~$1500 Gaming PC, AMD or Intel Processor

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by: emilyek
$1500 is a solid budget. And you should overclock. The chances of really hurting anything are very slim. I too was once paranoid about such a thing; but that was 5 or so self-built and OCd systems ago. As long as you don't go full retard on adding Vcore, it's harmless.

Get a quad phenom 2, a medium-upper range mobo (no need for the most expensive $3-400ASUS or whatever), some 4890s in Xfire, a nice all-aluminum case, a solid PSU (but not a 1500W one or whatever) a nice big monitor and top-end accessories.

And don't waste money on super-expensive SSDs or Raptors or other super-enthusiast pieces. You won't notice a difference.

I'm just curious: Have you actually USED either of those? The Raptors I might agree with to some extent but it takes a blind man not to notice the difference a good SSD makes.

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: TemjinGold

I don't want to be mean but you clearly have no clue what you are talking about when judging SSDs so I'm not going to argue.

Are you actually saying the 120gb vertex is going to be faster than the raid0 SSD? lol funny man

 

[OCGuy]

i7.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: kyotousa

Originally posted by: TemjinGold

I don't want to be mean but you clearly have no clue what you are talking about when judging SSDs so I'm not going to argue.

Are you actually saying the 120gb vertex is going to be faster than the raid0 SSD? lol funny man

There are issues with a stripe RAID and TRIM from what I have seen.

The Gen2 MLC SSDs from OCZ and Super Talent come with firmware v1571, Indilinx controllers and are built in the same factory - they are simply housed differently. TRIM is enabled with "Performance Refresh Tools".

edit: Just a note --- I got 2 Super Talent Gen2 UltraDrive MEs on eBlast with " BDBX " in the serial numbers. My firmware was v1571. There may well be other units available, from both Super Talent and OCZ, that ship with v1711 and need to be 'back-flashed' to v1571.


That is all --- LOL --- did I cover my arse ??

 

[Leyawiin]

You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

 

[drizek]

Just get a decent Phenom, a decent motherboard, a high end video card or two, an Intel or Indi SSD and a 2TB drive for storage. I bet you won't even hit a grand, and you will have plenty of power to play whatever you want at whatever settings you want.

Don't waste money on something like Raid0 SSDs. Buy a PS3 Slim to go along with your new pc, or a wii, or a netbook, or the Sony Daily Edition ebook reader, or a Nintendo DSi or whatever. There are a million things that are going to be a much better use of your money than a second SSD or an Intel X58 motherboard or a 1KW power supply or whatever else.

 

[CrunCher910]

Thanks for the responses everyone, here is what I'm looking at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151187 DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129021 case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136320 (might buy 2 of these and just have 1 os/1 other stuff, or a 1 tb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236059 monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131366 mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341019 psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102847 (not sure if I should get 2gb or 1gb, and what brand to get)
RAM: not too sure what to get, I'm thinking 2 or 3 2gb sticks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103692 CPU OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103674 i'm leaning more towards the 955 since its so much cheaper and not too much of a value difference

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

Good luck upgrading that Q9550 to something else. You'll soon see s939 X2 prices on s775 quads. I remember seeing statements such as this before the Core 2 lineup came out. Everyone was touting the value in a P4D 2.8ghz and look where that went (blech). Try upgrading that ancient s775 chipset.

Once 6-12 core AM3 CPU's hit the market you'd still be able to drop in a brand new processor. Since AM3 won't have to worry about a memory change over the next 3-5 years, AMD has an extremely much better upgradable lineup of motherboards.

Seriously, until Intel can come out with the i5 AND prove its worth the hype and praise it has received, AMD is sitting fairly well. It also has to cost rather cheap at launch which is something I do not foresee.

Once octo-core Phenoms come out and software efficiently utilizes it, I'll be hopping on that boat. Don't get me wrong, the Q8200 that I have overclocked is by far not the weakest link in my computer. It still competes with the absolute best of Phenom X4 overclocks while the Q8200 is overclocked. Intels 3 (really 4) tier sockets just don't make ANY SENSE. They are really making it difficult to predict if i'd be able to upgrade it in the future or if i'm stuck with another "s939-like" system. Buying an AM3 system right now makes PERFECT sense.

 

[Leyawiin]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

Being the X4 955 is at least equal to or better than a Q9550 in most benchmarks, and is about $40 cheaper, why would you not want to "touch" it? I'm not an underdog lover either, but saving about $50-60 over a comparable "Q" system and $135-150 over an i7 system when I built in July made sense to me - especially when I'm getting comparable or better performance in gaming (which is my primary activity).

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: CrunCher910
Thanks for the responses everyone, here is what I'm looking at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151187 DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129021 case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136320 (might buy 2 of these and just have 1 os/1 other stuff, or a 1 tb)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236059 monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131366 mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341019 psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102847 (not sure if I should get 2gb or 1gb, and what brand to get)
RAM: not too sure what to get, I'm thinking 2 or 3 2gb sticks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103692 CPU OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103674 i'm leaning more towards the 955 since its so much cheaper and not too much of a value difference

Your links are stinky.

