AMD vs. Intel (Two builds; One choice)

[northZephyr]

Background information : (Brent588, that's a good idea )

- What will the PC used for ?
For general gaming (no hardcore) : COD4, BF2, GRAW, Crysis, Frontline, etc.
For personal graphic project : Photoshop, AfterEffects, Maya, Vegas, etc.

- What was my initial budget ?
Around 1000 CAD. But I obviously exceeded..

- Did I do my homework ?
Two weeks of intense reading, researching. Covered most computing forums and websites (Tom's Hardware, HardForums, Guru3D, etc.)

- Current parts
Already have monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers

- Why did I do two build (AMD and Intel) ?
Because my first build (AMD), a lot of people told me it was (very) unbalanced and I should turn toward Intel for a better performance and price benefit. So I did more research and I ended up with a Intel build while keeping in mind that I already exceeded to budget, so every dollar counts.
*
The two builds (AMD and Intel)

AMD

CPU: Link
AMD Athlon 6000+ 3.0 Ghz

Motherboard: Link
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe

Memory
4x 1G Kingston PC6400 800mhz DDR Non-ECC DIMMs

Video: Link
NVidia XFX 8800 GTS 512 mb Alpha Dog Edition

Hard Drive: Link
Seagate 7200.10 250G SATAII 16mb cache

Power Supply: Link
Silverstone Zeus 650W ATX12V Active PFC

Case: Link
Antec Nine Hundred Mid Tower Gamer Case 900 ATX 9 Drive Bay
. 1 top 200mm fan (included)
. 1 rear120mm fan (included)
. 2 front 120mm fan (included)
. 1 side 120mm fan (optional & WILL buy: Coolermaster 1220rpm Link
. 1 middle 120mm fan (optional & WON'T buy)

TOTAL AMD Build : ~1100 CAD

-------

Intel

CPU: Link
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB

Motherboard: Link
ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP ATX LGA775 P35

Memory
4x 1G Kingston PC6400 800mhz DDR Non-ECC DIMMs

Video: Link
NVidia BFG 8800 GTS 512 mb

CPU Heatsink (reviews say the stock cooler is ****) Link
Zerotherm CF900

PSULink
Corsair 620HX

Hard Drive, Case
See AMD Build

TOTAL Intel Build : ~1180 CAD

Conclusion :

Which build do you think would be better & why (they're around 100$ difference).
*Do you think some elements (PSU, Case) should be adapted depending on the build ?
*Do you think the 5 fans computer case would be way too much for the PSU to bear ?
Finally, any suggestion/comment/advice of any kind would be greatly appreciated since this is my first time build.

 

[Twsmit]

It will be a tough call here. You have a fast dual core against one of the slowest quads. For games there will be little difference unless you OC. If you OC the quad Intel is a no brainer.

I would make a few suggestions. First get a bigger/better hard drive. That model is over a year old and Seagate, WD and Samsung all have better models out, the 640GB WD is very popular and very cheap as are 500GB models from Seagate. 640GB or 500GB is the sweet spot for your dollar, not to mention faster.

Get 2x2GB ram. When going for 4GB spend the extra $10 on dual sticks, not quad sticks. Dual will allow for faster performance, better OCing and an upgrade path to 8GB. Unless you already have the ram go with 2x2.

For the mobo I would opt for a cheaper board, Abit has one of the most popular P35 boards right now and it is very cheap. I don't see any reason to go with a desktop board with WiFi... seems silly and a waste of money.

The cooler is "OK" but from a brand I am not familiar with. For a first build I would recommend using the stock heatsink... at least for the first couple of weeks. It will save you money up front and allow you to jump right into everything and achieve a mild OC, then once you are comfortable buy a bigger cooler and reach for extra mhz. Frankly if this is just casual gaming, you probably don't need an expensive cooler. A quad Intel or dual AMD @ ~3.0ghz is probably fast enough for anything you can throw at it. Put the extra money into other parts and save up and get a big cooler later.

I don't think 5 fans will cause you any sort of trouble with that PSU. There are a lot of people who over emphasize the importance of the number of watts on a PSU, frankly getting a good quality 500+ watt will be more than enough to handle a single GPU desktop, even OCed.

 

[JackMDS]

- :thumbsup: to Twsmit comments.

 

[chinaman1472]

Or pick up the E8400 if you want a fast Intel Dual Core.

 

[northZephyr]

Thx much for the detailed reply.
So, if I summarize, I'd go with the Intel build: In that build, three things I might reconsider Hard Drive, Motherboard and CPU Cooler.

Q6600 is a 'low quad', but it's 15$ difference from the E8400. I think I'll get the 8400 since most games are still uncompatible with quad and 8400 will give me more reassurance on heat

Now it leave me with the board and HD. I'd like to clear the motherboard choice first :

The one you suggested from Abit P35 was good but with no IEEE support, and I need it for my video projects, so I look at gigabyte one's. The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L doesn't offer IEEE neither, so I looked at the upper model GA-EP35-DS3P
which is less expensive than popular ASUS ones, but still offers great performances (and plenty of firewire).

