Very much out of the loop, spec me a gaming system £450ish.

Right, what about this?

computer2.jpg


My reasoning is, a tri-core is better than a dual but I don't want to spend an extra £20 on the quad - I also read somewhere that it's possible to 'unlock' the 'fourth' core on this CPU? Maybe that's something I'd be interested in doing a bit down the line... But I don't even know if the motherboard can allow that?

I assume that that is an OK motherboard nonetheless and complements the chip nicely? Did look at getting one that I could use two GFX cards with but don't suspect I would be doing that anytime soon, so didn't see the point.

That takes it to £500 (I understand I qualify for free shipping from OcUK?) which leaves me with £50 left over with which I can put towards maybe some better cooling in a few weeks time depending how I feel with it.
I also have to buy Windows and just discovered that the Student offer is no longer on so that's added a bit of an extra cost which I hadn't budgeted for.
Any advice please? Don't worry, this'll all be over soon! I just don't want to buy a system that'll be rubbish for one reason or another.
 
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Hi, i'm basically in the same situation as you:
There's a list of motherboards that have been found to unlock the fourth core here:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/535501-amd-phenom-ii-core-unlocking-guide.html

Unfortunately yours isn't on it.

The whole unlocking is a bit hit and miss and the stability of your system is not guaranteed, the X3's are X4's that didn't quite make the QA cut, so there is often a reason for the core(s) being locked. The general concensus seems to be that if you want 4 cores, buy 4. If you're happy with 3, buy 3 and (maybe) unlock.

Other than that seems fine.
 
shroomz said:
The whole unlocking is a bit hit and miss and the stability of your system is not guaranteed, the X3's are X4's that didn't quite make the QA cut, so there is often a reason for the core(s) being locked. The general concensus seems to be that if you want 4 cores, buy 4. If you're happy with 3, buy 3 and (maybe) unlock.
Click to expand...

Yep, think I'd agree with that, go for a 3 core if you're happy with 3, if you're lucky you _might_ be able to unlock.
 
Just went through it once more and there really isn't anywhere that I can save money without losing a lot in performance (I'm thinking GFX and downgrading to a dual core) so I don't think I'll bother. I'll just have to reign in the spending on other things for a little while (or go to the casino again this weekend! (I jest, I jest!)).

A right kick in the teeth regarding Windows though, really didn't want to go above £550 but guess that just has to happen! Bah!

Going to have a quick double check at finances but I imagine I'll be putting my order in tomorrow morning! Looking forward to this! Hoping I can get a copy of Windows for the weekend so I can get building ASAP, but think the cheapest is the OEM version from OcUK anyway. Cheaper than the rainforest and what not.

Thanks for the help!
 
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There are essentially two choices: You can either buy discounted OS for around £40, or what I'm doing, use MSDNAA to get it for free, the only catch is that you can only get updates for the MSDNAA license for the length of your study, after that you can continue to use it but won't get updates, which works out pretty good, means I can use windows 7 for another 4 years without paying for it lol.

The £40 offer though gives you your very own license.

I'd ask your computing department if your Uni/College has membership and if so to set you up with an account
 
shroomz said:
There are essentially two choices: You can either buy discounted OS for around £40, or what I'm doing, use MSDNAA to get it for free, the only catch is that you can only get updates for the MSDNAA license for the length of your study, after that you can continue to use it but won't get updates, which works out pretty good, means I can use windows 7 for another 4 years without paying for it lol.

The £40 offer though gives you your very own license.

I'd ask your computing department if your Uni/College has membership and if so to set you up with an account
Click to expand...

didn't the windows 7 student offer finish a couple of months ago?
 
MonkeykingZX said:
didn't the windows 7 student offer finish a couple of months ago?
Click to expand...

Yup, but there are official MS partners advertised on the MS Windows 7 offer4students site (won't post link to competitor), which is a little bit more expensive, but you get an actual disc rather than an iso. One thing I'd suggest for OP if he goes down that route is make sure he buys a full version, as upgrade is a bit of a hassle since you have to have vista/xp already installed then add 7 on top of it
 
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