 

[kazuyakun]

These days, newegg offer terrible pricing on almost everything(about 99%). Also I would hold off on buying a new system till at least RV800 comes out. Since you're doing mostly gaming I'd spend most of your budget on getting a better gfx card than a CPU. From what most people say getting a PhenomII might be better than a Q9xxx because in higher resolution gaming I think starting from 19x12 gameplay feels smoother. There was an article about it in Anandtech but I don't have the link.

Besides at 19x12 I can bet you 90% of the games, gfx will be the bottleneck, not the CPU but get an X4 Phenom rather than the X3, or get the X3 for now and hopefully upgrade to the 6-core CPU from AMD when they come out and hopefully still run on the AM3 790 socket. Also stick with single GPU solution, SLI or Xfire to avoid stuttering and drivers issues.

 

[Arkaign]

At this late in the game, I would probably wait for an LGA 1156 based i5 or i7. PhII is not a terrible choice though. I have one, and I *really* hope that AM3 / 790 sees a 6-core capable of 4ghz in the next year or so.

 

[CrunCher910]

What I have so far:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151187 DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129021 case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136320 (I thought about running raid 0, but I don't think I'm going to after looking into it. I am thinking about buying 2 of these and just having os/etc on 1, and games and stuff on another, or to buy a 1 TB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236059 monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131366 mobo(?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341019 psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102847 (not sure if I should get 2gb or 1gb, and what brand to get)
RAM: not too sure what to get, I'm thinking 3 2gb sticks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103692 CPU OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103674 i'm leaning more towards the 955 since its so much cheaper and not too much of a value difference


fixed

 

[Massive Overkill]

I paid roughly $1600 for the rig in my sig. This is the monitor I'm using, which is another $300 bucks:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236046

That's $1900. Now you can save about $200 by going with just 6 gigs of RAM and SLI'd GTX 260's instead of the 12 gigs and SLI'd 270's. Heck you could go with just one card for now (4890 or GTX 260) and SLI/Crossfire later. That would put you on budget, and have a very high-end gaming machine that would be fast at anything else you may decide to do.

You could even forego the SSD for now as prices will hopefully come down once the craze over the Intel Gen II SSD's calms down.

They didn't make the Vertex/Falcon when I got my Titan SSD, but those are the drives to buy for price/performance.

I can't see not getting an i7 for 40 bucks more (which you can pick up cheaper than the Phenom II if you live near a Micro Center).

I don't think $1500 is considered a cheap budget with the cost of today's parts. You can build a high-end rig for that amount so pick higher end components. If you decide to SLI/Crossfire in the future, than Phenom II is going to hold you back, especially at higher resolutions.

I balk at peeps who build high-end rigs, and then are running some silly resolution like 1680x1050 or lower.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: CrunCher910
What I have so far:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151187 DVD burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129021 case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136320 (I thought about running raid 0, but I don't think I'm going to after looking into it. I am thinking about buying 2 of these and just having os/etc on 1, and games and stuff on another, or to buy a 1 TB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824236059 monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131366 mobo(?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341019 psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102847 (not sure if I should get 2gb or 1gb, and what brand to get)
RAM: not too sure what to get, I'm thinking 3 2gb sticks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103692 CPU OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103674 i'm leaning more towards the 955 since its so much cheaper and not too much of a value difference


fixed

Good combo with the Asus 790GX AM3 & Phenom 955BE.

The G.Skill 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 is on the Asus QVL list as is this OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 with a touch better timings.

This Antec TruePower 750w Power Supply has 2 x 6-Pin & 2 x 6+2-Pin PCIe connectors. I've not had any problems with OCZ PSUs but the unit you selected only has 1 x 6-Pin & 1 x 6+2-Pin ----- A single HD4890 has 1 x 6 pin & 1x 8 pin connectors.

As far as your vid card ... you may want to run off the IGP and wait for the new ATI video cards to come out this month. Prices might come down a bit and a few great bargains may pop up.


Lookin' great. Good luck!

 

[cusideabelincoln]

You should get 2 (or 4) sticks of RAM for now, unless you need 6GB for something. AMD systems only have dual channel controllers.

Originally posted by: Yukmouth
cusideabelincoln seems to think that the 955 can scale just as well as the 965, though I've not heard much debate on this topic. Anand did a review of the 965 and stated it was much easier to reach 4ghz with it over his 955/945 sample's. Based on that info, I was hoping the 965 is indeed a better scaling batch of CPU's over their multiplyer locked counterparts. I'm not at all sure though, newest/latest dose not always mean the greatest when it comes to overclocking.

The Phenom II is a pretty sure thing no matter what series you decide on though, that's certain.

I don't really have evidence, but typically the 955 can reach 3.8 GHz as far as I've seen. And really, what's the difference between 3.8 GHz and 4.0 GHz? Not much, and there will be no real world difference either.

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

Power of 3 :roll:

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

Why?

- AM3 will continue to live on into the future.
- S775 will require DDR2 ram that you cannot reuse later (DDR3 Ram you could transfer to Core i5/i7) - so that's just $ down the drain right away
- AMD has mobos with better onboard graphics and DVI out. Intel S775 falls flat on its face on both here
- With AMD CPU, Mobo and 4890 you can probably get another $30 off in a combo deal.

