Spec check plz

Dave0w · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:45

i want to know witch ram i'm better off use with a i3 540 and Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H, would i be best getting GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) @ 1600mhz OR OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) 1333mhz? is there really a noticeable difference?

the items are for my brother to order tonight but after seeing the low cost of the i3 i was thinking of getting a set up too But as a sub question how dose the i3 stack up on the q6600 G0 @ 3.1

shadow_boxer · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:48

What is the PC for? A quad core AMD build may be better value for money. I personally would go for the Geil 4GB. OCZ are pulling out of the memory business and their not what they once were. The Geil will allow for more overclocking head room too.

stulid · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:49

Not the OCZ gold, either the Geil or Corsair - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Dave0w · 13 Jan 2011 at 18:54

shadow_boxer said:
What is the PC for? A quad core AMD build may be better value for money. I personally would go for the Geil 4GB. OCZ are pulling out of the memory business and their not what they once were. The Geil will allow for more overclocking head room too.

just some light gaming and waking the web right now my brother as a Pentuim D

if he was to go for a quad AMD what would you say is best, i always get lost when trying to match up AMD cpu's to boards. are the X3's any good?

Cookeh · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:18

3 cores is considered the sweet-spot for gaming atm.

Athlon II x3 is very good deal, and Phenom II X3s are solid performers.

Phenom II X4 will power a gaming system for years to come.

RAM wise, stay away from OCZ - they're crap, put bluntly. The Geil stuff overclocks better than Corsair, but Corsair have a better reputation (Geil moved into private sector and has only just come back into public).

Dave0w · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:31

Cookeh said:
3 cores is considered the sweet-spot for gaming atm.

Athlon II x3 is very good deal, and Phenom II X3s are solid performers.

Phenom II X4 will power a gaming system for years to come.

RAM wise, stay away from OCZ - they're crap, put bluntly. The Geil stuff overclocks better than Corsair, but Corsair have a better reputation (Geil moved into private sector and has only just come back into public).

AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3)
G.Skill RipJawX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+)

better?

stulid · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:33

Dave0w said:
ASRock N68C-S UCC GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+)

better?

no.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 AMD 790GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Sub Total : £134.97
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £28.74
Total : £172.46

Cookeh · 13 Jan 2011 at 19:58

stulid said:
no.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Foxconn A7DA-S 3.0 AMD 790GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 445 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Sub Total : £134.97
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £28.74
Total : £172.46

That's the ticket.
Why Corsair over Geil though, Stulid? Habit?

OP, the board you specced was DDR2 - slower and older tech

and the RAM was a more expensive than needs be, as runs on very low voltages - not needed for an AMD set up.

stulid · 13 Jan 2011 at 20:02

they both the same price, Corsair have a great reputation.

and looking at pictures of both makes, the corsair seems to be more compact so a large heatsink will clear the tops, the Geil maybe fine also.

seen some build logs using corsair and a titan fenrir for example, and you could barely get a rizzla between them.

shadow_boxer · 13 Jan 2011 at 20:09

Any reason for that motherboard stulid.

Maybe tempted to get this (MSI 880GMA-E45 AMD 880G). Has the advantage of USB 3.0/SATA 6gps. Little bit of future proofing and at a later date pop in a second hand Phenon II quad or hex core when things start slowing down.

Cookeh · 13 Jan 2011 at 20:14

stulid said:
they both the same price, Corsair have a great reputation.

and looking at pictures of both makes, the corsair seems to be more compact so a large heatsink will clear the tops, the Geil maybe fine also.

seen some build logs using corsair and a titan fenrir for example, and you could barely get a rizzla between them.

I think they're about the same height wise. Geil is supposed to be the better overclocker.

I know Corsair clocks well and has great reputation - whereas Geil has only just come back to the public sector.

Cookeh · 13 Jan 2011 at 20:17

shadow_boxer said:
Any reason for that motherboard stulid.

Maybe tempted to get this (MSI 880GMA-E45 AMD 880G). Has the advantage of USB 3.0/SATA 6gps. Little bit of future proofing and at a later date pop in a second hand Phenon II quad or hex core when things start slowing down.

Foxconn has 8x/8x Crossfire. Overclocks much better, and is more stable when overclocked.

MSI doesn't support any crossfire, and won't overclock as well. Plus there is a lower chance of unlocking cores (not that that really matters). Besides, I don't think the OP will be using an SSD or very expensive external/internal HDD or extremely expensive peripherals any time soon.

Dave0w · 13 Jan 2011 at 21:24

Cookeh said:
OP, the board you specced was DDR2 - slower and older tech and the RAM was a more expensive than needs be, as runs on very low voltages - not needed for an AMD set up.

the board is a combo ddr2/ddr3 and the G.Skill RipJawX looks sweet lol

Cookeh · 13 Jan 2011 at 21:30

Dave0w said:
the board is a combo ddr2/ddr3 and the G.Skill RipJawX looks sweet lol

Ah, even more reason to stay away - generally they don't clock very well at all.

RipJawX does indeed look epic, but you'll have trouble fitting it under most CPU coolers, and its more expensive just because of the decals

Dave0w · 13 Jan 2011 at 21:33

Cookeh said:
Ah, even more reason to stay away - generally they don't clock very well at all.

RipJawX does indeed look epic, but you'll have trouble fitting it under most CPU coolers, and its more expensive just because of the decals

all good points