let me know - new build

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 21:42

Hello,

this is what i have:

MSI K9N Diamond motherboard
OCZ ReaperX HPC OCZ2RPX8002G 2 GB DDR2-800 DDR2
AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2800 MHz 5600+
MSI 8800GT
Zalman CNPS 9700 LED AM2 CPU cooler

This is what i am getting

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
OCZ 4GB KIT (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1800Mhz PC3 14400 REAPER SERIES DUAL CHANNEL KIT (8-8-8-27)
ASUS M4A78T-E 790GX Socket AM3 onboard VGA DVI HDMI 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
DONT KNOW what cooler to get, any ideas? (will be overclocking)

some extra info

will be used for: webdesign, gaming, multimedia centre

i will be overclocking

i tend to upgrade every couple of years

can people please let me know if i should change anything, and if so then why lol

siumatfung · 24 May 2009 at 21:50

thermalright ultra 120 with 120mm fan

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 21:56

siumatfung said:
thermalright ultra 120 with 120mm fan

what chip set is am3 as i only know it as am3 and that cooler only suppoert LGA775, AM2. 753/939/940 stated here

lol, and i got to get a fan on top of that

phytal · 24 May 2009 at 21:57

why don't you change for i7 otherwise the gfx cards good

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 22:02

phytal said:
why don't you change for i7 otherwise the gfx cards good

looked at it but to much, want to try and stay around the £100 mark for cpu,
trying to keep cost down lol

wbc1 · 24 May 2009 at 22:12

Does your current mobo support AM3? If so, why not save some money on mobo and ddr3 (£150) and put it towards an even better gfx card or cpu? (the phenom II 940 quad looks nice, if your mobo can support AM2+)

cmndr_andi · 24 May 2009 at 22:36

What is your total budget for your upgrade?

Also, what is your current PSU, HDD, OS and case?

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 23:05

my current mobo dont support AM2+

vista 64
coolermaster 720 psu (or sommat like that lol)
Kandalf case
Drive #1 - Maxtor 6E040L0 (38 GB)
Drive #2 - SAMSUNG HD252KJ (232 GB)
Drive #3 - WDC WD6400AACS-00G8B (596 GB)
Drive #4 - Maxtor 6Y080M0 (76 GB)

total budget approx £400/£500, (less is more

cmndr_andi · 24 May 2009 at 23:10

How does this look?

reflux · 24 May 2009 at 23:11

Sound as a pound cmndr_andi.

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 23:24

am i right in thinking the quad runs really hot compared to the phenom?
also i might want to add i am a novice overclocker lol,
looking at reviews it seems easy to overclock the phenom,
comparing the 2 mobos i like the asus more lol, like the fact that it also got HDMI port as that can be used for my TV, just seem to be getting a lot more for ya money, what do you guys think,

reflux · 24 May 2009 at 23:34

The quad probably runs about as warm as the Phenom, and it should be slightly easier to overclock because of the FSB.

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 23:38

reading around it looks like the phenom can reach faster speeds than the quad,

in the H***S [review they reasch 3.5 and already hitting 80c, (dont want my fan full speed all the time)

i am really stuck as to what to do, i dont want to get the wrong thing lol

cmndr_andi · 24 May 2009 at 23:40

The core 2 quad is an extremely cool chip - even when overclocked it puts i7 chips to shame. There are many overclocking guides for overclocking core 2s, personally I find it to be very simple to overclock them (FSB x Multi = clockspeed, keep RAM synced with FSB). I'm sure the phenom 2s are just as easy to OC.

As for the HDMI on the motherboard - just put a DVI to HDMI adapter on the graphics card and it will do the same thing, costs a few quid.

Edit: I read the H***s review and it seems like the q6700 got to 3.6GHz pretty happily. As you will be using current air cooling like a titan fenrir or a TRUE, you can get super cooling with little noise (article was written in 2007 and they used a Zalman 9700

). I know the Phenom 2 X3 can reach 3.8GHz max - but it is running 1 less core. Personally, i'd go for the quad core option.

user1453 · 24 May 2009 at 23:49

with the ati gfx cards you get an hdmi adaptor and the ati cards have a built in sound chip for the hdmi connestion, no need for passthough cable as with the nvidia cards

Smoke-Alot · 24 May 2009 at 23:54

i have 2 monitors connected and i have to keep unpluging 1 to put my tv on, (that the only reason i like the idea of the hdmi port)

the phenom just seems to be a faster chip when overclocked but i dont know, been a while now lol,

i just want the best proformance i can for the money, also trying to keep noise levels low lol,

let me know what to do,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

reflux · 25 May 2009 at 00:24

The Q6700 is faster that the Phenom, clock for clock, and they overclock to about the same speeds each (3.6ghz or so).

I had a Q6600 @ 3.5ghz (same chip, lower multi) and it didn't get any hotter than 65c under load.....I guess in the ***** review they must have been using the carpy stock cooler.

Really, it's horses for courses. Go with whatever makes you happy; whilst the Intel system will be a little bit faster, it's not going to be by much.

Smoke-Alot · 25 May 2009 at 11:48

more people seem to be leaning towards the quad core, so although i am not sure i think i should go with the majority,

wont that socket be getting phased out due to the release of the i7, while AM3 is still new,