Spec me a new mobo/cpu/gfx please

smr

smr

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
8,799
Location
Leicestershire
Hi all,

I am thinking of upgrading my computer and would like to keep my tower if possible. I last bought my computer in 2003 xmas time which is currently...

Blackwidow Case (coolermaster)
Abit IC7 Max 3 Mobo
2.8 P4 m0 chip
6600 GFX Card

I still really like my coolermaster case so would liek to keep this if possible...

I've got an IDE and SATA hard drive which aren't too old and can be used still... so I am after just a new Motherboard/CPU/Memory and Graphics Card.

I'd like 4gb of decent RAM, a nice mobo, Abit still the top dogs? and a GFX card to play games like Crysis etc. and all the latest dx10 games out on lushs gfx/fps...

Money wise I don't wanna be spending 500 quid on a graphics card or something daft but something fairly decent and not lower budget range, this applies to the cpu and mobo as well, and the memory ... which I see is fairly cheap nowadays even for the better stuff!... would the Q6600 fit the bill cpu wise? Seems a popular processor on this site...

I would do this myself, being a PC engineer but I ask for your kind help cos knowing how to fix computers and keeping up to date with the latest hard ware are two seperate entities as I'm sure you can imagine, last time I was realllly up to spec with everything was circa 2003 :) :)

Thx!
 
There you go.




I've taken into account the abit board, but abit are due to stop making boards soon. Q6600 is a widely regarded CPU & specced you 4gig of ram, (you'll need a 64bit OS to use it though)
Also included a decent power supply as well, as whatever you currently have probably won't cut it if you plan on overclocking.
Intel cooler does the job but again if overclocking it wont cut it, so included a decent CPU cooler too.
 
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus P5N-T Deluxe nForce 780i (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5N-T Deluxe nForce 780i (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £131.99
(£155.09)

BFG GeForce 9800 GTX+ OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail BFG GeForce 9800 GTX+ OC 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £124.99
(£146.86)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £114.99
(£135.11)

Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU £59.99
(£70.49)

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2RPR800C44GK) OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Reaper HPC Enhanced Bandwidth Edition Dual Channel DDR2
(£56.39)

Sub Total : £479.95

Shipping : £9.95

VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £85.73

Total : £575.63
 
Spec101108.jpg


Any 4870 would do. This one is pre-overclocked to 800MHz.

Only get the 'Guaranteed to run at' version of the Q6600 while it is still on offer. Otherwise, the standard version is fine.

I believe the P5Q boards are better than the P5N. Look at the Pro, E, Deluxe versions if you want / need more options like on board E-SATA etc. See comparison here

Modular PSU is nice and helps keep things clear, or for the same money the TX650w - while it is on offer. More grunt, but more cables too! 520w should be ample.

E8400/E8500 is a valid alternative - depends what your priorities are.

There are other Graphics options too which would be good for same / similar / less money. See rjkoneill's very good spec thread.

If this is too expensive or too cheap - you need to give some idea of how much you want to spend.
 
Last edited:
:) was just bout to make the same post.. Last time i built AMD where king.. but im WAY out of touch now... :rolleyes:

anyway, been having loadsa probs with mine so any comments on the below?? how is the cpu? & will i need to upgrade my PSU (rig in sig). Dont plan to overclock.

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCS Extreme 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£199.74)

AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.60GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail
(£135.11)

DFI Lan Party DK 790FX-M2RS AMD 790FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£99.86)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragon EVO ONE DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GE24GB800C4DC) (£70.49)

LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail (£65.79)

Asus Arctic Square CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
(£38.76)
thats a total of £620.

cheers
 
:) was just bout to make the same post..

I suspect forum etiquette is that you should have started your own thread if you want comments on your spec rather than just to comment on this thread. ;)

General (and strong) opinion here, is that the AMD chips should be avoided as they really aren't value for money at the moment. You can get better performance for less money from Intel - so why compromise?

On that basis, mobo would need to be different too.

525w should be plenty - but Hiper have a bad reputation here for going 'POP'! However, if yours has lasted this long... Others may well suggest that it might be wise to change it anyway.
 
Thanks, interesting choices there. I suppose the Q6600 is a given considering it's hype around these parts, and from what I've gathered, rightly so.

