Intel Or AMD

[Jonny]

So what's best to go for in a gaming PC?

Intel and Nvidia or AMD? i really want the one that will pack the most punch for high graphic gaming, as i've heard AMD is better for gaming, but there's alot more problems with the hardware?

The spec i'm building is with a i7 3.30ghz processor with 2GB Geoforce 560i Tx card or Phenom x6 3.30 ghz with Radeon HD 6950

They both come to about the same price, so i'm just wondering which one to go with..

/discuss

 

[jayjay]

the intel sandy bridge i5 2600 and i7 2600 are the best cpus on the market by far you cant go wrong, but amd is cheaper so it depends on your circumstances, read some reviews on each cpu and see witch fills your criteria, best of luck mate

 

[Fear]

If you want to put your budget you will get some good reccomended specs back

 

[Tom DWC]

Yeah give us a budget to work with as that is usually a factor in deciding between Intel and AMD.

When it comes to gaming the two platforms are on a fairly even keel but Intel exceeds in the majority of high stress benchmarks (not that these reflect day to day use) if comparing similar processors like for like.

Regarding the reliability of AMD CPUs, I wouldn't say they are any less reliable than Intel CPUs overall. Only the occasional fault/failure which could happen to both of the brands.

I will draw your attention to something Gorman posted ages ago - managed to find it:

From my experience on the support side, Intel will last longer as they are pretty much bullet proof.

AMD's only real issue is cores dropping off as the CPU ages.

The thing to remember is that the CPU will be all but obsolete in 3-5 years but may keep running for 15-20 years.

And the PCS guys are working with computers all the time.

So there you have two different opinions to consider from an AMD and Intel fan respectively. Reach your own conclusions...

 

[Jonny]

Well my budget is around the 950-1000 mark.. so i'm thinking intel would be the best way to go, right or wrong?

 

[Fear]

Yeah we can fit a nice i5 in for that have a look below

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, NVIDIA® SLI™, ATI® CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£72)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £983.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/

 

[Jonny]

Is there much difference between the Intel® Core™i5-2500 and the Intel® Core™i5-2500k?

and would it be worth getting the 2GB Geoforce GTX560 Ti over the 1.25GB GTX570?

And will 4GB of memory be good enough to run modern games?

 

[Rakk]

Is there much difference between the Intel® Core™i5-2500 and the Intel® Core™i5-2500k?

The k variants are meant for overclockers, so unless you're planning on doing so you won't notice any difference.

I'd say go for the GTX570, its a higher spec card, yes it has slightly less RAM on it, but the card is better.

4GB should be enough, but depends on what games you're playing to a certain extent (I've used over 4GB only on a few occassions and that was when I was playing a game which is a bit of a memory hog (and has some leaks), using Visual Studio (oh lookie, another memory hog) and various other bits and pieces at the same time .....)