the gigabyte board you posted.
the asus board isnt much different from the gigabyte board i posted. they both have 3 pci x16. i think it would be a waste to get that board. if you dont really need sli you could get the cheaper msi board. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130216 sam is right about a q9550 having similar performance. it wont be quite a fast but you could get a cheaper p45 board and 8gb of ddr2 for less. the only other disadvantage is you have to upgrade your motherboard ram and cpu when you want a new cpu. mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 ram x2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145
I will not be going sli, I am getting the 4870 x2 gpu : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814102768
than you would be fine going with the msi board that is half the price of the asus rampage. the more expensive boards have support for sli and crossfire so that is one of the reasons they are more expensive. since your not going to use that this board will be fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130216
Ok but I am also loosing a good ob audio system from the asus board and the sata 3.0 gb/s plug ins. I will also loose an extra pci 2.0 x 16 slot and be bumping down from the 1600 mhz ddr 3 i was going to use to 1333 ddr3. I will eventually be planning on acquiring an extra 4870 x2 per system but it does not look like it is needed any time soon. I think that my choices are really the Asus, the Eclipse MSI board, and the Gigabyte board.
The X2 doesn't even require a crossfire compatible board, so any will do. Genuinely though, for gaming the i7 is no better, the only thing you gain is not having to change your motherboard when the next CPUs come out in a year or so, but as you've seen the initial outlay is currently horrendous. Upgrading later might not work out any more expensive anyway. Linx: i7 can't support high speed DDR3 at all, and using DDR3 is a waste anyway as it doesn't change performance a damn bit. DDR2 1066mhz is plenty, I assure you.
Who knows, I am not looking to buying the ram, mobo, and cpu till after january most likely, waiting for that price drop escpicially with the release of the phenom II x4.. and that might be worth the wait?
i doubt that the prices of ram will drop much by then. also i dont think that phenom II will outperform i7. it will most likely be competitive with core2.
Indeed, it'll give the earlier core 2s a run for their money, but the later ones and the i7s will probably beat it.
The Asus Rampage II 1366 board has a few nice combo discounts, one of which is 6 gigs of Corsair XMS3 ddre 1600 ram.. $30 but hey.. still better than nothing .
Looking at AMD's timetable; http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/16/phenom-ii-athlon-x4-oh I may wait till Feb. to purchase my mobo and cpu set,..
I'm somewhat doubtful of the overclocking performance, especially given the stock power consumption. Even moreso based on how far all AMD's previous chips have got. On top of that, a current Phenom needs to be at 4Ghz to beat a 45nm Core 2 Quad at only 3.5Ghz, so unless that overclocking figure is accurate, and the performance gain of the new architecture is at least 15%, Deneb will sit behind Yorkfield, let alone Bloomfield.
Could care less how it performs, just looking for the i7 equipment to go down . I am sold on the i7 and asus board, unless one better comes out , just wanting amd to help out the consumer
I was looking at my two cases I have laying around that I was going to through these parts in .. Both are mid towers, should I just bite the bullet and buy 2 abs Canyon cases: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811215012 Or should the Rampage II board be universal? How can I tell that it will fit the plate before I get the pieces at my house and then have to order a case to fit it in?
A coolermaster stacker would fit that board for half the price. Or, you could just buy a normal ATX board that would fit in a $100 case.
