Are Intel ripping us off?

azcn2503 · Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:21 am

Let's see...

Intel System
Processor: Intel Core i7 965 3.2GHz
Memory: Corsair XMS3 12GB (6x2GB) 1333MHz
Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Gene Intel X58
Graphics: 2x XFX Radeon 4870 X2 (Crossfire)
Hard Drive: 2x OCZ Agility 120GB SSD (RAID0)
Price: £1762.53 exc. VAT

AMD System
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz
Memory: 8GB OCZ Platinum AM3 DDR3 1333MHz (2x(2x2GB))
Motherboard: Asus Crosshair III 790FX
Graphics: 2x XFX Radeon 4870 X2 (Crossfire)
Hard Drive: 2x OCZ Agility 120GB SSD (RAID0)
price: £1160.79 exc. VAT

Intel Basket wrote:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i7 965 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) Extreme Edition (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £746.99
(£649.56) £746.99
(£649.56)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £242.98
(£211.29) £485.96
(£422.58)
OCZ Agility Series 120GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT120G) £229.99
(£199.99) £459.98
(£399.98)
Asus Rampage II Gene Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express mATX DDR3 Motherboard £173.98
(£151.29) £173.98
(£151.29)
Corsair XMS3 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Triple Channel (HX3X12G1600C9) £159.99
(£139.12) £159.99
(£139.12)
Sub Total : £1,762.53
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £265.88
Total : £2,038.41

AMD Basket wrote:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £242.98
(£211.29) £485.96
(£422.58)
OCZ Agility Series 120GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive (OCZSSD2-1AGT120G) £229.99
(£199.99) £459.98
(£399.98)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £149.99
(£130.43) £149.99
(£130.43)
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £142.99
(£124.34) £142.99
(£124.34)
OCZ Platinum AM3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P1333LVAM4GK) £47.99
(£41.73) £95.98
(£83.46)
Sub Total : £1,160.79
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £175.62
Total : £1,346.41

Turns out that if it's Intel branded, you pay a lot more for it. Intel get away with it because they have the performance crown. Sure a 3.2GHz AMD quad doesn't compare to an Intel quad, but it's 3.2GHz out of the box, and they're both extreme editions...

Both seriously fast systems what with quadfire and a SSD RAID. Which one would you spend your money on?

You decide!

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:15 pm

Unfair comparison.

Not only are you putting 2 unalike processors there (the performance per Hz of Nehalem is higher), you also but 3x as much RAM in the Intel system, which artificially inflates the price. You should be using a 6GB kit.

Also, aren't the Phenom 2s older so have a time based price drop advantage?

Intel do rip off at the super high end, but your comparison is just wrong.

azcn2503 · Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:26 pm

Skillers wrote:

you also but 3x as much RAM in the Intel system, which artificially inflates the price. You should be using a 6GB kit.

12GB in the Intel system, 8GB in the AMD system. Just maxing out the motherboard slots.

Skillers wrote:

(the performance per Hz of Nehalem is higher)

That's true. But both processors are still 3.2GHz out of the box with huge overclocking potential, which is the main point.

Skillers wrote:

Also, aren't the Phenom 2s older so have a time based price drop advantage?

No. This is an AM3 CPU, the AM3 CPU's are actually newer than the i7's!

We could compare to an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3GHz and use the same DDR3 as the AMD system but we'd still end up paying more...

So... which would you rather spend your money on?

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:35 pm

Ah, didn't know you used 2 kits in the AMD. Still, there's 50% more RAM int he Intel, and it appears to be more expensive RAM at that.

Anyway, I despise Hz for Hz comparison

I would buy the cheaper Intels, though if I was building a new comp I'd have to look into AMDs aswell.

azcn2503 · Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:00 pm

That's cool, I'm glad you said that

The memory modules are the same timings I believe. Just you end up paying more per GB for triple channel because of the whole Intel thing

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:28 pm

I think it's more because triple channel isn't used as much, so you pay a premium. That and it requires more testing. Seeing as Intel won't get royalties on triple channel kits, it can't be Intel's doing.

azcn2503 · Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:45 pm

Well, they're made only for Intel processors and motherboards. Even if Intel don't get any royalties, it's a standard Intel forced upon the motherboard manufacturers because they couldn't get memory bandwidth high enough using dual channel due to the fudged memory controller voltage bug.

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:04 pm

Ah, I thought it was just general progression to get MOAR.

azcn2503 · Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:11 pm

LOL. Yeah. Maybe AMD are just behind as always

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:37 pm

"As always" is slightly wrong. AMD64 cheesecake ^^

And onboard memory controllers.

AMD usually lag behind on stuff like DDR3, where it's too expensive to be worthwhile for most people at the start. They've started doing DDR3 since it became reasonably priced. It's quite a good strategy, focus on the largest market.

treeseph · Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:47 pm

Whats the max RAM for each system? (or whats the max RAM for the i7 and AMD if its different) i7 max is 32gb am i right?

Skillers · Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:44 pm

24GB for i7, 16GB for AMD. Assuming 4GB modules and 2 slots per channel are the max.

azcn2503 · Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:48 am

Intel ripped off the idea of the integrated memory controller... made it worse (because of the voltage bug)... and then made it better (by using triple channel).

Check this out: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?i ... 49&page=12

The review thinks that the 955 is excellent value at £200. Thing is, it actually costs £145 including VAT. This makes the 955 one of the best value for money processors out there.

Are Intel ripping us off?

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