[Rodo]

My mobo, of course.

So I need to get a new mobo, and since I'm at it.. I was checking some other stuff and decided to get a mobo + micro + mem combo, this is what I got so far:

Phenom II 965 BE
Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H
Gskill Ripjaws 4gb 1600mhz

I'm a little disappointed, been looking for an asus mobo with nvidia chipset (because of my 260GTX), but it seems there are few of those and they are a little too expensive for me.

So.. do you think this is a good way of spending $$$?

[Admiral LSD]

nVidia shut down their chipset division earlier in the year. Intel all but locked them out of their platform and since they pretty much burned their bridges with AMD when Core 2 emerged as the enthusiasts choice, AMD bought ATi and manoeuvred them into the position of primary chipset provider for their CPUs so nVidia had nothing really to go back to. It's not really that great a loss since, while better than most (including the AMD/ATi offerings), the nForce chipsets were never anything to really write home about, especially since for the last few years nVidia were mostly just rebranding and relaunching the 600-series chipsets they released in about 2006-2007.

Getting back to the topic at hand, you really don't want to be considering AMD at this point. Especially not in the price range you're looking at there. Even a dual core i3, which you can pick up for about USD$40-50 cheaper, will rape that Phenom more often than not all while using less power and emitting less heat. Even factoring in the slightly more expensive mobo, you still save about USD$20 (+/- $10 depending on whether ot not you choose to go for the i3-540 and/or opting for the H55 version of that board) and get a generally faster and more power efficient system if you go the Intel route:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115222
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128430
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145251

(It's actually slightly cheaper again than the last time I posted it, USD$316.97 vs USD$319.97 last time. Either way, still better than the USD$334.97 you're looking at for that AMD gear)

edit: Minor correction. After going back through the reviews, I seem to have confused the Phenom II with the Athlon II series. The 965 BE will outperform the i3-530, even in the single threaded stuff. HOWEVER, the margin is still too slim to justify the additional cost as well as the nearly double power consumption of the Phenom II.

[Rodo]

I don't know why... I'm too fond with AMD.
Well.. guess I'll have to go Intel's way this time, right?

[dragonsniper]

Hehe, the mobo I want to get is the AMD 965 BE CPU as well. According to the loads of looking I've done, it's right up there with what was (last year?) the top Intel I-7 processor. According to what I've read, if you want bang for the buck, the 965BE is the Processor to go with. That's what I'm going with anyways.

[Admiral LSD]

I don't know why... I'm too fond with AMD.
Well.. guess I'll have to go Intel's way this time, right?

It's amazing, as well as a little sad at the same time, to realise just how far the pendulum has swung back in Intel's direction. It wasn't too long ago that you weren't able to buy a product like the i3 from Intel. The best you could do was some Celeron that was more expensive and didn't perform anywhere near as well as anything else in the price range. At the same time, higher performance, lower price and better power efficiency were all arguments you made to recommend AMD CPUs, not Intel. Most of this is AMDs fault, they got complacent after K8 and so had nothing with which to fight back at Core 2 with.

Hehe, the mobo I want to get is the AMD 965 BE CPU as well. According to the loads of looking I've done, it's right up there with what was (last year?) the top Intel I-7 processor. According to what I've read, if you want bang for the buck, the 965BE is the Processor to go with. That's what I'm going with anyways.

Seriously, the i3's give you better bang for the buck than the vast majority of AMDs range right now. As I said before, the 530 is able to hold it's own against pretty much anything AMD have around the same price - including the 965 BE. The i5-750 also isn't a bad choice either. Sure, it's about USD$40 more expensive than the 965, but it's by far and away a better product.

[Rodo]

I'm divided... the price is like 60$ less with that config round here, but I'm not convinced at all 

I'll use it for rendering, and I believe that more cores will indeed prove to be usefull for me in the future right?, even If I pay a couple of bucks more for a less efficient equipment, AMD seems to be my best choice.

Not even dreaming I'll try to search for an I5 option.

[Admiral LSD]

That is the one area AMD still have something of an advantage in. If you genuinely need a lot of cores and don't want to spend a lot of money then AMD still have something of an edge. It's fairly slim, and to be honest, I'd probably still spring for the i5 for the lower power consumption and heat output as well as the better motherboard platform:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=109
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3937/amds-fall-refresh-new-phenom-ii-and-athlon-ii-cpus-balance-price-and-performance/3
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/7

If your budget is tight though, the 965 BE isn't a terrible choice in your position. Just try and get a board with an 800-series south bridge if you can (the one you linked earlier has an SB710). I still wouldn't recommend the 965 BE if you don't need or can't use the extra cores.