# 2500K or 955?



## wolfeking

Needing to rebuild my CPU (the CPU and Mobo are shot). I would like to know what will run better in games overclocked to 4.0GHz or greater, a i5-2500K or a 955 BE? I know that the 955 is cheaper, but does it perform the same?


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## Aastii

the 2500k walks all over the 955. In games, both will be enough, but you will see better performance with the 2500k


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## CrayonMuncher

Plus you have the chance to upgrade to a better processor in the future (i7) and AMD is soon moving over to AM3+. (Q2 2011, I believe)

2500K is the better choice.


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## wolfeking

ok. what, if any, motherbord for 1155 would i need to get to have onboard video till i can upgrade?


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## CardboardSword

The only recommendation I'll give it that you make sure it's a P67 board. The P67s can overclock, the H67s can't (or at least nothing worth mentioning).


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## wolfeking

um... ok. 
setting aside the p67/h67 thing, i dont see any integrated gpu 1155 boards on newegg


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## linkin

That's because the GPU is on the CPU.

A GPU in your CPU on your GPU in your CPU! Inception


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## StrangleHold

The H series chipsets.


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## wolfeking

so, as long as I have a 2500K ill be fine till I can get a HD6950?


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## 2048Megabytes

You want a video card if you are doing games.  The graphic processing unit in the processor is not that good.  It will really bottleneck your system with games.  I wouldn't buy until you can afford a decent video card in my opinion.


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## Aastii

2048Megabytes said:


> You want a video card if you are doing games.  The graphic processing unit in the processor is not that good.  It will really bottleneck your system with games.  I wouldn't buy until you can afford a decent video card in my opinion.



I don't know about that, it sits around 5450 performance, which is by no means a gaming card, but can handle games on low settings no problem. If you think you can live with your games looking not all that good until you can get a card, then I would say go for it now, else wait, and the prices may have gone down the chip too, it just depends if you need the system right now


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## mihir

Aastii said:


> I don't know about that, it sits around 5450 performance, which is by no means a gaming card, but can handle games on low settings no problem. If you think you can live with your games looking not all that good until you can get a card, then I would say go for it now, else wait, and the prices may have gone down the chip too, it just depends if you need the system right now


+1
Atleast if he gets the CPU+MOBO his PC wont be a vegetable till then and he can also play games like CS or whatever is his favourite low requirement game.Then he can get a card whenever he likes and also he might be able to get a better one if he can wait a bit more.


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## wolfeking

The games that will need a Card will not be bought till after the card anyway (the newer COD and MOH). I currently run games like the Hard Truck series and Older FPS like MOH: EA and back (cause of teh amazing campaign mode). 

Also, for the price range, What about the 1090T? how would it compair to the 2500K?


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## mihir

wolfeking said:


> The games that will need a Card will not be bought till after the card anyway (the newer COD and MOH). I currently run games like the Hard Truck series and Older FPS like MOH: EA and back (cause of teh amazing campaign mode).
> 
> Also, for the price range, What about the 1090T? how would it compair to the 2500K?


I would still go with the 2500k.But if you can wait then I would wait for the Bulldozer to release and then see the specs and then compare with sandy bridge.
Compared to the 1090t.It is better
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/intel_corei7_2600k_and_corei5_2500k/13.htm

And AFA GPU performance is concerned check this out.


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## wolfeking

And if i were to wait for bulldozer, then there would be waiting for its replacement. Its Either a 2500K, a 1090T, or a 955. I will not be waiting for bulldozer. Really, this whole IPU deal with the 2500K sounds really complicated (not to mention expensive beyond belief, when you can get a 6 core BE for $199).


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## mihir

wolfeking said:


> And if i were to wait for bulldozer, then there would be waiting for its replacement. Its Either a 2500K, a 1090T, or a 955. I will not be waiting for bulldozer. Really, this whole IPU deal with the 2500K sounds really complicated (not to mention expensive beyond belief, when you can get a 6 core BE for $199).



