Help deciding on CPU for budget rig

[Foxrunner]

Im helping my brother build a gaming rig on a budget. So far I have an Antec 900 case with a nice power supply im letting him use. The motherboard I had picked was the ASUS P5N-D 775 the MB is $99.99 (plan on running RAID 0 I have 2 raptors im parting out of another rig for him), EVGA 9800GTX 512MB ($139.99), G. Skill (2 X 2GB) PC2 6400 memory ($87.99), Zalman CNPS9500 cooler ($45).

Now the part where im stuck is on the CPU. I am looking on Newegg and they are both the same price so im wondering does one have more overhead for OCing then the other? The Core 2 Duo E8500 and the Core 2 Quad 9400 are both 189.99. Anyone have any thoughts on which may perform better or over clock better on my setup listed? Im not looking on going nuts on the OCing but something that will get him a little more bang for his buck was thinking around 3.4-3.6Ghz? Thanks guys!

He is going to be playing Warhammer Online and Battlefield Bad Company 2 on it. Strange as it sounds Warhammer is really screwy on the performance side of things in that it uses tons of CPU processing vs graphics so hence the desire to do a little OCing to squeeze some performance out of it.

 

[Arkaign]

A new build?

Less $ = Phenom II BE X4
More $ = Core i5/i7 (preferably the MC $199 920 deal)

The S775 C2D/C2Q were awesome, and still are, but for a new build it makes almost zero sense. The 955BE is cheap on the egg, and you can easily change the multi (unlocked on BE) to reflect a 3.6ghz speed (or faster if you get a decent tower air cooler), which is a really nice spot to be in.

For someone that already has a S775 setup, the Q9400 (6MB L2), or Q9550 (12MB L2) are great. But the pricing doesn't make a lot of sense, and the mobo pricing for AM3 boards is so good feature for feature that it's pretty much the way to go for a gaming setup. i7 is better still, but generally good i7/1366 mobos are gonna be $150+.

With the PhII X4 BE, you get 2MB L2 + 6MB L3, so 8MB of cache, and a good cheap quad that's extremely easy to OC.

 

[Foxrunner]

Definetly willing to entertain the idea of the AMD stuff especially if its more cost effective although I have never really used it in the past.... Would you mind linking a comparable or better AMD quad/MB combo that would suite my current needs? Right now with the Intel CPUs and MB my total cost is: $288 But I do need the onboard RAID controller.

He is pretty strapped for cash hence the reason im letting him use an old case, PSU, and some old 75GB raptor drives I had laying around.

 

[Soulkeeper]

motherboard $109.99 $95 ar

cpu$174.99

memory$119.99

video card$144.99 $135 ar

something similar to the above would be my choice, of course you can save a few bucks on each option if you search around. That amd cpu is the 65watt version but you could get a propus x4 for $100 if you wanted.
that memory is the lowest voltage stuff i've seen for ddr3, and you'll have an am3 motherboard which should support x6 when they come out

 

[Arkaign]

Processor : PhII 955 X4 Black Edition $160 (free shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103674

Mainboard (DDR2) : MSI 785GTM-E45 $70 ($3 shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130237

Mainboard (DDR3) : MSI 785GM-E51 $80 ($3 shipping)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130247

I put both options up there, as it wasn't entirely clear in the OP if you already had purchased the memory/video/etc, or were going for a full new build. Hopefully you haven't bought yet, as a $139 9800 512MB is a terrible deal at the moment, and DDR3 is about the same price as DDR2 as well.

Both of those mobos above are perfect for a single-GPU setup, decent crossfire-capable 790-series boards are in the $100+ range. Overclocking is incredibly easy, and the DDR3 variant supports up to 16GB of ram (8GB for the DDR2 model). Both have the raid as well

So .. should be a decent amount of savings there. A 955BE overclocked to even moderate levels of 3.5-3.6ghz is as fast for gaming as an overclocked 9550 @ 3.5-3.6 (the Q9400 starts well under that, and has 6mb instead of the 12mb on the 9550).

