Is there a better deal than this £125 mobo cpu bundle?

Ugley_Matt · 19 Nov 2011 at 22:56

So this AMD Phenom And Asus bundle is £125

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-047-OP&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2084

ive got 4gb Ram, HD allsorted out, need to get a DVD drive. GFX is a Geforce 9800GTX and a seasonic 430W PSU

Question is is there any other combo of mobo and cpu i should be looking at that gives considerable more bang for buck for the same of very close price?

Not fussed about AMD or Intel

stulid · 19 Nov 2011 at 23:32

Thats a good deal.

But that Phenom isnt a real Phenom and lacks L3 cache, think of it as a AthlonIIX4.

A competing intel solution is,
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-387-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=2037
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-178-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1965

This shows a PentiumG850 vs a AthlonIIX4 645 - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/404?vs=188

But you cant overclock this intel setup at all.

bobbyspangles · 19 Nov 2011 at 23:33

For £10 more you can get a X4 955BE which overclocks quite well if that's something you're interested in,

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=cp-244-am&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1943
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=mb-466-as&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=1481

£136.99

this shows the x4 840 against a x4 945 which i believe is essentially a 955 with a lower clock speed (3.0ghz instead of 3.2ghz on the 955).

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/amd/phenom_ii_x4_840/9.html

Ugley_Matt · 20 Nov 2011 at 00:37

hmm looking at the 955 vs the g850, looks like the Intel is considerably better, despite it being a dual vs quad core, but less power 65w vs 125w.
have I read that correct?

www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/404?vs=88

stulid · 20 Nov 2011 at 00:42

Some of the test are "lower is better" but that essentially right.

The best chip to get for a similar price to the 955BE is this - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=cp-366-in&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1671

which plays games like this - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0

Ugley_Matt · 20 Nov 2011 at 01:17

hmmm so either the cheaper 850 or the pricier 2120

guess gta4 would go better on the 2120

what's the cheapest non Crap mobo for either?

looks like I am heading to Intel, which is a surprise

stulid · 20 Nov 2011 at 01:22

This is the cheapest non crap one (has SATAIII and USB3.0) - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-172-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1907

Remember you cant overclock these things (still faster than a overclocked AMD

), to overclock you must have a "K" CPU (i5 2500K/i7 2600K/2700K) and either a P67 or Z68 motherboard.

Reaper 392 · 20 Nov 2011 at 01:23

these are the cheap mobo options for the intel sandybridge options. the main difference between them is that the more expensive one has SATA 6Gbps and USB3, unlike the cheaper one

1 x MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99
1 x MSI H61M-E33 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £46.99

Ugley_Matt · 20 Nov 2011 at 01:35

thanks, now off to bed with you, we cb resume in the morning

Reaper 392 · 20 Nov 2011 at 02:27

Ugley_Matt said:
thanks, now off to bed with you, we cb resume in the morning

bed? i'm a student, bed time isnt for another few hours yet

Ugley_Matt · 20 Nov 2011 at 02:45

ok then prob a daft question but does a matx mobo fit in an antec atx case? and therefore I don't have to worry about the board form factor as long as it has enough sockets and ports

Reaper 392 · 20 Nov 2011 at 02:48

Ugley_Matt said:
ok then prob a daft question but does a matx mobo fit in an antec atx case? and therefore I don't have to worry about the board form factor as long as it has enough sockets and ports

if the case is ATX then an mATX board will fit. mATX is exactly the same as an ATX board with the bottom three expansion slots chopped off. even the mounting holes are the same.

if the case has 7 expansion slots at the back then it will fit in pretty much any motherboard (there are some exceptions, but these will be very expensive)

jakejacob0 · 20 Nov 2011 at 02:57

Reaper 392 said:
bed? i'm a student, bed time isnt for another few hours yet

too right

Ugley_Matt · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:10

I suspect i know the answer but is a llano worth considering?

Or should i just try to stretch the budget (or search MM etc) and just go for the i3 2100 option

stulid · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:13

The llano is good if you don't have a GFX card, but you do so stick with the i3

Ugley_Matt · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:23

ok fine, you have worn me down, AMD no more, i will squeeze the bugdet and go for the i3.

In fact i managed to sell an old linksys router, two 60gb IDE drives for a total of £30 which might just make up the difference.

Is there a noticeable difference between 1600 and 1033 ddr3 ram? The cheaper mobos have the slower rated ram but i am wondering if i can just ignore that.

Ugley_Matt · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:25

duplicate

stulid · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:43

You can ignore the ram rating, currently that kingston 1600mhz for twenty quid is a bargain.

Just use the stuff you already got.

Ugley_Matt · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:46

And finally for tonight, if i go for the i3, i cannot overclock, so the stock cooler that it comes with should be fine, do i even need to consider replacing it with something else?

stulid · 22 Nov 2011 at 00:47

Nope.