Building a Custom desktop PC.

[Lebon14]

Like a Core 2 Quad ?

Yep. Most Core 2 Quad by Intel out-performs this AMD CPU. But, with Phenoms 2, they are about in the same performance.

The ultimate CPUs at the moment are the Core i7 Intel CPU line. They are very expensive because you need to find a motherboard with it and habitually are rather pricey and DDR3 lower than 1.65v doesn't help it to keep it cheap...

If you want a good suggestion of a cheap but yet workable build, check my build on the last post of the first page. You can easily change the 2 cores to a 4 core Intel CPU on this one.

Also, keep it in mind that I'm only suggesting and putting up advices. It's your money, so it's your decision

 

[sergiogarcia9]

I was thinking about a combination between a good media center, and an computer which can run games like CoD, Crysis, and Gta Iv, Im planning to connect it too my 32" LG HDTV so i aint looking for a monitor...

 

[PhoneyVirus]

Your going to need a good videocard on a monitor like that your looking at ATI 4870X2 or Nvidia GTX 285 55nm not the 65nm GTX 280 now like I said Crysis COD what I'm playing now Rank 52 can all run off the vidoecard I got @ 1680+1050 with Maximum out Setting and 2XAA enable buy the right Videocard don't go cheap if your going to be gaming a lot hope this helps!

 

[sergiogarcia9]

If ive gotta pay 300 $ for the video card, then the money problem comes...are there other alternatives?

 

[ibocpro]

If you go with AMD stick to the Phenom II's, personally I recommend the X3 920 for under $150, Newegg has them for $130.

I am not trying to get the AMD vs Intel thing fired up but I disagree just a bit with Lebon14 on the overclocking. My Phenom II X3 920 comes stock at 2.8Ghz, I have it at 3.6Ghz on air. My Phenom II X4 940 is stock at 3.0Ghz and also have it at 3.6Ghz on air.

Now the original Phenom line did not overclock too well, I had the 2.5 9850 and without some serious voltage increase could not get it past 3.2Ghz, I settled on that one for 3.0Ghz to save temp and keep it stable. The X2's now they did not overclock much at all.

The Intel side to be fair does overclock across the board better with different models than the AMD side, but AMD really came back with the Phenom II's.

As for performance, the Intel's do beat out the AMD's in video and app benchmarks. Games and movies not so much. Again it comes to personal choice, for me AMD can not be beat as the money I save on cpu and motherboard I can put into video card and so in the end out perform the Intel dollar for dollar.

 

[sergiogarcia9]

I think im gonna go with; Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Sockel AM2+ as motherboard and AMD Phenom X3 8750 2 MB as processor, because as ibocpro says then you can put more money in your video card and RAM...

 

[ibocpro]

Just did a quick search for you:

[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Phenom-2-8GHz-3x512KB-Processor/dp/B001SM1BEI/ref=sr_1_52?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1238101600&sr=1-52]AMD Phenom II X3 2.8GHz 3x512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo[/ame]

Hope that link works, for just a little more money you will get a vast improvement. The Phenom II has a 6mb L3 and is better at overclocking. Again rest easy as AM3 cpu's do work in AM2+ motherboards.

 

[sergiogarcia9]

sounds good im gonna get that, but this computer would be build over a while cause i dont have 1000 $ right now so im gonna buy the parts over a while...so its gonna take some time, but f*** it...its gonna kick ass!

 

[PhoneyVirus]

For the Ram that I got on the list Page 2 on this thread again is over kill for XP/Vista/7. Now for Gta Iv your going to need Vista to begin with or 7 because it calls for Games for Windows to play it and on top of it your going to need 3GBs of Ram this game is a system hog even on the Best Of The Best System its a hog.

Now for Lenbon14 Yep. Most Core 2 Quad by Intel out-performs this AMD CPU. But, with Phenoms 2, they are about in the same performance

Big Fat NO 13.6% faster then the Phenoms and can perform with Intel's Core 2 Quad that's the Q6600 notting more hope this help!

 

[ibocpro]

Sounds good.,

Happy to help and if you need any more help just ask, I have been building AMD's since the single core days and have had a blast with them. Only a little cpu envy with Intel a couple of times over the years... the rough old days when the cpu cost the most and 16mb of RAM was extreme! Not to forget my old 540mb hard drive that "I would never fill up" :shock:

Anyway, let us know how it goes...

cheers.

 

[Lordbob75]

Hey OP I would skip on the tri-core. I have only heard about problems with them. I would go with a quadcore. You will need it in the future anyways.

If you look at my specs below, I got almost all of that (excluding the case) for under $700. Or close to anyways. I got a good deal on my video card, $40 instead of $100, but it is still a good deal. My rig can handle almost anything, (don't know about crysis though).

I would look into something more like that. Other than that, it looks good. Though the 2mb cache is going to suck...

~Lordbob

 

[ibocpro]

Just a question for Lordbob 75, what issues for the tri cores have you heard? Really with the Phenom II's there is pretty much nothing but positive reviews, even a Google of X3 issues really only brings up user caused issues..

As for 2mb cache:
Series: Phenom II X3
Hyper Transports: 4000MHz
L1 Cache: 128KB+128KB
L2 Cache: 3 x 512KB
L3 Cache: 6MB

Again just wondering,

Cheers.