It is worth noting that the Q6000/9000 series C2Qs are so good that honestly only maniacs should upgrade at this point, and only to the full i7/1366 platform. It's just that new build for new build, a gamer bargain is the PhII Blacks. The i3 is interesting, but the fact that it's a cache-crippled dual-core (albeit with HT) means it's probably not as well-rounded or as long-lived a solution.

 

[Arkaign]

motherboard $109.99 $95 ar

cpu$174.99

memory$119.99

video card$144.99 $135 ar

something similar to the above would be my choice, of course you can save a few bucks on each option if you search around.

^^ That's a great choice of a mobo if crossfire is a desire.

The X4 CPU listed there, is an 'e' edition, and is a low-power 2.5ghz variant that is bizarrely more expensive than the 3.2Ghz unlocked multi 955BE. It's great for low-power/heat setups like HTPC/Shuttle type units, but I don't think it's a good choice for the OP.

the memory and video card you listed are also excellent options!

 

[OBLAMA2009]

why would you even consider paying that kind of money for the older core 2 junk at this time. core i3 ($89) is cheaper and much better. core i5 is only $179 at mc

 

[Foxrunner]

Hmm to be honest I never even looked at the i3-i5 stuff because I just assumed it was way to pricey for the money I was looking at spending. The only parts I have right now are the hard drives, case, PSU nothing else has been purchased yet.

I was very surprised to see that the i5 stuff is in the same price range as the older Dual and Quad cores I originally posted.... Do they over clock pretty well? The only thing that kinda bugged me about the possibility of using a i5 chip was the extra $100 price tag on the ram..... But then again I guess you get what you pay for. In all honesty I do have a very dated P4 box that is using an old 8800GTS video card so maybe if he built up a i5 build and did some OCing he could get by for a while on the 8800 till he had more cash for a new video card?

 

[happy medium]

I would build a system around the i5-750 cpu.

 

[Foxrunner]

Yah I did some poking around on Newegg to check out the i3-i5 stuff and for about an extra $150 (based off my original post and build) I will get an i5 CPU, 2GB more RAM, and overall a more upgradeable platform to work off of. And it looks like the i5 750 is easily over clockable as to get me right where I want to be (around the 3.6Ghz mark) . I am more of a Intel and Nvidia enthusiast so for an extra $10 on the video card I could just get a GTS 250.

 

[betasub]

2GB more RAM than your original 4GB build? Don't make the mistake of getting a triple-channel kit for a dual-channel motherboard (1156).

 

[Arkaign]

Yah I did some poking around on Newegg to check out the i3-i5 stuff and for about an extra $150 (based off my original post and build) I will get an i5 CPU, 2GB more RAM, and overall a more upgradeable platform to work off of. And it looks like the i5 750 is easily over clockable as to get me right where I want to be (around the 3.6Ghz mark) . I am more of a Intel and Nvidia enthusiast so for an extra $10 on the video card I could just get a GTS 250.

GTS250 is an okay card, I had one right before my 5770, but they're not worth it unless you get them really cheap, like $80 or less. i5 @ 3.6Ghz isn't going to be any faster in gaming than a PhII @ 3.6, but it will be faster for encoding

Do you live near a Micro Center? If so, and you're going the Core i series route, go for the real deal and get a socket 1366 setup. The 920 is only $199 there.

 

[nyker96]

best bang for buck cpu is the x4 630s.

here's a setup I'd buy for myself:
x4 630 (100),
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 (90),
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (100),
MSI R4770 CYCLONE Radeon HD 4770 512MB (100),
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus (35)

total $450 or so. can be OCed. best bang/buck for this price tag.

if you can afford another $60, get the X4 PII 955 BE.

for $100 more get the i5 750.
i5 750 (200), mother board is: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 (100)

personally either $450 setup or the i5 750 setup for $550.