Rebuild

[torched_geek]

Looking to rebuild my computer set up or at least thinking about it. First time i've been really looking in a while. My current set up is about three years old, three years too many!

The following components I will (probably) keep from my current:
Power supply (530w Tagan 2Force)
DVD drive
X-Fi Xtreme Music (upgraded a year ago or so)
Monitors (one 17" CRT, one 19" CRT)

Components i'm thinking about upgrading, but not convinced:
Hard drive (I have a feeling there's something wrong with it, been slowly wearing down I bet)
Case

Components I will upgrade:
CPU
Graphics Card
Motherboard (ATX)
RAM

My budget? Only about £250 tops, wanting to go for bang for buck over anything else. Spending less would be great.

Would be willing to overclock, has to last at least two years though.

What will I use the computer for? Gaming, Programming, Linux, Web design, Every day stuff.

Doesn't have to be brilliant just needs to be a decent upgrade from my current 6600GT, 1 gb of Ram and Venice 3200! (3 years old; becoming vintage now)

Would be best if I could upgrade stuff in the next year or so.

[Aez]

p31 ds3l
e2160
2gb of ram
8800gt
Should come to about 200-230 leaving some room for an aftermarket cooler to overclock

[torched_geek]

That's what I was thinking. Thanks. Any other ideas?

[staffsMike]

An IP-35E would be nice, not so sure about that P31 and i don't like gigabyte particularly.

E2200 is about £45 on scans today only (for the weekend), saves a bit of overclocking over the E2160.

2GB is still about £30 but going up steadily now.

8800GT should be £110- £115 or ATi 3870's can be had around the £100 mark which are very nice.

[Noxvayl]

For starters I am not sure a £250 upgrade would last 2 years but I'll get the best components I can for that price.

AMD 4850e 2.5Ghz, 1Mb cache, 45W
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H(has the award winning on board IGP that scores 1800 in 3dmark06)
Corsair TwinX XMS2 PC-6400 800Mhz
PowerColor HD3850(perfect for hybrid crossfire with the on board IGP to save power when not playing games and increase performance during game play)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme heatsink for the best cooling solution(would work better than stock passively for that CPU but can add a cheap 120mm fan for optimal performance)

All together it ends up being £270.96 but without the extra heatsink(which would be nice to have if you want your case silent and CPU running cooler) it ends up being £232.78.

In a couple of weeks the new HD4850 is coming out which would be a similar price(maybe £20 more than the current cards) so I'd recommend waiting for that. The motherboard has on board graphics which would provide you with enough performance to enable you to get yourself a better deal on the new Radeon graphics cards. With that motherboard its beneficial to stick with AMD/ATI Radeon graphics so it can use the hybrid crossfire feature.

[staffsMike]

Odd choice of heat sink in that build. Spending nigh on £50 with the fan as well. It being a 45W chip it hardly needs that sort of cooling.

AMD are certainly an option though. I don't see much point in the uATX route if you are going dedicated anyway and I'm pretty sure ATi's hybrid drivers are only for xfire not power saving, thats nvidia's 8200. AMD have done that on their puma platform for laptops though so maybe it is on the 780G as well.

You will get more raw performance from the intel at this stage though as the they will clock up to 3.0GHz on a half decent cooler like the the freezer 7 pro, xigmatec (cant remember the model or scythe mine).

[Noxvayl]

The AMD should easily clock over 3Ghz and would be the same sort of performance as the Intel low end chip.

Reason for the heatsink would be for passive use so it would allow for a completely silent PC. I did mention it as an optional extra by giving the price without the heatsink. It's there in case he like me would like his PC to be quiet

Used the 780G because if he would like to upgrade earlier he could and still wait for the new GFX cards to come out. Unfortunately there aren't many 780G motherboards that are ATX.

[torched_geek]

The AMD should easily clock over 3Ghz and would be the same sort of performance as the Intel low end chip.

I'm traditionally an AMD fan, but that's just not true.
The Intel is the equivalent to 12 clocks per cycle.
The AMD is only 9. :x

[Thorsson]

Can't agree with Exhail's suggestions - the 3850 would be the deal breaker for me, as it's really quite a bit slower than the 8800GT. Any modern CPU with 2Gb RAM is going to fly compared to his current setup. It's games that he needs the extra oomph.

