Done with AMD got me a new Intel

[BaneNWN]

Just picked me up an E8400 and i almost nailed 130k aquamark with my piddley X1900XT.Best part is yet to come ill have a brand new 8800 gt next week.The difference between a 5600+ and an E8400 is 33 FPS in aquamark i was not expecting it to be that much.I scored 93K with my 5600+ and with the same configuration i score 127k with my new rig.Until AMD gets back in the race if ever ill be sticking with Intel but ive been blinded long enough by AMD.

[Mochan]

Just don't let RtR hear you. :)

[G07H1C]

Nice, it's the #1 chip right now! I have been an AMD fan for years now. Intel dropped the ball back in 2002 I believe. Now, they are back on top, looks like they are going to be there for a while!

[Mochan]

I was in the AMD camp for the last few generations, price for performance was definitely in AMD's favor. But let's not kid ourselves Intel has AMD's number with the Core 2 Duo chips and AMD's spider platform is not anywhere close to breaking the deal. But don't let RtR hear me say that. :D

I'm neither an AMD or Intel fan I am simply a price/performance fan because I am a cheap penny pincher. I'll go where the wallet goes. The only reason I don't have an Intel setup right now is because there is life yet in my S939 Opteron. In another year or two though I will probably have to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo, unless AMD pulls a rabbit out of its hat and trumps Intel within that time frame.

[BaneNWN]

dont get me wrong i love AMD just not so much anymore.There really is no excuse though that the margin should be this wide.Even the price gaps are narrowing.What kept me from going intel was the price difference but im tired of running middle of the road for once i want to see what its like to have good equipment.Ive always bought cheap motherboards and while mines still not considered expensive its still 100$ more then ive ever spent on one before.

I was thinking of going quad but i think i made the right choice by going dual.I figured all i needed was a cpu,mobo and tower i might as well splurge well i have the chance.everything else is reused off my athlon setup which by the way blew out on me even know i think it was only the mobo i figure i have the cash now i might as well go all out.Another determining factor is when my local PC parts store said they were phasing out AMD because they simply cant keep up.All they sell now is Intel when i went to try to get a replacement motherboard they told me they would have to order it special and i decided then and there im not going to play cat and mouse games to get an inferior product

[Mochan]

Definitely not, I don't see the point especially after I got my Opteron. I spent less to get an Opteron but I should have just bit the bullet and replaced my board, RAM and CPU with an Intel setup instead of getting the Opteron. All in all though not a big deal, at least I spent less and more importantly did less work to get the Opteron up and running. I've become a lazy bastard of late.

Let's hope AMD can catchup, it's not healthy to see just Intel dominate the market. But AMD has their work cut out for them, Intel's deathgrip on the performance is way tight right now.

I also think you were correct in getting a dual core right now. I don't think we need Quad Core for games just yet. Besides, you can easily shift to a quad later on, they use the same socket anyway. Dual cores are faster and cost less, definitely a better deal.

[G07H1C]

I agree with both points, if intel keeps this market in their favor, and decides to lower prices to boot - then it could look really bad for AMD.
Dual core is the ideal gaming chip presently, the quad core is starting to come down a little in price, but not that much!
Goooooo AMD! AMD & ATI marriage/Intel and Nvidia feuding?????

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Just picked me up an E8400 and i almost nailed 130k aquamark with my piddley X1900XT.Best part is yet to come ill have a brand new 8800 gt next week.The difference between a 5600+ and an E8400 is 33 FPS in aquamark i was not expecting it to be that much.I scored 93K with my 5600+ and with the same configuration i score 127k with my new rig.Until AMD gets back in the race if ever ill be sticking with Intel but ive been blinded long enough by AMD.

Don't get too excited because Aquamark is too low a resolution to really say that the X2 5600 is not a worthy choice. I just got an 8800 GT for my backup/bedroom PC that has one of those and the performance at 1920 * 1200 is frankly awesome especially in a power hungry game like Jericho. FRAPS never drops below 30 FPS. I picked an 8800 GT because of its high performance to power consumption ratio. I'm not going to dispute that the Intel chip is faster. I will dispute that the difference may not be that apparent in real world gaming.

