New Build-Budget AMD

winchester_la

winchester_la

winchester_la

Associate
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Posts
8
Location
Liverpool
Hi Guys

Hoping that a few of you may be able to help me here in building/updating a new system.
Im looking to keep the spending below £300, as low as possible preferable due to tight finances.

My current specs are as follows (highlighted items are the items im keeping)

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
PSU: Thermaltake 600w psu
GPU: Nvidia Geforce XFX 9600GT 512mb DDR3
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+ 3ghz
Case: AQUA Jeantech gaming development
HD: Samsung SPOINT 500gb 7200 SATAll 16mb
RAM: Corsair XMS6400 4GB (2x2GB) 800mhz

Im thinking im also going to need a new case maybe to accomodate the new parts? Opinions please

Im looking at trying to future proof myself as much as a small budget will allow, usb 3.0, crossfire support, sata 6g/bs, am3+ etc

Im pretty much set on getting the AMD Quad Core Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 and trying to build the rest of the system around that, although if you feel im making the wrong choice please tell me.

Im struggling to pick a gpu, mobo and ram at the moment.

Thanks guys and i look forward to your responses.

Winch
 
What do you use the system for?

What resolution monitor?

If you're a gamer, which games matter most?

Will you be selling the old parts as additional funds for the build?

AD
 
Ill be playing at 1920 x 1080

I play mostly fps games and ram hungry offline data games

I wont be using the system for photoshop etc

If i can sell the old parts then i am more than willing to see what i can get for them

I was thinking of:

MOBO-ASRock 970 Extreme3 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) Motherboard
GPU-HD 6770 for my price range?
RAM-8gb ddr3 1600 (would 4gb suffice?)
 
Last edited:
Ignore him fella there is always one.. My friend is always in the same boat and i try my best to help him out.

This is a pretty decent setup... A little over budget but you could drop down to 4gb and add a cooler if you wanted to overclock..

Asus M5A97 PRO AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
£93.98
(£78.32)
£93.98
(£78.32)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
£89.99
(£74.99)
£89.99
(£74.99)
Asus ATI Radeon HD 6770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£83.99
(£69.99)
£83.99
(£69.99)
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A)
£35.99
(£29.99)
£35.99
(£29.99)
Sub Total :
£253.29
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout)
Shipping :
£10.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00%
VAT :
£52.81
Total :
£316.85
 
Skyline, thanks for the useful info.

That mobo looks good, looking at the overclock capabilities of the CPU combined with board id definately have a go at some overclocking.

Im thinking at the moment 8gb ram would be more benficial to me than overclocking CPU straight away? Or would i be fine with 4gb and then the option to get some decent cooling installed?

Thanks again i appreciate the help
 
Any reason for AMD?

Intel i3-2120 £96 This Week Only offer
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 £84
Kingston HyperX Grey 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 £19.99 This Week Only offer
MSI HD6850 Cyclone OC £120

Comes to around £330 with postage but gives you a better platform for upgrading.

Gives you the option to add a 2500k or even a new ivybridge CPU later on either of which would wipe the floor with any of AMDs current offerings. And the i3 2120 will hold it's own against the X4 955 in the meantime.

Plus you get a 6850 which will cope with many of todays games OK with the option of adding a second later.

As for memory 4GB is plenty for gaming and you can always add a second set of Kingston HyperX Grey later for 8GB (4 x 2GB)
 
Last edited:
Hi bobby

I have always used AMD for some reason and always felt comfortable with it. I would have no problem going the intel route and that setup looks brilliant. Loving the 6850 cyclone, was watching a few reviews only yesterday.

That bit extra is fine

With the future upgrade possibilities, i have read disappointing bulldozer reviews, will the intel be much better?

Sorry last question, which route will i get the best overclock from? (thinking i3 but love to hear some first hand experience)

Cheers and thanks again

edit: Thanks bobby, just reading some comparsions between the two CPU's and the i3 does seem to compare excellently and the ivybridge cpus could be brilliant, thanks again
 
Last edited:
For CPU upgradeabiltiy then Intel's SandyBridge is definately the way to go, with a X4 955 there's no real worthwhile upgrades available currently and no rumour of any in the foreseeable future.

