Need help buying processor for extreme gaming

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
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Hi everone nice to meet u all i am planning to upgrade my motherboard,processor and ram for gaming pc i already have sapphire radeon 4890 1GB which i buyed 3 months ago and its working flawlessly awesome gaming with no lags all latest games but i have a weak processor right now that is intel core 2 duo E4300 1.8ghz and intel 945G motherboard with pci-e black port not good and 2gb ram ddr2 667mhz i am running windows 7 ultimate -32bit i need help in choosing processor between core i7 920 and amd phenom II x4 965BE i never used amd processor before so i dont know much about its performance in gaming and according to benchmarks and performance intel core i7 920 is winning big but the thing is i have ati card and i though if i have amd processor i will have dragon platform will it add to my advantage against core i7 plz suggest good mobo and processor thank you
 

poohbear

Platinum Member
Mar 11, 2003
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wow, not ONE comma. amazing.

go w/ the i7, if money is no concern then its the faster option. "Dragon platform" is just marketing hype, it doesnt mean u're gonna get extra performance just cause ur cpu & vid card are made by the same company.
 

GaiaHunter

Diamond Member
Jul 13, 2008
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The i7 is the faster processor, but i7 920 + mobo is more expensive than Ph II x4 965+ mobo.

For gaming, generally, the i7 only has the advantage when using multiple card configurations.

If using a single card like the 4890 a Ph II x4 965 is more than capable.

So up to your pocket - both are good option.
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
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wow, not ONE comma. amazing.
Actually, he did have one:
i am planning to upgrade my motherboard,processor

Anyway, to answer the OP: If you are after the absolute best CPU, there's really nothing that can touch the i7. Then again, with a 4890, either the i7 920 or the Phenom II 965 will be excellent, and I don't think anybody would be disappointed choosing either one for "extreme gaming".

As for good mobos, my personal opinion, and you should take this with a grain of salt, is just choose any MSI / Gigabyte / Asus board that meets your specifications, and stay away from ECS as my personal experience with their boards leave much to be desired, but it might just be me.
 

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
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The i7 is the faster processor, but i7 920 + mobo is more expensive than Ph II x4 965+ mobo.

For gaming, generally, the i7 only has the advantage when using multiple card configurations.

If using a single card like the 4890 a Ph II x4 965 is more than capable.

So up to your pocket - both are good option.

Thanx a lot guys ur information is very nice and sorry for my bad english actually i am not used to typee commas or fullstops so i just keep typing a paragraph LOL!!! haha and yes in future i do plan on crossfire 2 4890 which will beat a single 5870 so its pretty good i think and the cheapest x58 motherboard i found is MSI X58 Pro how is this mobo is it good? coz asus and gigabyte are expensive. and the mobo has crossfire at x16 which is very important for me in future and one more thing guys since i buy core i7 i have to buy ram that is 3gb or 6gb right not 4gb??? but DDR3 is also expensive damn
 
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jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
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and sorry for my bad english actually i am not used to typee commas or fullstops so i just keep typing a paragraph LOL!!! haha
Yes, lovely.

the cheapest x58 motherboard i found is MSI X58 Pro how is this mobo is it good?
MSI has not let me down so far, so I would say yes. You can also wait for other people's feedback, especially if they used that particular board.
 

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
6
0
0
Yes, lovely.


MSI has not let me down so far, so I would say yes. You can also wait for other people's feedback, especially if they used that particular board.

Yea ur right and what about ram do i have to buy 3 or 6 gb ddr3 only or i can buy 4gb also but i heard everyone with core i7 has to buy 3 or 6 gb not 4gb i dont know the reason
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
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Yea ur right and what about ram do i have to buy 3 or 6 gb ddr3 only or i can buy 4gb also but i heard everyone with core i7 has to buy 3 or 6 gb not 4gb i dont know the reason

The reason people buy in multiples of 3 is that the i7 is triple channel. Much in the same way that you ought to use 2 dimms for dual-channel memory, you ought to use 3 dimms for triple channel. So naturally, that's either 3GB (3pcs of 1GB) or 6GB (3pcs of 2GB) of DDR3 memory.
 

bigriggg

Member
Nov 7, 2009
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i am running windows 7 ultimate -32bit

if this is the case, remember you can not use over 4 GB's of ram. since you're going to be doing extreme gaming I would highly recommend 64 bit so if i were you I would contact microsoft and let them know you want the 64 bit addition, i think they charge the shipping and thats it, so you can run all the ram you'll ever need.......at least for now. OR if you didn't get the WIN 7 from microsoft (not that you'd ever do that) reinstall 64 bit, which version depends on you:

