Talk me out of it

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06-08-2009, 03:59 PM
Blaineoliver

Talk me out of it

Ive got the itch to get myself an AMD system,

Currently have:
E5200 at 3.15GHZ, what a dissapointing overclock...
P5N-E Sli, Still works!
4850 with vortex neo cooling
2x2GB OCZ reaper X ram
750w Modular Chieftec A135
1TB Samsung F1.
Arctic Freezer 7 pro.

I want to sell off the ram, psu, heatsink and mobo, then get myself either:
Phenom II 720BE, if not then the 955BE. I currently have this cooler for amd:
The Titan cool Idol.
http://www.darkhardware.com/images/c...600-test-1.png

E8600 at stock is 24 idle and 45 load.

http://www.darkhardware.com/images/c...600-test-3.png
overclocked its 55 load.

Will the cooler be sufficient for a quad core overclocking? Also, will i get a decent overclock from a 720BE? Because my mate has one thats really cool even with a 3.5ghz overclock.

Tempt me or stop me from upgrading, what do i do?
06-08-2009, 04:04 PM
scaryjim

Re: Talk me out of it

Naah, go for the upgrade - you know you want to :)
06-08-2009, 04:11 PM
kalniel

Re: Talk me out of it

Why do you need to overclock?
06-08-2009, 04:12 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

Trying to decide how much to spend, and what to buy! Spec me something that will be about £250 max.
06-08-2009, 04:12 PM
nightkhaos

Re: Talk me out of it

Code:

Error: 590, server does not recognise client request, generic error code. See system logs for more information. ssh logreader@nightkhaos.brain bash$~:grep 590 /var/log/forum_interface.log | tail -n 1 590-409721: Client request appears invalid: client requesting negation of desire to upgrade system. Situation cannot exsist. bash$~:logout
06-08-2009, 04:13 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

I suspect the E5200 should be fine for gaming currently and unless you have the money spare keep it.

However,OTH you can get the following for just over £220:

AMD Phenom II X3 720 ~ £92

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P ~ £69

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?W...source=froogle

4GB DDR3 ~ £61

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...ered-CAS-9-DHX

Alternatively get this AM2+ motherboard instead:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...D3-Motherboard

Don't get the earlier revision 2 which cannot unlock processors and lacks ACC.

Get some of this heatsinks to help cool the VRMs:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Zalma...-River-product

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...Cooler-ARC-U01

The X4 955 is on Today Only for around £140 but it will push you over budget unless you go for an AM2+ system with DDR2 ram.

I would look at the following motherboard and RAM:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/GIGABYTE-GA-MA790X-UD3P

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...S-5-6-6-18-EPP
06-08-2009, 04:16 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

My only problem is the lack of 2x x16 pci-e ports, especially since i am looking to get a second 4850 in the future. Any way we can bump upto a 790 chipset?

Plus i need to overclock to get my monies worth! :)
06-08-2009, 04:22 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

You will have to stay with DDR2 RAM but the difference with DDR3 RAM is not huge.

Go with this motherboard then:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?asu-m3n7td

It is nearly £40 cheaper than anywhere else!!

It has the 790FX chipset with a pair of PCI-E 2.0 16x slots and is the highest end AMD chipset currently available.

Go for the Phenom II X4 955BE which is around £140 on the Scan Today Only webpage or the X3 720 from Ebuyer and some low latency PC2-8500 DDR2 RAM for under £40.
06-08-2009, 04:39 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

My Current OCZ ram runs at 1000mhz with timings of 5-4-4-12, would there be any point upgrading from that?
06-08-2009, 04:40 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaineoliver

My Current OCZ ram runs at 1000mhz with timings of 5-4-4-12, would there be any point upgrading from that?

Unless you need 4gb then no. Looks like the Asus M3A79-T Deluxe and a Phenom II X4 955BE will be under budget and these are the highest end AMD bits too(790FX and their fastest processor).
06-08-2009, 04:52 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

Phenom II 720 + DDR3 2x2GB + Gigabyte GA-MA790X comes to £230 inc delivery. Im tempted to do this now, then sell + upgrade to a quad core 955 once their down to like £100, reckon this is a good diea?
06-08-2009, 04:54 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaineoliver

Phenom II 720 + DDR3 2x2GB + Gigabyte GA-MA790X comes to £230 inc delivery. Im tempted to do this now, then sell + upgrade to a quad core 955 once their down to like £100, reckon this is a good diea?

