AMD AM3 or Intel Sandy Bridge?

[Ian]

I'm looking to upgrade my computer at home. I've been a long time AMD fan and I'm currently leaning towards an 890GX based motherboard. I'd probably get a mid-range Phenom II CPU and then upgrade to the an AM3+ Bulldozer CPU when they come out.

My other option is to get one of the Intel H67 based motherboards and a Sandy Bridge i5 CPU. This is the more expensive option, but SATA 6Gb/s performance seems to be better on the Intel platform.

And yes, I'm going the integrated graphics route. I don't play many games on my PC and if I do add a graphics card, I don't see myself adding more than one.

Thoughts?

[SithTracy]

Running an i7-2600K along with an ASUS P6P87 EVO right now and WOW!!! I, too, have been an AMD guy for my last couple rigs. I went through the recall as well and almost dumped the whole thing for a Phenom II x6, but I held off and am glad I did. Water cooling the CPU with one of the Corsair Hydro Series H60's too.

No SSD's for me, yet... down to one ODD. Encoding a Matroska file with Handbrake on it now and it will be done in less than half the time it took my Phenom II x4 940BE. About 77 frames per second vs 33 per second. I'm pretty happy with it.

[redk9258]

MAME guys have been fans of Intel since Core2Duos came out. Emulation seems to be a good test for processing power and lately Intel beats AMD. I was also an AMD fan but switched to Intel the last computer I put together. I'm running a Core2Quad. I've read the Sandy bridge processors smoke it too.

[Ian]

Nice system SithTracy.

I think I'm leaning more towards Intel now but if I did go AMD I could probably save enough to get a Radeon 6790.

[SithTracy]

I went nVidia on the GPU this go around... GTX460. I am not much of a gamer but all the forums recommend nVidia over ATI/AMD for photo work... and I do notice a difference from my older ATI 4800 series card. I'll also add I am a Mac user now with a MacBook Pro 15" Sandy Bridge rig. It has integrated ATI 6490M. Could be the shiny display, but I prefer doing my photo work on the PC, but the MacBook works in a pinch and I get to tether my camera to it... and it runs Windows 7 great with BootCamp!

[Ian]

Good point. I forgot that most of the encoding software I currently use supports CUDA.

[Ian]

Looks like I'm going to have about $300 to blow on a motherboard and CPU. Any suggestions?

[SithTracy]

You gotta go AMD then... Do you need a full atx board? Before we bought the MacBook for the family/second PC, I had carted one of these @ NewEgg:

MSI 890GXM-G65 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

[Ian]

That's one of the ones I was looking at. Same with the MSI 890FXA-GD65 but in that case I'd have to shell out for a video card.

Any thoughts on the ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3? Newegg has an open box one for $95

[SithTracy]

I like ASUS boards, but I personally would not gamble on an open box item. I've never tried an MSI board, but really liked what I read on that one even though it was not a full ATX board. Compact is in for me though. I went full ATX this go around, but will all that is integrated on motherboards these days, mATX is enough.

[Dartman]

I had a MSI board years ago that had all kinds of ports and features for the time it was made, more then most others, and it was stable and fast for years. I think it finally died on me and I went back to Asus boards which I have also had great luck with so unless things have changed a lot recently I think whichever board suits your needs and has the best price would do for you.
I'm running a Crosshasir IV Formula now with a 1090t hex core and it seems pretty stable, though not as stable as some of my rock solid old XP builds I used to run. They are loosing legacy stuff too as it has no floppy or IDE ports on board.
It's a high end slightly older Asus of course and that's what my friend who builds systems and networks for a living generally uses as they mostly work well, are stable, and don't come back.

[Ian]

Any thoughts on BIOSTAR? It's been years since I had one of their motherboards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813138296

Also considering these two:

MSI H67MA-E45 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130570

ASRock H67M-GE - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157234

I'm thinking about getting one of those and pairing it with an i5-2400 or i5-2500

[SithTracy]

I have a couple of AMD 790GX based mATX Biostar boards... they are solid, just not many BIOS updates if any. Been running fine with no changes. Heck... go for the BIOSTAR at that price.

[Ian]

Yeah, I'm not really looking to overclock or for a million bells and whistles. I just want something that works reliably.

[Ian]

ASRock H67M-GE - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157234

Just noticed this thing had a floppy connector. wtf?

[SithTracy]

Just noticed this thing had a floppy connector. wtf?

That is why it only got 2 eggs by the lone reviewer... It knocked off 3 for being ancient

Did you order it yet or are you holding out?

[Ian]

I still haven't decided yet. I'm leaning more towards getting an H67 based motherboard. I want something with 4 DIMM slots and two PCI 2.0 slots, which limits my choices. So far that $90 Biostar board has fit my needs the best.

And then you have the Z68 boards which are coming out soon. I guess it also offers integrated graphics but overclocks like the P67.

[Ian]

I'm also considering the GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3. It's about $40 more, but it has a lot more ports on the back and 3 PCI slots.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128475

[Ian]

And the ASUS P8H67-M EVO... I just can't decide.

[SithTracy]

Got an e-mail showing a Biostar H67 board on sale @ NewEgg...

BIOSTAR H67MU3

[Ian]

Tempting but it only has two ram slots.

[Ian]

I got a brand new Gigabyte H67MA-D2H off ebay for $45 shipped. It's probably the B2 version of the chipset but I'll contact Gigabyte when I get it and swap it for a B3.

[SithTracy]

Nice find.

[Ian]

Yeah, its only got two memory slots, but for that price, I'll live.

[SithTracy]

Throw 8GB in it... By the time you want 16GB, it will be time for your next rig....