i7 920 D0 vs Phenom 2 965 BE

[TheGlazer]

The 965 is 3.4ghz, and the i7 is 2.66ghz stock.

I'm looking to build a new rig soon, using a quad processor......... The E6400 I have has been great; but it's about time I get something different, so........ My question is simple. Majority people will say to get the i7 over the 965; however, the 965 is 3.4 stock and also has high overclocking ability. So what makes the i7 so much better than the 965?

 

[Hefemeister]

Well the i7 is a faster chip. Is the speed worth the money? That is debatable.
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Review : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

AMD is trying to get as many sales in prior to the official launch of the i5 when things will get interesting in the price/performance wars.

 

[Nubbleet]

The i7 is faster like Hefe said, and you can also OC it really well. 4GHz+ is relatively easy with an i7 920.

 

[TheGlazer]

so if an i7 920 is OC'd to 4ghz and a Phenom 2 965 is OC'd to 4ghz; which one is faster? and why?

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Well the i7 has more L3 cache, which is very important in how fast the processor runs, and if you run both at the same frequency, I'd say the i7 920 would definitely win there.

As mentioned, i7s are dead easy to OC, chuck in $80 for a third party cooler and you're golden. The i7 920 is also cheaper than the Phenom II 965, so in all aspects I'd stick with the 920 out of those two.

 

[Hefemeister]

i7 more l3 cache and triple channel ddr3 ram.

Again the difference is not that much but the i7 is faster.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

I thought the phenom 965 supported triple channel DDR3? no?

 

[Hefemeister]

It supports ddr3 but in dual not triple channel.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

ah, right

 

[TheGlazer]

The i7 920 is not cheaper than the 965........... I live in Canada, and the i7 920 is definately more expensive.


I just finished reading the article you posted a link to Hefemeister, thank you for the link.......... the i7 920, at stock speeds; seems to have a slight edge over an OC'd 965 @ 3.8ghz.......... wow.......... nuff said, lol