New Build Please Help

Hi
I am planning on building a new system my current setup is a Pentium 4 3.2 Extreme Edition 2GB OCZ Ram, Geforce 6600GT. At the moment I use my computer for photo and video editing in Photoshop and Ulead Studio. Unfortunately my current setup cannot handle HD editing. I would be grateful if anyone can suggest a good build for this. I do also play the occasional game now and then. My budget would be on the medium to low side. I would need:
Processor
Motherboard
Memory
Graphics Card

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated
Thanks in advance

Rob

Unless you already have a decent PSU I would be looking at getting a new one too!

This is what would get:

Phenom II X3 710 triple core ~ £97

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Asus 760G motherboard ~ £53

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=998660

8gb PC6400 DDR2 ~ £75

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

XFX HD4850 ~ £80

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Total ~ £305

Thanks for the reply. I shouldn’t have a problem with the PSU as I have an OCZ 750W. I must admit that I have been looking at an AMD build although I have never built an AMD as I have always been an Intel fan. I have been looking at the AMD X3 PHENON 720 BE or the higher end AMD X4 955 BE the latter maybe being too much for what I want. However might be worth it as I know the build might last me a few years.

If you do use Photoshop a lot then it may be better to get an Intel processor as it runs better on them.However the triple core and quad core Phenom processors are better in most video encoding applications when compared to their similarly priced Intel Core2 competitors.

The AMD Phenom II X4 940BE is available for around £152 too on Today Only:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

The nearest processors to the Phenom II x4 940BE are the Intel Q8300 and Q8400. However in most applications the Phenom is closer to the higher cache Q9400.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16796/7

A core i7 920 would give the best performance for photo and video editing however that performance comes at a price.

I don't think the Phenom II X4 955 would be too much performance wise but it is quite expensive at the moment and the Phenom II X4 945 isn't much cheaper. CAT has mentioned the Phenom II X4 940 which is reasonably priced however it is AM2+ and my view is that AM3 is the way forward. If you are not in a hurry I have heard rumours that the Phenom II X4 925 will finally surface next month

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonpal

A core i7 920 would give the best performance for photo and video editing however that performance comes at a price.

I don't think the Phenom II X4 955 would be too much performance wise but it is quite expensive at the moment and the Phenom II X4 945 isn't much cheaper. CAT has mentionedale the Phenom II X4 940 which is reasonably priced however it is AM2+ and my view is that AM3 is the way forward. If you are not in a hurry I have heard rumours that the Phenom II X4 925 will finally surface next month

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The problem is that there are no sub £60 DDR3 AM3 motherboards available and 8gb of DDR3 costs at least another £30 more than the equivalent amount of DDR2. Basically an AM3 based build will cost at least £80 more than a budget AM2+ build and this excluding the cost of the CPU.

Yup that is always the issue with buying newer technology over slightly older technology. The AM2+ socket and associated DDR2 memory is perfectly fine for the job. Today AM3 will give you around a 5% boost in performance. DDR3 memory will increase in frequency and decreases in latency and upgrading the memory may be a possibility in the future to give a further performance boost. However the the performance that is gained now has to be worth the extra outlay.

Yeah have to agree that it might be worth the wait and see if the X4 925 will surface next month as I think I would like to go for an AM3 as this will hopefully secure me for future upgrades. I would love to get the i7 but feel that its too pricey at the moment. Then you have the Intel 775 but believe this platform is coming to the end of its life so future upgrades might be a concern. I certainly don´t want to commit the same error as last time where I spent a fortune on the build, the best money could buy at the time, but due to the lack of my research found that the 478 was being discontinued which left me with the best system around at the time but my upgrade path was zero.

The onboard memory controller on the AM3 CPUs supports two channels of DDR3 RAM and only one RAM module per channel of 1333mhz DDR3 which is the maximum speed supported(although 1600mhz is supposed to be unofficially supported). With 4 modules it will only run the RAM at 1066mhz:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16382

I believe the relevant section of the Tech Report article is:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tech Report

As you probably know by now, DDR3 memory enables higher clock speeds (and thus bandwidth) than DDR2-type memory, and it can operate at lower voltages, leading to reduced power consumption, as well....

The new Phenom IIs officially support DDR3 memory at up to 1333MHz, but the multipliers are present for 1600MHz operation, as well, as they are in high-end Core 2 and Core i7 systems.... One caveat: the Phenom II only supports 1333MHz DDR3—at least, officially—with a single DIMM in each memory channel. With four DDR3 DIMMs, 1066MHz is the standard. Such limitations are nothing new, of course. Previous Phenoms have long supported 1066MHz DDR2 memory, but only with a single DIMM per channel.

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My understanding is that AM3 Phenom II processors will natively support up to 1333Mhz with 2 DIMMs or 1066MHz with 4 DIMMs present. Depending on the motherboard some will allow the use of up to 1600MHz through the use of multipliers, presumaby within the BIOS. In deciding to purchase a AM3 motherboard the additional outlay must be considered based on the performance of the memory modules the motherboard will currently support.

It seems feasible that in the future a motherboard manufacturer may update the multipliers in BIOS to enable a current motherboard to support higher frequency memory. If I have misunderstood, please feel free to correct me as I do not consider myself to be an expert in the operation of AMD memory controllers.

Well I think I am going to go for the following what do you guys think would you change anything

AMD 720 Black Box Edition
OCZ Gold Edition DDR3 PC3-12800 Dual Channel 4GB 2x2GB
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P Socket AM3
SAPPHIRE 4770 512M GDDR5

There is this XFX HD4850 for £86 which is faster than the HD4770 but consumes more power:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...VI-XXX-EDITION

This card is pre-overclocked and has a custom dual slot cooler!

You may wish to consider the Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P

Xbit Labs have reviewed it and apart from a few niggles in the BIOS seem to be impressed.

Thanks for the replies will look into the graphics card and motherboard.