Build Advice

[Anarchy0110]

It has been a long time since the very last moment I visited TPU, 've been busy with exams and stuffs so . Wanna say hello and wish all you guys the best

Ok here's my problem. Basically I'm planning on a new build next year and it's kinda hard for me myself to decide what is the best option. So I need your advice

1. AMD Athlon II X3 450 or X4 640, of course 4 core is better but if I wasn't wrong, you can unlock the 4th core on those 3 core CPUs just like the Phenom II X3 7xx. Maybe the Core i3 Sandy Bridge can also be considered. Unfortunately I couldn't find any Core 2 Quad CPUs left, If I could then it would definitely a G41/P43 + Core 2 Quad build.

2. 785G, 770 or 880G, 870 Chipset Motherboard? All I need is a good enough budget-board with enough features. MSI, Asus, Gigabyte are welcome.

3. Just a single video card (of course I'll still run my old 17 inch LCD). Is a GTX 550 Ti a little bit overkill? Or better stick out with GTS450 or HD5750/5770 ? I'd go with GTS450 because of the price point.

4. I guess a 400W PSU is enough for my system? It's a CoolerMaster Elite Power 400W.

5. A better aftermarket CPU Cooler (of course need to be cheap because this is budget build) because I will overclock my CPU quite a bit (but not too high)

6. 1333 or 1600MHz DDR3 Ram ? This would sound noob you know, but would the system run just faster (even a little) if the DRam Frequency is higher?

7. I'm gonna choose a WD Caviar Black 500GB HDD love that

8. What case for around 40-50 bucks? CoolerMaster plz

Total it would take around 600 bucks (yeah stuffs in my country is pretty pricey)

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Basically I'm planning on a new build next year

Why look around now?? cause come next year you will mst likely be able to pick up a cheap quad for the same price as an x3 and a better GPU.

 

[Anarchy0110]

Why look around now?? cause come next year you will mst likely be able to pick up a cheap quad for the same price as an x3 and a better GPU.

Don't have money now
My parents will only give me if I graduate to college, that means next year
Yeah probably at that time the price would be better and something new comes out

 

[Fourstaff]

1 year later, we will have Panther Point, Phenom II will be sitting where Athlon II is right now, etcetcetc. Spec up a build closer to that time then.

 

[Anarchy0110]

And even new Mid-Range GPUs from HD7000s or GTX 600 series maybe

 

[entropy13]

1 year later, we will have Panther Point, Phenom II will be sitting where Athlon II is right now, etcetcetc. Spec up a build closer to that time then.

Panther Point would just be the "highest" for the LGA 1155.


Maybe next year you can go with Patsburg, X79 LGA 2011.

 

[Fourstaff]

Panther Point would just be the "highest" for the LGA 1155.


Maybe next year you can go with Patsburg, X79 LGA 2011.

Judging by the budget, I think we can discount Patsburg

 

[Zyon]

It has been a long time since the very last moment I visited TPU, 've been busy with exams and stuffs so . Wanna say hello and wish all you guys the best

Ok here's my problem. Basically I'm planning on a new build next year and it's kinda hard for me myself to decide what is the best option. So I need your advice

1. AMD Athlon II X3 450 or X4 640, of course 4 core is better but if I wasn't wrong, you can unlock the 4th core on those 3 core CPUs just like the Phenom II X3 7xx. Maybe the Core i3 Sandy Bridge can also be considered. Unfortunately I couldn't find any Core 2 Quad CPUs left, If I could then it would definitely a G41/P43 + Core 2 Quad build.

2. 785G, 770 or 880G, 870 Chipset Motherboard? All I need is a good enough budget-board with enough features. MSI, Asus, Gigabyte are welcome.

3. Just a single video card (of course I'll still run my old 17 inch LCD). Is a GTX 550 Ti a little bit overkill? Or better stick out with GTS450 or HD5750/5770 ? I'd go with GTS450 because of the price point.

4. I guess a 400W PSU is enough for my system? It's a CoolerMaster Elite Power 400W.

5. A better aftermarket CPU Cooler (of course need to be cheap because this is budget build) because I will overclock my CPU quite a bit (but not too high)

6. 1333 or 1600MHz DDR3 Ram ? This would sound noob you know, but would the system run just faster (even a little) if the DRam Frequency is higher?

7. I'm gonna choose a WD Caviar Black 500GB HDD love that

8. What case for around 40-50 bucks? CoolerMaster plz

Total it would take around 600 bucks (yeah stuffs in my country is pretty pricey)

1. Try Ebay for a Core 2 Quad (make sure you snipe it!), otherwise the thing about X3 is you're paying around half way the price from a 'true' 3-core's price to a full quad core and gamble that you will get X4 for less, it's up to you but in this case I would just get the 640 and try to unlock the L3 cache so it becomes a proto-9xx Phenom

2. Any with a SB710 or 750 can unlock, 880G is like a rebranded 780G with extra features, though it can be hard to get one with 4x DIMMs for coping with RAM expansion.

3. Price performance wise the HD5770 is the best, 550GTX cost a bit too high IMO.

4. Avoid! I'm running fine with 450W stock PSU that came with my Thermaltake V4 Black but then again that's 450W, and maybe it's just me but I have biased point of view towards low end Coolermasters.

