The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

Will: X style platforms motherboards?
Russ: Yep, that's the board - and it was on the main Gigabyte website all of yesterday as I was comparing them to see exactly what I/O they had.
Jeff: Have to say I disagree. You can say what you like about whether an i5 is a worthwhile upgrade from a Q9550 and yes, it is relatively minor. However, to say the i5 in particular is not for gamers isn't really the case, a more basic version of the CPU that costs a lot less is performing better in games than the i7, and when you look at it compared to say your X4 940, there's a substantial difference. Taking games like Crysis Warhead which with multi-GPUs is even more CPU bottlenecked than with a single, the i5 will definitely help there.
The original Crysis, only on High detail is enough to illustrate the point - an X4 955BE is getting 26fps average with drops to 21 stock - at its best OC (which is also the 940's best OC) you get 34 average with 26 minimum, which is slightly less than the i5 achieves stock. Overclock it and you're almost at 40fps average with a much higher minimum of 32 - that, I would notice, and furthermore, with Warhead's even worse CPU restrictions plus the effect of multi GPUs, I think the i5 really will pay off for a few games. It's worth noting that the overclock they had out of the Q9650 (though they don't say what it was ) provides no performance in games beyond that of the overclocked 955BE in Crysis.

 

From Tom's Hardware

 

This is exactly the sort of article that we need to demonstrate the issue about testing CPUs with 100+ fps. The overall idea of the post is right, but where does it apply to future hardware? I don't need to read it here, I know first hand that high-end CPUs are a benefit to quad GPU systems far more than duals, but will that remain true of the next gen? CPUs have not taken a quantum leap in performance this generation, even with the i7 - per clock, the sort of gains are no more than about 30%, and while the overclocking may have improved a little since the LGA775 Quads, the stock clock speeds are little to no higher. Meanwhile, last year's graphics update was a full 80% on most of the technology, and if the specs are anything to go by, the DX11 generation could be similar. This will, in my mind, undoubtedly change the balance of what CPU power you can 'get away with' on a particular graphics budget. It is for this reason that I am willing to purchase an i5.
The argument at the end is placed there of course, simply because nvidia run Tom's Hardware (essentially), and since the performance trends of these cards are well known, is a completely redundant paragraph.

 

I'm bored of the i5 already.

Whatever happened to the Athlon II X4?? Obviously it isn't going to win anything performance wise but it should be shut people up about the i5 being this sort of uber-cheap leviathan.

 

When it comes out, we'll talk about it. Quite frankly, unless AMD cut their prices, they're severely outcompeted by the Core i5, so we need something from them to bring the balance back.

 

the x4 athalon II will be under 90 euros IICR and compete with the Q8200 and aparently is VERY low comsumption for a quad and a good ocer aswell.

 

The Athlon II X3 and X4 as I can see will come out as follows:

95W TDP CPUs (remembering these DO still have a northbridge, so will be less efficient than the i5s)
X4 630: 2.8Ghz
X4 620: 2.6Ghz
X3 435: 2.9Ghz
X3 425: 2.7Ghz

45W TDP CPUs
X4 605e: 2.3Ghz
X4 600e: 2.2Ghz
X3 405e: 2.3Ghz
X3 400e: 2.2Ghz

I don't have any details on pricing unfortunately, and obviously, overclocking we won't know until they're released.
It's difficult to gauge exactly where these CPUs compete to Intels, and obviously tri-cores don't fit anywhere as there are no intel tri cores, but I would hazard a guess at it being something like this:
X4 600e: c. 10% below Q8200
X4 605e: c. 5% below Q8200
X4 620: c. 5-10% above Q8200
X4 630: c. Q8400

If that's about right, then the 620 and 630 are nothing to shout about unless they're extremely cheap - Q8200s are occasionally nudging down into double figures, and are going to end up more power efficient than these CPUs, possibly better overclockers as well. As it often is with AMD, it's a question of price as to whether they're competitive or not. AMD's pricing has been very aggressive of late, and I imagine it will continue to be. If AMD roll these chips out at something like £80, they will be a serious consideration for quad core users on a budget.
As for the X4 600e and 650e, though they will be the slowest quad cores since the original Phenom, you have to hats off to AMD for pulling off a 45W Quad core - no longer are quad cores solely the domain of the intermediate, a tiny pico system could run a chip that efficient. Pricing will once again have a part to play, as will the accuracy of the TDP, the Q8200S is doing pretty good business so far.

