Final Spec Check (high end gaming upgrade)

are you a intel fanboi go visit toms hardware where in quite a few games the phenom 965BE outperforms the core i7 at 3.8GHZ

only noticable games at present where you will see major differences are Left for dead 2,far cry 2,gta,COD MW2

woot a few games where it might beat it by 2fps.

games are the only thing amd do well at, goto the benchmarks for everything else and see how much amd gets beaten by.
game devs are starting to utilise other things on cpus cores that arent beeing used by the game engine such as physics , sound effects etc then you will see a clear seeing as intel do number crunching much better than amd.

he says he isnt planning to overclock anyway so how fast an overclocked 965be is doesnt count.
 
You need DDR3 with both socket 1156 and socket 1366 motherboards.

The Phenom II will work with both DDR2 AM2+ motherboards and DDR3 AM3 motherboards.

With an AM2+ Phenom II build you could get a decent graphics card too and also gain a Crossfire capable motherboard for under £400.

What speed is your existing RAM and what model is the cooler?

ah, I see.

Check out my other spec list - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15879490&postcount=18

Current cpu cooler is an artic freezer pro that I bought in early 2007.

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz x 2

All my old parts are being put into an antec 900 which I am then giving to my dad as his old laptop is dead.

Does the amd build look better than the intel? To be honest, I remember my amd build from 2004 being really good performance..
 
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ah, I see.

Check out my other spec list - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15879490&postcount=18

Current cpu cooler is an artic freezer pro that I bought in early 2007.

GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz x 2

All my old parts are being put into an antec 900 which I am then giving to my dad as his old laptop is dead.

Does the amd build look better than the intel? To be honest, I remember my amd build from 2004.

You would be limited to a new AMD Phenom II build with DDR2.

OTH,I can probably come up with a more budget build with DDR3 RAM,a DDR3 motherboard,graphics card,CPU and PSU if you want me to!

I could also come up with a decent Core2 based upgrade for your system too.
 
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Think I want to try an amd build. Been using intel since 2007. I remember my athlon 64 from 2004 being really good compared to intel.
 
I will list three options.

The first is the Intel upgrade route which will be the most cost effective:

Intel Q9550 ~ £160 to £170

OR

Intel Q9400 ~ £149

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-270-IN

OR

Intel Q8400 ~ £133

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-281-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

The Q9550 is around the same speed as a Phenom II X4 955BE and the Q9400 around the same speed as a Phenom II X4 945. The Q8400 is a tad slower than an X4 945 IIRC.

OCZ StealthXStream 500w ~ £49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

HD5850 1GB ~ £211

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-010-C3

Hence you can get a Q8400,a new PSU and an HD5850 1GB within your budget once you include postage.


The second upgrade route:

The second route is an AM2+ Phenom II route:

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £122

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

Asus M4A77D ~ £60

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-376-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482

OR

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD3P ~ £86

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-199-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482

This motherboard has an 8+2 phase VRM with cooling and can do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X!

OCZ StealthXStream 600w ~ £60

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-OC

HD4890 1GB ~ £133

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-124-XF

OR

HD4870 1GB ~ £100

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-OE


The third route is an AM3 based one:

AMD Phenom II X3 720 ~ £100

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-238-AM

Asus M4A785TD-V Evo ~ £73

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

4GB 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £83

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-026-PA&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

OCZ StealthXStream 500w ~ £49

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-OC

HD4870 1GB ~ £100

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-OE
 
This is what I would get then:

Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £122

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

4GB 1600MHZ DDR3 ~ £87

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-154-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Asus M4A79XTD Evo ~ £86

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-366-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

This has an 8+2 phase VRM,VRM cooling,all solid capacitors and does symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X.

Asus M4A785TD-V Evo ~ £73

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-355-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

This has an 8+2 phase VRM,VRM cooling,all solid capacitors and has the 785G IGP

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W ~ £89

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Has 4 PCI-E power connectors so you can Crossfire two HD5850 1GB cards if required. The HD5850 1GB has lower power consumption than an HD4870.

OR

OCZ StealthXStream 600w ~ £60

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-OC

This only has a pair of PCI-E power connectors

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler ~ £33

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-008-TI
 
Thanks for the help. How future proof is the motherboard?

Heres what my final list looks like.... minus the 5850 which I'll get next week. Also, I have a 800d corsair case which needs 3 fans at the top... what fans do you recommend?

2lmnkh1.png
 
The mobo is very future proof because I believe AMD are going to be releasing hexacore(6 core) processors shortly and all AM3 board are compatible:D
 
The mobo is very future proof because I believe AMD are going to be releasing hexacore(6 core) processors shortly and all AM3 board are compatible:D

Thanks. I also understand intel like to change sockets more often? So, going for this amd build, I am creating a more future proof machine?

Do I need to buy any thermal paste for the cpu? Also, should I buy a fan for the cooler?
 
Oh, another thing, since I probably won't overlock, is the asus crosshair III overkill? I guess the Asus M4A79XTD Evo will do just fine and will still be future proof for upcoming amd cpu's.
 
Ok, going to order this first thing tomorrow morning. Anymore advice anyone can give me? Main use will be gaming remember...

btw, I might buy another 5850 down the line... will the mb and psu be ok for that?

2lmnkh1.png


Then next thursday, I'll order a 5850 and I'll be upgraded fully to play any game that comes out.

Also, is it a good idea to upgrade the stock fans on the 800d case? I keep reading the fans that come with these case are terrible?
 
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