CF or i7?

[konakona]

My friend says he can't wait any longer to build his system, it has to happen now or very soon, so no i5 for him. With his projected budget of $1200ish before rebates, I came up with two builds at egg:

<common parts>
(he already bought his so-so case on his own, oh well)
Corsair 850TX
WD Caviar Black 1TB
Encore ENLWI-G wireless adapter
Sapphire HD 4890
LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD/DVD Burner combo drive

<build 1>
i7 920
Asus P6T
OCZ Gold 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600
$1207.41 shipped -$62 in rebates = $1145.41 total

<build2>
phenom II x3 720BE
Biostar TA790GX 128MB
Patriot Viper 4GB DDR2 PVS24G6400LLKN
Gigabyte HD 4890 (CF)
$1122.92 shipped - $96 in rebates = $1026.92 total

This is a strictly entertainment oriented system, and he would never do any amount of encoding or 3d modeling, or any work related stuff whatsoever. The primary use for it will be gaming and HD movie playback. While he is not a total computer illiterate, he is not very well educated in these matters (e.g. seems to think more l2 cache = faster CPU, faster RPM = faster HDD, etc). He seems to be be a bit worried about overall snappiness of the system and boot times and such, but seeing how he is coming from his poorly managed core duo laptop, I doubt either one would be give any sign of sluggishness at all. He has and wants to play Crysis and all the other graphically demanding FPS shooters on his 47'' TV in 1080p.

With all this chunk of money spent at once, he doesn't want to upgrade anything within next 6 months or so. Since i7 are naturally a better platform for multi GPU gaming, plus generally faster at everything, the first system looked like a logical choice at first. On the second thought, the second build has its obvious and unparalleled advantage in the GPU department next half year or so at least, being some $100 cheaper at that. I doubt highly overclocked phenom II's are showing any sign of CPU deficiency in the current crop of games anyway. Then again, other than crysis, do you really NEED (or could benefit from in terms of higher FSAA and other settings) 4890s in CF at that res? Last but not least, he does have an option of upgrading his CPU in the future just as well as he could upgrade his GPU with the i7 system, though it is unlikely any AM2+ cpu would be as fast as an i7.

I figured it would be a good thing to hear more opinions from different perspectives before committing to buy.

 

[swanysto]

I am thinking you may need the CF for that monitor.

 

[konakona]

With his budget having a hard limit of $1200, I think PII is starting to look all the more appealing. Like I said, he doesn't keep up with the current hardware and somehow thought he had to get x4 945 to get good results in gaming for AMD machines. Personally, I don't see any compelling reason other than better expectation for OC results. With x3, it IS cheaper than the i7 even with CF included.

Thanks, let's hear some more responses.

 

[swanysto]

Well, normally I would recommend the i7 and one video card over the PII, but since he is dealing with a very large display, I can't see him getting decent gaming out of just one card. I have a 28" monitor and get very good rates out of one card. I can't imagine having to power 19 more inches though.

 

[brianlee2007]

in most build w/ highend gpu you would likely to come to a CPU wall before you hit the GPU wall I would roll w/ the i7 if those were the given choices. and get another 4890 later. and possibly more rams as well. w/ i7 build, you wont have to replace the cpu as fast as amd (again, given the choice) and it would surely be easier if not even cheaper to upgrade a GPU than a CPU. plus i7 build you dont have to ditch anything, you just need to pop in another card .

 

[konakona]

Well the resolution is still at 1080p (1920x1080) though. It wouldn't be any different than dealing with any run-of-the-mill 24'' or 26'' monitors.

 

[brianlee2007]

about the TV what's the resolution on it? HD or not some large TV only supports smaller than normal monitor resolution. my 32" lcd only goes 13xx X 7xx so i can only imagine the resolution is really something like 1440x900 or 1650x1080 need spec from TV

 

[konakona]

brianlee2007, I agree with everything you said, except we know for sure he will NOT upgrade to CF for a good half year. To put it in a perspective, it is 6 month's worth of CF fun he is missing out on. The million dollar question is, does he need it?

I am expecting at least a 950mhz on that 4890 core, which probably makes the card quite a bit faster than the 4870 whose performance I have a better idea about.

 

[rebith75]

agreed with konakona, The size of the TV does not matter, its the resolution. 1920/1080 is 1920/1080 no matter how large it is.

 

[rebith75]

agreed with konakona, The size of the TV does not matter, its the resolution. 1920/1080 is 1920/1080 no matter how large it is.

 

[Spicedaddy]

1920x1080 isn't that high, I think a single 4890 would be fine. I'd get the i7.

 

[konakona]

oh, and comments on other components in general is definitely welcome

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: konakona
Well the resolution is still at 1080p (1920x1080) though. It wouldn't be any different than dealing with any run-of-the-mill 24'' or 26'' monitors.

This.

And the HD4890 CF will run all over the single card i7.

edit: I fergit .... consider the 790FX (either AM2+ or AM3) for another $80 - $100

 

[TidusZ]

I would go for build 1 with the i7. If you go with build 2 make sure to unlock the 4th core and overclock that thing.