Looks like a good plan to me. If you are lucky you maybe able to unlock the 720 too.

Of course you could always buy the 790FX for £92 and get the X4 955 for £140 and use your existing RAM. TBH, get that shebang upto 3.5ghz or more and you will not to worry to much about upgrading for a while and for crossfire you will also have full bandwith too.
06-08-2009, 05:09 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

If i can unlock 4th core and a 3.5ghz overclock is common, so with both i get speeds as fast as a x4 955. Im thinking if i get AM3, i have the new system, and can drop in any chip i like at a later date.
06-08-2009, 05:39 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

The problem is the 790X can run two cards in crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8x whereas the 790FX can do so at PCI-E 2.0 16x.
06-08-2009, 06:22 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

The problem being about £20-30 i reckon. PCI-E 2.0 means double bandwidth, so i will get effectively pcie1.3 x16 on both, i think even a 4890 doesnt slow down on that bandwidth?

If the 770 can unlock, and it overclocks well enough with decent pci-e bandwidth, i would take one and save money.
06-08-2009, 06:28 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaineoliver

The problem being about £20-30 i reckon. PCI-E 2.0 means double bandwidth, so i will get effectively pcie1.3 x16 on both, i think even a 4890 doesnt slow down on that bandwidth?

If the 770 can unlock, and it overclocks well enough with decent pci-e bandwidth, i would take one and save money.

The 770 is not crossfire AFAIK.Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P matches 790 series motherboards and most features like unlocking and for performance but if you want to run two cards you will need a 790 series motherboard. You have got a point though about the bandwidth so the 790X should be fast enough for most uses especially with a HD4850 and midrange cards.

If you intend to overclock get this RAM as it can be run at 1333mhz at lower latencies:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...ered-CAS-9-DHX
06-08-2009, 06:34 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

Thats a lot of money on ram :(.

My consideration is that im selling off everything i replace, so the ram should go for about £35, the cpu for about £30, and the mobo for similar, then my OCZ Stealth X stream should go for about £35. All in all, should raise £120 towards budget, i am looking at spending max of £150 myself. With OCZ ram on overclockers, i can get 1333 at cas9 for not too much. Spec me for about £270 mate with best mobo cpu combo. I would use: Overclockers, Scan, Aria, novatech.
06-08-2009, 06:44 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaineoliver

Thats a lot of money on ram :(.

My consideration is that im selling off everything i replace, so the ram should go for about £35, the cpu for about £30, and the mobo for similar, then my OCZ Stealth X stream should go for about £35. All in all, should raise £120 towards budget, i am looking at spending max of £150 myself. With OCZ ram on overclockers, i can get 1333 at cas9 for not too much. Spec me for about £270 mate with best mobo cpu combo. I would use: Overclockers, Scan, Aria, novatech.

Including or excluding a PSU??
06-08-2009, 06:46 PM
Blaineoliver

Re: Talk me out of it

I have a 750w Modular A135 Chieftec Psu, its brilliant, doesnt lose anything on its rails under load.
06-08-2009, 06:49 PM
CAT-THE-FIFTH

Re: Talk me out of it

DDR2 based build

Asus M3A79-T Deluxe ~ £92

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?ASU-M3N7TD

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £140

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

OR

Phenom II X3 720 ~ £92

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

OR

Phenom II X4 945 95w version ~ £135

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-P...MHz-95W-Retail

This is not a Black Edition so will be harder to overclock. However it is the newer 95w version as normal Phenom II X4 processors are 125w.

4gb PC2-8500 RAM ~ £37

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-(...S-5-6-6-18-EPP

I would say an X3 720 and 790FX would do the job and you would be around £50 under budget.You maybe able to fit in the X4 955BE too!

DDR3 based build

Phenom II X3 720 ~ £92

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159071

OR

AMD Phenom II X4 955BE ~ £140

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

OR

Phenom II X4 945 95w version ~ £135

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-P...MHz-95W-Retail

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P ~ £98

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...-SATA-RAID-ATX

OR

790FX AM3 motherboard ~ £130

http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=790FX+AM3

4gb DDR3 RAM ~ £43

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166996

I would go for either the 790X or 790FX with the X3 720. With the 790X you would be around £40 under budget and with the 790FX around £10 under budget.