I was speaking to someone on IRC the other day though who said the E8400 processor would be better for gaming as dual core processors are better for fulfilling the demanding nature of games atm and the quad cores aren't taking advantage of hardly anything gaming wise yet.

He also mentioned that the 4870 graphics card would be a good buy so that's comforting to know.

However he did say also that the Asus P5Q board would be a good choice. Power supply wise I have a horrid dual fan TRUST psu atm that makes far too much noise so would be looking for a much quieter replacement.
 
I
General (and strong) opinion here, is that the AMD chips should be avoided as they really aren't value for money at the moment. You can get better performance for less money from Intel - so why compromise?
.

I totally disagree & it looks like you have not been reading the forums to to say that's its General (and strong) opinion here.

I will not waste my time going into more details because they have been posted time & time again here & i don't like going around in circles every time a post such as your springs up because you clearly have not been following what has been posted by users of the phenom here on this forum.
 
:) was just bout to make the same post.. Last time i built AMD where king.. but im WAY out of touch now... :rolleyes:

anyway, been having loadsa probs with mine so any comments on the below?? how is the cpu? & will i need to upgrade my PSU (rig in sig). Dont plan to overclock.

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCS Extreme 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£199.74)

AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.60GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail
(£135.11)

DFI Lan Party DK 790FX-M2RS AMD 790FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£99.86)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragon EVO ONE DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GE24GB800C4DC) (£70.49)

LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail (£65.79)

Asus Arctic Square CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
(£38.76)
thats a total of £620.

cheers

DFI Lan Party DK 790FX-M2RS AMD 790FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (£99.86)
Dont bother with a 600SB mobo

Get the DFI Lan Party DK 790FXB-M2RSH AMD 790FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...0FX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
 
Sorry, but I beg to differ ;)

I have been following much of the posting here. I didn't say it is unanimous, but I think it is safe to say that if you were to take a poll, more people would agree with me than you.

I'm not saying you are wrong, or that you're not entitled to your opinion. I am passing on what I believe to be the weight of opinion on these forums.

I totally disagree & it looks like you have not been reading the forums to to say that's its General (and strong) opinion here.

I will not waste my time going into more details because they have been posted time & time again here & i don't like going around in circles every time a post such as your springs up because you clearly have not been following what has been posted by users of the phenom here on this forum.
 
Sorry, but I beg to differ ;)

I have been following much of the posting here. I didn't say it is unanimous, but I think it is safe to say that if you were to take a poll, more people would agree with me than you.

I'm not saying you are wrong, or that you're not entitled to your opinion. I am passing on what I believe to be the weight of opinion on these forums.

Its Opinions based on opinions with little up-to-date research that gets past on time & time again with people taking it as fact with out ever really looking into it them self.

The AMD 9550 at £135 & the Q6600 are both fine chips & are both good value for money.
To many believe the 9950 to be useless just because they were told so from many who don't own or have never used one.

A bit out of date with its focus on the 9850 but it has a phenom-ES 2.6 in the benches.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14424/3

Here shows the AMD 9550 trading places again.
Focus on the Cont. of each test gives you a better view with all the chips in a single result for each test with the AMD [email protected]= a Intel [email protected] in Devil May Cry 4 Cont. .
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770&p=0

The 9950 & Q6600 or so close as to not see much difference & is not worth arguing over just like the 4870 & 260 debates & should be based on other factors & not on well i think its rubbish.

Get a AMD mobo with a 750 south bridge & you should see 3.2-3.6.
As for getting the Intel Q6600 i think there is enough users on this forum to fill you in on that with out my help.
 
Last edited:
X-bit Labs

I tried to post this while the boards were down, so it is not meant as a direct response to the post immediately above:

X-bit labs very recently (23 Oct 2008) did a comparison of 'Inexpensive Quad-Core Processors'.

While at best indicative, the Q6600 beat the Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 in 13 of the performance tests. The 9950 beat the Q6600 in 8 of them.

On power consumption, they said this:

The results of the Phenom X4 9950 processor stand out on the diagrams. K10 microarchitecture of this CPU doesn’t allow it to compete in power consumption even against the 65nm Core 2 Quad Q6600. So, the top quad-core AMD processor loses to junior Intel quad-core solutions not only in performance but also from the power efficiency standpoint.

