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| Thread ID: 102818 | 2009-09-02 12:09:00 | New budget system - what parts? | forrest44 (754) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 806330 | 2009-09-02 12:09:00 | Hi people Looking at getting a new mobo/cpu/ram to replace my aging Athlon XP 2000+ nforce2 system. What I'm I'm looking for: - bang for buck - something that isn't going to fry eggs and break the power bill - adequate performance for office/internet and new 3d desktop stuff - and also something that offers a good upgrade path in the future Had a quick look around pricespy and various reviews on the net. Seems AMD has some new CPUs that are cheap + fast + efficient. What do you think about this setup - should I change anything? What would you do? AMD Athlon II X2 240 cpu ~ $115 2.80GHz, 4000MT/s HT, 2MB Cache, 65W TDP, Dual Core ASRock A780GMH motherboard ~$135 AMD 780G chipset, integrated radeon HD3200 gfx w/ 128mb dedicated graphics RAM, low power consumption; 4x DDR2 slots, solid state caps, mATX form factor, etc 2x 2gb DDR2 ram ~ $100 A few questions: - About the RAM... What is the correct DDR2 ram speed to use with this CPU? Does it matter with this platform? Would I see a performance increase moving from DDR2-800 to DDR2-1066? Is it worth getting RAM with lower latencies with AMD platforms? - The cpu and mobo are both relatively new (< 6 months) on the market. Should I wait a few months to see if prices come down a bit? - New stuff seems to be quite cheap these days - will I get more bang for buck if I get slightly older stuff off trademe? - Does linux (ie, GCC optimisations) work faster/better with the AMD64 or Intel Core architectures, or is there little difference? - Could I build a similar Intel system in terms of performance/graphics/price/power consumption? Also, with Intel, would I have the same upgrade options? (EG if newer AM3 CPUs come out, they could in theory work in this board) - Is my old 60gb IDE hard drive going to be noticably slower than a new ~500gb SATA drive? A few more questions: - Let's say my old Athlon XP 2000+ cpu has a performance of 1.0. How much would the Athlon II X2 240 be? 2x? 5x? 10x? - Let's say my old Geforce 4 MX440 graphics card has a performance of 1.0. How much would the Radeon HD 3200 graphics be? 3x? 4x? 8x? Sorry for all the Qs... I should really keep up with new hardware developments :D |
forrest44 (754) | ||
| 806331 | 2009-09-02 12:34:00 | I would be looking for an Asus Motherboard rather than the Asrock effort. What is the 3D desktop stuff? The current hard drive I assume is IDE either 5400 or 7200 rpm. I take it that you do not have a lack of space on the drive at this time but using a SATA drive will be better. I take it that you use on board graphics currently? What case and PSU are you using? I would have no problem with an AMD processor over an Intel for what you want. What O/S do you want to run and what applications? I doubt you will notice the difference in RAM speed. |
Sweep (90) | ||
| 806332 | 2009-09-02 12:52:00 | definitely go sata with the hard drive, ide is alot slower and id say your hard drive is probaly nearing the end of its life anyway. As sweep said we'd need to know what sorta 3d stuff you mean, that could be gaming, or graphic design? Try and stay away from asrock, go for a better brand like asus or gigabyte, even if you buy the cheapest at least your gettin a decent warranty and its likely to last longer. Wouldnt bother with 1066 ram, that can be easily upgraded in future anyway. With graphics id look at something like a 7600gt (could pick one up on trademe cheap) And unless your a hardcore gamer AMD will be fine, worth every cent for 90% of users |
hueybot3000 (3646) | ||
| 806333 | 2009-09-02 13:12:00 | I don't play any games and definately don't want a discrete graphics card due to more heat, power and noise.... By 3d desktop stuff, I mean the vista aero thing, KWin in KDE4, compiz, etc. I'm sure an integrated GPU will be fine for this. Currently using onboard graphics with Slackware Linux (don't use windows). Am planning to upgrade soon to KDE4, which will run fine on any new-ish hardware Could you recommend a specific Asus or Gigabyte board under $140 or so? To be honest I'm not fussed with the brand name. - Should I go for a 780G chipset or something else? |
forrest44 (754) | ||
| 806334 | 2009-09-02 13:20:00 | Definitely go for a 780g mobo, i learnt 2 days ago that they can run full hd video so youl have no probems with the operating system enviroment. Im actually gonna build a new media center based on one. I reckon this (www.computerlounge.co.nz) Might be a bit more than you wanted to spend but it'l do the trick |
hueybot3000 (3646) | ||
| 806335 | 2009-09-02 13:21:00 | are you going to reuse your case and psu? if so what are they | hueybot3000 (3646) | ||
| 806336 | 2009-09-02 14:02:00 | I have a standard case or a Thermaltake Xaser V case, either of which I could use. I'm currently running an older Enermax 350w power supply which works well - I'm guessing I'll need to upgrade this? I'm thinking along the lines of a corsair VX450 or HX520. The enermax PSU has a 4 pin auxiliary 12v connector and a 20 pin connector. Is this what modern motherboards use? |
forrest44 (754) | ||
| 806337 | 2009-09-02 15:07:00 | Hmmm The 760G chipset looks good There is an asus board for about $130 using this www.asus.com |
forrest44 (754) | ||
| 806338 | 2009-09-02 21:38:00 | - and also something that offers a good upgrade path in the future ASRock A780GMH motherboard ~$135 Should I wait a few months to see if prices come down a bit? - Could I build a similar Intel system in terms of performance/graphics/price/power consumption? - Is my old 60gb IDE hard drive going to be noticably slower than a new ~500gb SATA drive? Forget Asrock. ASUS or Gigabyte. No such thing as fututre proof, you wait long enough you can't upgrade so don't worry about it. No, you couls wait forever and things change all the time. Yes you could do the same with Intel. Just. Yes the IDE is slower, would you notice? Probably not. Note though all the new boards, AMD or INtel will only have 1 IDE port though. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 806339 | 2009-09-02 22:12:00 | Forget Asrock. ASUS or Gigabyte. No such thing as fututre proof, you wait long enough you can't upgrade so don't worry about it. No, you couls wait forever and things change all the time. Yes you could do the same with Intel. Just. Yes the IDE is slower, would you notice? Probably not. Note though all the new boards, AMD or INtel will only have 1 IDE port though. Agreed. People can buy a PCI to IDE card that would allow 4 more IDE drives though in the event they need more. SATA is the way to go in my opinion. |
Sweep (90) | ||
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