Building a new system

Gastrian · Jul 21, 2010, 08:26 PM

I've recently bought some new hardware to update my older spec but sadly it seems something doesn't want to play nice so I'm biting the bullet and buying new parts to build a second PC.

What I currently have is;
iteOn iHOS104 Blu-Ray player SATA - OEM Black
XFX HD 5770 850MHz 1GB DDR5 HDMI Dual DVI Display Port PCI-E Graphics Card With Assassins Creed Game
Antec 300 Three Hundred Case
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W - 80+ & SLI Certified - ATX12V 2.2/ EPS12V -135mm Fan
2x 1TB Western Digital Green SATA hard drives. I also have a 160GB Western Digital SATA hard-drive and a 500GB Western Digital Hard-Drive from my old system and might bring one over as a boot drive if the PSU can handle it.

I like my gaming but I'm more into strategy, RPG and RTS games, I have my Xbox 360 for the adventure games. I also do a lot of video encoding, as well as ripping and this system will act as a media player. Other than that its general home and office use.

I'm looking at a medium-to budget spec with acoustics trumping power, I've got an idea of what I want but need some assistance.

The parts I'm looking at are;
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 6MB Cache Retail Box Processor - £85
ASUS M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 - £85
Corsair CWCH50-1 Cooling Hydro Series H50 -£65
And 4GB of DDR3 1333 RAM

Now the questions
What is the main difference and benefits between a Phenom 2 and an Athlon 2?

Am I going to see a realworld difference between CL9 and CL7 RAM with that spec?

Am I better off getting a single strip of 4GB DDR3 RAM or 2x 2GB (paired) strips? About half a year to a year down the line I'll be looking at doubling up to 8GB RAM.

Is my PSU likely to handle the overclocking of that PSU?

I'm hoping to buy this week so any help would be much appreciated.

Takaharu · Jul 21, 2010, 11:44 PM

1 - Phenom > Athlon. It's like comparing Core 2 Duo to Pentium D.
2 - Nope, not really.
3 - For the price of a 4GB stick, go for 2x 2GB. The difference in performance wouldn't justify the price difference IMO.
4 - Yep. You'll have room left over.

As we're on the topic of giving opinions, ditch the X2 555. When you're working with videos a quad-core really does make that much difference.

Gastrian · Jul 22, 2010, 12:06 AM

As a revised spec how is this? I've changed the motherboard as the only reason I went for the Asus is because of the core unlocker but I won't need that if I get the x4 Phenom II.

Also even with an overclock the H50 and the cases 120mm and 140mm should keep it cool and quiet or would it an overclock make it audibly louder? If the overclock makes a noticeable volume difference then I'd probably not bother overclocking and might as well go down to a Phenom II 925 and save myself £15.

Corsair CWCH50-1 Cooling Hydro Series H50 High-performance CPU Cooler £64.99

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9 £75.03

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz 8MB L3 Cache £128.48

Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H 880G Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard £75.75

Cart total inc vat: £344.25

***Veridian3*** · Jul 22, 2010, 02:07 AM

Thats looking like a nice little system

Gastrian · Jul 22, 2010, 02:43 AM

Just placed the order and should arrive within a week

Jul 21, 2010, 08:26 PM	#1
Gastrian HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 266 Rep Power: 56	Building a new system I've recently bought some new hardware to update my older spec but sadly it seems something doesn't want to play nice so I'm biting the bullet and buying new parts to build a second PC. What I currently have is; iteOn iHOS104 Blu-Ray player SATA - OEM Black XFX HD 5770 850MHz 1GB DDR5 HDMI Dual DVI Display Port PCI-E Graphics Card With Assassins Creed Game Antec 300 Three Hundred Case OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W - 80+ & SLI Certified - ATX12V 2.2/ EPS12V -135mm Fan 2x 1TB Western Digital Green SATA hard drives. I also have a 160GB Western Digital SATA hard-drive and a 500GB Western Digital Hard-Drive from my old system and might bring one over as a boot drive if the PSU can handle it. I like my gaming but I'm more into strategy, RPG and RTS games, I have my Xbox 360 for the adventure games. I also do a lot of video encoding, as well as ripping and this system will act as a media player. Other than that its general home and office use. I'm looking at a medium-to budget spec with acoustics trumping power, I've got an idea of what I want but need some assistance. The parts I'm looking at are; AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 3.2GHz Socket AM3 6MB Cache Retail Box Processor - £85 ASUS M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 - £85 Corsair CWCH50-1 Cooling Hydro Series H50 -£65 And 4GB of DDR3 1333 RAM Now the questions What is the main difference and benefits between a Phenom 2 and an Athlon 2? Am I going to see a realworld difference between CL9 and CL7 RAM with that spec? Am I better off getting a single strip of 4GB DDR3 RAM or 2x 2GB (paired) strips? About half a year to a year down the line I'll be looking at doubling up to 8GB RAM. Is my PSU likely to handle the overclocking of that PSU? I'm hoping to buy this week so any help would be much appreciated. __________________

Jul 21, 2010, 11:44 PM	#2
Takaharu I can fart in 7 languages Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: England, UK Posts: 1,847 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Re: Building a new system 1 - Phenom > Athlon. It's like comparing Core 2 Duo to Pentium D. 2 - Nope, not really. 3 - For the price of a 4GB stick, go for 2x 2GB. The difference in performance wouldn't justify the price difference IMO. 4 - Yep. You'll have room left over. As we're on the topic of giving opinions, ditch the X2 555. When you're working with videos a quad-core really does make that much difference. __________________ I don't get paid to know the answer, therefore I'm far more likely to give you a straight and honest answer. Mods Rig, Box Mods Rig, Folding details

Jul 22, 2010, 12:06 AM	Thread Starter #3
Gastrian HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 266 Rep Power: 56	Re: Building a new system As a revised spec how is this? I've changed the motherboard as the only reason I went for the Asus is because of the core unlocker but I won't need that if I get the x4 Phenom II. Also even with an overclock the H50 and the cases 120mm and 140mm should keep it cool and quiet or would it an overclock make it audibly louder? If the overclock makes a noticeable volume difference then I'd probably not bother overclocking and might as well go down to a Phenom II 925 and save myself £15. Corsair CWCH50-1 Cooling Hydro Series H50 High-performance CPU Cooler £64.99 Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Kit Unbuffered CL9 £75.03 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Socket AM3 3.2 GHz 8MB L3 Cache £128.48 Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H 880G Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio MATX Motherboard £75.75 Cart total inc vat: £344.25 __________________

Jul 22, 2010, 02:07 AM	#4
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 181	Re: Building a new system Thats looking like a nice little system

Jul 22, 2010, 02:43 AM	Thread Starter #5
Gastrian HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 266 Rep Power: 56	Re: Building a new system Just placed the order and should arrive within a week __________________