AM3 or LGA 775?

[BryanFury]

Hi, this is my first post.

I am planning to assemble a new gaming PC (especially for GTA 4). Since my budget is limited, I set my mind to run AMD Phenox II X3 720 BE / DDR3 with a CrossfireX motherboard, but I will not run CrossfireX at the moment.

But after summing up the expenses, it seems like my cost was almost equal to an LGA 775 Core 2 Duo E7500, which I believe, outperforms the Phenom II X3 720 (I might be wrong).

I want a CrossfireX/SLI setup so in the future, I can only add a compatible graphics card to run newer games.

I know that AM3 is newer. Is it not worth building an LGA 775 as it will be phased-out soon? And how soon?

[Darthtanion]

i7 runs on a dofferent platform, but the Core2Duo series (LGA775) will still be around for a while. Simply put, there are too many systems utilizing the architecture to kick it aside. While AMD has made strides in improving its performance, I think Intel is still the best choice whether looking for a power rig or a budget system. You still get the DDR3 compatibility and can use Crossfire-X.

[moshpit]

I heartily disagree with Darthtanion. In general, AM3 CPUs clock for clock outperform their Intel equivalent. AM3 also has a much richer life ahead of it as socket 775 is winding down and while parts will be available for some time, socket 775 is just dead end.

Without question I'd prefer a Core i7 anyday over anything on AM3 or 775, but if finances really have you down, then look to socket 1156 for Core i5 for the REAL bang for the buck. 110 bucks for the Gigabyte P55M-UD2 and another 200 for the i5 750 + 40 bucks more for 4Gb DDR3. 350 bucks later, you're chilling it out on way more horsepower then AM3 or 775 could give even at their highest ends. A full on Nehalem platform, CPU, mobo and ram, for 350 bucks.

[BryanFury]

Thanks for the replies. But as history says, AMD has more lifetime in their CPU sockets than Intel. Is this time a different case for Intel - continue to support and manufacture LGA 775 CPUs for maybe 3 years? Is there an official word from Intel?

[moshpit]

Originally Posted by BryanFury

Thanks for the replies. But as history says, AMD has more lifetime in their CPU sockets than Intel. Is this time a different case for Intel - continue to support and manufacture LGA 775 CPUs for maybe 3 years? Is there an official word from Intel?

Yes, socket 1366 and 1156 are both slated to coexist for the next 3 years minimum, 1366 much longer as it's also the new standard for Intel server and workstation boards and Intel will most likely provide a 5 year life to it before it goes EOL. Even after Core i7/"i9" is EOL'd, there will still be Xeons to drop in the 1366 sockets.

AMD's history is only good recently, but Intel's rivals it totally. AMD kept AM2 and AM2+ around for a good long time, but the pain of socket 754 owners who got to see all of 6 CPUs ever released for that socket may have something to say negatively about that. K8's birth, though greatly lauded, often leaves out the part about the early K8 adopters getting SHAFTED by AMD for CPU upgrades. Pre-AM2, AMD's only really long term socket was socket A (which happened to scale from CPUs starting at 800mhz and made it up to 2.53Ghz officially).

Intel's track record with socket 775 easily equals AM2 and in fact WAY precedes it by a couple of years and is actually still going and only beginning to enter it's twilight. Keep in mind socket 775 has been around since the Pentium 4. It's OLD. It predates socket 754, 939, AM2, and AM2+. Intel's track record kills AMD in that regard.

Socket 775 saw the last half of the Netburst family chips -Pentium 4, Pentium D, Pentium Extreme, and the entire line of Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quads that have paraded through. Not mentioning the Celerons, Pentiums (non-Netburst), and Xeons that also shared that socket. Socket 775 honestly has the distinction of having made it through the most changes around it then any other x86 CPU socket since socket 7.

[moshpit]

Additional point. Socket 775 launched way back in the middle of 2004. Being 2009 now, we're talking 5 years of serving Intel's desktop boards through MANY chipset generations since the 915P/925X through 945P/965P/975X, to P31/P35/X38 and onto the P41/P43/P45/X48 generation (none of which even counts third party chipsets like Nvidia), across 3 memory types, DDR, DDR2, and DDR3. While no new chipsets are slated for socket 775 that I know of, one can assume that P4x chipset mobos with C2D/C2Q's will be showing up for some time in the guise of Core i3 and still produced under the new branding.

If ANY CPU socket in the history of x86 CPUs deserves the claim to longest lasting, the competition is only between socket 7 and socket 775, both of which were Intel (though socket 7 got third party life extension, aka super socket 7 that is how it can compete with 775's massively long life).

Edit: Correction, it seems socket 754 may actually predate 775? Not sure on that one, but it's gonna be a close call.

[artdrivers]

Yeah either one should last a few years. Is this the base criteria for your purchase? I would just go for the newest technology for the lowest cost. That's why I have this system which I purchased a little over a year ago and it still has plenty of life and room for upgrading the cpu, DDR2 or GPU.

[BryanFury]

Originally Posted by artdrivers

Yeah either one should last a few years. Is this the base criteria for your purchase? I would just go for the newest technology for the lowest cost. That's why I have this system which I purchased a little over a year ago and it still has plenty of life and room for upgrading the cpu, DDR2 or GPU.

Noted bro. Yeah, my plan is to build a long-lifetime gaming rig. I have been an AMD user since the Duron days and I am also aware that the Core architecture is a breakthrough.

Thanks to all of you guys. Got a lot of information here.

[BryanFury]

Since I won't be using Crossfire/SLI at the moment (it is only for future upgrade since I don't build a rig very often), would it be wise if I won't buy a Crossfire/SLI Motherboard and invest the extra bucks to a better GPU, maybe from HD 4850 to HD 4870?

Any suggestions?

[moshpit]

My suggestion is get a P55 based motherboard with Core i5 and you'd be set.