So, do you think the E8400/Gigabyte is a satisfying combo?
btw, not OCed, does the Intel E8400 3.0ghz surpass the AMD 6000 3.0ghz ?

Thx, I'll check out some HD options

EDIT: Ok I checked for some recent HD and I found this one for a special discount:
Seagate 500G 7200 32mb

What do you think, is this a ok product or a customer trap ?

Anyway, I'll need some confirmation because the new website I've found out have incredibly low prices but the majority of the discounts end on April 30, so I'll have to complete my build with some DVD writers and buy within a week.
Thx again

 

[chinaman1472]

The E8400 should be faster than the 6000+. AMD might have slightly better performance for memory benchmarks, but that's about it.

The DS3P + E8400 should be a good combo. I believe the ASUS P5K also has firewire (IEEE 1394a right?): http://www.ncix.com/products/i...n=P5K&manufacture=ASUS and is cheaper than the DS3P, but it might not have all the features the DS3P gets.

I'm not too sure on hard drive models, so check up to see if that model number is a newer one or an older one; and make the effort to get a newer model if possible.

 

[Continuity28]

Originally posted by: northZephyr
btw, not OCed, does the Intel E8400 3.0ghz surpass the AMD 6000 3.0ghz ?

Yes, at stock the Intel at the same clock speed will be superior, and also overclocks better.

EDIT: As for hard drive, what you're looking for is a large platter size. The 640GB WD recommended has 2 320GB platters. That Seagate 500GB hard drive uses 2 250GB platters, so it won't be as fast.

 

[northZephyr]

Well, thx for that motherboard recommendation. It's less expensive indeed, I'll check it out. Thx for the heads up
For that Seagate platters, will it really affect that much ? Because I don't need too much space (even 500G is more than enough), and the most important at this point, Im pretty tight on the budget, but thx, I learned something new

 

[Continuity28]

If you want some more to look at, this is also good for the price:

http://www.infonec.com/site/ma...odule=detail&id=338445

 

[northZephyr]

Is this one any faster than the Seagate 500GB, if I understood, this WD 320GB doesn't have the notion of 'platters' so it should be more efficient ?

 

[Continuity28]

Originally posted by: northZephyr
Is this one any faster than the Seagate 500GB, if I understood, this WD 320GB doesn't have the notion of 'platters' so it should be more efficient ?

It has a single 320GB platter.

It will perform a bit better than the Seagate in most scenarios. It's also cooler, quieter, cheaper, but obviously doesn't store as much.

They are both good for the price.

 

[Lunyone]

Okay here are a few thoughts about your builds:
If you decide to go with the AMD build, which it doesn't seem like right now, but if you decide to go that way I'd consider these things:
* CPU - Get a x2 5000+ Black Edition CPU. It's cheaper (even with a good $25 cooler) than the 6000+. It takes only minutes in the mobo BIOS to turn up the multiplier to OC it to 3-3.2 gHz on stock voltages. I know you didn't want to OC, but this model has the multiplier unlocked (Very expensive option on an Intel chip). This chip also runs quite cool (for AMD chips), since it's a 65w chip. You do have to buy a HSF, since it doesn't come with one, but for $25 shipped the combo is hard to beat at a combined price of $111!!!

$86 shipped!!
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103194
NCIX link:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...0DSWOF&manufacture=AMD

$25 shipped!!
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835185125
NCIX link:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...cture=Arctic%20Cooling

Mobo - $90 shipped! Has Hybrid GPU!!! Supports Phenom! Has HDMI/Firewire/eSata/RAID etc.
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
ATI hybrid graphics technology & mainstream DX10 gaming
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128090
NCIX link:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...H&manufacture=Gigabyte

PSU - $130 - $10 MIR = $120! Cheaper on NCIX!!! 60A on the 12V rail, so has more power than the PSU that you selected and it costs less!!
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / EPS12V 750W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139006
NCIX link:
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...TX&manufacture=CORSAIR

With those selections that I've listed above you'd be saving about $150-200 over your current price and still have a 3 gHz+ CPU and have all of your options that you wanted (i.e. Firewire).

On the Intel build, I'd do what has already been mentioned (e8400/Gigabyte DS3R/2x2 gb's of DDR2 800mHz CAS 4 stuff) and use the Corsair tx750w PSU from above. This will change your price a little, but would be a better system for about the same $. Most reports that I've been reading is that the e8400 has been getting to about 4 gHz on air, but it will require a little more time and knowledge to get there.
You can decide which way you want to go, but if your not going to OC, than the AMD build would be better. I'm not saying it's the best setup, but you wouldn't be disappointed by it's performance for the $. The Intel build has a higher OC potential, but would cost you a bit more than the AMD build.

 

[northZephyr]

Thx for the headsup Lunyone, but I'll go with the Intel build since there is price drop on the other seller I found.
Im going to order somewhere this week, I just need to do one last choice :
The Gigabyte DS3P has a regular price of 180$ and the ASUS P5N-D is 160$.
The reviews tell that the ASUS one has bad SATA port positions and a pretty hot northbridge;
when the Gigabyte is known give a bit of trouble installing CPU heatsink.
For 20$ difference, which one I should choose?