Originally posted by dru3692:

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would an ECS mobo be a worthwhile purchase? It comes as a combo deal, otherwise I would go Asus or Gigabyte.

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Originally posted by dru3692:

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would an ECS mobo be a worthwhile purchase? It comes as a combo deal, otherwise I would go Asus or Gigabyte.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealD....230062

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Originally posted by dru3692:

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thanks to you both for the input.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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ECS boards are terrible. Avoid like the plague. Gigabyte, Biostar, DFI and MSI are the current reputable brands.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Both the 920 and 720 are 2.8Ghz, the same core design, how can the quad possibly be slower than the tri?

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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The 720 I thought was a 920 with one core shut down. I don't see why they would underclock a CPU and turn a core off unless it was so unstable it couldn't be overclocked - from what I've seen of the 720 that seems unlikely.

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Originally posted by dru3692:

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What sources have run these tests? and What are the best tools to test performance?

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just get a Q9400/Q9550/Q9650 and dont worry about it...lol
sorry guys after ready all the problems there is with the AMD's you guys have or have had or know someone who has one. im glad i didnt go amd...

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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Rob: As far as actually using a system goes, there aren't any problems per-se with the Phenoms, other than the original xx00 series ones. The issue is the complexity of working out what is and isn't compatible (and of course for us enthusiasts, the fact they don't overclock very well is also a minus :P)
The reason I don't have an AMD is because that statement isn't true. AMDs aren't really any better for gaming, outside maybe one title (Far Cry 2 - a game I don't really like). Let's not also forget that when I bought my CPU the X4 955 didn't exist, so there was no such AMD CPU as powerful as what I have.
Russ: The fact that the 920 doesn't overclock because it's not a black edition is simple to grasp. It's the fact that you say it's slower at stock clocks I don't understand. The movement from the 920 basis to the 940 basis (presumably for the black edition to be true) makes sense since the 720 is the top end CPU of the tri core series, but while that explains its overclocking prowess, I'm still lost on why it's faster at 2.8Ghz.
A Q9550 is not $349.99 and hasn't been for years. You've found the Q9550S, a 65W chip. Compare 65W for that against the 125W of the rival Phenom 955 and you'll see why it's so much money. That's a lot of power for a low-energy rig.

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Russ
Forget the Q9400 entirely!

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Summary
When we first set out to tackle this article, we weren't quite sure what to expect. We've seen both the Phenom II and Core i7 up close and personal, and have a healthy respect for each platform. However, we are performance junkies around here and pride ourselves as overclocking enthusiasts that try to extract maximum performance from our systems, regardless of platform. And we have been suitably impressed by the overclocking prowess of the Core i7 lineup, as have many other enthusiasts the world over. But we also know that very few people are also able to take advantage of much of those increases in real world tasks that can truly harness that power to a great degree.

We've seen the pendulum swing from Intel to AMD, and back and forth, and as gamers, we had assumed that the strengths of the Core i7 platform would prove too much for a Phenom II to overcome in terms of gaming performance. So today's investigation set about not to prove a certain viewpoint, but to try to illuminate the facts of the unknown differences, not the least of which were our own experiences. And as we must admit, we were rather surprised at the results.

There are a few conclusions we can now definitively draw after today's exploration, plain and simple. It is fact that a Core i7 gaming rig will give you better overall performance in terms of absolute numbers and framerates; the difference isn't very much, but it does exist. It is also fact that such a system will cost considerably more money as well for what is essentially almost the same performance. When the results are then applied against those cost differences, it is also fact that the Core i7 system then becomes a very expensive option, costing hundreds of dollars more for little to no performance increase in most games.

Where things get really interesting is when you equalize the costs between the platforms and look at what you get for gaming performance in return. For a current difference of $215, you can purchase a second Radeon 4890 to go with a Crossfire setup in your Phenom II system and it will utterly crush a Core i7 gaming setup that will have only one graphics card. And we must admit, that provides a very compelling reason to consider an AMD gaming system, especially when we consider that a Phenom II X4 can overclock very well and also easily handle just about any regular use application. Unless you're doing a ton of video encoding or workstation renderings and animations, the cost for performance difference is very difficult to justify, particularly for a gaming setup.

As we said at the outset, passion can be a good thing when harnessed. And in this instance, using the gaming value presented by an AMD Phenom II setup can effectively let gamers harness far more additional graphics horsepower for their hard-earned money.

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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The Q8200 is down to £107 now, not a great deal more than the X3 720 at £92.

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Originally posted by theonejrs:

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Originally posted by sammorris:

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The Q8200 is down to £107 now, not a great deal more than the X3 720 at £92.

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Here's a little competition between primarily CPUs also tested. The 730 Triple is more than competitive against the Q8200!

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/amd-ph...810-920-p1.html

Even if you are a fan of Intel or AMD, for the price it's a pretty impressive chip. Xbit didn't seem to have any difficulty getting it to 3.9GHz. It overclocks well enough to be very competitive! It seems to be an interesting way of representing the test results, combining results from so many different tests, down to a combined performance level I would think the more information you you provide, the more accurate it would be, overall!

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EDIT

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I think their may be some truth to Sophocles talking about me and some sort of "Fusion". I've got some screen shots of DVD Rebuilder/CCE that you will not believe! I still don't believe it! Stay Tuned!

Best Regards,
Russ

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