Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache=$225

VS

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3=$140

THE 2500 is a great chip but if you buy one of the boards i have posted you will have more headroom...if you just look the system in my sig and replaced the MB with the one i posted you would be at about $550 AND be able to do some major upgrades in a year :)...as my system sits now i will be able to add another 5750 and an X6 in about 6-8 months for around $150-75 and get another year+ out of it .

You can only "future proof" so much but a GOOD MB is key to this.

S!

hmm...look at the pic in the link you posted ;)

I was always one for a good performance/money buyer. 2500k blows everything out the water! It even ties up with a 980 gulftown! Look...i would be with the rest of the IL-2 AMD fanboys but look at lots of benchmark sites then check price.

Nobody knows what bulldozer is going to do. How long has AM3+ been out? 1155 socket is still going to work with Ivy Bridge( a 22nm version of sandy bridge) due out end of the year.

How long has LGA1156 been out?

See, both manufactures screw us.;)

Maybe you should read the whole article. ;)


It's reading tea leaves atm.

So what are the differences between the 1156 and 1155 boards, other than the not future proof issue for 1156? Is the 2500k miles ahead of the 760 say?

Who cares bout 1156! Think its been out since 2009.

I am using a rig I bought and built from scratch a month ago..

Intel 2500K @ 4.2 Gig ($219)
MSI P67A-GD65 (Has OUTSTANDING "Auto Overclocking" feature.. can't rave about it enough) ($179)
8 Gig Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600 ($99)
WD Caviar 7400 RPM $49.00
Samsung DVD R $20
FXF 6970 2 Gig VRAM $350
Cooler Master HAF 932 Case $139 (Has LARGE fans that make almost no noise)
RaidMax RX 850 AE PS $119 (I Heard mixed reviews about the "Maker" but have seen good reviews on this particular PS and hasen't had an issue)
Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler $39 Big.. I mean BIG! But almost silent and keeps my CPU at 38' under load so how can you argue?

So if you are short of cash you could get the Mobo, CPU, RAM and a new Power SUpply for about $650 US (Assuming prices are what they were a few weeks ago) Carry over your DVD/HDD or get new ones, they are alsmot free at this point..

The big expense will be the G Card.. It was 1/3rd of my purchase price.

Also a word of advice.. if you are "saving up or trying to buy things a piece at a time, buy RAM whenever its cheap... everything else, and I mean everything will cost the same or less if you wait.. you are better off buying it all in a big lump when you are ready..

What could I consider cheap for 2x4gb? £70ish?

I have an order down for a 1090t bundle but it's on hold while I think about the i5 situation. It's driving me crazy. On the graph on page 1, they're basically equivalent to each other, but the i5 users are much louder than the x6 users, so it's hard to decide.

The i5 are intel fanboys and the X6 users are amd fanboys just not as many of them.