Bridges vs Bulldozers: Building a new desktop.

[TheStorm]

So I'm in the process of looking to build a new desktop and I was originally planning on just going with an i7-2700k, as I had just built a machine for my dad with one. But then I started thinking what about AMD and their latest line? I hadn't heard much about Bulldozer, but what I had heard was interesting and its "module" design seemed rather interesting so I was wondering what Cemetech thought?

A little background: My current desktop is a Wolfdale Core2Duo E8400 overclocked to 3.6ghz from the stock 3ghz with 4Gb of ram and a GTX 460 768MB GPU. I plan on reusing the GTX 460 and my 60GB Corsair SSD for my new machine, and possibly the 750watt PSU and purchase a cheaper one to go in the old rig.

My typical workload is mostly Gaming and Programming, with some planed Media Encoding as I slowly go through my DVD collection and make it more portable. I also plan on ripping and encoding some TV shows I have on DVD and the C2D takes far longer than i would like. The programming is often in C, with varying project sizes, and I plan on getting a PPC cross compiler up so I can use it with distcc and my Wii and G5 PowerMac. I will also be using virtual machines somewhat for testing things but virtualization tech is a given on these higher end processors so I'm not so worried there and its not going to be an always running setup.

I've heard that Bulldozer does well with multithreaded apps, which compiling and media encoding are, but its single core preformance lacks when compaired to the i5's and i7's. That said the FX-8150 is much cheaper than the comparible i7's, and even still a bit cheaper than the i5-2550k, so from that perspective it looks pretty good.

So what are Cemetech's thoughts?
_________________

"Always code as if the person who will maintain your code is a maniac serial killer that knows where you live" -Unknown

"If you've done something right no one will know that you've done anything at all" -Futurama

"Have a nice day, or not, the choice is yours." Tom Steiner

<Michael_V> or create a Borg collective and call it The 83+
<Michael_V> Lower your slide cases and prepare to be silent linked. Memory clears are futile.

[Kllrnohj]

Bulldozer is underwhelming, go with Ivy Bridge, i7-3770k. If you want cheaper, look for a Sandy Bridge someone is trying to get rid of (difference in CPU perf between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge is almost zero)
_________________
There are only two kinds of programming languages: those people always bitch about and those nobody uses. (Bjarne Stroustrup)

[TheStorm]

After I posted I started looking through reviews and yeah that looks to be the case. As for which i7 to get, why the i7-3770 if the preformance is basically the same wouldn't getting a Sandy Bridge i7 be a cheaper option? Assuming the Sandy Bridge's have a price drop, now that Ivy Bridge is out. Though with Bulldozer not really pressuing Intel from the sounds of things they won't drop much. :/
_________________

"Always code as if the person who will maintain your code is a maniac serial killer that knows where you live" -Unknown

"If you've done something right no one will know that you've done anything at all" -Futurama

"Have a nice day, or not, the choice is yours." Tom Steiner

<Michael_V> or create a Borg collective and call it The 83+
<Michael_V> Lower your slide cases and prepare to be silent linked. Memory clears are futile.

[elfprince13]

If I was going to be buying a new CPU sometime soon, I'd be waiting for the Piledriver (supposed to be coming out Q3). That new clocking technology looks super sexy.
_________________
StickFigure Graphic Productions || VSHI: Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative

[TheStorm]

Well I was hoping to do it in the near future, but I guess waiting for PD wouldn't be a bad idea as I don't see the Intel offerings changing in price any time soon so its not like I loose out on much. That said I do have bonus money burning a hole in my pocket since the company I've been working as a CNC Operator at had an awesome Q1 and employees got record GainSharing bonus's.
_________________

"Always code as if the person who will maintain your code is a maniac serial killer that knows where you live" -Unknown

"If you've done something right no one will know that you've done anything at all" -Futurama

"Have a nice day, or not, the choice is yours." Tom Steiner

<Michael_V> or create a Borg collective and call it The 83+
<Michael_V> Lower your slide cases and prepare to be silent linked. Memory clears are futile.