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Choosing mobo and processor?

anxietyjnky

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Hello again. It's planning time for my second build.

I already have the case and windows 7/64, ram and periphreals. I need to find a combination of processor and motherboard (prefer AMD) that will play nice together and not break the bank.

My minimum requirements are for it to work well playing movies, and playing WoW cataclysm and Assassin's Creed and still be up to most of the latest games.

Do you think I need a quad core and if so, how high to you think I will have to aim in funds to accomplish that?

I am trying to keep the build under 400, closer to $350 would be ideal.

Also should add that I haven't chosen the harddrive or psu yet as I think it will depend on how much money I have left. I plan to get the best psu for the money that will cover my needs and then the size of the hd will depend on funds. I can always upgrade that later. And as for graphics, If I don't get decent onboard with the mobo I will look into that also.

The case is the
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Com...

and memory is
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM D...

Can't wait for your suggestions! :)
 
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Not a bad price on that combo. Ive always had good luck with Biostar boards. Not going to be a monster overclocking board but they are stable and reliable. You could get 3.4 or so GHz out of that 245 on that board if you so choose to. Good budget start to a new build. I am currently running a AII 250, runs everything I throw at it pretty well. :toast:

edit: what gfx are you going to be running? No on board with that Biostar.
 

anxietyjnky

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what gfx are you going to be running? No on board with that Biostar.

Not quite sure. It has to able to handle pretty decent graffics but I can't throw $100 on one either. I like the HD 5670 I put into this one, but not sure what will work.

Any suggestions?

Or would it be better to find a different mobo with on board graphics?
 
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I would say keep your eyes out for a used 5770 or a GTX 260. Something like that would be a good pick up for your price range. I have a 260 for sale if your interested. Give you a good deal on it. You can see it through the link in my sig. :toast:
 

anxietyjnky

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Not sure about going used. No return policy on that lol.

I would be willing to go for a cheaper card, but it still needs to perform up to WoW standards. Since Cataclysm, the graphics req.s got higher. Trying to find the link to their supported cards list with no luck so far.

The less I spend on the card, the more I have for the PSU. :D
 
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I warranty against DOA. ;)
 

cdawall

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BIOSTAR A780L3L AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherb...
AMD Athlon II X3 435 Rana 2.9GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cach...


board supports unlocking and if you are lucky you can get a free quad core upgrade i also have a rig running that mobo and it is pretty good at least for a cheap board


you could also look at one these open items

Open Box: ASUS M4A78LT-M LE AM3 AMD 780L Micro ATX...
Open Box: BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro A...

This is a very good board for the price

Open Box: BIOSTAR TA790GXB3 AM3 AMD 790GX ATX AMD ...
 
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Just did this on the fly...I am $10 over your budget of $400, but it has $35 worth of mail in rebates.


Good luck. If you could squeeze the extra few bucks, grab a 5770 instead, IMO it is worth the extra cost. :toast:
 

cdawall

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It would really be worth the risk to consider a used GPU from the forums. You'll get so much more for you money.
 

Baam

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Little over $400 but 50 off with rebates.

 
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cdawall

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this thing is heavily biased.
What? It's not biased at all. AMD has better bang for buck in the low segment. That's a fact. The guide recommends nvidia and amd as well. if it'd be biased there would be only one brand.
 

cdawall

where the hell are my stars
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
27,680 (4.29/day)
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System Name All the cores
Processor 2990WX
Motherboard Asrock X399M
Cooling CPU-XSPC RayStorm Neo, 2x240mm+360mm, D5PWM+140mL, GPU-2x360mm, 2xbyski, D4+D5+100mL
Memory 4x16GB G.Skill 3600
Video Card(s) (2) EVGA SC BLACK 1080Ti's
Storage 2x Samsung SM951 512GB, Samsung PM961 512GB
Display(s) Dell UP2414Q 3840X2160@60hz
Case Caselabs Mercury S5+pedestal
Audio Device(s) Fischer HA-02->Fischer FA-002W High edition/FA-003/Jubilate/FA-011 depending on my mood
Power Supply Seasonic Prime 1200w
Mouse Thermaltake Theron, Steam controller
Keyboard Keychron K8
Software W10P
What? It's not biased at all. AMD has better bang for buck in the low segment. That's a fact. The guide recommends nvidia and amd as well. if it'd be biased there would be only one brand.

it recommends 3 seasonic powersupplies for most of it, MSI or Asus mobo (asrock is owned by asus) 3 case manuf. the writer is obviously biased in a certain direction. the writer doesn't know that the CH4E supports sli, there is no mention of any of the 6 core chips in his guide. not to mention he recommends the i5 as a highend chip the AMD 6 cores compare easily to them
 

anxietyjnky

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Wow. Thanks for all the replies. Gave me a lot of info to look over.
Posting final build in a new thread.
 
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