5. Stock fan should cool it enough if you overclock it a bit like maybe 500Mhz, but mind you about the fan noise. A lot of people recommends Zalman series for some reason for the CPU fan.

6. 1333 is fine IMO, 1600+ only if you're doing serious gaming, make sure the ram model have good tolerance for overclocking.

7. That is until you start to complain about not enough space for pornography...

8. Even the low-end Coolermasters cost around $70AU in Australia, try finding one lying around on the streets or garage sale? If not just bear with your old case for a while

 

[Anarchy0110]

Everything I wrote are all based on all the things I could find on some stores in my city, not really a lot. So it's kinda hard to build a good PC though. About eBay, it will be tough to ship 'em to my country, plus I don't really like shipping much, doesn't feel safe.
BTW In Aussie, HD5770 has the best price/performance ratio ? Not like that here in Viet Nam, the HD5770 is a little bit more pricey. You can get a 550 Ti GTX for just 10 bucks more.
P/S: who cares about pornography I'm a gamer

 

[BinaryMage]

Panther Point would just be the "highest" for the LGA 1155.


Maybe next year you can go with Patsburg, X79 LGA 2011.

Don't forget Bulldozer. That may be a major game-changer.

1. Try Ebay for a Core 2 Quad (make sure you snipe it!), otherwise the thing about X3 is you're paying around half way the price from a 'true' 3-core's price to a full quad core and gamble that you will get X4 for less, it's up to you but in this case I would just get the 640 and try to unlock the L3 cache so it becomes a proto-9xx Phenom

I don't think a C2Q is really worth it. For what you would pay for that on Ebay, you can probably get an Athlon II X3 or X4, or even a Phenom II X4, which will probably perform better and be easier to find motherboards for.

 

[Anarchy0110]

Don't forget Bulldozer. That may be a major game-changer.

That's true.

 

[Zyon]

At the moment, both 5770 and GTS450 costs the same and from many reviews the 5770 is superior in performance by slight amount, but not by much. I'd still prefer GTS450 since less power consumption and less heat (~25 degrees on idle).

Once you play Duke Nukem Forever, you'd run into a lot of porn references

Then again, GTX460 is significantly better with a bit higher price tag.

 

[Anarchy0110]

Big fan of NVIDIA SLI since the day it came out (GeForce 6 series). As you said that the GTS 450 has lower power consumption and less heat, and maybe a lot more room for overclocking.

Once you play Duke Nukem Forever, you'd run into a lot of porn references

Nah, don't like Duke Nukem much . If I have a PC like the one we're discussing now, I'd rather play CoD4, NFS: Hot Pursuit, L4D2 or Starcraft 2. Can't wait for Diablo 3

 

[Zyon]

Who can? If you are a member of diablofans forum then you would realise I've been there for a while before going AWOL because the project is taking so long.

The thing nice about GTS450 is between 5750 and 5770 and near 100% scaling in SLI, using GPU-Z mine is currently 35 degrees idle, yet to test it when I play Crysis 2 on high (ancient 1440x900 here).

 

[Anarchy0110]

That amazing scaling of the GTS 450 really convinces me. But to find a budget SLI motherboard on my country right now is nearly impossible.

P/S: A 2500 Core i5 with a GTS 450 ? If it comes to me, at least a HD 6850 or 6870 GTX 560 Ti would be fine though

 

[Flogger23m]

You should probably try and get an Intel i5 CPU if possible.

 

[Anarchy0110]

You should probably try and get an Intel i5 CPU if possible.

If I have budget then maybe I could even consider a LGA 1366 platform. 1155-1156 is good though. Not to mention Bulldozer from AMD.

BTW, any ideas when LGA 2011 comes out ???

 

[BinaryMage]

If I have budget then maybe I could even consider a LGA 1366 platform. 1155-1156 is good though. Not to mention Bulldozer from AMD.

BTW, any ideas when LGA 2011 comes out ???

It is expected to be released in Q4 2011, alongside Sandy Bridge-E.

 

[Anarchy0110]

@BinaryMage: guess that you're still happy with your LGA775 Core 2 Duo + HD4850 huh .
No plan to upgrade ?

 

[BinaryMage]

@BinaryMage: guess that you're still happy with your LGA775 Core 2 Duo + HD4850 huh .
No plan to upgrade ?

Oh, I'll upgrade eventually. But I don't think now is a good time, with Bulldozer about to come out. The last fully new AMD processor was the Athlon 64, and look at how that totally changed the playing field. I hope that Bulldozer will too.

 

[xenocide]

If I have budget then maybe I could even consider a LGA 1366 platform. 1155-1156 is good though. Not to mention Bulldozer from AMD.

BTW, any ideas when LGA 2011 comes out ???

LGA2011 is like Q1 of 2012. It will be a pretty big game changer since they are implementing "3D Transistors". Your best bet is waiting for BD or going Sandy Bridge until then. I reccomend waiting.

 

[Anarchy0110]

Oh, I'll upgrade eventually. But I don't think now is a good time, with Bulldozer about to come out. The last fully new AMD processor was the Athlon 64, and look at how that totally changed the playing field. I hope that Bulldozer will too.

I'm really excited to see that coming out indeed