They also looked at over-clocking which (given the name of these forums and in this case, the profession of the OP and the reasonable chance that he might want to OC at some stage) I think is also something that needs to be considered when assessing value for money.

The 9950 came comfortably last in all 7 tests. They summarised over-clocking performance:

Overclocking changes the situation dramatically. So, if you are going to use a low-cost quad-core processor in an overclocked system, you have to take different approach to picking the right one for your needs.

For example, you will have to eliminate AMD processor from your list of options. It will not be able to perform as well as the competitor’s solutions.

Their conclusion:

As a result, Phenom X4 family may be of interest only to those users who want to get a quad-core processor real cheap, but are ready to put up with low overclocking potential, low performance and high power consumption.

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

I accept that in most instances, in (un-over-clocked) real world situations, there is little to choose between the 9950 and the Q6600, but the Q6600 at worst, holds its own and arguably is a slightly better option across a broader spectra of tests. But, where is really comes into its own is that it over-clocks substantially better than the 9950. Meaning that for someone prepared to put a small amount of effort into tweaking a few settings (either at purchase or subsequently), to me it seems the logical choice.

Currently, there are also better Intel processors available. This means there is a visible and current upgrade route. The costs of these will drop and that is also a factor. How important, depends on personal circumstances. AMD may well bring out better processors - but they're not here yet.

I also accept that if there is a specific program someone relies on / game someone plays where the 9950 does well - it may make sense, but overall, I still think the Q6600 is a better option.

Oh, and I'm not particularly an Intel fan-boy, my last PC was AMD. ;-)

I'm not trying to get into a slanging match about this or a tit-for-tat situation, but nor was there no substance to my opinion.
 
Last edited:
I tried to post this while the boards were down, so it is not meant as a direct response to the post immediately above:

X-bit labs very recently (23 Oct 2008) did a comparison of 'Inexpensive Quad-Core Processors'.

While at best indicative, the Q6600 beat the Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 in 13 of the performance tests. The 9950 beat the Q6600 in 8 of them.

On power consumption, they said this:



They also looked at over-clocking which (given the name of these forums and in this case, the profession of the OP and the reasonable chance that he might want to OC at some stage) I think is also something that needs to be considered when assessing value for money.

The 9950 came comfortably last in all 7 tests. They summarised over-clocking performance:



Their conclusion:



Hardly a ringing endorsement.

I accept that in most instances, in (un-over-clocked) real world situations, there is little to choose between the 9950 and the Q6600, but the Q6600 at worst, holds its own and arguably is a slightly better option across a broader spectra of tests. But, where is really comes into its own is that it over-clocks substantially better than the 9950. Meaning that for someone prepared to put a small amount of effort into tweaking a few settings (either at purchase or subsequently), to me it seems the logical choice.

Currently, there are also better Intel processors available. This means there is a visible and current upgrade route. The costs of these will drop and that is also a factor. How important, depends on personal circumstances. AMD may well bring out better processors - but they're not here yet.

I also accept that if there is a specific program someone relies on / game someone plays where the 9950 does well - it may make sense, but overall, I still think the Q6600 is a better option.

Oh, and I'm not particularly an Intel fan-boy, my last PC was AMD. ;-)

I'm not trying to get into a slanging match about this or a tit-for-tat situation, but nor was there no substance to my opinion.

Over all the does have the Q6600 does have the edge but that is a farcry from your original statement ;)

And i noticed that & an OC of 3.2 is would be seen as the minumum max over clock on the latest phenoms 9950+750SB
 
Last edited:
I suspect forum etiquette is that you should have started your own thread if you want comments on your spec rather than just to comment on this thread. ;)

I posted here because we have a common interest and the spec im thinking of may be relevant to the poster of this topic. As we have an identical budget and identical requirements it may be beneficial for both of us ...I'm getting involved in the discussion not Hijacking the thread, As you can see its already sparked some useful discussion. If i posted this question in a separate thread no doubt you would be on my case for not using the search... Not having a go at you but Im a big boy and i do have just about enough brain cells to use a forum without annoying to many people, i have been doing it for 15 years! How about leaving the policing to the mods? they are more than capable ;)

best wishes :)

k
 
Back
Top Bottom