  • Starter: 8GB
  • Home Basic: 8GB
  • Home Premium: 16GB
  • Professional: 192GB
  • Enterprise: 192GB
  • Ultimate: 192GB
 

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
6
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0
if this is the case, remember you can not use over 4 GB's of ram. since you're going to be doing extreme gaming I would highly recommend 64 bit so if i were you I would contact microsoft and let them know you want the 64 bit addition, i think they charge the shipping and thats it, so you can run all the ram you'll ever need.......at least for now. OR if you didn't get the WIN 7 from microsoft (not that you'd ever do that) reinstall 64 bit, which version depends on you:

  • Starter: 8GB
  • Home Basic: 8GB
  • Home Premium: 16GB
  • Professional: 192GB
  • Enterprise: 192GB
  • Ultimate: 192GB
So according to you is it ok if i buy 4gb ddr3 ram for my core i7
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
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So according to you is it ok if i buy 4gb ddr3 ram for my core i7
No, not ok.

4GB is for the entire system memory, including 1GB for your 1GB 4890, and about 0.5GB or less for Windows (reserved)

You need to upgrade to 64-bit.
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
81
If you can't go 64-bit, stick with 2GB RAM, get a Phenom II X4 965 and call it a day. Not much of an option compared to your dreams, so ideally you should really try to get 64-bit Windows so you can continue your extreme gaming awesomeness.
 

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
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0
0
If you can't go 64-bit, stick with 2GB RAM, get a Phenom II X4 965 and call it a day. Not much of an option compared to your dreams, so ideally you should really try to get 64-bit Windows so you can continue your extreme gaming awesomeness.

Yea i will surely get 64 bit windows 7 i know but is it ok for me to have 4gb ram on 64 bit instead of 6gb ram for core i7?
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
81
Yea i will surely get 64 bit windows 7 i know but is it ok for me to have 4gb ram on 64 bit instead of 6gb ram for core i7?
Sure. You won't be getting the triple channel performance benefit, but you won't even notice it's not there.
 

gamer1291

Junior Member
Nov 22, 2009
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0
Sure. You won't be getting the triple channel performance benefit, but you won't even notice it's not there.

Oh but its not a big performance difference right and i dont think there is any game that uses more than 2.5 to 3 gb ram so i will get max performance in gaming even with 4gb ram right even if i have 6 gb ram i wont be using it fully right?
 

jvroig

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
2,394
1
81
Yes, don't sweat it, go buy your parts now. Don't mind the triple channel thing. Forget I mentioned it.
 

cbn

Lifer
Mar 27, 2009
12,968
221
106
Hi everone nice to meet u all i am planning to upgrade my motherboard,processor and ram for gaming pc i already have sapphire radeon 4890 1GB which i buyed 3 months ago and its working flawlessly awesome gaming with no lags all latest games but i have a weak processor right now that is intel core 2 duo E4300 1.8ghz and intel 945G motherboard with pci-e black port not good and 2gb ram ddr2 667mhz i am running windows 7 ultimate -32bit i need help in choosing processor between core i7 920 and amd phenom II x4 965BE i never used amd processor before so i dont know much about its performance in gaming and according to benchmarks and performance intel core i7 920 is winning big but the thing is i have ati card and i though if i have amd processor i will have dragon platform will it add to my advantage against core i7 plz suggest good mobo and processor thank you

I would get Phenom II X3. You could even temporarily reuse your RAM with this one.

AM3 will likely support 32nm Phenom IIs in the future and I am hoping these clock a little bit better.
 
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WaitingForNehalem

Platinum Member
Aug 24, 2008
2,497
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71
Thanx a lot guys ur information is very nice and sorry for my bad english actually i am not used to typee commas or fullstops so i just keep typing a paragraph LOL!!! haha and yes in future i do plan on crossfire 2 4890 which will beat a single 5870 so its pretty good i think and the cheapest x58 motherboard i found is MSI X58 Pro how is this mobo is it good? coz asus and gigabyte are expensive. and the mobo has crossfire at x16 which is very important for me in future and one more thing guys since i buy core i7 i have to buy ram that is 3gb or 6gb right not 4gb??? but DDR3 is also expensive damn

That motherboard is excellent and I have had zero problems with it. You should get the MSI X58 PRO-E.
 

Ayah

Platinum Member
Jan 1, 2006
2,512
1
81
DDR3 is a lot cheaper than it was before.
$110 CDN got me 6GB of DDR3-1600 after rebate.