There's no overclocking on the i3 proccessor but even at stock it can hold its own against a overclocked X4 955 plus you save money on the extra cooling needed for overclocking :)

If you upgrade later on to a 2500k that can overclock to 4GHz (from 3.3GHz) and beyond without any effort.
 
Sorry guys just noticed that, it was stock vs overclocked x4 in the comparsion.

The intel route looks like it is going to be the best option for future upgrade and bang for buck right now.

Bye bye AMD i suppose and hello intel
 
Should just check do your HDD and CD drives use SATA connections? There's no IDE connection on that motherboard. I suspect your HDD is SATA from the info you've given.

EDIT: Oops just saw you actually say it is SATA haha silly me. Just need to check your CD drive then. Although if it is that's no reason to change you can pick up a SATA DVD-RW drive for £10-15.
 
Hi, yes my cd drive and hdd both use sata connections so should be good. Sata 6g/bs connectivity on the mobo will be backwards compatible to work with my devices currently connected through sata 3g/bs?
 
Both of the boards listed have the second PCI-E slot running at x4 which will affect crossfire.

As games are typically bias to GPU rather than CPU I'd rather have more GPU options in the future than the fastest CPU.

Twist on the two builds above. This board will run one PCI-E 16 @ x16 or two at x8 each. Fine for single card crossfire combinations. Also does SLI so you can choose which graphics options suit you best.

Price creeping up a little but you should get £70 - £100 for the old CPU, Mainboard, Ram , GPU so should be within budget.

AD


Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 Cyclone Power Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £119.99
(£99.99) £119.99
(£99.99)
Asus M5A99X EVO AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 PCI-Express ATX Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT51264BA160A) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Sub Total : £288.29
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £59.56
Total : £357.35
 
Thanks :)

Cheers for all the info and help, will be sure to pop back if i need to pick your brains some more!

EDIT: Thanks decto, that would be a good option for me as it would allow me to upgrade a second GPU in the future.

EDIT: Bobby much better board all round and capability to run x8/x8 GPU, thanks man
 
Last edited:
Sorry OP I missed the crossfire speeds on that first motherboard, although it will work it won't be ideal.

Intel i3-2120 £96 This Week Only offer
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-UD3 £110
Kingston HyperX Grey 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 £19.99 This Week Only offer
MSI HD6850 Cyclone OC £120

Total: £357.35 posted

That keeps the better Intel platform and adds 2 x 8x PCIe crossfire for the same price as the above AMD build. :)
 
Last edited:
bobbyspangles said:
Sorry OP I missed the crossfire speeds on that first motherboard, although it will work it won't be ideal.

Intel i3-2120 £96 This Week Only offer
Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-UD3 £110
Kingston HyperX Grey 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 £19.99 This Week Only offer
MSI HD6850 Cyclone OC £120

Total: £357.35 posted

That keeps the better Intel platform and adds 2 x 8x PCIe crossfire for the same price as the above AMD build. :)
Click to expand...

is that a yet as unreleased motherboard ;)

think you mean z68xp-ud3 not z68ap-ud3 ;)

would go 6879 over the 6850
 
fowler002 said:
is that a yet as unreleased motherboard ;)

think you mean z68xp-ud3 not z68ap-ud3 ;)

would go 6879 over the 6850
Click to expand...

:o That's the one. I think the OP got what i meant though (I hope)

But then you could say a GTX 560 TI is only £15 more than the 6870. I was already speccing 20% over budget with the 6850 and it has to stop somewhere ;)

The MSI 6850 looks nice though with the huge factory overclock and cool temperatures, i'm thinking about one myself :)
 
Last edited:
Yer i got which one you meant bobby thanks, just googled it and it came up with the correct one.

I think the 6850 you showed me is ideal for what i need it for and it still falls into my budget with the need for only 4gb ram.

Cheers again
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom