Spec me... A CPU/MOBO/RAM

BlizzardX

BlizzardX

BlizzardX

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
2,714
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Morning all,

I've got a budget of approximately £300 to spend on a new cpu/mobo/ram. Currently I'm running a 4200+ Dual Core Athlon (S939) with a 1Gb Radeon HD4850. I was looking at possibly returning back to intel as I haven't had one since 1999.

Can someone suggest something suitable to go with the graphics card?

Cheers
 
Intel:

Mobo: Gone for the Biostar TPower P45 one, here, its a solid board and would support crossfire if you want to add another 4850 later - £112
CPU: Your two choices are dual or quad, assuming your main use is gaming you want a fast dual, the E8400 at £152 is ideal. alternatively if you do a lot of video editing/encoding you could think about a quad such as the Q6600
RAM: 4 gig of DDR2 PC8500, this Corsair stuff is spot on £40
That lot brings you in £4 over but is really good set up, however you would need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you're loking at clocking, which would push the price up a touch

Alternatively if you do want an AMD option:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £116.99
CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £114.99
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1600C9DHX) £74.99
Total: £309, these are on TWO which saves you about £25 on normal, again youre going to need a decent CPU cooler on top, just thought Id give you the option
 
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I wouldn't be looking at o/c'ing at the moment to be honest, left that well alone a long time ago. I know future proof is possibly the wrong term, but what would serve me better for longer, a quad or dual? The quads are slower, yes? but I presume would be quicker in the long term should they be programmed properly in games etc?

Edit: Also, how quiet is the stock intel cooler? The graphics card is currently passive so noise is really a premium... If the cooler isn't silent, would it be worth going for the 2.66 Kentsfield with a aftermarket cooler?
 
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As I say its largely dependent on your uses, dual is faster at stock, noticable so if youre not clocking, for gaming if youre not clocking I wouldnt even think about quad, they just dont run fast enough, only consider quad if you're into editing/encoding etc
 
Ok so how cool does the E8400 run? I read that its a 45nm chip, i presume then that the intel cooler will be quite quiet because it shouldn't produce too much heat?

If I'm not editing or encoding constantly, then a dual will be better?
 
I'd go for the AM3 X3 720BE setup, either the slightly more expensive DDR3 shown above, or you can go cheaper and use AM2+ mobo and DD2 ram. It'll offer the best performance for your budget.

ocuk152.jpg
 
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