CPU and Mobo advice?
 

Hello,

I've lurked around the forums semi-regularly and I was wondering if anyone could help me pick out a good value-priced CPU and Mobo.

Currently I have picked out a WD640GB hard drive, XFX 4890 XT and a Corsair TX750 just wondering what CPU/Mobo would go well with these components?

I'm partial to AMD but am not averse to using intel parts if they have better price/performance.

Mmmm... Price wise I'd like to keep it as low as possible but if there's a good performance boost willing to spend ~$450 CAD before tax for CPU and Mobo.

I'm not too familiar with OC'ing but I'd like to try as well (still looking for a cpu cooler for this too)

Any advice is welcome,
Thanks

NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P ATX AM3 AMD790X DDR2 CrossFireX 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard - GA-MA790X-UD4P In Canada.
and
NCIX.com - Buy AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM3 3.2GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box - HDZ955FBGIBOX In Canada.

I'm not sure about the RAM tho.

NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Platinum OCZ3P16004GK 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 CL 7-7-7-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit - OCZ3P16004GK In Canada.

Cooling

NCIX.com - Buy Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Direct Touch 3 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 LGA775 S754 S939 S940 W 120MM PWM Fan - HDT-S1283 In Canada.

Just in terms of gaming how much benefit would it be for dual and quad core, i know currently there is very little support for such things but do you think there will be future benefit?

NCIX.com - Buy AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Dual Core Processor Socket AM3 3.1GHZ 7MB Cache 80W Retail Box - HDZ550WFGIBOX In Canada.
AMD Phenom II X2 550 is quite a bit cheaper just wonder how much impact 2 extra cores and 0.1ghz would make.

Alternatively the Phenom II X3 720 apparently overclocks quite well (since it has less cores) and saves >$100

Here's an Intel offer:

E8400 @ $ 180
Gigabyte UD3P @ 130 (After 20 MIR)

That is $ 310 buckaroos! Enjoy!

NCIX.com - Buy NCIX Gaming Bundle Deal Gigabyte MA770-UD3 770 AM2+ Motherboard & AMD Phenom II X3 710 CPU - MA770-UD3-X3-710 In Canada.
this is on right now a ncix looks pretty good to me

Infonec Computers - Computer parts Canada, PC Components, laptop computers, motherboards, processors, CPUs and much more : GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3 4DDR2 2PCI/3PCI-E X1/2PCI-EX16 SATA,RAID,1394,GBLAN ATX

Infonec Computers - Computer parts Canada, PC Components, laptop computers, motherboards, processors, CPUs and much more : AMD Phenom II X4 955 Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

Thats 390 Before Taxes. Gets you the latest Quad Core from AMD.

I think its a good deal,

ST

Since I'm all about "bang-for-buck", my own personal choice would be for one of the Phenom II 3 core chips on a board (you'll have to do some research) that could unlock the 4'th core.

True but only certain batches are unlockable, X3 720: batch 0849CPMW(49th week of 2008), X3 710: batch 0906mpmw(6th week of 2009), and only certain motherboards will have the BIOS to allow for the unlock, and that X3 710 bundle at NCIX is not one of them. If you try to unlock one that is not in those batches you will most certainly have errors and instability.

Here is the list:

• ASRock AOD790GX/128M

• ASRock M3A790GXH/128M

• Asus M3A79-T Deluxe

• Asus M4A79-T Deluxe

• Biostar TA790GX3 A2+

• Biostar TA790GX 128M

• DFI LANParty DK790FXB-M2RS

• Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H

• Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4

• Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H

• Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P

I concur, the E8400 is a great chip.

Thanks for the advice, how well does the E8400 overclock? I'm just looking at benchmarks and just for comparisons I'm just wondering how would the Phenom II X2 550 stack up against the E8400? It's about $50 cheaper as well.

I had heard the non-black edition AMD cpus don't overclock well at all. I think if they had a X3 720 BE in there I'd be happier. Thank you though.

I guess similar to my first reply just wondering if its worth spending on the latest Phenom II.

i had looked into this but i dno' thtink there is a reliable method to ensure you'll get the 4th core :( Unfortunately, otherwise I would've gone for that for sure

Anyways... i guess really i want the most benefit for my money, I don't know if i made it too clear but i was willing to spend the $450 bucks if it was really a significant benefit over spending like ~300 bucks for an X3 720BE and AM3 Mobo.

So following sswilson's statement i think "bang-for-buck" is really my aim here, not just a price limit. I don't know if it makes things more clear.

Can't remember if i mentioned that the comp is mainly for gaming and homework so i mean yeah... Does that make it any easier?