I'm Back Again :)

Jammin1911Jammin1911 Icrontian
edited June 2010 in Hardware
Hi everyone,

Once every 1-2 years I come back to visit my old home here at Icrontic to say hi and to pick the brains of my favorite guru's so here I am.

So first of all, hi :D

Whenever I'm ready to build a new system I come here and ask this same question and I've always had a lot of great advice from you all.

At almost any point in time there is always one or two motherboards and processors that really seem to stick out as great value for your dollar and because I no longer follow tech trends I come to you all and I've had great luck with this method in the past.

I remember my first recommendation from a thread like this was a K7S5A - I know you all remember that one too. Cheap and.. at the time, packed the latest features, supported the latest memory, etc. That's what I'm looking for.

As far as my needs goes, I just want something that will last me a couple of years of [not really playing many games] good reliable windows 7 use. I have the storage and I have a pci-e (16x?) video card already. (radeon hd 4650, its kinda crap but it fufills my needs for now)

Mostly just looking for a memory and cpu upgrade. Not picky about # of cores, whatever is most cost effective. I've never been an AMD guy but I'd be willing to try if the price is right.

Thanks in advance. Love and miss you all!!

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Hey Jammin :D

    You'll get many conflicting answers for this generation; the simple fact is that for most purposes (especially yours), both platforms are basically the same. You'll get slightly higher math performance with Intel, but you'll get slightly better efficiency and economy with AMD.

    Right now, it's really hard to beat the value that AMD provides; their Phenom II line is pretty much brilliant.

    Good to see you back :)
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    As prime said, a Phenom II platform is hard to beat if you're not looking to spend top dollar to get the absolute top performing chip. I'd couple that with a Gigabyte UltraDurable board and you should have the core of a system that will last for years. The Phenom II X6 chips that just came out are looking quite promising. You can pick one up for under $200 too. If you don't want to spend that much, most any Phenom II will give you rock solid performance, especially since you won't be gaming.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    AMD's Phenom II can be put into so many motherboards it's nuts. A few AM2 boards, many AM2+ board and all AM3 boards will run the new Hex Core Phenoms. That's a 3 year old motherboard that can run the newest CPU. AWESOME. DDR2 or DDR3 for many of the systems. You can drop as little as $400 and get a CPU, MB, and RAM and be within 20% of a $1000 top end Intel CPU, MB, RAM combo.

    BTW, I have an "old" Core 2 Quad with DDR2 memory that I just built this spring. It's PLENTY fast for almost all the games out there. This is an awesome time to buy stuff if you like options.
  • Jammin1911Jammin1911 Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    You guys are awesome as always.

    Thanks for the ultra fast responses.

    I'm going to do some looking around now to see what I can find.

    Where the hell is Thrax?! :D
  • Jammin1911Jammin1911 Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Okay after some quick searching it looks like the Phenom II X4 940 is nicely priced and performs well.

    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471&cm_re=phenom_II-_-19-103-471-_-Product

    Assuming this is a decent choice I think that I need some help on the MB selection. The Gigabyte UltraDurable mentioned above seems good but I don't see them for sale. Am I to assume the models ending in UD3 and UD4 are the UltraDurables?

    Any recommendations? I'm not too familiar with the memory situation on the market right now but I assume DDR3 is the way to go or is it silly expensive?
  • Jammin1911Jammin1911 Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Oh just a random tidbit, I understand this ATI crossfire business works nicely - Is it worth shooting for a board with an integrated AMD gpu (does that exist?) or maybe one that has two pci-e slots so I can use both of my radeon hd's? (I have a 2600 XT and a 4650)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Yeeeeees?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    You are correct in that the Gigabyte boards ending in -UD# are the Ultra Durable line.

    DDR3 is the way to go for performance. Looks like you can pick up a good 4G kit for about $140. DDR2 isn't anything to sneeze at though. My main rig at home still runs a low latency 4G DDR2 kit and performs quite well with my Phenom II X4. It really comes down to how much you want to spend. Just make sure you get an AM2+/AM3 board if you decide to go DDR2 or a pure AM3 board if you decide on DDR3.
  • Jammin1911Jammin1911 Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Thanks again for the help.

    I think I'm almost there.

    This is what I've chosen so far:

    GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
    Item #: N82E16813128416
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128416

    AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model HDX945WFGMBOX
    Item #: N82E16819103809
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103809

    Assuming those seem OK, I'm not sure what speed DDR3 I should be purchasing?

    The cheapest 4GB pair is this one:
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231207

    If the cheapest way to go is not ideal (I have no idea what benefits I get from more expensive memory).. here is the list of all 4GB DDR3 pairs:
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052315794&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20&RandomID=76721761014625020100612220116


    The only other thing I think I'll need is a case and PSU.

    Do AMD processors come packaged with decent cooling fans?

    Is there a case recommendation? Can I just get something like this for a PSU and Case?
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811162042

    Minus that ridiculous huge fan it seems ok :)

    Thanks again

    John
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    The board and processor you posted are both great choices. The RAM link is to DDR2 though which won't work in that board. For DDR3, I'd recommend this.

    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227478

    Fast, almost the lowest CAS latency you can get at that speed too. Overall it should be a great performer for the price. If you want to go cheaper this is the cheapest 4G DDR3 1333 kit they have

    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

    If you ask me though, it's really worth it to spend the 10 extra dollars to get the OCZ RAM with the lower CAS latency.
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