New Phenom II PC

MagnusMarkussen

MagnusMarkussen

MagnusMarkussen

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12 Jan 2009
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My mate convinced me I'll get more out of choosing AMD Phenom II than e.g. the Q9450 from Intel, so here is what I've put in my basket so far:

AMD Black Edition - Processor - 1 x AMD Phenom II X4 94
Transcend 2.5" Solid State Disk - 32 GB For Windows and most used applications.

Antec Three Hundred - EU - Tower - ATX - No PSU
cheap case, should fit my needs i reckon.

Corsair XMS2 2x2 gb Dominator ram 1066 mhz
should give a fair boost

Corsair TX650W - powersupply (internal) - ATX12V 2.0.
Should fit my needs?

ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe/HDMI - Motherboard - ATX - nForce 780a SLI
My friend suggested this, feel free to argue for another mobo:)

Samsung SpinPoint F1 Desktop Class HD753LJ - Harddisk - 750gb
for Media and not so common used programmes.

ATI Radeon HD4850x2
Most bang for the buck, plan to use with 2 TFT monitors simultaneous.

Xigmatec S1283 CPU Cooler
heard it should be awesome.

Please give your opinions on this setup and/or suggest otherwise :)
Thank you very much.
 
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I would suggest otherwise, Phenom II is a nice upgrade if you already have an AMD motherboard but theres no reason to get one over an Intel if you're getting a whole new system.
 
I am indeed getting a whole new system, ready to spend what equals to around 1000£, I don't need speakers, monitor etc.

My mate (which is actually very computer-clever) said that the Phenom II is very close to I7 regarding performance in games so forth, If I'm getting I7 the Motherboard and RAM are going to be very expensive I heard.

#Strife212 Exactly what would you suggest? Mainly for WoW, other games, video, itunes, and to get rid of my AMD2500x or whatever it is, it is VERY old... No photoshop or rendering whatsoever, I expect it to last 4-5 years, with performance being lower and lower over time (compared to the market), of course.
 
sli mobo & ati card ;/ the only reason to go sli would be if you were pairing some 280s

Also although the PII beats the q9450 it dosent beat the q9550 or q9650 which are getting a price cut soon which would make them less than the PII 940.

I would also avoid the 4850x2 a 280 would be less hassle & cheaper & a 4870x2 would be much better.



Reasoning :

The q9550 at its current pricing offers better bang for buck intel will be droping the

q9550 $317 to $268 -15%
q9650 $525 to $317 -40%

This is happening on the 18th jan but could take a while to filter through to the uk market stock levels etc.

As OCUK is out of 280s Ive speced a 260 ist pretty easy to overclock these to 280 levels

ram same

Mobo intel & gigabyte all you ever need :P

antec 900 is a dusty thing as it as no dust filters for the intake i would advise getting them or you could wait for the antec 902 which as them built in.

Tuniq best bang for buck cooler.

Rest of the stuff same
 
Compared to the gaming-scene in a year wouldnt quad be better than duo? I've considered E8500/Asus Commando Republic of Gamers.. Anyhow, the hardware market is really god damn frustrating:)

Edit: Once again thank you for help, I do prefer Intel over AMD, but for me I just want performance and don't care about brand.
 
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If you did want to go i7 route




If you strech a bit more you can have a 4870 x2 or if you want to save a bit and get a slightly better mobo you can go down to a 260 / 4870 / 4850 x2

Just to let you know what you'd get for that money in i7

If you do go PII I believe they are brining out their DDR3 mobo at the end of the month so you might want ot wait for that. (The same CPU will work in DDR2 and DDR3 mobo apparently, AMD are the consumer friendly company :) )
 
I searched and searched, and looked here and there, seems like I will go the I7 route :P Infact I will go with exactly your spec Edward, unless you can suggest better?, I have the HDD so i just need a SSD for boot, any you can recommend? (If there's any difference from the different brands of SSD's)

What would you reckon I7 can be mildly Oc'ed to? Infact I need a CPU cooler it seems, should I go with the same as PwNDirect suggests?:)
 
I'd suggest you read about a lot about SSD as most of them are crap atm.

Also read a review or two of that mobo as I'm not to sure about it as its new out.

That i7 is the retail version so comes with a fan (which I believe is pretty good) and should suit you fine for a small overclock if your not planning on pushing it.


edit, Yeh or if you don't an i7 PwNDirects spec is pretty good, but still look up SSD's
 
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I'm convinced that I7 is the way to go (said that with other specs too, lol) appearently it isn't worth spending that many money (many for me:)) without stretching it for I7...
So what I'll order is basically what you posted, except for 2 bits thats cheaper in Dk (sorry oc.co.uk :)) Anyone got an idea what the transport will cost?
 
AMD or Core2, both same level now. More options with intel till AMD get more chips out.

I7 way beyond both of those, but its way beyond what anyone needs (for gaming lol). Cant recomend I7 with price for motherboard/ddr3 tri-channel.

800Mhz ram would be fine for AMD setup (unlocked multiplier so quicker isnt needed for overclocks).

Dont get a SLI motherboard with ATI graphics, doesnt make sence.

650W psu you listed is fine, but you might need more if you get a graphics 2nd card later.

Avoid 250, 500, 750gb drives. Go for a 320 ,640 gb one, as they have dencer platers (ie will read/write quicker).
 
Well if you make it all up, the I7 is roughly the same price as Phenom II setup! 1000ish sterling...
Ty for input EvilOne, the thing is I already have the 500gb HDD, why I'll use it. With the current I7 setup (Edwards) theres no SSD, I'll look into that later.
 
hate to be the negative one on your choose of hard drive but your going to be using a 32gb hard drive as your main yes it may be really fast but wow is a 13gb game, and with windows and maybe a second game say cod4 or 5 your looking at 8 gigs thats over half of a very expensive hard drive, not sure if it applies to to solid state hard drives as well but u need at least 30% of your hard drive space for it to run smoothly last time i checked
 
Windows Tiny xp + Wow (current folder on stationary is 15,8 gb) But i think I got the FULL install of WoW tho, I dont need around 5 gigs of it I don't think so, anyhow, Atm I'm going with Edwards spec.
 


I7 build!

Reasoning :

Same CPU as above but oem version with the £20 saved use it to buy a better cooler
allowing for a nice overclock.

Faster & better quailty ram wouldnt touch g skill with a barge pole

Edwards mobo is the cheapest of the cheap dosent run triple channel & dosent support sli

For £30 more my spec mobo has all these things + more

Grapics the 285 is wildly regarded as an overpriced & bad bang for buck.
A cheap 280under £250 would be a god choice or as I have speced a 260 this can be overclocked easily to 280 levels.

If you are running a monitor greater than 24 inch & want to play games at max res I would suggest getting a second 260 & sling them they will perform better than the 285 in all supported titles & will run faster than a 295 for around the same price.

The 295 is basicly two 260 stuck together & the heat created limits overclocking compared to two seprate cards.

I have speced a better psu to allow for 2x260, 285 or 295

Hard drive wise ive speced a 320gb for os games etc this drive is nealy as fast as a raptor but much cheaper & again the 1tb storage drive.

As for case i would avoid the 300 & go for ether a 1200 or 802.
 
^^ Cheater, your way over the £1000 limit, I could do one for 1300 thats not a challenge.

Oh and that mobo does do triple channel, and why not a 4870? better and cheaper than 260.

Is a good build tho if you got that much to spend, if you want it a bit cheaper, peal back on the case and maybe ram
 
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