PC Upgrade: AMD Phenom II 955 BE vs Intel Core I7 920...

[Grisu]

Hey guys!

I want to upgrade my current PC but I'm not sure which road to take.
Maybe you can help?

Current System:
CPU: AMD X2 4600+ @ stock speed
MB: ASUS A8N-E (Socket 939)
RAM: 3 GB of DDR 400, Corsair
GPU: Gainward GF 8800 GTS (768 MB RAM)

I only want to exchange my CPU, RAM and MB, while keeping my GPU for now (until DX 11 arrives).

Future System 1:
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 BE (Socket AM3)
Board: Asus M4A78T-E,?
RAM: 2x2 GB, DDR3 1600, ?

Future System 2:
CPU: AMD Core I7 920 (Socket 1366)
Board: ?
RAM: 3x2 GB, DDR3 1600, ?

The main usage of the rig is gaming / coding.

Is the listed Intel core I7 faster than the amd one (@ stock speed) for playing games?

Any ideas for possible MB / RAM?

I'm totally lost here.

I'm still using XP SP3 (32 Bit) while Vista SP1 (32 Bit) is hidden in my toilet because it's so awful (but that's another story).

Thanks in advance.
Grisu

Btw: Intel gets a minus from me for price/value and power consumption.

[Skud]

Grisu,

I just upgraded from an AMD FX60 to the Phenom II 940 and am quite happy with it...I've seen a significant increase in what the cpu can do (of course the new mobo and graphics card make a difference as well). It never has to go over 40% at the stock 3.0 ghz, and it barely warms up the Zalman fan that I have with it. I'm sure the 3.2 ghz 955 with ddr 3 would be even better...certainly excellent bang for the dollar. Here's a little link that says there's little difference in gaming for either, but the Intel is a bit faster for running other apps. My gut told me to buck Intel yet again, and I'm glad that I did!

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25...rmance-account

[Trooper110]

The core i7 boards will blow any AMD out of the water, especially if you're overclocking. I'd go find numbers but it's 5 minutes until work is over for the day and I'm feeling entirely too lazy right now!

You're going to take a hit unless you go with a 64bit OS with anything much higher than 3GB of RAM, so I'd seriously consider upgrading to Vista 64, or sticking out with XP and going to Windows 7 64-bit.

[juneau]

Option #2 but wait till some more inexpensive boards come out.