Quote Originally Posted by jak3676 View Post
Can't say I looked to make sure your mobo can run it - but assuming you can, there is really no reason to go i7 instead of the cheaper upgrade to a phenom II. Anandtech.com just had a nice review on the most recent Phenom II. Short version is that it outperformed the 9650 by a fair bit and was much cheaper. It traded blows back and forth with the i7 920 depending on application. When you concider the price of a i7 mobo vs a Phenom II mobo, then the Phenom II was a fair amount cheaper. If I was only looking at buying new, I'd probably still go i7 because it should have a long future upgrade path, but when money is a concern and you already have a AM2+ mobo, then I wouldn't think twice about going AMD. You won't be loosing anything CPU wise.
I just looked into the i7 vs the black edition of Phenom... and the difference in price is about £50. What kind of performance increases in terms of wow do you think would happen if i spent the little bit extra and assuming my motherboard can handle it (Which i will need to do a bit research on i think).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-i7-920...1946905&sr=1-1
This is the i7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-HDZ940XC...1946249&sr=1-2

This is the Phenom II

For a £50 difference I could possibly entertain the idea of getting an i7.