New X2 550 Build

[taggart6]

Howdy all. My current rig is about 4-5 years old and I'm looking to upgrade. I saw teh recent unlocking success with 550 and I want to jump on the bandwagon. I have about 800 tos pend and I plan to reuse my old hardrives, case, peripherals, and monitor. I'll need a new PSU, MB, CPU, GFX card, Memory, and heatsink. Primary use will be gaming as well as a multi tasking file server for my apartment. I plan to use my old tech as a new dedicated fileserver.

This is what I have:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820231189
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$64.99

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail
$99.99

Noctua NH-U12P 120mm SSO CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835608002
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$57.99

COMBO DEAL!
CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139010
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813128378
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$274.98

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $149.98

Price so far is about $700 with tax and shipping. The noctura should handle the addtional heat from the unlocking and overclock, and the 4780 1gb was $10 more then the 512mb version I was looking at.

Ive read quite a bit of success with unlock on the GA-MA790XT-UD4P. I also like the features the board comes with.

The only think I'm not really sure on is teh ram. Should I go faster or slower? What do you all think.

 

[deputc26]

Looks good, I think the ram you chose is optimal for this build/price. what res. is your monitor? That mobo/psu is rather overpowered/expensive relative to the rest of your build, why not this combo with this psu and use the $ saved to get another 4870 or an SSD boot drive (like Intel's new 34nm X-25).

 

[taggart6]

I need a 750w PSU to account for my current and future power demands. Current demands with all peripherals is about 500W. In the near future be adding 2 more hard drives, a new wide screen monitor along with my current, and some additional stuff.

The Mobo is a must since it has the features I want and it can unlock 550 fairly well.

Current monitor res is 1240 by 1080 (its a 5 year old LCD monitor) but I'll be replacing that with a new widescreen 21"ish LCD in the next month or so.

I went ahead and ordered the stuff from new egg. I can;t wait for it!

 

[deputc26]

Sweet! enjoy your system and let me know if that 550 unlocks, I sort of suspect amd is manipulating the quantity that is unlockable.

 

[taggart6]

I spoke with a buddy of mine who works on processor design in AMD and he hadn't heard of anything yet.

So you think that the amount of unlockable 550s will decrease? That makes a lot of sense and actually has me more worried.

 

[Ichigo]

Don't buy a 550 assuming you'll unlock it. Unless you would consider it icing, buy an x3/x4.

 

[brblx]

Originally posted by: taggart6
I need a 750w PSU to account for my current and future power demands. Current demands with all peripherals is about 500W. In the near future be adding 2 more hard drives, a new wide screen monitor along with my current, and some additional stuff.

you don't need a 750w psu. and monitors have these things called power cords, meaning they have practically zero to do with psu needs.

unless you're going to run dual 4890's or better, it's just money down the drain. if you trimmed down the price of your mobo and psu, you could afford a real quad core instead of a 'maybe' 3 or 4 core processor.

 

[M0RPH]

Originally posted by: brblx

Originally posted by: taggart6
I need a 750w PSU to account for my current and future power demands. Current demands with all peripherals is about 500W. In the near future be adding 2 more hard drives, a new wide screen monitor along with my current, and some additional stuff.

you don't need a 750w psu. and monitors have these things called power cords, meaning they have practically zero to do with psu needs.

unless you're going to run dual 4890's or better, it's just money down the drain. if you trimmed down the price of your mobo and psu, you could afford a real quad core instead of a 'maybe' 3 or 4 core processor.

Good advice.

The combined price of your cpu/mobo/psu is $370 AR

You could get this combo with X4 550 and Asus mobo for $260 AR Text
the 550w Corsair psu for $80 AR
Total = $340 AR and you have a real quad core

 

[reallyscrued]

I bought an X2 550 for gaming, good stuff. I was unable to unlock it though with a Gigabyte board similar to yours, except I have the DDR2 version.

BTW, you may want to find a local shop that allows you to pick the processor off a shelf, even if there's a price premium. The processor box has a window on the side that shows you the chip and you can read the stepping right off of it, your best chances of getting an unlockable would be to refer to this thread:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=227004

I have an 0924BPMW stepping, and am unable to unlock.

 

[taggart6]

In retrospect the PSU is overkill but I do plan on throwing in 3 more hardrives and another 4870 int eh next year or so. I think a 650w would have been the smarter choice.

Current system will run at about 400w to 450w oc'ed. With additional devices and future upgrades I might hit 620w max.

PSU came out to 130 after rebates. I might try to resell it if Ic an get my money back. Otherwise its a moot point. On a side note, its also modular which is really something I've always wanted.

Changing the mobo is a deal breaker for me since it has all the features I want/need. I've used budget boards itn eh past and they are too limiting for my needs.


Unlocking the 550 is just a side option. The primary use for this system is gaming so I have little need for 4 cores ATM. If it does work then more power to me. My main goal will be to get the 550 overclocked to 3.5 or higher on x2. Getting another 2 cores would just be more icing on the cake. If I don't, I can just upgrade to a x4 955 in 2 years.

My only regret is a minor one with the PSU. But I can live with that if it means I have greater incentive to fill my case.

 

[taggart6]

Originally posted by: reallyscrued
I bought an X2 550 for gaming, good stuff. I was unable to unlock it though with a Gigabyte board similar to yours, except I have the DDR2 version.

BTW, you may want to find a local shop that allows you to pick the processor off a shelf, even if there's a price premium. The processor box has a window on the side that shows you the chip and you can read the stepping right off of it, your best chances of getting an unlockable would be to refer to this thread:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=227004

I have an 0924BPMW stepping, and am unable to unlock.

The stepping I have is confirmed to unlock with my mobo, however alot of the unlocking is also luck. If it happens it happens. Either way its a great chip for $99.

I'll just have to be happy with what I get

 

[M0RPH]

Doesn't seem like you were open to any changes, so I'm not sure why you asked. Anyway, good luck with the build.

 

[taggart6]

Originally posted by: M0RPH
Doesn't seem like you were open to any changes, so I'm not sure why you asked. Anyway, good luck with the build.

Just wanted a second pair of eyes to look. The suggestions are great but I think I'm happy with what I speced out. I agree that the PSU is overkill and it looks like my initial power calculation were off. If Ic an sell it by next week then I'll grab a 650w which will meet my needs.

I guess my initial post was confusing since it sounded like my man goal was to get a x4. My bad. I'm mostly a gamer so an overclocked x2 is fine for what I need. Another 2 cores would just be more greatness.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[taggart6]

Quick updated.

Got my stuff earlier this week and put it all together last night. The overall install was pretty easy and everything fit really well. System posted on the first try with only a minor storage HD recognition issue.

I installed Win7, updated the MB bios, and I was able to unlock all 4 cores at stock 3.1ghz. System was stable for an hour under light load with no problems. It was late so I couldn't run it longer then that.

Wen I get home I'll finish installing drivers and do a Prime95 Torture Test. If everything checks out, I'll start playing with raising the clock speed. I'm hoping to get at least 3.5 but with my noctura I should be able to hit 3.6 or even 3.8. I'll see what happens.

Either way...I'm really excited!

 

[taggart6]

Double post