[staffsMike]

I agree that brisbanes can clock up to 3.0Ghz, well mine can (5000+ BE) but it's not something I would even remotely gaurantee on that chip. It's purpose is to be lower power not a high performer.

As torched_geek says, even clock for clock they are not the same performance. That said I do like the way the X2 handles certain tasks.

It's not a bad move, but I would stick to the 3870/8800GT even if you go the AMD route. And IIRC the hybrid xfire only works with an HD3450 as that is what the integrated gfx is based on, so it's a waste of time for high res gaming.

[Noxvayl]

I thought the hybrid crossfire was for all cards Oh well you learn something new every day

As for the chips in question's performance: CPU Charts 2007 - Tom's Hardware

As you can see the AMD is pretty much the same performance wise. You have to remember the lower end Intel's have quite a few features left out in order to cut on pricing so they do not give the same X2 beating as the higher end Core2Duo's provide. Basically Intel are great for high end but AMD still have good chips at lower end.

So I stick by my statement.

With hindsight I think I would of changed the motherboard for a 790X seeing though the hybrid crossfire is pretty much useless.

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

Very little difference in the price. And I'd still recommend waiting for the HD4850 which was my initial suggestion.

[torched_geek]

The X2 4800 is around 2.5ghz stock, with a score of 1843.
The E1260 is 1.8ghz stock, with a score of 1556.

Extrapolating that data would end up with these results:
An overclock to 3ghz (i've seen higher) on the E1260 would approximately give a score of 2593.3.
An overclock on the X2 4800 to 3ghz would be 2211.6 (which isn't really gaurenteed).

As well as that, the Intel option could be more easily upgraded to a quad core or whatever in the future.

[Noxvayl]

The X2 4800 is around 2.5ghz stock, with a score of 1843.
The E1260 is 1.8ghz stock, with a score of 1556.

Extrapolating that data would end up with these results:
An overclock to 3ghz (i've seen higher) on the E1260 would approximately give a score of 2593.3.
An overclock on the X2 4800 to 3ghz would be 2211.6 (which isn't really gaurenteed).

As well as that, the Intel option could be more easily upgraded to a quad core or whatever in the future.

Why can't the AMD be upgraded to a Quad in the future? Phenom X4's exist you know and they also plan on releasing new ones in the future based on AM2+ chipset which both the 780G and 790X are based on.

Not sure how you got those figures but these are my calculations:
Intel E2160:
1.2/3=0.4(1.2 because that's how much of an overclock has been made and divided by 3 because that is the final clock so the answer gives me the % of increased speed)
0.4x1556=622.4(because the increase in clock is 40% its logical to assume the increase in performance would be the same over its orignal)
1556+622.4=2178.4

AMD 4800:
0.5/3=0.17(explained above)
0.17x1843=313.31
1843+313.31=2156.31

Therefore the performance difference between the two is so small its fair to say that they are both perfectly suitable.

Why can't you accept that AMD has a competing chip in the lower end?

[staffsMike]

The phenom is the least viable quad core to buy though and the new one's aren't set to be any better as far as I can see.

It is viable to go with AMD at the low end but not if you are looking towards further upgrades.

Obviously with the new intel socket out soon 775 is on it's last legs but the Q6600 and 45nm intel quads still performe far better than the phenom so will make a good cheap upgrade later.

[torched_geek]

Your calculations are silly.


1843 / 2.5 = 737.2 per ghz
1556 / 1.8 = 864 per ghz

[Noxvayl]

The phenom is the least viable quad core to buy though and the new one's aren't set to be any better as far as I can see.

It is viable to go with AMD at the low end but not if you are looking towards further upgrades.

Obviously with the new intel socket out soon 775 is on it's last legs but the Q6600 and 45nm intel quads still performe far better than the phenom so will make a good cheap upgrade later.

I agree that the phenoms aren't that great but he said it would be easier, no mention of speed so with AMD its just as easy if not easier because they have already made there socket change.

For the future I would say your upgradeability would be easiest with AMD because you wouldn't need to change motherboard again. With Intel by the end of this year your motherboard will become obsolete and therefore any serious upgrade would need a new motherboard which isn't totally bad but for budget buyers its definitely a downside to purchasing now.