Opinions please (yes another new PC thread)

[hashbrown99]

Opinions requested on the following system specs.

The PC will be used for(in no particular order ) watching TV, DVDs, listening to music; surfing and gaming

• Core i7 860 2.8Ghz (not sure if this is worth the extra $ given what PC will be used for) or Core i5 750
  ASUS P7P55D/ Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3P - is the Gigabyte board worth the extra $?
  OCZ PC3-12800 DDR3 6GB Gold Low-Voltage Triple Channel 3x2GB
  Gigabyte GT-P8000 TV card
  Gigabyte ODIN 720W PSU

Already have a 22" monitor and will be holding onto my 8800GT 512MB card for a while longer. Will keep all existing drives and my chassis (Gigabyte 3D Mars)

Will run Win 7 64-bit ultimate

 

[Chevron]

Why go socket 1156?

If this pc's hardest task will be gaming why not get a PhenomII 965. It'll give the same gaming performance for less cash.

Use the money you save to get a proper power supply like the Corsair tx650watt.

 

[Rudimental]

Get the i5 if you're going for Intel. There is no point in getting the i7 if you're gaming, etc, you don't need HT. I'm not sure about the difference in the boards.

Also, I've heard from a few people that, above DDR3-1333, performance plateaus greatly with current systems, so you might want to check comparisons and see whether it is worth it getting 1600, though I can't imagine the difference in price is that big. This is pretty rare these days, but just make sure your motherboard and ram like each other. Even if the voltages match up, check around to make sure there aren't known compatibility issues

And, like I post every time the i5 750 and PhenomII 965 are compared, read this, here's the conclusion:

So what does this prove?

1. The i5 750 is faster in the end.
2. Neither solution is a bad deal.
3. I have too much time on my hands.

In the end, if you are still undecided, I highly recommend the reader to take a piece of paper and a pen, or wordpad/notebook for you computer geeks, and list what apps and games you use the most. Then go and look at all 8 article's worth of benchmarks above and see which processor works best for your needs. The i5 750 and the Phenom II 965 DO have applications and games where they just plain work better.

 

[killadoob]

It is never worth paying extra for 1600 or higher unless the cost difference is 50 bucks or something, unless you benchmark it you will not see a difference.

 

[hashbrown99]

Get the i5 if you're going for Intel. There is no point in getting the i7 if you're gaming, etc, you don't need HT. I'm not sure about the difference in the boards.

Also, I've heard from a few people that, above DDR3-1333, performance plateaus greatly with current systems, so you might want to check comparisons and see whether it is worth it getting 1600, though I can't imagine the difference in price is that big. This is pretty rare these days, but just make sure your motherboard and ram like each other. Even if the voltages match up, check around to make sure there aren't known compatibility issues

And, like I post every time the i5 750 and PhenomII 965 are compared, read this, here's the conclusion:

Read the same article while researching this and came to the same conclusion

Good advice on the RAM from you and Killadoob - will Google that now

Not an AMD fan I'm afraid *ducks flames*

 

[killadoob]

It's fine not to be an amd fan there are some in this thread who feel the same about intel. It is silly to be a fan of one company though .

 

[hashbrown99]

It's fine not to be an amd fan there are some in this thread who feel the same about intel. It is silly to be a fan of one company though .

Applies only to processors ; rest of components are from different manufacturers

 

[chickenbeef]

It is never worth paying extra for 1600 or higher unless the cost difference is 50 bucks or something, unless you benchmark it you will not see a difference.

+1 although higher frequency RAM will also allow you to OC the CPU higher, @ the OP, you can get 2x2GB DDR3 2000 Team Xtreem for 1.4k, it's only a little more than Kingston 1333 RAM and it's better. (when i was looking at RAM for my pc the "brand" name stuff turned out a little cheaper/a little more expensive than the generic stuff)

If you go the lga1156 route you'd want to get dual channel ram too, so 2x2GB + 2x1GB to make the 6GB you want instead of 3x2GB