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The New AMD Building Thread

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by theonejrs, Nov 18, 2008.

Page 74 of 124
  1. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    High-end yes. Top-end I'm not so sure. I could have an i5, P55 board, 4GB of good RAM, a pair of HD5850s with case, PSU, drives, all in for £1000, which is a very reasonable budget for a "top-end" gaming PC, realistically, it's a little on the stingy side, and clocked up to 3.7-3.8 ish which is doable with one-touch on some MSI boards - I'd have a PC that would dramatically outmatch your gaming PC.
    Due to the mild overclock I wouldn't say my own real PC bests yours by very much at all, but the fact remains you can build a system that eats a Phenom II alive, especially if you're willing to overclock, for a very reasonable price. As I often state, AMD have some sweet products, but they just don't have anything "top end".
     
    sammorris, Oct 21, 2009
    #1461
  2. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    theonejrs, Oct 21, 2009
    #1462
  3. shaffaaf

    shaffaaf Regular member

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    shaffaaf, Oct 21, 2009
    #1463
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Interesting idea. Call me pessimistic but I still think this feature gets way more hype than it should.
     
    sammorris, Oct 21, 2009
    #1464
  5. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Estuansis,
    I couldn't agree more. I'm sure AMD doesn't sponsor Gaming Teams for nothing, so I think they are pretty darn good! I'll let you know as soon as I get an Athlon II x4 630! If I can get this eMachine I have fixed and sold, I'll have it! LOL!!

    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Oct 21, 2009
    #1465
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    There's a bit of conflicting terminology here. I chose the phrase "top end" rather than "high end" for a reason. We're not talking stupid low budget barebone "high end" here, when I say high end, I mean it.
     
    sammorris, Oct 21, 2009
    #1466
  7. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Shaff,
    Most motherboards have similar functioning features. It's nothing new! My UD4H will let me run a duff core at lower speeds to make use of a bad core if possible. AMD Overdrive functions the same way. In fact you can set each core's OC individually, and test each core at any speed. Each core can have it's voltage set as well!

    Best Regards,
    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Oct 21, 2009
    #1467
  8. shaffaaf

    shaffaaf Regular member

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    i know that, this is just sayign that you can choose what cores you want enabled/disabled
     
    shaffaaf, Oct 21, 2009
    #1468
  9. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Yeah, but you don't think any AMD is worthy of "high end" status! Most here can't afford to build a "high end" rig at the moment, so it's totally pointless to even mention! Somehow, the rest of us will not die because we don't own an i7 and can't afford one. The name of the game today is value for your Dollar! A Phenom II-940 or 945 would fit the bill very nicely! It and the MA790X-UD4H motherboard is a lot of quality bang for the buck! Use the money you save to get a better video card!

    I'm about a couple of weeks away from ordering a 2.8GHz Athlon IIx4 630, and then I'll see what it's made of! Should be fun!

    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Oct 21, 2009
    #1469
  10. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Actually Russ, yes I do:
    There's not a great deal of point. Unless you're going for high-end graphics power, you don't need anything more than, say a GTX275 or HD4890. If you want more than that, your budget is high enough to buy a Core i5.
     
    sammorris, Oct 21, 2009
    #1470
  11. sytyguy

    sytyguy Regular member

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    Have you thought about the Athlon II X3 435: AMD's Three-Core, 2.9 GHz, $87 Triple-Threat?

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3,2452.html#
     
    sytyguy, Oct 21, 2009
    #1471
  12. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Hard to find the 435 at the moment though - there's a small number around in the UK, not available at newegg currently. The 630 is a more efficient chip though really, another core for no extra TDP, and only an extra $35. If I had to choose between the two I'd take the 630. If I had to choose any AMD for that sort of price I'd buy an X2 550.
     
    sammorris, Oct 21, 2009
    #1472
  13. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    sytyguy,
    I was considering the Phenom II x3 720BE, but the Athlon II x4 630 pretty much equaled or beat it in just about every test I've seen. Not a BE, but it can stand some decent CPU Host Clock speed. 3.7 to 3.8 seems pretty decent to me, and I know of two at that speed on UD4Hs!

    You did notice in Tom's review that the Athlon II x3 435 was overclocked about 800MGh? The others were stock! No 630 included either, only the 620, which isn't worth buying because the 630 is so much better for $22 more. It did a pretty good job squaring off against the Q8200, Q8300 and the Q9550 in previous reviews.

    Best Regards,
    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Oct 21, 2009
    #1473
  14. Estuansis

    Estuansis Active member

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    The X2 550 BE or the X3 720 BE are the best budget chips out. The Athlon II X4 is a happy compromise for mass mfgs and good market filler but little else. Most individual builders will be getting the Phenom II parts just because they are so fast and cheap. The X3 720 BE is supposed to be an excellent value I'm told and offers the advantages of multi threading but with only 3 cores. It scales well though and OCs quite decently. Looking to be about 3.5-3.8GHz on average. Not to mention it's a fully featured Phenom II with 6MB of L3 cache. The Athlon II, while still way faster than an original Phenom, has none. This has to make a difference between the 630 X4 and the 720 X3. They'll each be better at certain things but the 720 has more raw power. And at $115 now I think it's about as good as it gets.

    Of course I understand everyone has their own individual needs so buy what suits you.
     
    Estuansis, Oct 21, 2009
    #1474
  15. theonejrs

    theonejrs Senior member

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    Estuansis,
    All I did was go back and re-read the reviews I posted a month or so ago. I took special note, of the 720BE and the 630's performance. At the end of the tests, and I added up all the scores, the 630 was the clear winner between the triple and the quad. I don't mind telling you that I was surprised. The 630 won more outright, than the 720BE did!

    Russ
     
    theonejrs, Oct 22, 2009
    #1475
  16. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Once again, Tom's Hardware not impressing me with their review methods. I tend to disregard cache as an absolute measure of speed and just gaze at some equivalancy benchmarks - that should say enough about what the cache does - otherwise the temptation is to go "look, it's faster AND has more cache!" when it could be faster BECAUSE of the cache, nothing more.
    The 620 and 630 really aren't bad CPUs at all, I'm not sure where anyone said they were...
     
    sammorris, Oct 22, 2009
    #1476
  17. cincyrob

    cincyrob Active member

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    cincyrob, Oct 22, 2009
    #1477
  18. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    if he's buying a V8 cooler, he may as well just get the 945 and overclock it, that will serve him better.
     
    sammorris, Oct 22, 2009
    #1478
  19. cincyrob

    cincyrob Active member

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    THATS just it he allready has the V8 on his phenom 3 now.doesnt have to buy it
     
    cincyrob, Oct 22, 2009
    #1479
  20. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I don't understand - you asked if the cooler would fit and then say he already has it installed?
     
    sammorris, Oct 22, 2009
    #1480
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