Widescreen Gaming Forum

My budget is about $1000, and my first priority is gaming performance, with encoding being a somewhat distant second.

Last i looked at doing this, i was aiming for an i7 920, 6 or 8gb of ddr3, and a mid-range mobo with some USB 3.0 ports. Now that I look at it again, I see a lot of stuff that I've never looked at before.

Okay i guess RAM and a mobo are pretty easy to chose.. A mobo that will let my upgrade, and have a second PCI-E 16x slot and a good layout, and soem RAM that specs a but higher than i need.

Which leaves the CPU. Is the newer Intel I7 core such hot shit? Do thsoe 6-core AMD chips kick ass? I really have no moral or idealogical preference, i just want bang for my buck, along with good overclocking ability. My other specs are in my sig.

Yes, I'm being lazy about this be not doing the usual hours of research, but my days off lately have been few, and you folks seem to be on top on this stuff, so I'm seeking opinion, and more importantly, what to avoid. I may buy a new video card, i may not. If i do , I'll likely grab a couple of the 6xxx cards. ATI still seems more multi-monitor friendly than Nvidia.

This thread is relevant to your question:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21288&p=204234

For gaming, hexacore vs. i7 just isn't very different. GPU will be a performance drag long before either CPU, especially at multi-mon resolutions. Re: encoding, see Paradigm Shifter's last comment.

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Yep, that's the lazy aspect. HAd i looked for a minute, I'd have likely foudn that.

And yes, it has the info i was after. Thanks.

I would wait till January the 9th for the new Intel Mid Range parts personally.

You'll get both a 1090T/1100T or an i7 920/950 to 4GHz without too much trouble; the difference is do you want 4 real and 4 'fake' cores, or six real ones? When it comes down to it now, I'd say they're pretty equal in the real world, despite what others will tell you. You need to consider platform cost - AMD mobos are usually cheaper than their x58 equivalents - however, I'd wait until the new year to see what Sandy Bridge brings.

You'll get both a 1090T/1100T or an i7 920/950 to 4GHz without too much trouble; the difference is do you want 4 real and 4 'fake' cores, or six real ones? When it comes down to it now, I'd say they're pretty equal in the real world, despite what others will tell you. You need to consider platform cost - AMD mobos are usually cheaper than their x58 equivalents - however, I'd wait until the new year to see what Sandy Bridge brings.

And 2 sticks of RAM will be less than 3 sticks (unless you want 8GB on an AMD platform :P)

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Oh, I'm in no real rush to get this stuff. I still have to get myself a television and perhaps a sound system on boxing week. Hooray for cheap rent. I figured I'd get it by the end of January.

And after a bit of looking, I think I'll be a RAM whore and get 8 or 12 gb.

Thanks for the tips, pricks.

I just spec'd out a full system AMD 1090T 5870 was cost 2100cdn with tax. All high end, Asus crosshair, AX750PSU, 8GB DDR3 1333 ram, Lian LI case two months ago.

With 6970 even cheaper.

Intel may have the fastest $1200 CPU, but you cannot beat AMDs 1090T for under $300.

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Exmortis Darkenblade aka "Scott"

These days you can find me:

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And the voice replied "Legion for we are many."

My intel board and cpu I got for little over 500 and memory. So not to much at newegg. Four usb 2.0 ports and 2 3.0 ports. Plus 3 PCI E ports. The board is in my sig and memory is one stick of 4gb.

Thanks, but I think i'll hold off for the those Sandy Bridge chips to be released. At the least, the other, older chips will (should) drop in price.

Waiting sucks.