My money says YES

[Elton]

The i5 to me at least is worth that extra $50-$75.

However the Phenom II is undoubtedly a great buy.

It depends if you want to pay a bit more, and to me, it's worth that extra hurdle.

[Heartagramerz]

The i5 to me at least is worth that extra $50-$75.

However the Phenom II is undoubtedly a great buy.

It depends if you want to pay a bit more, and to me, it's worth that extra hurdle.

Explain more please...

[Elton]

Well the i5 is undoubtedly faster, however with that said, it is also more expensive, coupled now with the fact that RAM prices have regulated, there really isn't too much of a reason to get the Phenom IIs(personal opinion), although they are $50 cheaper(about).

[YungBaoYom]

I still believe (personally) that the Phenom IIs are a great choice to turn to if you're limited on budget. They still perform well and they don't break your wallet compared to Intel's i5s/i7s

[Heartagramerz]

Anyway this is what I'll get and I guess I'll skip the SSD...
Maybe for my 2nd rig which wont be planned for a very long time lol

Thanks guys

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core @ 3.2GHZ

Mobo: MSI 790FX-GD70

RAM: G SKILL RIPJAW 2X2GB (4GB)

Case: CM HAF 932 (Paint inside black myself)

PSU: Corsair TX750W

CPU COOLER: Noctua NH-U12P SE2

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Mouse Pad: Razer eXactMat

DVD: LG 24X Super Multi SATA DVD Writer

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB

[raserei408]

Besides a swap over to a CM Hyper 212 Plus that's a good rig.

One thing that hasn't been addressed in the whole i5/PII debate is upgradability. I believe the hexa-core CPUs will run on AM3 sockets, upgradability that i5 will likely lack (for a while at least).

Also, you'll be able to OC a lot further than that. I've got a friend with an almost identical setup running at 4.0 with no problem with his temps (though it took a LOT of tweaking to get it there, you'll probably get 3.8 or 3.9 pretty easily though).

As for an SSD, it's an easy upgrade. ANy time you come into the cash all you need to do is install the SSD, install the OS, put major programs on, and you're done. That's the great thing about incremental upgrades.

[Heartagramerz]

Maybe I'll do that, maybe 

I'm also thinking about the iMovie and Finalcut pro.
I really like those program a lot.

Mac Mini is the next thing after this rig lol
All I need is a good keyboard mouse and another 24" monitor. 

If only those programs works on Windows... would be able to get the SSD and the Video card all at once..

I need to save after I buy the rig and all these great stuff for college.

My mom is being pretty mean but I guess this is best for me... I still don't know how.
She is helping me pay like 65% of the tuition though

Anyway I'll be working insain hours over the summer. I found out I'll make about $3000 or a bit hundred dollars more.
This is only if my manager will let me do that. I think he will. His awesome.

He asks me about his computer and all that lol

Anyway, thank you guys.
I'll make a nice My Rig video and add in the "special thanks to" at credit 

[YungBaoYom]

Final Cut Pro + Mac Mini don't go well together.

[Elton]

Personally I think the AM3 is going to have an update soon...

I mean the AM3 socket is basically the AM2 just slightly altered, it'll only be soon until AMD will release a new socket.

[Heartagramerz]

Personally I think the AM3 is going to have an update soon...

I mean the AM3 socket is basically the AM2 just slightly altered, it'll only be soon until AMD will release a new socket.

that is the thing... I'm also worried that this may happen...

I am so hype and excited to get this new rig.
The next few weeks BOOM something new.  

OT: why not? Is Mac Mini that weak? 

[YungBaoYom]

Personally I think the AM3 is going to have an update soon...

I mean the AM3 socket is basically the AM2 just slightly altered, it'll only be soon until AMD will release a new socket.

that is the thing... I'm also worried that this may happen...

I am so hype and excited to get this new rig.
The next few weeks BOOM something new.  

OT: why not? Is Mac Mini that weak? 

Well actually I take that back. The new Mac Minis should handle FCP decently with the 9400M. The previous generations had an Intel Accelerator which struggled with FPCP.

[raserei408]

Personally I think the AM3 is going to have an update soon...

I mean the AM3 socket is basically the AM2 just slightly altered, it'll only be soon until AMD will release a new socket.

That said, AMD's motherboards and CPUs are largely forwards and backwards compatible. For instance, AM2+ CPUs work in 790X chipsets, and AM3 CPUs work in any AM2+ chipset. Only incompatibility is forward compatibility of RAM (can't run DDR3 on an AM2+). With DDR3 in the middle of its lifespan, that's not an issue. I'd be willing to guess that if he got it now, and something new came out later, he could upgrade the CPU or motherboard. In all likelihood it'll be above his price range anyway at launch.

[Elton]

Well ras the reason for that is that they had the same physical socket.

They will soon change the socket, because the AM2 sockets been around for quite a while now.

[raserei408]

And once Bulldozer comes out, maybe they'll have a new one. Still, that's a solid year or more from now. In the mean time, any of the Hexa-core chips or any others like that will work for AM3.

[Elton]

Hexa cores undoubtedly will, but if you didn't already notice, they're a bit lacking in clock speeds.

Although intense multi-taskers and Multi-threaded apps that are 4+ optimized don't care anyways.

Good for servers I guess. Although AMD still hasn't gotten the stepping down of power down yet.