Need some opinions to help me choose AMD or Intel

[thunderbug]

I decided to get myself a new pc, i have everything else set but am not sure weather to go for AMD or Intel. Ive Always been a AMD guy, but ive not heard very good things about the new Bulldozer processors.
My choices are:-

AMD Bulldozeer FX-8 8120 301Ghz on an Asus Crosshair V Forumal 9 990FX Socket (total cost = £340.23)
Intel Core i7 2600k 3.4Ghz on an Asus P8P67-M PRO R3 P67 Socket 1155 (total cost = £411.92)


All will be using 2000mhz Corsair Vengeance RAM, 16GB for the AMD and 12GB for Intel, owing to the duel and triple channel nature of the mobo's

Both will be running 2x 6970 XFX 2GB Graphics Cards
Both will have a 2TB 7200RPM HDD and a 160GB SSD
Both will have a XFX Pro 850Watt PSU
Both will be in a NZXT Phantom Case


So i was wondering what people opinions are, and if anyone has a Bulldozer and can say weather or not the issues have been fixed. Also will the extra cost of the Intel Setup would result in a worth while performance increase over the AMD.

Thanks for your time.

 

[JesterRaiin]

So i was wondering what people opinions are, and if anyone has a Bulldozer and can say weather or not the issues have been fixed. Also will the extra cost of the Intel Setup would result in a worth while performance increase over the AMD.

Thanks for your time.

Well this is debatable. There are cons and pros for every choice.

Personally, after years of trusting AMD/ATI tandem i said "f*ck it" and tried i2600k/nVidia. Can't say i'm disappointed in any way. Some people won't agree, but i perceive latest AMD processors as technology that failed to unleash 100% of its potential power. On the other hand, Intel's Sandy Bridge technology is the power.

What arguments i have to back my words up ?
Only personal experience and google you could use to search "bulldozer vs 2600k benchmarks"

 

[Wolfram23]

Bulldozer, honestly, is a piece of shit. It's not entirely AMD's fault, as programs don't seem to understand how to properly assign threads, but as it stands you should just avoid it.

There's also not much reason to get the 2600k over the 2500k except that either 1) you don't need to worry about money or 2) you're going to be running some seriously threaded apps, like rendering 3D drawings.

Also if you're willing to drop the cash on such high end hardware, with CF 6970s you should look at a higher end mobo for the Intel build. This one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269
is the cheapest NF200 equipped mobo. That means it supports 16x/16x crossfire, or 16x/8x/8x trifire (or SLI). It also has USB 3 and SATA 3.

That mobo with the 2500k is $500, with the 2600k is $600.

Not that you need a mobo like that, but it's really good and you can also upgrade to an Ivy Bridge CPU when those are release.

 

[Sleekgiant]

i5 2500

There are no other choices, if you buy a Bulldozer a million neckbeards will burn down your house and if you buy an i7 you are just paying $100 extra for something slightly better than the i5

 

[keiskay]

the bulldozer is cheaper but damn does the thing have tons of problems.

i'd suggest going with the i7 2600k its over clockable and is pretty damn powerful if you want to upgrade later. (obviously it should still work fine for then next 2 card generations 3 generations is pushing it though)

 

[ResonanceSD]

i7 2600K no doubt.

The bulldozer failed so hard in benchmarks it was beaten by Phenom 2.

I've got a 2600K, no problems, fast as all buggery.

However, I am unconcerned with money, you may want a 2500K.

 

[number2301]

A 2500k would be cheaper and perform far better than the AMD chip. I really don't understand why this is a question that comes up so often.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Oh, and with that chip, I have an ASUS P67 Sabertooth motherboard, running 2x GTX 580s

 

[bojackx]

Doesn't seem like this should be in the Gaming Discussion, but whatever.

I've been with an AMD computer for the last 15 months, and it was one of the greatest purchases I've ever made, and for me it was cheaper without any disadvantages.

So yeah, AMD.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Doesn't seem like this should be in the Gaming Discussion, but whatever.

I've been with an AMD computer for the last 15 months, and it was one of the greatest purchases I've ever made, and for me it was cheaper without any disadvantages.

So yeah, AMD.

The problem lies with the new architecture in AMD processors. Older ones outperform the newest cpus in terms of benchmarks.

 

[willis888]

The problems with bulldozer have not been dealt with yet. A Windows 7 patch was released recently that gives bulldozer 1% - 10% better performance, but it's not enough to compete with Intel at that price point. The Phenom II X4 960 at $120 still gets the job done, while the i5 2500k is the top pick in the $220 range. Picking an i7 over an i5 for gaming seems like a waste of $100 in my opinion, but it's your hobby and your money so do what you want.

This is what I would go with:
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=18250012


If you are not using 3 monitors, a single GTX 580 would serve you better than any dual-card solution.
If you are using 3 monitors, your choice of graphics card seems appropriate. If you don't need it right away, perhaps there would be some benefit to waiting for the 7000 series to be released.

If you can wait 6+ months, hard drive prices will fall by more than half as manufacturers recover from the flooding in Thailand that destroyed most of the worlds hard drive production capacity. Perhaps you have some old hard drives around that you can use until then?

 

[octafish]

My thoughts...
Bulldozer does not give the bang for buck the i5 2500k does, The i5 2500k has a slightly smaller cache, but it will clock higher than the i7 and if you really push the clock you'll probably switch off hyper threading. I don't see an advantage with the i7.

How many pixels are you pushing with the Xfire setup? I can't see much need for it unless you are looking at 3D (does AMD/ATI offer 3D?), multiple monitors or BIG screens. Dual 6970s may be reaching a bottleneck without the nf200 chip. The Nvidia recommendation for the p67 boards was dual gtx 560s anything more would be starting to bottleneck.

I have the ATX version of that mobo, it is a good solid board but I wouldn't look at anything other than a z68 chip now. My BIOS is a bit funky as my RAM isn't fully compatible and I have to underclock it to 1333 or it crashes. Not a big loss but I could have saved myself $30 and got 1333 RAM in the first place.

 

[thunderbug]

Thanks for all the reply s very helpful. Ive decided to switch to a Intel processor for the first time in years

I am also goin for a better Mobo, usning z68 chip, i had a look for the one recommended by wolfram01 but cant find a supplier in the uk, so im goin for an Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z Z68 Socket 1155

Also gunna go for a XFX 7970, get a single card to start then get a second when price drops.


thanks again for the help.