The 2500k is expensive I agree but if you are buying your PC just for playing games and want to save money then a 955 will also do the job.But I dont think for a long time but a 2500k will be future proof.And a 1090t would be helpful in applications making use of all 6 cores.We all suggested the best performing processor out of those 3.And 2500k is the best performing processor.


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## wolfeking

I was asking what is the better gaming processor. The 2500K is nicem but due to be overtaken by the 2011 processors later this year. then that will be overtaken by something else shortly. Its by no means a future proof processor. 
At least if I get teh 1090T or 955, it will be backward compatible with the new AM3+ boards till bulldozer is cheap enough to be viable. I just dont see putting out 219 for a quad core when you can have a 6 core backward compatible processor for 199. It makes no sense to me. Plus, how is the 2500K going to really help that much with gaming?


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## spynoodle

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the P series chipsets don't support integrated CPU graphics, do they? So in that case, a discrete GPU will be needed from the start.


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## wolfeking

A even better reason to go AMD if i am going to need a GPU anyway.


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## mihir

I am not sure about the backward compatibility of the bulldozer series.
As far as the 2500k is concerned the performance is pretty good so like even I own an i7 920 right now and even now I dont have trouble playing any new games at all.And still the CPU usage is below 30% the same way the 2500k will be futureproof and if anything you can always upgrade to 2600k.
And the 2011 socket also I am not sure of.

But if you are damn sure about the bulldozer series backward compatibilty then go for the hexcore.


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## wolfeking

From what I read, the AM3+ will be able to support AM3 and AM2+(on some boards), thus being backward compatible. 
As for the 2500K, would it not be as good, and cheaper to run a Gen. 1 i7? if so which one (OC not important with intel).


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## mihir

See alot of stuff you are talking about is based on read news articles and speculated release dates and configs,but you can never be sure about them until and unless released by the company themselves and I dont know about any company info about the bulldoze(I dont know doesnt mean they havent released).The i5 2500k performs better than the older i7s like it is better than my CPU.But 950 is similar in performance to the 2500k.


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## wolfeking

And the 2500K does not have a good track record either. Id rather wait to be sure that the boards have all of their issues worked out.


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## StrangleHold

AM3+ boards will support AM3 processors. But not AM2/+ processors. AM2/+ processors only have a DDR2 memory controllers. AM3+ boards are only DRR3.

If you have a AM3 setup everything can be moved to a AM3+ board and you could upgrade to a Bulldozer Zambezi later. Not a fan of that though. If you get a AM3+ board right off and save up for a Zambezi. By the time you get the processor better boards will probably be released and you will wish you had waited and got the board and processor together.


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## wolfeking

waiting and wishing is not what I will do. The bulldozer sounds like a good setup, but I have a feeling that it will be a Sandybridge incident for AMD. 
Plus it is very well likely that some already released boards will have BIOS updates to run AM3+ also. Especially ones such as the Asus Rampage (think I remember that name right.)

Maybe I should set out the budget and let someone build a SB and 1090T/955 setup to compair what will be morwe feasible....


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## mihir

See the problem with that approach is that you assume that the bulldozer series will be better than the sandy-bridge series and if it does not turn out to be better than the am3 board thing will fail.
So that is the risk.


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## StrangleHold

wolfeking said:


> Plus it is very well likely that some already released boards will have BIOS updates to run AM3+ also. Especially ones such as the Asus Rampage (think I remember that name right.)


 
Nope, AM3+ Zambezi will not fit a AM3 socket. It has one extra pin.


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## mihir

StrangleHold said:


> Nope, AM3+ Zambezi will not fit a AM3 socket. It has one extra pin.


Thanks for clearing that up because everyone is pretty confident about the am3 board supporting the bulldozer but I was not so sure because till now I havent read a single reliable article.


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## StrangleHold

AM3+ processors and boards have one more pin then AM3. Thats the reason a AM3 processors will fit a AM3+ board, but not the other way around.


