AMD or Intel?

Hi;
After loosing my mainboard in a tragic accident...I am ooking for a new one
And since my cpu "pnetium D" is old and can't keep up with my graphic card I will have to buy a new cpu.
So I found a nice priced duo core2 3GHZ 6mb cache for about 200$...but some of my friends advised me to get an AMD phenom "quad core"...so I am in a battle of choosing which cpu right now...I pkay games...a lot...and I overclocks my pc for at least 10-15%....I do care about my cpu's temperature (don't like it above 65C under stress)
Waiting for opinions...

depending on how high your budget is it, can go both route. If you have a frys electronics near you I remember them having the E8400 + ECS motherboard for $139.99. Thats much cheaper than $200 for just the cpu. Also the E8400 3GHz 6MB l2 cache shouldn't cost $200. Microcenter has it for $149.99 boxed as well. Throw in another 100$ for board and some good ram and you're set to go. however if you want quad or triple core AMD x2 is the way to go for lower priced budget. Since the X3 720 can be had for $136-140 shipped and same thing with X4 920. You will need another 100$ for good clocking board and more money for ram as well.

actually nvm, just clicked post and see that you're from the middle east. If you're going to get the Phenoms do not get the Phenom 1, get Phenom II.

even though i am from the middle east,we do get new stuff but at double prices...which explains why I am buying the E8400 for 200$

anyway thats a look on the price...what about the performance?? I need a good pc that will last long with no troubles at gaming and some overclocking features....good temperature would be much better...which cpu will perform better?...which cpu will cause me more troubles?...do i need special software for AMD gaming? would it overheat easily?

with a good heatsink overheating wont be a issue. either you go amd or intel is up to you, can you get PII x4? if you got amd get a PII cpu its performance per clock isnt that far behind Core 2 now vs the older X4/X3's. you really dont need a E8400 for gaming but the E0's from the E8000's oc to 4ghz rather well with the right HS. you could get a E7400 or E7500 and be able to get close to 4ghz. For motherboards i would look for Asus P5Q-pro or Gigabyte EP45-DS3R/EP45-UD3P. there are some from DFI and biostar but im at a loss for the names atm.

no you wont need anything special for gaming on a AMD system... on a per clock basis Core is faster then amd's parts. though like i said the PII newer X3/X4's are not far behind. when i comes to gaming the cpu is less of a issue then you think once you hit a certain clock speed. resolution and video card you get are going to be a larger role in gaming once you have a dual core running at least 3.2ghz (core 2/PII) or 3.4-3.6ghz on the older amd x2/x3/x4 parts.

thanks a lot my friend...but one question.

you really dont need a E8400 for gaming

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can you please explain why?
and what do you think of this mainboard?
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2844
for me, I found it too basic and no pipe cooling added to it like other p45 models...do you agree?

well i did explain why, when you get a core 2 cpu at 3.2ghz the gaming performance is more on the resolution and video card used... the L2 size of the E8000 vs E7000 will not effect FPS unless you going for max at 1024x768.. L2 size doesnt matter when you start playing at resolutions past 1600x1200. at this point you go from a cpu bottleneck to a GPU bottleneck.

well the DS3L wouldnt be my first choice but it would handle ocing a Dual core with no issue. that board has a 4 phase pwm i would get a 8phase board for upgradability later if/when you get a quad core. the Heatpipe cooling is more a selling point then really helping. the PWM's heat is drawn out mainly thru the mobo, adding hs's to the top does help but not that much. since you are sending heat thru a ceramic package vs the metal tabs directly soldered to the mobo.

so you advise me to go to the lower cpu ?
thats 2.4 ghz "or 2.6" with only 3mb cache...but it is 100$ cheaper than the E8000...

as for me...my max gaming resolution is 1024×768...

so what will be affected if I get the larger L2 cpu?

and forgive my ruedness...but what is that "pwm"??...and wht effects does it have on the mainboard?how to know how many pwm the mainboard has?

