Spec Check

[W_i_l_l]

Hi, Im about to purchase a new computer within the next couple of weeks. I was just wondering what would be the best to get . I have a budget of £700. I do not need any peripherals or graphics card. I currently have a HD 2600XT but i am planning to upgrade to a HD5850 later. I was thinking of this:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £135.99

Asus M4A79XTD Evo (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £88.99

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £88.99

Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £84.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £81.99

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £78.98

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £64.99

ThermoLab Baram CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1366) £32.99

Asus DRW-2014L1T 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer Lightscribe ReWriter (Black/Silver) - Retail £13.99

Sub Total : £571.85
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £102.26
Total : £686.61

I was wondering about the new 890GX chipset AM3 motherboards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-392-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481 Worth the extra?
Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Will

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The build looks fine IMHO. I would probably get the Asus 890GX motherboard for a few quid more. If you are running one graphics card though you will need to use an included switch card in one of the PCI-E slots though:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2010/03/02/asus-m4a89gtd-pro-usb-review/1

However the motherboard reviewed is the version which has USB3 and the £107.99 one does not have USB3 though.

This Gigabyte 790X motherboard has both USB3 and SATA3 though:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-237-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

 

[W_i_l_l]

Right i have had a think about all this. I have managed to get the following specs under £700 just need to decide btw main use is gaming. =

Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £148.98

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £135.99

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £99.99

Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £84.99

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £78.98

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM £62.99

ThermoLab Baram CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1366) £32.99

Sub Total : £548.87
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £98.24
Total : £659.61

and


Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail + Assassin's Creed II Game £163.99

Asus P7P55D Pro Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £142.99

G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £99.99

Lancool Dragon-Lord PC-K62 Mid Tower Case with Window - Black £84.99

Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) £78.98

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £62.99

Sub Total : £539.52
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £96.60
Total : £648.62

Does anyone know a good cooler for 1156 socket??

Could i get some advice on which would be best for the money?

Thanks
Will

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You do realise that socket 1156 motherboards can only do Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X!

If you are happy with this then get a cheaper 790X or 890GX motherboard as these do Crossfire at the same speed. The 790FX chipset does Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 16/16X.

Going with the 790X motherboard I suggested will save you £49 and you will also get a motherboard with both USB 3.0 too!!

TBH,I would wait a few weeks as the Phenom II X6 is being released next month it seems.

 

[W_i_l_l]

Yes i know this, but i was wondering that if the i5 was a better CPU then the negatives would be outweighed by the positives.

I dont think the 6 core would be any use for me in gaming as new games are only just starting to use 4 cores, so six is a bit ott.

I would like an Asus motherboard, i have had reccomendations from many of my freinds about them so thats what i was going for.

 

[stulid]

The i5 750 is a faster CPU, wouldn't go any slower for that socket.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Core i5 is faster.

However the Asus M4A79XTD Evo which you considered earlier for £89 has the same functionality as the more expensive Intel motherboard. Both do Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X,none have SATA 3.0 or USB 3.0 support,both have all solid capacitors and both have enhanced VRMs with cooling.

The Asus Crosshair III Formula is the most expensive AM3 on OcUK.

The most expensive P55 motherboard is £250.

Both ranges start at different price points and cheaper motherboards(for similar features than their P55 equivalents) is one of the selling points of the AMD range.

If you have the budget go for the Core i5 or see how the Phenom II X6 pans out next month. They have some changes it seems over the older Phenom II processors.

One of these is the addition of Turbo Boost.