But OP, actually both Phenom II X4 and 9550 are bad choices:

$200 Core i5 750
$130 mobo. This setup will do 4.0ghz for almost the same price as Phenom 955 and be faster. :thumbsup: Should be widely available in 1 week.
vs.
$220 9550
$100 mobo :thumbsdown:

 

[CrunCher910]

Are there any benchmarks/tests yet for the i5 to see how it compares to i7/phenom 2 x4?

 

[Beanie46]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation


- AM3 will continue to live on into the future.

And you're sure about that, right?

I only ask given AMD's recent history of putting out a socket, saying this one will, as you put it, "live on into the future," only to have it replaced in a couple of years.

I went through the "Live on into the future" scenario with AMD with Socket 754, which lasted little more than a year.

Then I moved to Socket 939, which lasted a whole 2 years.

I moved to Socket 775 as my next upgrade for C2D. In the meantime, AMD released AM2 2 years after 939, again leaving no upgrade path for the unfortunates that bought into that socket.

Then AM2+ hit, just over a year later.....thankfully, it was compatible with AM2.

But then AM3 hits and is pretty much incompatible for the most part with AM2+ parts.....cannot run AM2+ cpus on AM3 boards.

Meanwhile, Intel got over 5-6 years out of Socket 775, which is now at its life's end, but can potentially give a huge price/performance gain when 1156 hits later this month and S775 stuff is on sale to clear it out.

But for longevity, I seriously doubt AM3 is going to be AMD's socket of choice for more than another year or so......it's pretty well known AMD's next new cpu will have a new socket, so buying AM3 right now locks you into a socket with very planned obsolescence....and will happen next year most likely.

On the other hand, socket 1156 and 1366 is just beginning its life's run and if it lasts anywhere near as long as socket 775, it'll have another great run.

Personally, I got sucked into the "This socket will be around" mantra years ago by AMD, only to find out that reality wasn't exactly what was promised. Changing sockets on average every two years is, at least to me, NOT lasting a long time....maybe it is to you.

I'd rather put my hard earned money into something I know will be around for years and that's, for now, Intel's 1156/1366 sockets.

And I'd almost wager my house that before 1156 is replaced as a socket, AMD will have EOL'd AM3, AM4, and will have released AM5, or whatever it'll be called, and be saying again, "THIS is the one that'll be around for the future."

 

[kyotousa]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Leyawiin
You can do either for that budget. But you did say you would like to save as much money as possible. With that qualification, get an AMD system. You can do it nicely for $1,000.

You can get the same or better performing Q9550 system. I wouldnt touch an AMD system, even if I was an underdog lover.

$200 Core i5 750
$130 mobo. This setup will do 4.0ghz for almost the same price as Phenom 955 and be faster. :thumbsup: Should be widely available in 1 week.
vs.
$220 9550
$100 mobo :thumbsdown:

com'on now, not a fair comparison.
You could easily get 775 mobo for less ex: gigabyte EP for like 80 bucks.
Besides I am sure 9550 gonna get price drop pretty soon.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: kyotousa

com'on now, not a fair comparison.
You could easily get 775 mobo for less ex: gigabyte EP for like 80 bucks.
Besides I am sure 9550 gonna get price drop pretty soon.

OK then we'd have $200 + $130 for Core i5 vs. $220 + $80 for Q9550. For $30 I am sure anyone would pick the Core i5. Q9550 does have to drop to about $160.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Beanie46

I'd rather put my hard earned money into something I know will be around for years and that's, for now, Intel's 1156/1366 sockets.

I agree that S1156 and Core i5s will be better value than Phenom II X4s. But I noted that earlier that Core i5 would be my #1 choice on a budget.

 

[Yukmouth]

Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln

Originally posted by: Yukmouth
cusideabelincoln seems to think that the 955 can scale just as well as the 965, though I've not heard much debate on this topic. Anand did a review of the 965 and stated it was much easier to reach 4ghz with it over his 955/945 sample's. Based on that info, I was hoping the 965 is indeed a better scaling batch of CPU's over their multiplyer locked counterparts. I'm not at all sure though, newest/latest dose not always mean the greatest when it comes to overclocking.

The Phenom II is a pretty sure thing no matter what series you decide on though, that's certain.

I don't really have evidence, but typically the 955 can reach 3.8 GHz as far as I've seen. And really, what's the difference between 3.8 GHz and 4.0 GHz? Not much, and there will be no real world difference either.

200mhz is substantial when it comes to encoding. Gaming, not so much.

A lot of people on newegg state the 965 is doing them better than their 955's so I'd have to recomend the 965 *IF* 4ghz were the aim, but @ 3.8ghz you're right, pretty tough to be unhappy with that.

 

[MrK6]

Hate to be a "Johnny-Come-Lately," but if the OP hasn't ordered yet, I'd put in a vote for the i5 750 - simply awesome for the price. If it's too much though, I'd still get a Q8400 over any of AMD's offering. It's faster clock for clock and is more power efficient - a fantastic chip overall.