£500 AMD System

chrismscotland

chrismscotland

chrismscotland

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Ok, I think I am going to abandon my current attempts to get a good mobile laptop and just buy a Dell or Samsung netbook as I need the battery life!
So I am now going to build a PC to replace my ageing desktop.
I have a monitor although I would be looking for a new 22-24" widescreen to replace my old 19" in the future so monitor suggestions would be helpful.
But my £500 budget is to exclude an OS, Monitor and Mouse.
I also feel that for my budget AMD would be a better value for money option.
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £92.99
(£80.86) £92.99
(£80.86)
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
(£78.25) £89.99
(£78.25)
Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H AMD 780G (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
OCZ Z-Series 550w SLI-Ready Power Supply £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Case - Black (No PSU) £54.99
(£47.82) £54.99
(£47.82)
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (KHX8500D2K2/4G) £48.99
(£42.60) £48.99
(£42.60)
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £41.99
(£36.51) £41.99
(£36.51)
Sony Optiarc AD-7240S 24x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51) £18.99
(£16.51)
Sub Total : £421.66
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £65.01
Total : £498.42

Then you get to add another 4870 later on. Power supply you could swap for a ModXStream Pro 600W or a Corsair TX 550W, or something else... monitor's i'm not too knowledgeable on so i'll let somebody else handle that.
 
Here is my spec for the system, its a touch over budget, but I'd have trouble reducing the cost without reducing performance.

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As for monitor, the dell 2209wa is a great. it uses an e-ips panel, so it has image quality and viewing angles unrivaled by it's competitors. if you are looking to spend a bit more - this monitor looks fantastic (review here).
 
Pretty much exactly the same as mine, but i went AM2+ instead of AM3. As far as i can tell the only difference is memory, and i think DDR2 is the same or better performing at the minute due to lower CAS Latencies. As for future proofing, i can't imagine that there will be an AM3 CPU released that won't work on the AM2+ platform and you'll still be able to get DDR2 memory.
 
IMHO, it is worth forking out for the X4 955. Its a brilliant chip, the 965 is only a bit faster and a lot more expensive.

However, it's only worth it if your main use of the PC is CPU intensive applications. If its mainly games then you would be much better served by upgrading the graphics card. Something like this would be better.
 
yeah i would agree the 955 would be a better option that 965, it's a little over priced.

here is what i would go for:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £145.98

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £92.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Ready Modular Power Supply £60.98

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £60.98

OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel (OCZ2G10664GK) £39.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500418AS) £39.99

Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black (No PSU) £28.99

Samsung SH-S223B/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99

Sub Total : £423.38
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £65.27
Total : £500.40


Still within budget although that is with a pretty basic case. Hope this helps.
 
A lot of the Phenom IIs are great chips in their own right... the 550, 810, 720, 940 and 955. But what matters is which one you want. Getting the best of the best isn't necessary the best way to spend your money, especially if you're just playing the occasional game. I think the 720 is a nice, balanced chip and it's fantastically priced this week, so i would go for that. Also, you might be able to unlock it to a quad.
 
It's either 955 now or 965 after september, that's if you really want to be on top that badly. To be honest, it doesn't make much sense as 955 can easily perform the same if not better if you know how to overclock it.

If you can hang on for 3 more weeks, then I suggest you do that. By then you will be able to snap up the 955 even more cheaply and this will either save you more £'s or allow you the flexibility of obtain better parts for other aspects of your pc.
 
Or get the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 920 which comes with quad core straight out of the box. As unlocking the 4th core depends on the motherboard, its bios as well as the cpu itself. Not all batches of the 720 is capable of unlocking its 4th core.

But my point remains the same. Patience is virtue. Give it a few weeks and save yourself some money.
 
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The 920 is nowhere near worth it. Its only £6 cheaper than the 955, but is only 2.8GHz, no unlocked multiplier and only AM2+

If you are going to spend that kind of money, just get the 955, if not the 720BE is still a blooming good chip.
 
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