[Denna]

Been a long time since I last looked at PCs but since the Mac recently stopped working, my partner and I thought we needed to check out PC prices while we wait for the local Apple Cult shop to work out a repair estimate.

Cue confusion!

The choice boils down to either an i5 750 or an i7 930 based system; the shop we are getting these from can provide either already overclocked at 4Ghz.

The price difference is roughly a couple of hundred pounds, more than enough to make me wonder if the extra money for the i7 is worth it in the long term. For the same cost as an i7 system, I could add a SSD drive to the i5 system with everything else more or less the same (memory, disk, graphics card etc).

But...I'm told the main difference between the two processors is that the i7 is capable of better performance in threaded apps like Photoshop (which we use a lot) but in games (which tend not to be threaded) the i5 would probably outperform the i7 because of its "better" turbo mode. Having digested that piece of information, a friend then tells me that when both chips are overclocked this isn't necessarily true. He did explain, but all I heard was white noise coming out of his mouth.

So...anyone have any experience of this in games or professional apps like Photoshop? Would an i5 + SSD > i7, even when threaded apps are in use ? But probably the most important question:

Is the difference in processor performance small enough not to care ?

Feedback appreciated, especially if in words of one syllable and minimising techo-babble (hey, I'm a Mac user).

(Oh yeah...and if anyone tells you that "Macs just work", feel free to kick them in the shins on my behalf.)

[Metheus]

The i5 is indeed a better choice for games because of the turbo mode.

However! Photoshop CS4 and CS5 actively support working with a graphics card.

So basicly its better to grab an i5 and a good GPU, the GPU will help both games and Photoshop.


Oh and Macs are really retarded overpriced pieces of shit

[Syrgen]

Tbh, i'd get an AMD CPU if I were to upgrade today...The new 1090T kinda kick some heavy ass! And should be cheeper. Best bang / buck out there atm.

[Shantia]

ATM i would get an Phenom II X4 or X6 on a 890FX Mainboard.

I am working with computers everyday and have to say that AMD offers good performance for a lower price.

My PC atm would look like this:

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Asus Crosshair IV Formula
8 GB Corsair RAM
ATI 5850 or 5870 GFX
Intel 80GB SSD
500-2000GB WD Caviar Black or Blue HDD (depends on how much you need)
Corsair PSU 600W
a good CPU cooler like Scythe Mugen 2 Rev.B, Alpenföhn Nordwand, Noctua NH-U9B

[Syrgen]

As shantia said. Besides, you don't wanne put too much money into a LGA1366 motherboard right now, as Intel already said that they will be changing the socket for the next gen CPU's.

[Denna]

Thanks for the replies all.

Main problem I have is the place we source our gear from is Intel only and mostly pre-configured systems with a few bits we can change. eg usually the same motherboard/processor/case/PSU combo. A friend offered to build an AMD based system so that might be an option come replacement time.

For now it looks like the repair guys finally got the Mac going with a new video card, though I'll believe it when I actually see it working again. Whilst the price is still a rip off, at least it's a whole lot cheaper than a new system.

[Zehe]

I?m running a I7 930 system and i must say that if you add a decent cooler to the mix the 930 is very overclock friendly.
Running mine at 3,6 Ghz and it rarely exceeds 70 degrees on a stress test.

But yes, as mentioned above, most of a computers performance lies in what GPU you are running.
I have no idea about the new Nvidia 400 series but i am running a ATI 5970 card on mine and it smashes
every game out there with a wink of its hand on max settings.

Another important part is to actually pick up some decent memory modules, especially if you want to overclock your system.


My PC atm:

Intel I7 930 @ 3,6 Ghz
ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard
Dual WD Black 750GB disks in RAID 0
6GB Corsair Dominator 1600mhz memory
XFX ATI Radeon 5970 Black edition
Chieftec Super series 1200W PSU
Cooler master V8 CPU cooler

[Shantia]

Zehe, on 28 June 2010 - 01:08 PM, said:

My PC atm:

Intel I7 930 @ 3,6 Ghz
ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard
Dual WD Black 750GB disks in RAID 0
6GB Corsair Dominator 1600mhz memory
XFX ATI Radeon 5970 Black edition
Chieftec Super series 1200W PSU
Cooler master V8 CPU cooler

Your PC is by far the most expensive you can get atm...
Its a great PC but the price is too high.
I still would stick to my suggestion. I have to watch on my money. Not like you Zehe :P

[Zehe]

I planned and saved for this upgrade since i bought the last one 3 years ago, i?m just fairly good at looking after my money :P

But excluding the graphics card its really not that super expensive... under 1000 Euro atm

However, you can downsize most of it, memory modules are one of the more expensive ones, the motherboard is a fairly new deluxe version and can be downsized, you really dont need a 1200W(unless you plan to add another 5970 card to Crossfire with like me) if you dont plan to overclock you can get rid of the Coolermaster cooler and run with the stock one. And the graphicscard, you can make due with a card like the ATI 5770 and above, all in all you can make a 1366 socket upgrade in with less than 500 Euro

[Metheus]

Zehe, on 08 July 2010 - 10:47 AM, said:

I planned and saved for this upgrade since i bought the last one 3 years ago, i?m just fairly good at looking after my money :P

But excluding the graphics card its really not that super expensive... under 1000 Euro atm

However, you can downsize most of it, memory modules are one of the more expensive ones, the motherboard is a fairly new deluxe version and can be downsized, you really dont need a 1200W(unless you plan to add another 5970 card to Crossfire with like me) if you dont plan to overclock you can get rid of the Coolermaster cooler and run with the stock one. And the graphicscard, you can make due with a card like the ATI 5770 and above, all in all you can make a 1366 socket upgrade in with less than 500 Euro

Why do you spend so much money just to play a game that will run on a 486...
I'm pretty sure WoW's state of the art shadowing implementation won't benefit from it :P

[Zehe]

Metheus, on 08 July 2010 - 11:54 AM, said:

Why do you spend so much money just to play a game that will run on a 486...
I'm pretty sure WoW's state of the art shadowing implementation won't benefit from it :P

That is because i play a shitload of other games than just WoW, try running Crysis and CoD Modern warfare 2 on a 486 and see what happens :P