Which Machine is for me! Dual v Quad

bigdm

bigdm

bigdm

Associate
Joined
4 Mar 2009
Posts
50
Ok i have been eyeing up a new machine for some time now, as my old overclocked 4600+ is on its way out.. And now im torn between these to machines

OC's
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.10GHz Dual Core CPU
Onboard Graphics Gainward GeForce 9500 GT
4GB RAM


Vs

******s
AMD Phenom 9500 2.2GHz Quad Core,
nVidia GTS250
4GB RAM

Both have 500GB HD and DVD/CD Writer and come in below £400

Will be running XP, Mainly used for Photoshop, Video Editing / Encoding and Web design apps. But would like to play the odd game of call of duty, CS etc. Don't want to feel like a dinosaur when the next big game comes out

Which would be the better system for me? given the above requirements.

Or can you suggest as an alternative

Oh and HELLO OVERCLOCKERS!! been lurking for some time, Thank you in advance for any help
 
if you would be willing to oc the quad then id go for that option

edit
ive just seen thats its a phenom 1 not 2 so most likely will be a carp oc
 
Last edited:
i work every day with 3d applications, photoshop etc...

i got the core 2 quad 9550 and 4 gigs of ram. I don't know how the amds keep up with the intels.

if zou do a lot of encoding, web etc... then i would go for a quad
 
a quad 9550 machine would be lovely.. But out of my current budget

in regards to the amd quad, i really don't no about the overclocking. Its not something i would be to keen on doing in the long term. A little boost is nice, but anything more i think would just shorten the life of the chip to much to benefit from it

verdict looks like.. going with the dual 3.1 over the quad 2.2.. to be fair i was swaying that way myself already. just thought i would see if somebody with more knowledge could help me part with my cash lol
 
To be fair.. I know i could build it myself, but am reluctant too. My friend built my last machine for me. Which was fine no problems with the building issue..

but i never thought i really got more bang for my buck..

i mean can u really top the above specs, for less the £400 (INCLUDING VAT / DELIVERY)

if you can, could i get firewire included too (LOL don't hurt to be cheeky eh)
 
Booyaaaa

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
GX-125-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4830 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £77.04
(£66.99) £77.04
(£66.99)
CP-192-AM_60.jpg
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
MB-179-GI_60.jpg
Gigabyte GA-M56S-S3 nForce 560 (Socket AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £57.49
(£49.99) £57.49
(£49.99)
CA-017-CS_60.jpg
Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-400CXUK) £42.99
(£37.38) £42.99
(£37.38)
HD-057-SA_60.jpg
Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD322HJ) £40.24
(£34.99) £40.24
(£34.99)
MY-038-KS_60.jpg
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 X 2GB) DDR2 6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX6400D2LLk2/4G) £31.99
(£27.82) £31.99
(£27.82)
CA-155-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster Elite 330 Midi Tower Case - Black (No PSU) £29.89
(£25.99) £29.89
(£25.99)
CD-099-SA_60.jpg
Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
(£15.64) £17.99
(£15.64)
CC-004-BE_60.jpg
Belkin Firewire 3-Port PCI Card (F5U503VEA1) £16.09
(£13.99) £16.09
(£13.99) Sub Total : £332.78 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel Saturday
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.00 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £51.57 Total : £395.35
 
wooah that was quick :D

but.. now roll your eyes and call me n00b..

taking away the firewire edition (which i do want to add) Is that really going to be any better then the first machine?? dual 6000 3.1 / 4gig ram / 1024 9500gt / 500gb hd / DVD-CD writer costing less then 370..

I realise the ram may be better and the case nicer.. But seriously will i notice that much difference?
 
bigdm said:
wooah that was quick :D

but.. now roll your eyes and call me n00b..

taking away the firewire edition (which i do want to add) Is that really going to be any better then the first machine?? dual 6000 3.1 / 4gig ram / 1024 9500gt / 500gb hd / DVD-CD writer costing less then 370..

I realise the ram may be better and the case nicer.. But seriously will i notice that much difference?
Click to expand...

in a word Yes, where is it your seeing the other system.?

they 4830, will blow the 9500gt out the water on anything you through at it mate, for an extra £20 odd your going from 9500gt to XFX 4830, that alone more than justifies the price difference
 
I did assume there must have been a reason for the 4830.. I just assumed the 1024 would be better then 512.. But then thats why im asking you guys.. lol

the system i have been looking at is part of the value range.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-085-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

one thing to remember, this isnt a gaming a rig.. Although will def play the occasional game. And well if the selection you have suggest really will smash it, then id be stupid not to add a few quid and build it..
 
bigdm said:
I did assume there must have been a reason for the 4830.. I just assumed the 1024 would be better then 512.. But then thats why im asking you guys.. lol

the system i have been looking at is part of the value range.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-085-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

one thing to remember, this isnt a gaming a rig.. Although will def play the occasional game. And well if the selection you have suggest really will smash it, then id be stupid not to add a few quid and build it..
Click to expand...

would go for the build yourself route mate, as you said you have a mate that could help (and us lol) if you run into any problems,

the higher video ram (1024 over 512) only comes into play when playing games at HIGH res 24" monitor + but with it being a 9500 it would not even out perform the 4830 at that sort of size anyway, so thats a no-brainer :p
 
Kenny you do realise that mainboard has onboard firewire?

You really should do a little bit more homework sometimes before rushing into specing up pc's for people.

It could potentially cost them more than they need to spend, just like you've done here.

Apart from that it's pretty good, and I'm sure everybody appreciates your super fast specing skillzzz :)
 
Last edited:
coupe69 said:
Kenny you do realise that mainboard has onboard firewire?

You really should do a little bit more homework sometimes before rushing into specing up pc's for people.

It could potentially cost them more than they need to spend, just like you've done here.
Click to expand...

It was a small unintentional mistake, and perfectly allowable. The OP could have sent the card back for a refund and got his money back in worst-case. Hardly the end of the world.
 
to be fair it something i should have looked at myself eh, works even better loosing the 17quid firewire card counters the cost of the bigger hd :D

quick question... what does it mean when it says

port by cables

i.e.
3 USB 2.0/1.1 connectors for additional 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports by cables
2 IEEE1394a connectors for additional 2 port by cables

does that mean they sockets have to be on the case?? (i dunno im just trying to guess)
 
For the sake of it i think its worth saving £50 extra and getting the phenom2 720.Giving the system plenty of grunt for the future :) Damn budgets are so hard to stick to :(
 
bigdm said:
to be fair it something i should have looked at myself eh, works even better loosing the 17quid firewire card counters the cost of the bigger hd :D
Click to expand...

Wheres the thumbs-up smiley when you need it. :D

quick question... what does it mean when it says

port by cables

i.e.
3 USB 2.0/1.1 connectors for additional 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports by cables
2 IEEE1394a connectors for additional 2 port by cables

does that mean they sockets have to be on the case?? (i dunno im just trying to guess)
Click to expand...

Means it has a bit of expansion room to add additional ports by using extendor cables to connect to the spare USB/Firewire connectors. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom