AM2 vs Core duo.. Need some help.

[Dantrag]

Hi,

I'm thinking of upgrading my main system (2500+, 9800 pro 1gb ram, 80gb drive etc.)

now I've looked at some parts and need some advice on what I should go for.

1)

-Retail Boxed AMD X2 Dual Core AM2 Athlon 64 4600 2.4GHz 2x512 Socket AM2

-Zalamn CNP9500 AM2 Aero Flower Supports (AM2/939/754)

-Western Digital Caviar SE16 250Gb 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive SATAII 300MB/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM

-OCZ 1GB Kit (2x512MB) 240Pin PC2-6400 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 Gold Series CAS2.5

-ASUS M2N-E NF570, Socket AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

- BFG GeForce 7900GT OC 256MB DDR3 SLI, Dual DVI, HDTV, PCI-E (475MHz Core Clock) (1360MHz Memory Clock)

For £622.24



VS



2)

-Western Digital Caviar SE16 250Gb 16Mb Cache Hard Disk Drive SATAII 300MB/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM

-OCZ 1GB Kit (2x512MB) 240Pin PC2-6400 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 Gold Series CAS2.5

-BFG GeForce 7900GT OC 256MB DDR3 SLI, Dual DVI, HDTV, PCI-E (475MHz Core Clock) (1360MHz Memory Clock)

-Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2 x 2.4Ghz 4Mb Cache 1066 FSB Dual Core Processor

-Asus P5B 965 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

-Zalman CNPS9500-AT Aero Flower 775

for £727.93


would the extra £100 be worth it? I also Overclock.
I've been out of the hardware scene for a while so any help/oppinions would help.


-thanks.

 

[Didou]

As far as gaming goes both CPUs will max out the VGA card so you won't see much difference there. You will see a difference in encoding tasks & such but is that worth £100 to you ?

Btw why are you quoting prices in £ ? Aren't you in Belgium anymore ?

ps. the Core 2 Duo will overclock much better granted you have very good memory.

 

[Dantrag]

I'm mainly doing it for rendering, thats why I'm going for a dual core aswell. The core duo also has the low power, which I like. I know that I dont need to use that As a AM2 and a new PSU are a little cheaper. I only really doubting about it because I've read alot of good stuff about the new Intel chip. (Yes, still belgium But I'll be in england for a few days and its alot cheaper then over here; www.novatech.co.uk is where I normally buy my stuff) Though I do think I have a better motherboard option with the AM2 and I could throw in a tft for the same price as the core 2 duo. So what I'm really wondering is if there is that much difference in performence (mainly rendering in terragen and 3dsmax) to justify the £100 extra.

 

[Mirob]

AMD's best, the FX-62 is close to the performance of the E6400. The E6600 is well faster at everything. Price to performance with any AMD over the 3800+ is no where near Intel's. AMD has completely lost mid to high end and has dropped prices 60% to hold on to any grasp of the low end.

I have a E6300 in transit. I will overclock it on air cooling out of reach of any AMD CPU. For $219 I will get performance never seen before at any price.

 

[Dantrag]

But I will be getting it from that shop. And the AMD is cheaper 160 vs 230
and if its not that much difference I wont bother paying the extra money, I might aswell use it for some other component (gt to gtx upgrade or an extra dvdrw etc) ofcourse I like performence, but I'm not a pro digital artist.

 

[kitty500cat]

You weren't planning to SLI with the Intel, were you? Because if you were, the chipset doesn't support it. Personally, I like the Intel better because it's a Core 2 and it might do a little better, but I don't know if there's that much difference between the Intel and the AMD.