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## mihir

StrangleHold said:


> AM3+ processors and boards have one more pin then AM3. Thats the reason a AM3 processors will fit a AM3+ board, but not the other way around.


Thanks for the info.Since its from you I can be sure now its reliable because everyone has been going around assuming that the bulldozer will supported by the AM3 boards.Which has mislead a lot of people.


So as for wolfeking(whats your name?)I think a sandy bridge setup would perform best for now and if on strict budget the old i7 generation or the hexcore would suffice.Both will be almost same in performance.


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## StrangleHold

mihir said:


> Thanks for the info.Since its from you I can be sure now its reliable because everyone has been going around assuming that the bulldozer will supported by the AM3 boards.Which has mislead a lot of people.


 
Yeah, AMDs fault. At first it was suppost to be. Then later they changed it and said because of performance issues on AM3 boards it was only going to be AM3+. But never said what they were.

But some companies are going to release a AM3+ board early with 800 chipsets instead of 900 series. Which is kinda confusing because its just a AM3 board with a AM3+ socket (performance issue above). Think I would just wait for the true AM3+ boards with the 900 series chipset.


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## Ankur

Seeing these posts there is a lot to learn 

This year seems big for Computers and could be one of the biggest since so many high end CPUs and GPUs coming out


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## CrayonMuncher

Ankur said:


> Seeing these posts there is a lot to learn
> 
> This year seems big for Computers and could be one of the biggest since so many high end CPUs and GPUs coming out



Nah its just another year in the super fast tech world, where it never stops.


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## mihir

innercx said:


> Nah its just another year in the super fast tech world, where it never stops.


I liked the year with the P4 netburst and the athlon series war that was the most interesting year.Lots of debates and rivalry.


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## danthrax

Ankur said:


> Seeing these posts there is a lot to learn
> 
> This year seems big for Computers and could be one of the biggest since so many high end CPUs and GPUs coming out



The computer hardware world is constantly changing.  As far as CPU's go, we are kinda due for some big changes, and here they are! It will be interesting to see what amd has in store for us.


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## Ankur

Well I am expecting some big competition between iivy bridge and bulldozer
and 6990 and 590


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## Aastii

Ankur said:


> Well I am expecting some big competition between iivy bridge and bulldozer
> and 6990 and 590



I agree about ivy bridge, but the 590 will wipe the floor with the 6990


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## Ankur

Aastii said:


> I agree about ivy bridge, but the 590 will *wipe the floor* with the 6990



Does it mean 590 and 6990 will have big neck to neck competition?


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## mihir

Ankur said:


> Does it mean 590 and 6990 will have big neck to neck competition?



Nope it means 590 will walk over the 6990.
The 590 will wipe the floor with 6990 means it will use the 6990 as a mop/broom.


I had one question.
Like when 5970 was the godly card at that time the normal consumer cards were the 5850 or the 5870 or the GTX 470.
When GTX295 was the king at that time the normal consumer cards were GTX 260/GTX 275/HD4850/HD4890.
You know what I am getting at.Right?
So which cards will be the normal consumer cards after the release of GTX590 ?


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## Aastii

mihir said:


> nope it means 590 will walk over the 6990.
> The 590 will wipe the floor with 6990 means it will use the 6990 as a mop/broom.
> 
> 
> I had one question.
> Like when 5970 was the godly card at that time the normal consumer cards were the 5850 or the 5870 or the gtx 470.
> When gtx295 was the king at that time the normal consumer cards were gtx 260/gtx 275/hd4850/hd4890.
> You know what i am getting at.right?
> So which cards will be the normal consumer cards after the release of gtx590 ?



gtx560, 570, 580, hd6850, 6870, 6950, 6970


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## mihir

Aastii said:


> gtx560, 570, *580*, hd6850, 6870, 6950, 6970



Its so expensive.
Now its 500+.
After release it will be like 450 - 500.
Still very expensive


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## Ankur

Aastii said:


> gtx560, 570, 580, hd6850, 6870, 6950, 6970



I think I will wait for the release of the 590, it will possibly decrease the cost of 570 and 580 

Possible 570 below 300 $?

and 590 above 600$?


