Intel i5 or AMD phenom ii 64 x quad core

Hi, I am getting a new computer and have pretty much decided on the what i am getting apart from whether to go with the Phenom or the i5. Can any one help? I wont be overclocking or anything like that (ie technical). The machine will be used for gaming and media. Will i even notice the difference? Thanks

Have a look here:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/819/1

If by "media" you mean video editing and converting, the clear advantage goes to Intel i5 by about 20%.
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As far as gaming is concerned….

One very important discovery made during this review is that if you have a high-end video card, the CPU has almost no influence in the system gaming performance. So if you are building a high-end gaming machine, maybe it is better to pick a cheaper processor and invest the price difference on a faster video card.

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Both are as fast or faster than most of us ever get to enjoy.
will you as a "non-technical" user notice the difference?
Probably you would, but only if you had side-by-side comparison available.

You'll be happy with either.

If cost is a factor, then consider the price of the necessary MotherBoard for each.
Also buy the most powerful graphic adapter that fits in the combination.

Thanks for the reply. This was the machine i was going for IDEAL-PCs Model: i52600 / 600w PSU (black Mini Case) Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Quad-Core Processor, Asus P7955D LE Intel P55 Express Motherboard, 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory (4 x 2GB), 2 x 500GB SATA2 Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD5770 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E Graphics Card, DVDReWriter Drive 22x Dual-Layer, Multi Card Reader, 1 x Gigabit LAN Port, 10 x USB 2.0 Ports (rear 8 / front 2), Windows 7 Professional Edition. Is it a decent motherboard? and graphics card? from what i have read up the graphics card seems pretty new and good (?) but i have no idea on motherboards.

Greetings.

Can you direct link to that motherboard as well as the case?

Strangely Google returns no finds except this thread.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cli…mp;oq=&aqi=


http://www.google.com/search?q=IDEAL-PCs+M…lient=firefox-a


I am going to say off the bat that that case and PSU are not up to the rest of your choices but I would like to see what you are looking at exactly.

Sorry i havent got a link as it is from a local shop near me.

I think i may have mistyped the motherboard and it is a P7P55D. Link to goggled website talking about the motherboard

What difference does the case make? showing my ignorance here, but is the case that important.? What difference are there in cases?

Cases and Power Supplies are as important as anything else.

You list yours as mini which is an issue unless you require a mini computer.

You need to be certain the case will take a full size ATX motherboard and not a Mini ATX.

You should check what fans are available. I suggest at least 3 x 120mm > 1 front > 1 rear > 1 side or top > at least.

I would never buy a Case & PSU combo. The PSU is perhaps your most important purchase. Combo deals generally mix & match cheap stuff.

Also with large PCI_E cards you need at least a Mid Tower if not a Full Tower.

My first impression on the mobo is that it looks solid for a single PCI_E card. If you intend SLi or Crossfire it reduces the PCI_E output from 16x to 8x which I would find unacceptable.

Here are some Newegg customer reviews:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx…ASUS-_-13131404

Ok, so the mini case is a no then. Will try and upgrade that and check how many fans it has. Bit strange though, as i asked for quotes for both the spec above and also one for an AMD phenom with all other specs the same, the AMD quote included a midi case while the intel i5 was for a mini. SLi or crossfire, is that when you have 2 graphics cards running together in the machine? If so, just running the one (decent) card will obviously be not as good but it should be able to run most games and media shouldn't it? As i cant afford another graphics card at the moment, is it more a case upgrading in the future? The reviews seem decent enough in most cases for the mobo (not that i understand much of the technical aspect of it). What is ATX? and does a mini ATX limit future upgrading? is that the big disadvantage? Thanks for the help and sorry to be asking stupid questions.

First off we are here to help and no questions are stupid.

There are two major motherboard form factors today in PCs: ATX and Micro ATX. Basic difference is size. A mid tower or full tower case will hold either but a Mini or Micro case will only hold a micro board.

It is hard to find the spec on that board and also hard to say from looking at it but it might be a Micro ATX yet I would still not get a mini case unless you absolutely need it.

That graphics card on the other hand is a big one. It would be longer than a Micro ATX board which in a mini case would cause issues as it will back right into the hard drive bays.

Reviews on both that motherboard and graphics card seem most positive to me.

Sli is Nvidia and Crossfire is ATI/AMD terminology for running two identical graphics cards in tandem.

As you note the card you selected should run all the games out there today.

That card requires a minimum 450 Watt PSU with 2 x 6 pin PCI_E leads. This is very important! I would suggest at least 500 Watt and verify 2 x 6 pin PCI_E power leads.

Although the card offers 4 pin molex to 6 pin PCI_E adapters they do not work well. So again your choice of PSU is critical here.

ASUS P7P55D EVO Core i5 Motherboard

ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E Graphics Card

Just an additional thought: If you are having the shop build this then they will accrue the responsibility of compatibility. I was speaking from my own experience of building and my own preferences. I would however require that they use a PSU with 2 x 6 pin PCI_E power leads and not use molex adapters. Those adapters, although they may work, are limiting the graphics card and over burdening the PSU. And again I would want to know the case fan specifics.

I spoke to the company and they said it should have said Midi (as the quote for the AMD was). On the spec they sent it was 600W. I also asked about the fans and they said there is a 120mm and a 90mm. I queried this but they seemed pretty positive that this would be more than enough. Will check about the molex adapters and the pci_e power leads. This is quite interesting. It's making me want to start building my own. Might have to take apart an old machine i have sitting around.