New PC

[BloodOmen]

Decided to buy a new box one that will last and be quite smart/price friendly, came up with the following any thoughts or suggestions? no hard drive listed as i've already got a brand new hd.

AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1090T 3.2GHz 9MB Cache - £240

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Socket AM3 DVI VGA HDMI Out 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard - £120

Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz/PC3-10600 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V - £83

XFX HD 5770 850MHz 1GB DDR5 HDMI Dual DVI Display Port PCI-E Graphics Card With Assassins Creed Game - £130

Samsung SH-S223L 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM with LightScribe - OEM Black - £14

Coolermaster Cosmos RC-1000 Full Tower Case - £144


Total - £731

 

[Scouse]

Depends what you're using it for.

If you're using it for games then the Phenom II X4 965 is probably a better processor for your needs - it's probably faster than the X6 for most games. Have a look over at tomshardware at the review for your processor.

If you're using it for Photoshoppy/Video editing etc. then the X6 is probably the one to go for tho - but I'd whack a bit more memory in your machine.


If you're gaming, use the money you save on the CPU and put it towards an SSD for your O/S and some of your most-played games

 

[BloodOmen]

Depends what you're using it for.

If you're using it for games then the Phenom II X4 965 is probably a better processor for your needs - it's probably faster than the X6 for most games. Have a look over at tomshardware at the review for your processor.

If you're using it for Photoshoppy/Video editing etc. then the X6 is probably the one to go for tho - but I'd whack a bit more memory in your machine.


If you're gaming, use the money you save on the CPU and put it towards an SSD for your O/S and some of your most-played games

I play WoW (waiting for the new expansion), TF2, Borderlands and a few RTS games.

Whats tbe benefits of solid state drives? i've not read into them much, faster boot ups/running or something?

 

[BloodOmen]

Managed to knock a fair bit of money off it by changing some bits and bobs, not too bad for a budget pc tbh i've got the PSU (650w Corsair something or other) Case (my old Antec 300) still so none of those in the list, also still have my Arctic Cooler 7 pro which fits AM3's.

Decided to scrap the x6 core idea when I read around abit and found out they truly are a waste of money at present and will be for atleast another 1-2 years.


AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB L3 Cache 125W Retail Box Processor

ASUS M4A78LT-M LE AMD 760G Socket AM3 DVI VGA Out 8 CHannel Audio MATX Motherboard

HIS HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Display Port Out PCI-E Graphics Card

Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz HyperX Memory Kit CL7 1.7V

Samsung SH-S223L 22x DVD±RW DL & RAM with LightScribe - OEM Black

Western Digital WD5000AVDS 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache (Windows boot hd)


Total: £479.74

 

[Scouse]

Yer solid state drive is *much* faster for boot times, game loading and the like - but they're much more expensive per gb than HDD's.

But given you've saved a few hundred quid

 

[Rubber Bullets]

What screen resolution do you run? If it is high then perhaps spend a bit of what you saved on an ATI 5850 instead. I have a nice 24" screen that since I bought that card I can really get the benefit of. The 5770 is a great card, but better suited to lower resolutions.

RB

 

[BloodOmen]

What screen resolution do you run? If it is high then perhaps spend a bit of what you saved on an ATI 5850 instead. I have a nice 24" screen that since I bought that card I can really get the benefit of. The 5770 is a great card, but better suited to lower resolutions.

RB

yea I run a 24" monitor aswell so 1920x1200, what can you compare the 5850's to nvidia wise so I have an idea of their performance?

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Apparently the 5850 is roughly equivalent to a GTX 285, though slightly faster. I'd not bought a graphics card for several years before this one so I can't vouch for that. At the time though the 5850 was widely regarded in the reviews I could see to be the best performance/price trade off available.

The recent nvidea Fermi cards may have changed the balance but I'm very happy with mine. I can play pretty much any game I buy at full res and most of the setting cranked right up with perfectly acceptable frame rates.

RB

 

[BloodOmen]

Apparently the 5850 is roughly equivalent to a GTX 285, though slightly faster. I'd not bought a graphics card for several years before this one so I can't vouch for that. At the time though the 5850 was widely regarded in the reviews I could see to be the best performance/price trade off available.

The recent nvidea Fermi cards may have changed the balance but I'm very happy with mine. I can play pretty much any game I buy at full res and most of the setting cranked right up with perfectly acceptable frame rates.

RB

tbh if its the same as a gtx 285 for the price it is thats awesome, gtx 285's are still £300+ you can pick a 5850 up for £240 or so thx for the tip