another upgrade build (AMD Phenom II)

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:34

Yep, it's another 'pimp my build' thread.

Total is around £1,000. Can you do better for something around that budget (+/- 10%)?

I'm going with :
- AMD Phenom II X4.
- sound card (not creative).
- ATI HD 4850 (as cool and silent as possible).
- 27'', HDMI and DVI, and I like the tuner on the LG (I don't have a TV).

My current config is a Q6600 2.4ghz, 9800GTX+, a Corsair HX 620W, Lian Li PC-A71B. Wondering is the PSU is enough, I think It's OK.

Thanks.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:37

What motherboard does your existing computer have BTW??

I would probably overclock your Q6600 or get a secondhand Q9550.

stulid · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:38

psu is fine.

harddrive?

maybe get a dx soundcard that is pci-e?

stulid · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:43

even better.

ditch the sound card, buy this.

www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-171-OK&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1675

mrfun1981 · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:51

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
What motherboard does your existing computer have BTW??

I would probably overclock your Q6600 or get a secondhand Q9550.

I would agree overclock ur current CPU, an with doing so save yourself some £'s

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 18:54

I have

Intel Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6600 2.40GHz
Stock cooler
Abit IP35-E
2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C5 DDR2

I have an old raptor 36GB drive (WD360GD), that I plan to replace with a samsung 128GB SSD (unless it goes in the laptop), and a 500gig storage device (WD500AAKS).

I'm also running WinXP. I think it's time for an overhaul.

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 19:01

As for the soundcard, I'm really keen on not using onboard realteck stuff. I've changed the sound card to the PIC-e version.

I'm looking at intel kits as well. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the memory pushed on the AMD bundles.

Grimley · 25 Apr 2010 at 19:01

olivier renault said:
My current config is a Q6600 2.4ghz,

olivier renault said:
I have
Intel Core 2 DUO LGA775 E6600 2.40GHz

Which one? if you have the quad I'd have a bash at overclocking 1st with a decent 3rd party cooler. If you have the Dual core instead stick with your original plan.

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 19:03

mrfun1981 said:
I would agree overclock ur current CPU, an with doing so save yourself some £'s

I suppose I could coax some more life out of my current system.

I'll need a better cooling solution in that case. I'm quite interested in the H50 cooler, however I think most of the noise comes from the video card anyway. But if I upgrade to a Vapor-X, that should bring the noise down quite a bit.

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 19:06

Grimley said:
Which one? if you have the quad I'd have a bash at overclocking 1st with a decent 3rd party cooler. If you have the Dual core instead stick with your original plan.

It's a dual core. I got confused sorry. It's from April '07. So is the graphics card. Christ that's a long time! I suppose I'm quite happy it's gone for so long and never really needed an upgrade. Even now the system is coping quite well with the latest games.

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 20:54

I must say, it's a dilema.

I like this setup as well.

stulid · 25 Apr 2010 at 20:59

that bundle price wont last forever

could change back on wednesday.

Grimley · 25 Apr 2010 at 21:04

If it was me, I'd go for the AMD.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 25 Apr 2010 at 22:50

The cheapest upgrade would be to get a Q6600 or Q6700 secondhand and overclock this and get another 2GB of RAM if you have a 64 bit OS. Even with a new CPU cooler like a Titan Fenrir you would be looking at around £150 to £180 for this.

The overclocked AMD bundle is not that great value for money TBH! The newer Phenom II X4 955BE processors are the same C3 stepping as the X4 965BE and both have an unlocked multiplier. The X4 965BE is overpriced IMHO.

For example you can get the following parts:

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £126

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-244-AM

Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 ~ £120

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-393-AS

This is a better motherboard for overclocking than the Gigabyte in the bundle.The motherboard also has USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 too!

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit ~ £100

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-042-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Titan TTC-NK85TZ/V2 Fenrir CPU Cooler ~ £30

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-009-TI

Excluding delivery you are looking at under £380 and you should be able to get this to around 3.6GHZ to 3.8GHZ AFAIK.

Here are some reviews of the motherboard:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18539/2

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2010/03/02/asus-m4a89gtd-pro-usb-review/1

Otherwise go for the Core i7 bundle.

olivier renault · 25 Apr 2010 at 23:07

I can afford a bundle upgrade (excluding video card and LCD), something that will keep me going for a few years hopefully. That £380 kit looks interesting, would pushing it to 8GB be worth the investment? That's be also within my budget.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 25 Apr 2010 at 23:11

TBH, 4GB should be fine for the time being. Many people still use 32 bit Windows so it will be a while until 8GB is really needed. RAM is also a bit expensive ATM so it would be better to add extra RAM if required at a later date when the prices have dropped.

danewesley · 26 Apr 2010 at 01:00

Yo, i put this together, chose the mobo because of the soundcard included, the new crosshair iv is out soon though and the build leaves room for a tv card and possibly the newer mobo etc?