 

[PhoneyVirus]

On Applications with the X3. TLB bug on the 9000 models just buy one at a time thats what i did and at the end my PC was a monster start with the case, PSU, HDD, Ram, DVD Drive. Than here come the hard part if you can't run it you can't test it so after you got the parts get the videocard witch you should beable to test in a 16xPCI-E some where or a friend. Buy the motherboard an CPU together after of there anything wrong with th motherboard than at less you got Warranty from the store the CPU should be good the change for something going wrong with a CPU is every Low. hope this help!

 

[Jaqie]

[H] Enthusiast - AMD Phenom II X4 Model 940 Black Edition Processor

The Bottom Line
The Phenom II performance speaks for itself. It loses to its old nemesis, the Core 2, which I think some folks will be surprised by. The Phenom II loses to the Core i7, which I think was to be expected. The Phenom II is a loser.

Does that mean it is without value? Absolutely not. But I think those that will find value in it will be few and far between and even fewer of those folks will be computer hardware enthusiasts.

If you are a gamer or a content creation professional, my suggestion to you is to save your pennies and get the Intel Core i7. Even if you have to wait an extra few months to save up for good DDR3. The Phenom II just does not have long legs, and I don’t think I will want to pay for DDR3 to dress one up next month either

Every single review ive read of phenoms either seems to have been bought out, or say similar to what HardOCP says here.

I would have gone AMD if I could have, but the things impartial reviews (and their benchmarks) say about the phenom scared me away from that cpu series for good. They seem to me to be AMD's netburst/p4 fiasco...

 

[ibocpro]

Ah yes, never can the debate not go on when making the choice between AMD and Intel, knew this would happen...

There are excellent points and benefits to be made for both products, check out guru3d for some good honest reviews, even Tom's Hardware. [H] Enthusiast is very strong on Intel and they do excellent reviews on Intel products, AMD they tend to bash when ever they can.

It is all OK though, difference makes for choice which keeps us free.

I still stand by at a fixed price point AMD will out do Intel. There are a ton of reviews out there about this so I will let it go at that and not get into price of each item and totals detailed.

I know my benchmarks are equal to I7's with my little AMD, Farcry 2 is a one example and my machine matches the results from Guru3d's bench at same resoultion and video card, same for Crysis etc. Even to boot I often keep up with thier Extreme Ed overclocked I7 that sells for $1K for just the cpu!

So reviews, Fanboys (and Girls ) for both sides, this debate will never die, all I can say is from real world experience AMD may not be the top of the line cpu but second by 5 to 15% for $1000 less is pretty hot. Just use that savings on a better video card and AMD wins for me.

Cheers!

 

[Jaqie]

I guess you didn't see where I said this is my first intel desktop since a 386...
I also guess you didn't see that my last system was an athlon64 x2 3800+ and I adore it still but DDR ram for it was insanely high...
Or the part where I said my current cpu cost me $63 shipped...
The benchmarks show it ahead of a ~$64 shipped phenom. (oh wait there isn't one... did I compare mine to an a64? oops)

I have nothing at all against the athlon64, and if someone makes a build based on an AM2 based a64 I say awesome, but the phenom is what I have a problem with... just like I had a serious problem with the p4/netbursts when they came out. if you wanna call me a fangirl of anything you can call me a fangirl of price/performance and efficiency of the cpu and system on performance per clock tick, performance per watt consumed, and performance per dollar point.

In short: Please do not start calling people names especially when it is not warranted... that is a sort of ad hominem attack and it actually feels like it is trying to both discredit me as a person along with my view on the subject, and also discredit the real-world and synthetic benchmarks I pointed to which have every bearing on this subject.

 

[ibocpro]

No offense ment Jaqie,

I just know my results as you do yours, again choice makes us free. I have and still use the original Phenom X4 9850, Phenom II X4 AM2+ 940, and the Phenom II X3 AM3 720 and so can give my results. As for Fan"" that is just a reference to people who take this very serious, and have a trend to say that there is only one way to go. I try to support any platform and offer suggestions.

So I offer my apology, it was not intended that way.

Back to topic, on building a system lets us know how it goes sergiogarcia9!

Cheers!

 

[Jaqie]

checking back on my research... I did compare the e1500 I have now to a phenom, the 8450 tri core... it got very close scores to it and was (still is) around $14 less shipped from newegg.

$14 less is a big difference when comparing sub $75 processors.

 

[bearhawk]

re: Building a Custom desktop PC

Not to get into any processor argument, but I just got some replacement parts for just over 200 bucks from Tiger. It does have a lame onboard graphics.. (3.2 rating) but it will take a pci-x card if you need it.

Intel DG31PR G31 Socket Motherboard (I69-2156 )
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2Ghz 1MB 800Mhz (CP2-PD-E2200 )
Masscool Intel Socket 775 Copper Core CPU Fan (S457-1036 )
WD Caviar 250GB SATA HD 7200/8MB/SATA-3G (TSD-250AAJS IM )
2 Kingston 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz (K24-5844 )

It seems pretty snappy, but I haven't had much of a chance to wring it out yet.

 

[black dog]

AMD are doing quite well recently with the Gamers/ Overclockers set. The X3 720 is costing Intel sales of its e8400, because of its extra core and slightly cheaper price and the i7's are seen by many to be too expensive because of the need to buy expensive motherboards and Ram.
The Phenom 2's match the gaming performance of i7's for considerably less money . If i was building a new machine for myself it would have an AMD processor.