New configuration suggestions

zombi · 26 Mar 2010 at 23:30

I'm looking at the following cpu/mobo/memory upgrades and wondered which would be the best considering the price as well as if there is anything you would change (again keeping within roughly the same price). I'm a little flexible on price if you can give a good reason. I should add also that cost and gaming performance are priority. I currently have an 8800GT graphics card.

Thanks in advance!

Here are the two combos I'm looking at:

AMD
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£157 - AMD Phenom X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache Retail Box Processor
£71 - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 AMD 770 Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
£45 - Crucial 2GB DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory CL9 1.5 V Unbuffered Non-ECC
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Total: £275

Intel
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£158 - Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£89 - ASROCK P55 PRO Socket 1156 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
£45 - Kingston DDR3 2GB 1333MHz i5 Memory Module CL9 1.5V
------------
Total: £292

Biz.Kid09 · 26 Mar 2010 at 23:57

I would go for the AMD Option however i would wait if you can because the 6 core AMD's are coming out and they look like there going to be very cheap (compared to i7 980x)
How about going for a cheaper motherboard and getting 4gb ram?

imhiya · 27 Mar 2010 at 00:01

I'd go the i5 rig. you gain that extra general task performance. Strange though, i bought the i5 750 for 130 odd few months back.

zombi · 27 Mar 2010 at 00:04

The idea, once I've taken this step, is to get another 2gb and change the 8800 for one of the newer cards.. although I haven't even thought about which one might be a worth upgrading to yet. I didn't want to skimp on a motherboard because I did that last time (Abit ANM2-HD) and kinda regret doing it. I'm currently on Athlon X2 4000+ with 2gb mem. Any idea when the hexacores are coming out?

Biz.Kid09 · 27 Mar 2010 at 01:07

Well i would say get the Asus 785 motherboard anyways, Erm not sure...a bit of googling will tell you.
I would suggest the 5770 or 5850,both excellent cards and will play anything at pretty much maximum (apart from crysis)

stulid · 27 Mar 2010 at 01:25

I would go for the i5, its just faster.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Mar 2010 at 02:00

I don't know where you are pricing that X4 965BE but that price is way to high!!

The X4 965 is around £140 to £150 at most UK retailers.

Also I would get the X4 955BE for £122 from a well known retailer.

I would look at the Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P as this has an 8+2 phase VRM.

OTH,this motherboard is a better choice:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-242-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

It has an 8+2 phase VRM,USB 3.0,SATA 3.0 and all solid capacitors.

zombi · 28 Mar 2010 at 04:14

Looks good I think I will go for the 955BE and GA-770TA-UD3.
Any recommendations on a power supply?

I have sata hd, usb hd, pci soundcard, pci wifi nic, 8800GT PCIe.

stulid · 28 Mar 2010 at 04:25

A psu of about 550w will be plenty.

Quality makes are.

ANTEC
CORSAIR
BE QUIET
OCZ

if you choose one from these you can't go wrong, they all do both modular or normal captive cable psu's. It almost comes down to price.

zombi · 28 Mar 2010 at 04:35

Well as cheap as possible preferably I've always had cheaper end PSUs and never had a problem.

Maybe: Antec Basiq Power 550W PSU - 6x SATA 2x PCI-E 20+4pin ATX12V 4/8pin ?

I know I need 1333mhz memory, but should it be buffered? unbuffered? ecc or not? I also see some is marked as 1.5v while others aren't.