Spec thread

edgedemon · 16 Nov 2009 at 13:50

Just had a mail from a mate who is considering an urgent upgrade as he cant play MW2 or L4D2 as hius machine is ancient - lol
He has found a bundle from a competitor which comes assembled and tested and is listed below

CPU: AMD PhenomX4 630 Quad Core
RAM: 4GB Corsair DDR2 (2x 2Gb Strips)
MBD: Biostar TA770E
Pre-Assembled & Tested
£181.74 ex VAT, £209.00 inc VAT
Its a bit naughty as they advertise a Phenom quad core, but underneath in the details - its actually an athlon X4 which is a completely different kettle of fish
MD Athlon II X4 (630) 2.8GHz Processor
2.8GHz
2MB L2 Cache
Biostar TA770E AM3 Motherboard
4 DDR2 DIMM Memory Slots (Max 16Gb)
3x PCI Slots
2x PCI-E x1 Slots
1x PCI-E x16 Slot
6x SATA2
6x USB 2.0 Ports
Onboard Gigabit LAN
Onboard 6 Channel Audio
ATX Form Factor
4GB Corsair Value Select 800MHz DDR2 (2x 2Gb Strip)
DDR 2
800MHz
3 Year Return-To-Base Warranty
Im convinced that OCUK can do better - was thinking..

retail CPU will give me a fan, and a Phenom dual core will perform better than an athlon X4??? Might even get an unlock out of it?

What do you think

cmndr_andi · 16 Nov 2009 at 14:02

Unfortunately that RAM won't work as it's for laptops. At the moment 4GB DDR3 kits start at £63.

If he is going to be playing games, what graphics card will he be getting? If his budget is really low, you would be best dropping down to an Athlon X2 and getting a decent graphics card like an ATI HD 4850. With this in mind, what is his current power supply unit (PSU) make and model?

jms198 · 16 Nov 2009 at 14:08

Don't bank on the unlocking. if you do you'll have to get a 3rd party cooler as the retail one is pants and I'm not sure it can cope with a 955 @ 125W.

For applications that don't support multicore the 550 will be faster and if they do support quad then the 630 will be faster. People are thinking that future apps will support more cores.

The 550 is a very nice processor though and there are a fair few kicking around second hand as is DDR2 which if combined will be much cheaper overall. On that note a second hand Q6600 should be something to consider - anyway back on track.

You only have 2gb of ram in your listing although the AM3 upgrade path is better.

edgedemon · 16 Nov 2009 at 14:20

Until I get home tonight and speak to him, Im not sure, though I am sure he will need to get a cheap case and PSU as he has a desktop dell case, and I know he will need a decent card as he has a really old ATI at the mo..
Good call on the memory, thats me trying to select while keeping windows hidden as Im at work :eek:

cmndr_andi · 16 Nov 2009 at 14:22

Fair enuf.

To keep costs low, I suggest this case and this PSU.

That PSU will easily handle a graphics card up to the level of a 4870.

edgedemon · 16 Nov 2009 at 20:49

Cheers for that, spoke to him just now, he got a £260 rebate from the bank so wants to upgrade so he can play MW2 and L4D2. He will need everything but a HDD and OS, and I've told him that he will need to top the budget up a bit
Off to browse the site now

edgedemon · 16 Nov 2009 at 22:13

OK, this is what I have come up with so far...

I could get it a bit cheaper by going AM2 and ddr2 800mhz, but dont think it would be worth it for the small savings..

Is this OK??

feeddagoat · 17 Nov 2009 at 10:21

drop the quad for an athlon dual core. Quad isn't really needed for those games and itll save you a few thus allowing you to get a budget cooler that should allow some basic overclocking if you feel the need.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

What res is he gaming at? HD4870 is a nice card but both those games aren't uber demanding. at 19" and possibly 22" a HD4850 would be better. You might have to drop some aa @ 22" but perfectly playable on high.

I would stick to AM3. Means he can drop in a cheaper quad at a future date (say the athlon II x4 or a non BE phenom) and OC it without the need for an unlocked multiplier.

4Play · 17 Nov 2009 at 11:44

feeddagoat said:
drop the quad for an athlon dual core. Quad isn't really needed for those games and itll save you a few thus allowing you to get a budget cooler that should allow some basic overclocking if you feel the need.

.

How can this be true when LFD is one of the only games which supports multi core sampling ? For me go with the quad, as more and more games are going to start utilizing the 4 cores. Seems a bit pointless buying into the old market wgucg nay perform better now, but are no means future proof. Just means your going to be shelling out more money down the line. Your choice tho