P. S Nobody should be gaming at 1024 * 768 in this day and age. The only numbers that matter are what you are getting at the resolution you game at. I believe that in the PC realm it should be 1920 * 1200 at a minimum.

[Aku]

P. S Nobody should be gaming at 1024 * 768 in this day and age. The only numbers that matter are what you are getting at the resolution you game at. I believe that in the PC realm it should be 1920 * 1200 at a minimum.

Dude, most people don't have rigs that can play today's games at 1920*1200 "at minimum".

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Dude, most people don't have rigs that can play today's games at 1920*1200 "at minimum".

You could certainly do it for a lot less than even a year ago.

[G07H1C]

This past year I was able to go at that resolution, but I had to buy a 24" ws monitor to achieve it! I agree, todays games work great at 1920*1200, but some of my old ones do not, I have to change some hardware around.

[Mochan]

Don't get too excited because Aquamark is too low a resolution to really say that the X2 5600 is not a worthy choice. I just got an 8800 GT for my backup/bedroom PC that has one of those and the performance at 1920 * 1200 is frankly awesome especially in a power hungry game like Jericho. FRAPS never drops below 30 FPS. I picked an 8800 GT because of its high performance to power consumption ratio. I'm not going to dispute that the Intel chip is faster. I will dispute that the difference may not be that apparent in real world gaming.

P. S Nobody should be gaming at 1024 * 768 in this day and age. The only numbers that matter are what you are getting at the resolution you game at. I believe that in the PC realm it should be 1920 * 1200 at a minimum.

I still play at 720p. :eek:

[Intangir]

Nobody should be gaming at 1024 * 768 in this day and age.I don't even want to imagine what gaming at 1024x768 would be like again! Nope, I've moved on to greener pastures... 1280x960 all the way, baby! :D

My computer can crank out playable framerates at 1600x1200 and perhaps even 1900x1200 in some games, but my monitor can't display them. Well, I can do 1600x1200 but only at like 70Hz which is headache territory for me. But that's ok; 1280x960 with some anti-aliasing on my 19" monitor still looks great to me.

[BaneNWN]

Well i went on ebay yesterday and ordered my 8800 GT i was looking at staying under the 175$ mark so i figured id either have to get a used one or a new pny but ive always hated pny cards so i stayed away from it.Instead i picked up a zotac amp edition and i just realized it comes overclocked i picked this up for 149.99 +10.99$ shipping brand new in the box.I kind of took a gamble as i never heard of zotac but i was pleasantly suprized by the review of the amp edition.sounds like it is one of the better 8800 GT's out there.

So anyone looking to upgrade cheap check this card out http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1262/zotac_geforce_8800gt_amp_edition/


Oh and RTR i am pretty sure real world gaming would give us the same result.These core 2 duo's are crazy powerful ive owned both now and i can say without a doubt buying an athlon for gaming just doesnt make sense at this time.Maybe a few months ago when the core 2 duo were high buck but why would anyone possbly buy an 6400+ when you can get a e8400 for about the same price? before it made sense when you could get an 6400+ for 190 and all the good core 2 duo's were close to 400$ but it just doesnt make sense to stick with athlon anymore when right now the e8400 i got is the best bang for the buck and can be had for about $185.Im actually feeling like this is a dream to get a high powered cpu of this magnitude for less then 200$ is nutts.hell less then $300 would have been a steal.I was like you RTR i told myself id never go intel nomatter what,but i was tired of reading on other forums how great intel is now and had to see for myself.You want the best gaming experience u have to go intel.

Mochan i hope soon you decide to get a core 2 duo my 5600+ was about on the same level as your opteron and i cant even begin to describe how happy i am that i did this move.it was a gamble for me but dayum its a whole new ballgame now.I dont even know why i upgraded my gpu to be honest i mean it rips through everything now the way it is.