 

Well newegg accidentally listed the 620 at $125.99 the other day sooo it's a fair bit cheaper but not great. A not paticullally reliable looking site reckons they have got the 620 up to 3.6GHz:

 

Disreputable or not that sounds about right. I do remember the Athlon II X4s having been mis-listed at a few places. $126 isn't too bad, the Q8200 is an unusually high $150 still. That's one of those things that's more expensive in the US than it would be here.
Divide the $149.99 for a Q8200 by the exchange rate and add our VAT, and it's £104.50, before the import excess. Q8200s here can sometimes be had for around £98-£99.

3.64Ghz puts that at a 40% overclock for the X4. The Q8200 can attain around 40-45% in most systems, pretty close. Still, it's not just AMD that need to lower the prices of their current hardware, it's Intel as well, the i5 has rendered the E7/E8/Q9 series overpriced.

 

I5=$209
Q9550=$169
E8400=$129

$40 to $80 is alot of difference in my eyes.seeing im the one working to pay for it

and then $60+ more for a mobo
and then $40-$60 more for ddr3 mem

thats alot of more money spent for I5 right now that isnt justifible in my eyes. i just dont see how I5 has rendered the E8xxx or Q9xxx series over priced. looks to me its the other way around.
Sam you have a what i call a top notch hi end mobo and the second higest rated Q9550(personaly i think is the best) and prolly the best mem also(dominators right)? when you went to the Q9550 you didnt have to buy new everything. why would spending another $500-$600 be worth the little performance that will be gained going I5? dont get me wrong i like the looks of I5 as i would like to build one myself but it hasnt rendered these other chips overpriced. at least not that way im looking at it.


ok new topic. i was just looking at a PSU thread a bit ago. i got this one in the cart ready to purchase i think i know the answer allready. but how does this rate with others out there in this power range?\
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

 

The Q9550 was never $169, it's obviously been price dropped given the i5 release, which is good news I suppose for socket 775. At $169 the Q9550 is not overpriced.
Also, what's with the sig? hehe
The 750W HX is a pretty good PSU to be honest, not that quiet or cheap, but very powerful, and a solid 750W modular unit.

 

ive had my Q9550 for over a month now and paid $169 for it. as did bigwill. i paid $109 for my E8400 when they first came out(yes it was a promo when i got mine)Bigwill i think paid $149 for his E8400 and thats a EO bad boy.

as for the PSU
i was looking at getting the HX620 but for $20 more i think the 750 is a much better deal. as for being quiet enough...lol i have 3 kids 11yo,7yo,5yo i could have a 747 in my rig and would be quieter than them.. i dont have my system in a sound proof room or where i sleep unless i fall asleep at the keyboard. then it still wouldnt be to loud if i did that..lol

 

By all means get the 750W if you like, the 750's a CWT unit, whereas the 620's a Seasonic. All Corsairs are good, but I like the Seasonic ones the most. Fact is though, you could run three Q9550s at once off the 620, let alone the 750!

 

isnt the actual rateing for the corsair PSU alot higher than they are presented as? my tx650 is actually around 730+/- i once read some where.

now you said the 620 could power 3 Q9550's it has that much power. but what about all the other stuf add into the equation? 5 odd's, 5 hdd's, card readers, gpu, 9+ fans, red cathodes, external drives ect... wont that put a strain on things?

and my new sig well i was born in the summer of woodstock 40 years ago.....lol

 

HDDs use very little power, ODDs little more (and only if all are burning at once), fans and cathodes make no difference, neither do external drives if they're powered via power bricks. A Q9550 With that configuration of drives with an HD4870 would be a full load of about 360W, if you were burning with all 5 ODDs while playing a game.

Ah, I'll let you off then

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzGtxlaPQqY&

intresting!

 

I tell you what shaf that's alot of screen to be buying...I counted 6
your pockets gotta be Deep

 

LOL i think my 2 monitors now are MORE than enough, no need for more!

 

interesting also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwJg-cLE8U8

The King is Here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwh29audhvU

 

i love the feature, " Super cool pipe" HAHA