Benefits of buying $270+ i7 chip over 100+ AMD?

[plasticslug]

I am going to start building my PC in the next month or so and was wondering the benefits of spending 250+ on your chip set.

You guys helped me with my brother build about a month ago and it went really good.

He went with a Phenom II x2 that he unlocked with his ASUS MOBO and he loves it. More importantly it only ran about $109

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition Callisto 3.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor HDZ560WFGMBOX

I am looking to spend a bit more and thinking one of the high end i7... but really want to know the hard numbers (benefits) of spending that much on a chip.

Is it like spending 2x more on a card will it bring you twice the performance?

Say for example: Intel Core i7-940 Bloomfield 2.93GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601940

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-940 Bloomfield 2.93GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601940

[HAL9000]

Well, as an estimate, you can take a look at some benchmark comparisons listed here.

[David M]

It's a combination of things that determines a computers speed. The apparent speed also varies depending on which application. Some computers are better at running some applications than others. CPU speed is just one of the variables, therefore doubling the CPU speed does not double your computers overall speed. It depends on a lot of things.

If you look at CPU speeds compared to each other you will start to get a feel for how they relate to each other but not how much faster they will make your computer.

For this I like Tom's Hardware the best. Look at the benchmarks that most relate to the applications that you run the most on your computer. Some benchmarks will have no relevance to how you use your computer. If you don't do video editing or play Left4Dead then ignore those benchmarks for example. Mentally average the benchmarks that are relevant.

Benchmarks Desktop CPU Charts 2010

[plasticslug]

I love L4D!!! luckily its not a powerhouse though... and a mid range computer could probably max it out.

To tell you the truth I want a powerhouse.. Even Crysis 2 on high settings. I am going to watch my bros house for a few days and download the demo to benchmark it on his rig.


And HAL, your link didnt post

[David M]

Yes, I really like L4D as well. In my experience it is not all that graphically demanding. I'm really looking forward to Crysis 2 as well but think I am going to miss the North Korean guys with the heavy accents. Maybe Crysis 2 will have guys from the Bronx with heavy accents that all sound like Rocky, that could be fun.

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by plasticslug And HAL, your link didnt post

Fixed

[birddog_61]

If your gaming then the two best CPU's on the market are the sandy bridge i7 and i5, they give the most performance on most games and are usually much cheaper than the chips they are beating.

The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

[glc]

Only thing is, you are gonna have to wait a few weeks for the revised motherboards to be in full distribution.