[Mochan]

Well I'll upgrade my PC maybe a few months from now (maybe Christmas) it really depends on the budget. If I were rich this wouldn't even be an issue! I'm doing fine right now but I am feeling the age of my Opteron. I can still play today's games at the best levels without any real problems but it's just not "smooth as butter."

[G07H1C]

I have a 5000+ dual core, I have had no problems to date, other than a driver issue with Gothic 3. On the other hand, I have seen the hype with the e8400 (friends), and there is a small difference to say the least! I just hate giving Intel props with anything!!!

[Mochan]

Hahaha, a solid AMD fan here! You'll get along with RtR.

I am debating whether to just upgrade my RAM for about 3000php so I can set the proper bus speeds on my PC, or do the whole kaboodle and get a new C2D, MoBo and RAM for about 20,000php like Bane did. I could probably do the same for about 15000php but with lesser components but I just saw this delicious Gigabyte Mobo in a shop here for about 10k and it was so gorgeous I couldn't possibly settle for anything less.

[G07H1C]

Go to hell - Intel! just kidding! I am going to have to upgrade my rig in about 6 - 9 mo. I hope that AMD has done something by then to narrow the gap on the chip war, I have been reading a bit on it, they have plans, they seem to be thru with multi core as we know it - and taking a new approach. we will see! I would hate to go back to Intel, but gaming comes first!!!

[Mochan]

Depending on the demands of the next batch of games, I may have to upgrade as well. Fortunately it seems games aren't really trying to push the hardware requirements that much lately so I am able to get by with my Opteron. S939 is just so outdated the chipset can't really keep up with today's games,but it's doing its best.

But if the next batch of games step up the pace I may have to upgrade by Christmas in around 6-9 mos. as well.But if I am lucky and games like Spore, JA3 etc. are what keep my attention, then I can probably survive on this Opteron for another year or two. Not likely though.

[G07H1C]

The gaming industry is usually behind the computer industry! Thank god, or I would be limited to console gaming.

You should be good for a little while, but judging your taste of games, I'm not sure you can go 2 years!!!

[BaneNWN]

the graphics whore that mochan is i dont think he goes 2 years either.like i said i was a big athlon fanboy myself and the only reason i didnt fix my 5600+ was because of the whole phasing out thing at my local pc parts store.normally i wouldnt have a problem with this and many times ill order stuff online but if my pc has something go bad on it id like to know i can drive a few miles and fix the problem the same day.ill order stuff when im not in a huge hurry for it but if i need something i want it like right now.if they would have had a motherboard on hand for me i would have never have gotten the core 2 duo but now im glad i did

[BaneNWN]

Hahaha, a solid AMD fan here! You'll get along with RtR.

I am debating whether to just upgrade my RAM for about 3000php so I can set the proper bus speeds on my PC, or do the whole kaboodle and get a new C2D, MoBo and RAM for about 20,000php like Bane did. I could probably do the same for about 15000php but with lesser components but I just saw this delicious Gigabyte Mobo in a shop here for about 10k and it was so gorgeous I couldn't possibly settle for anything less.

Man if u can afford it do the overhaul you wont regret it.your 8800 GT would thank you for it.I dont think your seeing the true potential of that gpu because you cpu is holding it back.I went from 16k gpu in aquamark to a smidge under 20k so even the 5600+ was holding back my x1900xt which doesnt even compare to your 8800 GT.Mine is more comparable to the 8600 GT and it kicks total ass with this proccesor.like you mentioned earlier i can go quad when the time comes and because of that alone i dont see having to do an overhaul for 6-8 years

[Mochan]

You know me Bane, I am a huge graphics whore, I am probably going to cave in soon especially when Far Cry 2 and Stalker Clear Sky hits. Right now the games I am playing are still hanging in there, but I haven't done an overhaul in like 4 years. I got my S939 mobo in like 2004. It's getting to be that time when a complete overhaul is needed.

