New system for Photoshop : i7 920 or phenom II X4 955 ?

[DetConan]

Hi,

I bought my present system 3 years ago with my gamer needs in mind. Now, I want to build a totally new system, but this time for the taste of my wife, who loves Photoshop, video editing, etc.

After some reading, I am wondering if a very good solution would be to build the system around a Core i7 920 CPU. But, an alternative would be to use a Phenom II X4 955. What would be the best, considering that

1- I am not an overclocker.
2- Maybe I would like to have the possibility to upgrade in the future. If i build an i7 system, will it be upgradable ?
3- As i would most likely choose a MSI x58 pro motherboad, is there a risk that it wont be compatible with the next generation of CPU ?
4- Some games states requirement of 3.0 ghz ; does it mean that the new system would not run it ? (i admit that even if the system is wife-oriented, it would be nice that if it could also be able to run new games (like Wolfenstein) on a 22 lcd ...)
5- The i7 system is more expensive than the Phenom one ; is the performance worth it ?

Thank you for your help

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Hi,

You are saying you will never overclock or not an overclocker as in: "I'm not pushing the limits, I just like a mild overclock" or "What is overclocking?"

To give you a baseline, the i7 will out-perform the AMD in terms of High Definition video editing e.g. AVCHD I'd guess you'd be able to edit in real time with no stuttering in the live view. I'm not so sure AMD will NOT be able to do this, I'm just certain the i7 will perform better in this area.

Lets break it down a little. If you do some mild overclocking with the 955, which is THEE best AMD overclocking quad, you might get a little closer to the performance of the i7. Now I am just speculating as I have no real world experience in this area. Although I am headed in that direction with my own concerns for performance with my rig. I feel keeping the cpu at default speeds will give the most reliable output files for my video encoding & editing.

The i7 will be hear for a while from what I've heard. I'd wait to see how the i5 compares in performance in yours and your wife's area like video & photo editing, then into gaming.

3. ?

4. GPU's matter more in certian games. Research your game.

5. If it was for me and with your money, i'd be worth it for me You are looking at both ends of the platform build. The i7 $$$ ; AMD $ It depends if your source of income is from video and photo. If it were the #1 spot in source of income, I'd venture for the i7 to be more productive. If you are just a novice or ameture photographer and videographer, then I'd stick with the AMD - that AMD is nothing to sneeze at!

 

[ShawnD1]

Is this computer for business or just dicking around? The i7 is quite a bit faster, but the motherboard will cost $100 more. If it's for business use and this computer actually makes money, I would probably get the i7. Otherwise I would just save the $100 and buy the Phenom.

photoshop benchmarks.

 

[soccerballtux]

The Phenom 2 is going to be plenty fast for everything your wife wants. It's up to you if you want to spend the extra on the i7 platform.

 

[deputc26]

The i7s architecture gives at a ~20% edge in the most intense portions of photoshop but I'd go with a 955 and use the saved money to boot and run progs off an ssd. That will give you an overall more responsive system.