After doing some reading over the interweb, the position I find myself in is fast becoming another age old question. Go AM3 or i5.

There's lists of reasons for why one should choose both. cost vs performance, some say the am3 offers better and faster support for crossfire and gaming over the i5, some say the i5 overall is a much stronger cpu for the cost. I would like to hear your opinions as I am really torn between going AM3 or i5.

ideally, the system(s) I have spec'd out are within a mere 20 bucks or so of each other in favor of AM3. The more I read the more I am thinking of biting the bullet and going intel. I am also keeping in mind that socket 1156 may not be around as long as AM3 and if that would affect me or not.

your thoughts?

Can you outline your prospective setups?

AMD

AMD Phenom II X4 965 (3.4GHz) 125W AM3, BLACK EDITION wFAN $228

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 790X/SB750 xFire 2XPCIeX16, 4DDR3,GbL,HD AUDIO $144

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 (MB 1YR) $136

total w/tax ~ $574

Intel

INTEL QUAD CORE i5-750 2.66Ghz 8MB 95W LGA1156 TurboBoost $244

ASUS P7P55D LE S-1156 P55 4DDR3 CrossFireX HD Audio GbL $157

G.SKILL Ripjaws 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL) (MB 1YR) $129

total w/tax ~$598


not 100% decided on the memory, but board and cpu what I would go with.

As far as CF goes, the AMD board would be better as it's x8/x8 while the Intel is only x16/x4

I know but I really don't think there is much if any fps hit in regards to that.

AMD systems test a fraction better than the i5 at gaming. Which is where most of the use will be with this build that and converting the odd avi to dvd format.

in the OC arena the i5 shines. The new cpu for AMD hits a wall ~ 3.8 which I think alot of people wanting to see a 4ghz oc from a flagship cpu.

I can easily get 3.825 from my 940 with very respectable vcore and temps if i wanted to bother with it.

I had a 5% hit with 3870's on a x16/x4 board over the x8/x8 I'm running now and there were some really weird CPU usage issues in some benchmarks. The board in question had the x16 slot on the NB and the X4 slot on the SB.

That's sickening really; I didn't think any boards did that.

I think I would avoid the 1156 socket, since there isn't much of a future for it.
AMD releases its hex core in may, and AM3 mobos will support it.
Intel releases it's Hex cores and a few quads on March 16th. These will work with 1366 socket.

That's the main issue with trying to make a "budget gaming" Intel system the same price as an AMD one. You're sacrificing a lot to save that 500$, including futureproofing.

As far as future proofing goes, I would upgrade nearly on a yearly basis. However, with the oncoming of the new Hex core which I may move to soon after they are released ( depending on performance ) I am going to go AM3.

Once I get the 680i evga mobo, E6700 and 6 gigs of ram sold, I am going AM3.

AMD Phenom II X4 965
ASUS M4A79XTD EVO
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB

Woo!!

I say suck it up and go AMD J. We all you know your the amd fanboi as well!

But in seriousness i'm very intel biased. But AMD seems to be on the right track with their CPU's atm. Mind you I do believe i5 is a bit stronger but that line is fairly thin.

P.S. I would like to see some accurate facts where people come with the assumption that there is not a future for i5.. Not to mention the lack of support for Quad still.. "Hex" come on..

Well after reading a lot of reviews, forums and what not top - the majority says to go am3 for a lot of reasons. I was a hair close to going i5, actually its still in the back of my mind lol

I was admittedly very close to an I5 build. After seeing alot of benches and what not it is a stronger cpu - which nearly sold me. The alleged dim future for i5's 1156 socket wouldn't sway my decision. It was the countless results i was seeing with am3 beating out the i5 in gaming, which is what the machine would mostly be used for anyways. Even tho in nearly every case it was marginal at best. Also the way x-fire works is a little less than AMD.

Now for everything else the AM3 flagship is left behind by intel. I can say I am somewhat disappointed at the small OC achieved by the X4 965. I expected more from it on air as I believe so many others were as well.

It looks like a 940 clocked to 3.4 and sold. The headroom left would be cut down which is what it certainly looks like. I think its the last cpu before something much better. So the only real thing I would gain from a new build would really be the 1600Mhz memory over the 1066 I am on now.

Once the build is done, I would then go to a 5 series GPU and eventually go x-fire there as well. I don't have the $$ for an i7 build , or I would easily go that route as it levels everything with ease. Lets hope AMD steps it up several notches in the coming months.

Wait till May and get a Phenom II X6!

I'm in the same boat as you JJ. Due for a new AM3 build real soon, gonna order some stuff tomorrow.

I already ordered an M4A78-e last week should be here soon. I was on the fence on whether or not I should get the -te version with DDR3 support, but it just don't seem that beneficial to me to run DDR3 when I have a great kit of 1066 currently that can OC like hell.

So I'm sticking with DDR2 and possibly adding another kit of 4GB PC-8500. I've also decided to grab the 965 BE for my cpu which I've heard is really standing it's ground amidst the i5 market.

Also going to buy a 60GB SSD for my OS, and possibly either another 4870 for crossfire (along with a new psu) or a 5850, haven't decided yet.

SSD is the shizzle! Best upgrade you can get these days.