I should invest in a big fat mobo from Gigabyte and I should be set for the next 6 years as you said.

I do agree my CPU/Mobo/RAM is holding my 8800GT back, hell I had a suspicion it was holding my 7800GT back 2 years ago what more the 8800GT! My brother has an old Core 2 Duo (e4200) and he doesn't get any lag whatsoever playing the latest Need for Speed game, even with just an 8600GT.

[Robert-The-Rambler]

I do agree my CPU/Mobo/RAM is holding my 8800GT back, hell I had a suspicion it was holding my 7800GT back 2 years ago what more the 8800GT! My brother has an old Core 2 Duo (e4200) and he doesn't get any lag whatsoever playing the latest Need for Speed game, even with just an 8600GT.[/QUOTE]

Your GT even with your Opteron should be way fast enough to maintain 60 FPS with Vsync on. If you don't play with Vsync on you are nuts. It will just totally bunk up the image quality. A new faster CPU will just let you benchmark even more out of the refresh range of your monitor/TV. What games are you not getting 60FPS. Run FRAPS while you play to track performance as you play. That will give you a great idea of whether an upgrade is worth it.

P.S I play Need For Speed Pro Street with an Opteron 185 at 2.6 ghz and an 8800 GTX and it never lags even with very high FSAA at 1680 * 1050. In that setup I only have 3 gigs of plain old DDR 400 RAM.

[BaneNWN]

Arent you the 2048 res guy?Your ok with your opteron because its your backup PC,Reguardless if mochan upgraded to a core 2 duo he will see a huge difference in gaming.Im seeing it with prey and oblivion.Ive gained on average 20+ fps with both games.Like i said before i have the same config accept i have an e8400 now instead of a 5600+ ive had both and i think your underestimating what a difference in performance a cpu can make,reguardless of what anyone says his 8800 GT is being held back and i mean by alot.sure his rig is solid but now its about future proofing go core 2 duo then when the time comes stick a quad in there a few years down the road and bingo

[Mochan]

I can do 60fps easy the problem is I feel sluggishness especially when I load up big areas. the framerate itself is 60 but it usually has hiccups when loading occurs. The CPU/Mobo/RAM is clearly not feeding enough data to the GPU in a timely manner.

[G07H1C]

I'm just gonna put my little 2 cents in on this, and let you all battle this one out.

Intel e8400
CPU speed 3.0 Ghz
Bus speed 1333 Mhz
L2 Cache 6 MB
Cache speed 3 Ghz

AMD 6400+
CPU speed 3.2 Ghz
Bus speed 1000 Mhz
L2 Cache 2 MB
Cache speed 1 Ghz

If I'm looking at this - I'm thinking, there is no doubt that Intel is the faster, and better gaming chip! Please forgive me AMD gods, show me a sign, let me repent for this blasphemy! I'm sorry RTR dawg, but I have to lean the Bane way this time!

[Robert-The-Rambler]

I'm just gonna put my little 2 cents in on this, and let you all battle this one out.

Intel e8400
CPU speed 3.0 Ghz
Bus speed 1333 Mhz
L2 Cache 6 MB
Cache speed 3 Ghz

AMD 6400+
CPU speed 3.2 Ghz
Bus speed 1000 Mhz
L2 Cache 2 MB
Cache speed 1 Ghz

If I'm looking at this - I'm thinking, there is no doubt that Intel is the faster, and better gaming chip! Please forgive me AMD gods, show me a sign, let me repent for this blasphemy! I'm sorry RTR dawg, but I have to lean the Bane way this time!

I'll just have to settle for 60 FPS at 1920 * 1200 or above. MWHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Fast and faster. Smooth is smooth says R-T-R.

[G07H1C]

Ok, yea that's kickin, but what could it be?

Bottom line is....again.....if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I on the other hand have to upgrade in about 6 - 9 mo's, if AMD doesn't come up with something by then, it is soul crushing, but I may have to jump on the Intel bandwagon - oh, the AMD gods are pissing fire now!