Can some one spec me a CPU, RAM & motherboard for around £200, not sure what to get

[mrfun1981]

Hi everyone

I cant make my mind up what CPU, RAM & board to get. Iv already got a graphics card which is a 9800GT

the system will be used mainly to play games but some encoding of avi's/dvds now & again.

I was thinking AMD as that is the cheapest, i want something that will last at least a year or 2 before i really need to change the CPU again.

This is what iv come up with for now

CPU - Amd Phenom X4 Quad-core 9950 Delivered for £129
Motherboard - Asus M2N68 £50
Memory - OCZ Platinum Rev2. 2GB £25

There another couple of CPU's that im thinking over would these be any better?

PHENOM II X3 720 Delivered £126 ( am i right in thinking being a AM3 CPU it would be that little bit more future proof, but being only tri core it wont be as good as the phenom 9950.
or i was thinking of maybe a phenom x3 8650 for around £80 delivered. learn to OC it a little bit & get a better motherboard & ram?

The motherboard iv listed is just one of the 1st ones i looked at as guess there might be other good ones if there is a better one can some one tell me please.

As for memory there is loads to pick from & i was planning to just get some good memory with what ever money was left over after the CPU & motherboard.

Also can anyone recommend a good after market cooler cos i would like to learn to OC & keep the CPU cool still. I would be getting this in another month or 2 so it dont have to be included in this budget

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes time to reply to my thread

 

[Kennysevenfold]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total

AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9150e 1.80GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail £101.19
(£87.99) £101.19
(£87.99)

Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £49.44
(£42.99) £49.44
(£42.99)

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX6400D2K2/4G) £42.54
(£36.99) £42.54
(£36.99) Sub Total : £167.97 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DHL @ Home Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.49 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £26.47 Total : £202.93

 

[mrfun1981]

Thanks for that, like the idea of having extra memory but with the processor being only 1.8ghz quad, would it be better to buy something a little faster at least it going to last a while longer

 

[Audigex]

I'd really jump the CPU up. With a 1.8 quad core if you decide to run anything designed for a single core (eg programs which ran well on a 3gHz Pentium4) you'll in effect be running it on a 1.8gHz Athlon. Okay, the 1.8 will actually be the equivalent of perhaps a 2.2/2.4, but it won't be a lot of good.

With mainly gaming I'd go for a faster dual core - they'll handle the occasional video encoding task without too much problem (maybe a few minutes extra each time) and most games will be significantly better off with two high clocked cores than 4 low clocked ones.

 

[mrfun1981]

^^

Thanks for your in put, il give it a good think & decide if a dual core would be any better. i do want it to last a while thats why iv been thinking of quad core

 

[Kennysevenfold]

Product Name Qty Price Line Total

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.80GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £105.79
(£91.99) £105.79
(£91.99)

Abit IP35 Pro XE Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £65.54
(£56.99) £65.54
(£56.99)

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £19.54
(£16.99) £19.54
(£16.99) Sub Total : £165.97 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DHL @ Home Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.49 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £26.17 Total : £200.63

 

[Frozen_Texas]

i wouldn't go with abit as they closed their mobo business already so you won't get any support from them like new bios, etc. wondering what will happen with rma also, just in case. go with gigabyte instead.