Having Trouble Deciding

[LastVampyer]

Hey guys,

I'm building a new PC and I can't decide between the AMD Phenom II X6 (3.2Ghz) or the Intel i7 908X (3.33Ghz) and would like some opinions from both sides of the fence as it were!

I love the fact that the AMD has 6 cores and Turbo Core sounds cool but then Intel counter with their pedigree and triple channel memory... tough decision, right?

Also need a decent PSU that will comfortably power the machine but at the same time, be energy efficient... if there is such a thing

Thanks,

Vamp

 

[Muffin Man]

well, how about the fact that there is a $700 price difference between those cpus?

or do you have a pretty hefty budget to work with?

and we can't suggest a psu unless we know what else is going in your system.

 

[LastVampyer]

Money isn't really an issue for me but, unfortunately, I can't have both. My fiancé would beat me up

I'm quite happy to spend £10,000 on my new rig

Well the motherboard and RAM are dependent on which CPU I choose but I'll give the rest:

GPU:
Asus ATI Radeon HD 5870 (x2)

SSD:
Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB 2.5" SATA (x2)
Possibly a raptor for Ubuntu

Optical Drives:
Pioneer BDR-205 12x BluRay RW / 16x DVD±RW Drive
Sony Optiarc AD-5240S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

The system would probably need to be water cooled as well..

 

[Slaymate]

If money is no issue then the i7 980X reigns supreme, but it's overkill for the majority of people. I want one badly but I can think of better things to spend the money on. You would be wise to go with the AMD or downgrade the i7 980X to the i7 920 or 930.

 

[LastVampyer]

If money is no issue then the i7 980X reigns supreme, but it's overkill for the majority of people. I want one badly but I can think of better things to spend the money on. You would be wise to go with the AMD or downgrade the i7 980X to the i7 920 or 930.

uuhhh, so I should spend my money on the i7 but I would be wise to go with the AMD?

 

[Slaymate]

Dollar for Dollar the AMD 6 core is the smarter buy between itself and the i7 980X. Personally, I'll recommend the i7 920 or the i7 930 over both of them but that's just my biased opinion.

 

[Sean W.]

if money is no option ( must be nice ) go big or go home... get a 1200Watt powersupply, get 2 5970's, thatd basically be 4 5870's

 

[LastVampyer]

I chose the 5870s because the clocks are faster, opinions?

Also, it will need water cooling of some sort but I've never touched it in the past. I've always held a firm belief that water and electronics should be kept separate

As for the PSU, I'll keep that in mind

Thanks

 

[Slaymate]

The 5870 is a very good card, you won't be disappointed.

Water cooling is not a necessity, I live in Florida and I cool everything with air quite successfully.