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## wolfeking

mihir said:


> Thanks for the info.Since its from you I can be sure now its reliable because everyone has been going around assuming that the bulldozer will supported by the AM3 boards.Which has mislead a lot of people.
> 
> 
> So as for wolfeking(whats your name?)I think a sandy bridge setup would perform best for now and if on strict budget the old i7 generation or the hexcore would suffice.Both will be almost same in performance.


my name is chris. 
i was not inferring that the  AM3+ processors would work in a AM3 board , but rather that the AM3 would fit the new board till i can afford a new AM3+ processor.
budget is 100-150 per part.


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## mihir

wolfeking said:


> my name is chris.
> i was not inferring that the  AM3+ processors would work in a AM3 board , but rather that the AM3 would fit the new board till i can afford a new AM3+ processor.
> budget is 100-150 per part.



So you will buy a new am3 setup then you will get a new motherboard (am3+) and then a new CPU(Bulldozer Zambezi).(correct me if I am wrong because thats some long planning)

If you are going to do the above and are sure of the upgrade to the Bulldozer then go ahead because even if you take 2 years to upgrade I think the processor wont have any problem keeping up.Thats a good plan.
My bad I wasnt able to understand what you were saying.


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## wolfeking

ok, so whats a better choice now, the 955, or the 1090?


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## StrangleHold

Depends on how long you plan on keeping it. Shorter term, save some bucks with the 955. Longer term go for the 1090.


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## maroon1

wolfeking said:


> my name is chris.
> i was not inferring that the  AM3+ processors would work in a AM3 board , but rather that the AM3 would fit the new board till i can afford a new AM3+ processor.
> budget is 100-150 per part.



So, what is the point of buying a new motherboard if you are not going to change your processor ?

Instead of buying the motherboard without a new processor, you can simply save the money in your pocket, and then when you can afford a new CPU you could buy the new CPU and the motherboard at same time.

By the way, ivy bridge is rumored to be backward compatible with P67 and H67. 
http://www.fudzilla.com/processors/item/21765-ivy-bridge-22nm-works-with-h67-and-p67


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## StrangleHold

maroon1 said:


> So, what is the point of buying a new motherboard if you are not going to change your processor ?


 
What are you talking about? 

He wants a new board and processor. He just asked if the 955 or 1090 would be better. As and far as his next upgrade. He can have a AM3 setup and move everything to a new AM3+ board when released. Then later upgrade the CPU to a Zambezi.


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## spynoodle

wolfeking said:


> ok, so whats a better choice now, the 955, or the 1090?


I would still go 2500k. The new 1155 motherboards have been released now, and the 2500k is faster than the 1090t due to its use of hyperthreading. It's also faster core for core. Just check www.cpubenchmark.net. You'll see that the 2500k edges out the 1090t when it comes to raw performance using all threads, and if compare each processor in core for core speed (subtract the ~15% hyperthreading boost and divide by four for the 2500k, divide by six for the 1090t), you'll see that the 2500k is faster core for core as well.


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## wolfeking

what he is talking about is the upgrade to AM3+. and to answer the question its cause i prefer to buy when i have the money. besides, i doubt that ill upgrade immediately anyway. don't want to have a sandybridge incident on our hands with it.


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## StrangleHold

spynoodle said:


> I would still go 2500k. The new 1155 motherboards have been released now, and the 2500k is faster than the 1090t due to its use of hyperthreading. It's also faster core for core. Just check www.cpubenchmark.net. You'll see that the 2500k edges out the 1090t when it comes to raw performance using all threads, and if compare each processor in core for core speed (subtract the ~15% hyperthreading boost and divide by four for the 2500k, divide by six for the 1090t), you'll see that the 2500k is faster core for core as well.


