I was wondering people's opinions on switching to AMD for my new watercooled rig. I'm tempted by the black edition AM3 x4 955 because it's unlocked, nice for a WC setup. It also doesn't break the bank. How do you think this compares with the low end i7s, and potentially the upcoming i5s? As I understand the i5s will not support DDR3? As many people are, I'm looking for good bang for buck!
From what i have read i5 will support DDR3 but in duel channel rather than tripple. Persoanly i'd go for a i7 920 chip/air cooling and add watercooling later if it's over the budget now.
Probably will be around the same performance as a high end i5, as it competes pretty will with the i7 920 (barring overclocking).
Sounds like you want to seriously overclock. You can get the i7 920 to 4GHZ on air... but like any overclock... water works better. Its quieter too. If "bang for your buck" is what you want then waiting for the i5s will break you. When new tech comes out it is usually really pricey for at least a month. Anyway... I've heard October is the expected release... I wouldn't be able to wait that long.
I'm aware the i7 overclocks well, but the unlocked black edition sounds pretty good because it's unlocked. Don't get me wrong, I know watercooling is no 'extreme cooling' solution, where you really feel the benefits of an unlocked CPU, but perhaps it will help? Does anyone have experience with overclocking one of these on water? I'm still undecided, I've been intel for a long time, and loved the core2duo, but the lower price of the AMD is really quite tempting. Perhaps it's false economy.