I know I'm giving you a hard time here....but it is one time opportunity to buy a mainboard

amd's cpu isnt that much lower then Intels when at the same clock. now you did say which amd cpu you were looking at just that it is a X4 but is is the PII x4 or the older x4. if its the older x4 i would pass in favor of the E8500 then. as far as that res goes you dont need a strong cpu, even with high detail settings on most games. you will be above 60 or even 100 FPS, you dont need more then that. now the larger L2 at that res will yeild about a 5.6% increase in FPS over a cpu with half the L2 size when looking at the core 2's. though you could be talking either 100 FPS on a E8000 or 94FPS on a E7000, now this assumes both have the same clock speed. PWM's is what deliverers the power to the cpu. you can tell the number of phases by how many "square" chokes are near the cpu socket. the board you linked to has 4 looking at the pic, now if you look at the pics here from newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131297
this board has 16phases for suppling power to the cpu. it has 8 near the cooler that is closest to the I/O backplate section. at the top most part of the board it has 8 more phases, giving it 16 total. now the number of phases will play a role in ocing, just to give the short of it all. 4 phases is what you need to oc a dual core with no issues, 8 phases is what you need for ocing a quad core. now for a quad anything over 8phases is just over kill. however since the power load across the phases is shared that means the higher the phases the cooler they will run. when suppling voltage/current to the cpu stock or overclocked.

not giving me a hard time, what makes you think that? some people just dont know all the details of motherboards, better to teach then just say "get that one".

Intel Quads are hard to beat . I just love both of mine and would recommend that you go with Intel Quad core CPU over clocking is easy fast and fun price is good and you will be a head of the game with Intel .

Interesting...never knew that before...so I guess the more pwm's on the mainboard...the higher the price correct?

expert87 said:

Interesting...never knew that before...so I guess the more pwm's on the mainboard...the higher the price correct?

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more pwm's on the board is more or less that are the motherboard falls into. the one you linked to i would say is in the low end of that scale. with the one i linked to as a highend - extreme ocing board. price will reflect that, as well as the features the board carries.

Since you are from Middle East, all choices depend on the prices you are offered. If the ratio is same as US's, then AMD Phenom II X4 940 and X3 720 are VERY hard to beat at their respective pricepoints.

Intel C2Q quads and C2D duals are good too, but way overpriced.

And dont go by PWM's, Asus and Gigabyte use it more as a marketing gimmick.

Zurvan said:

And dont go by PWM's, Asus and Gigabyte use it more as a marketing gimmick.

Click to expand...

umm no its not... ever wonder why lower end MSI boards pop when tring to oc a 140w X4. its cause of the pwm system, it has direct relation to the cpu TDP and the boards ability to handle it. intel boards are bit more forgiving as they tend to be a bit more over built in that re-guard.

well i'd say intel, BUT im not sure how the new amd's are doing. i'd go by which is more overclockable at there price points. i've heard some people getting 4.5ghz out of amd's quads now. im not sure if 4.5ghz is the avg or not. anyone else know how the new amd quads are o/cing?

if you plan to overclock a lot I would say go with intel...not sure how the new AMD Phenom IIs fare with overclocking, but if you don't plan to o/c, go with AMD, they have quads and tricores for pretty cheap

amd's PII's are ocing like core 2 has been for some time now... clock per clock in some cases PII matches in some cases behind core 2 a bit(not by much). since your not going i7 choose which ever is cheaper with the options/features your after.

So far I know from several reviews, Phenom II can go higher than Core 2 Quad with LN2 but still lower than Core 2 Quad with air cooler.
Phenom II is slightly better than Core 2 Quad with 6MB Cache but still slightly behind Core 2 Quad with 12MB Cache.
For gaming, I guess Intel still better than AMD.
I just kinda hate Intel this time because they made different socket for Core 2, Core i7 Bloomfield, and Lynnfield.

I settled on an E8400
and an evga nvidia 750i sli mainboard (has about 6-8 pwm's)
everything looks perfect now...with a big typhoon cpu fan Iam getting 37temp while playing crysis wh full quality @ 1024*768
I think Iam ready to start ocing
thanks to all who helped me
special thanks to MR. EvilSizer

yep NP!!