 
Pretty sure its a well known fact the Core architecture is faster clock for clock then the Phenom architecture since about 2006. About 5 years now.


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## wolfeking

im not looking for the fastest thing. i am looking for something that will run f@h and games half way decent. clock for clock the intel wins, but also look at penny for penny performance. average them and i believe the 955 wins.


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## spynoodle

wolfeking said:


> im not looking for the fastest thing. i am looking for something that will run f@h and games half way decent. clock for clock the intel wins, but also look at penny for penny performance. average them and i believe the 955 wins.


If you do want to save some $$$, the 955 is definitely a good option. I would just advise against buying the 1090t over the 2500k.


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## wolfeking

is there any good reason that anyone would choose the 1090 over 955.


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## spynoodle

wolfeking said:


> is there any good reason that anyone would choose the 1090 over 955.


Two more cores, and Turbo Core. That's about it. It sounds like you only really need 4 cores anyway, though.


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## wolfeking

ive been running off 2 cores, so a quad should be fine.


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## mihir

It all depends on when you will be switching.But if you plan on keeping the same config for a longer term then go for the hexcore and if you plan to change it not solong from now then quad core would be fine.My cousin has a way slower phenom II x4 and it works just fine for all the games like BFBC2 and CODBO and that too on stock speeds and without lag and even the CPU usage is not that high.If you plan to change it soon enough like within a year and half then go with the quad core and save some money.The mony saved can be used to make the GPU more futureproof.
You also can overclock a lot even on the stock HSF.(though i would not reccomend that.)
The Hex Core performs similar to the Gen 1 i7 920.Some tasks it is better and for some it is slightly lower.
It will be useful if you are using multi-core utilisation applications.But just for gaming the 955 will suffice for some time now.


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## wolfeking

ill probably keep it for around 2 years before upgrading.
but really i am not seeing that big of a difference between the quad and the hex. especially when i am no where near modern on gaming.


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## maroon1

spynoodle said:


> I would still go 2500k. The new 1155 motherboards have been released now, and the 2500k is faster than the 1090t due to its use of hyperthreading. It's also faster core for core. Just check www.cpubenchmark.net. You'll see that the 2500k edges out the 1090t when it comes to raw performance using all threads, and if compare each processor in core for core speed (subtract the ~15% hyperthreading boost and divide by four for the 2500k, divide by six for the 1090t), you'll see that the 2500k is faster core for core as well.



No, 2500K doesn't support Hyperthreading but it is still faster than 1090T in most cases


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## spynoodle

maroon1 said:


> No, 2500K doesn't support Hyperthreading but it is still faster than 1090T in most cases


*Facepalm*. You're right. Sorry about that.  I keep forgetting about that.

Well, in that case, the 2500k absolutely owns the 1090t.


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## mihir

spynoodle said:


> *Facepalm*. You're right. Sorry about that.  I keep forgetting about that.
> 
> Well, in that case, the 2500k absolutely owns the 1090t.



But why should he go for the core i5 when he will be changing his system in 2 years.Till then the 1090t will suffice


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## wolfeking

im actually going for the 955 (maybe 555) for now. just dependent on some personal choices i need to make. 
ill start a build thread and link it to this one for you alls opinions on the whole thing.


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## mihir

wolfeking said:


> im actually going for the 955 (maybe 555) for now. just dependent on some personal choices i need to make.
> ill start a build thread and link it to this one for you alls opinions on the whole thing.



Just ask all the questions here itself.See a phenom II x4 955/555 
a gigabyte GA880 UD3H 
GSkill/Corsair/Patriot/Mushkins 4gigs of DDR3 1333MHz RAM
A GPU according to your budget.
550W PSU
a mid-tower case like the CM HAF 912 or 922


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## wolfeking

build:http://www.computerforum.com/192604-555-955-build.html#post1607460


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