I've been planning on building a gaming pc around the 800£ price point for about a year or so now. I've always been looking at building an AMD/ATI system as it seemed to provide the best value for money, but with the new Sandybridge CPUs and the introduction of the GTX 560 I feel like that has changed. So my question is: If we take the same case, PSU, RAM, HDD, CPU cooler and a similarly spec'ed motherboard and compare the combination of an oveclocked AMD Phenom II 965 and a ATI 6870/6950 vs Intel 2500K and a GTX560 what would be the best build value for money wise, considering that the intel build will end up being around 80£ (or so) more expensive, but more powerful? THx Wira PS. I'm thinking of going SLI or Xfire further down the road.
+1 for Intel and Nvidia (I'm not a fanboy of anyone but Sandy Bridge are just a lot quicker than any of the AMD CPUs).
2500K slaughters the P2X4 965. However, I have no idea why you seem to think that all-AMD or Intel/Nvidia are your only two options. You can run AMD graphics with an Intel CPU no problem. You can also run Nvidia graphics on an AMD CPU, although there is very poor SLI support on AMD boards. I'd definitely do 2500k unless budget is a huge issue. The GPU comparison is much more even. That price range is super competitive. I'd probably select a 6950 and flash it to 6970 if I were you.
I've heard that flashing the 6950 is getting risky as AMD are trying to impose a patch that will make it impossible
Yeah, show me where you can buy a 920 cheaper than a 965, and that's a valid argument. There's no denying that the 920 is a better chip, but it's significantly more expensive. They are retailing around the $275-300 mark, whereas the 965 is $150-175. That's a big price increase. It depends on your budget and your priorities, but looking at the two chips purely from a performance perspective is comparing apples to oranges. Throw the P2X4 965 against the i5-6xx that it is priced against, and it's less one-sided. Undoubtedly, Intel has a stranglehold on the processor market above $200. The i5-2500K has that locked up tighter than a catholic girl's belt buckle. But AMD is a serious contender in the $100-$200 range, and owns the <$100 range. I'd wager that for a strict budget, getting an i5 or a Phenom II X4 and spending the price difference on a better GPU is a wiser choice for gaming than the i7.
I know, but I was not talking about the budget. Not once have I mention the $$$. I was just pointing out performance side factor
AMD is actually pretty good at keeping prices at just the right place to be competitive. There's no game out there that can't be managed perfectly by a Phenom 965 X4 ... so I'd agree that it's still a fine choice if someone's on a tight budget. I'd still go SB for this build - damned fast chips that take a good overclock. The AM3 socket is also end of line and I haven't seen AM3+ show up in retail yet. To be fair, the 1155 socket will probably be short lived too, but there'll be faster chips there.
I know the Phenom 965 can run all games, but as mentioned the AM3 platform is getting old and so is the chip. I'll go for the 2500K, thx for all the replies Can I lock the topic?
In all reality, going the AMD route offers a much better price to performance ratio and will end up giving you more money on graphics, which is what actually matters anyhow. Yes, Intel has more raw power, but that raw power rarely gets used in a gaming environment. More importantly, you're paying a lot more money for your processors to lay idle. Seems foolish to me.
What I thought when I made this thread, but the problem is that AMD processors don't really do SLI properly as far as I understand and I like the GTX560. Also it's really not that much more expensive, Still fits in the 800£ budget for me
Here the option for SLI support. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-m4n75td-nf-750a-sli-am3-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1066-1333-2200(oc)-sata-3gb-s-raid-atx http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-m4n98td-evo-nf-980a-sli-s-am3-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1066-1333-2000(oc)-sata-3gb-s-raid-atx No sata 6gbs or usb 3 but a lot cheaper than a 1155 mobo.
certainly did consider a 6870 setup, as mentioned in my first thread. Is AM3 and SLI on that Asus MOBO really a good idea? Does it work just the same as with an intel CPU? I can get a 6870 for around 175£, GTX 560 200£ Intel 2500K 185£, AMD phenom 965 125£ AMD price: 300£ Intel price: 385£ as I mentioned in my first post it's around 80£ more expensive, I think the mobo is around the same price for a good USB 3, Xfire/SLI Mobo. This was kinda my original question you know . . . And I was bombarded with go for the intel setup posts
