Advice On A Cpu

[wannabgeek]

Hi people! I am building my 1st ever PC and still need a CPU & Cooling plus some other RAM then i can start to build! The PC will be used for Web/Gaming/Video-Photo editing (CS2) i dont intend to OC just yet but one never knows . Heres what i have purchased at present just waiting for the CPU & Bingo!

Mobo:Asrock 939 Dual (pcie & AGP)
RAM:2x Crucial
PSU: Hiper 580w Type R
GPU:" AGP Version" 6800LE (OC'd with all pipes opened (Will upgrade soon to PCIE)
Sound: Audigy 2 5-1 +Creative 5-1 Spkrs
Case: Thermaltake Sonata
DVD RW: NEC 3500a

MY Budget is £300

[BUFF]

if you are going to do a lot of video/photo work probably worth going X2.

[wannabgeek]

Which one should i get it and Have the x2 gone down in price since Xmas do you know?

[BUFF]

Upto you price / model wise & taking into account whether you will overclock.

x2 3800+ retail is £192 delivered from Scan with free Hexus shipping & most recent ones are overclocking nicely (2.4-2.6GHz) - probably the best value if you're an overclocker.

[chazt]

socket 939 opterons are brilliant value for money and they overclock extremely well, if you're into that kind of thing. For cooling, get an arctic cooling freezer 64 pro, they're very cheap and keep things pretty damn cold

[wannabgeek]

Upto you price / model wise & taking into account whether you will overclock.

x2 3800+ retail is £192 delivered from Scan with free Hexus shipping & most recent ones are overclocking nicely (2.4-2.6GHz) - probably the best value if you're an overclocker.

.....And how are they unclocked, are there better CPU's availiable if i dont OC?

Re Opteron how much?

[mofo's]

Yeh opteron are deffo way to go if you want to save some pennies

Best price is at Scan (currently on Today Only page as we speak)

AMD Opteron 64 144 Socket939 , Venus Core, 1.8GHz , 1MB Cache, OEM £105.74

AMD Opteron 64 146 Socket939 , Venus Core, 2.0GHz , 1MB Cache, OEM £116.31

[dave87]

Yeh opteron are deffo way to go if you want to save some pennies

Best price is at Scan (currently on Today Only page as we speak)

AMD Opteron 64 144 Socket939 , Venus Core, 1.8GHz , 1MB Cache, OEM £105.74

AMD Opteron 64 146 Socket939 , Venus Core, 2.0GHz , 1MB Cache, OEM £116.31

tbh now look at the dual core opterons, unless your not intending to keep your rig that long.

[BUFF]

.....And how are they unclocked, are there better CPU's availiable if i dont OC?

Re Opteron how much?

If we are talking stock performance of course there are better if you are prepared to pay.
It's up to you to decide whether the extra cost is worth the extra stock performance to you.

recent Opterons haven't been clocking brilliantly.

[wannabgeek]

This is getting really confusing now If i do clock the cpu how much noticeable will it be and in what progs will i notice the increased speed I hope to keep this pc for at least 3 more years and all i want really is something that will be up there still in the next 2/3 yrs! If i get the Dual it will have to be the cheapest one and how much difference is there between the Venice 4000. Opteron venus 2ghz on std non OC settings

[BenW]

Is your £300 budget just for cpu or cpu+ram+cooling?

[wannabgeek]

Hi

Yes for all 3 but squeeze ano her £50! I was looking to buy 2x Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS) And a 3700 San diego with one of the
Artic A64's! Any ideas!!

[BenW]

I've just got my 3500+ up and running, all seems good! From my quick wizz around windows and a few installations its running very fast indeed, using an ASRock 939DUAL SATA2 motherboard (This has AGP and Pci-e)

[wannabgeek]

Sorry Ben what CPU did you get? Have also been advised on a San diego 3700,been told THATS the best value for money and its the best clocker! This is getting confusing now for me some say x2 others Opteron,San Diego & Venice all i want is a PC that will leave my current one standing and will be future proof for 3-5 yrs
This is what i was going to buy last night along with 2GB of Corsair RAM... but had another Rethink. Doh!!
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...source=froogle

[nvening]

It will be future prrok fora mabe a month or two. However it should keep you going for atleast 3 years.

Basically some series of CPU are good clockers. Alot of this is because the chips produced by amd are good quality in this series and so alot of them could be sold as very hi end chips, however there is not enough demand for these hi end chips whereas there is plenty of demand for lower end chips and so mabe an fx55 capable chip is sold as a 3700+, which is exactly what happened with some of the 3700+ series.

Opteron are slightly different however as because they are server chips they are clock down from thier top speeds always as they need to be very reliable.

If you dont plan to overclock i would not worry about all of this, most CPUs will overclock to a degree and you will be limited by your ram often unless you buy expensive ram.

[wannabgeek]

Thanks for that! So would this be a good choice CPU for my Dual Asrock Mobo. I am not hat keen on OC but i may dabble later on! Also i need 2 GB of Ram any ideas ps? Many thanks