[Gastrian]

Hi I need some help, in the next month or two I'm looking to replace my current setup with something a bit more modern. Other than the standard PC usages of internet browsing, office work and MSN I will be using it for video decoding/encoding (I'm ripping my DVD collection and soon to be Blu-Ray collection to DivX), minor game playing (RTSs mainly like Dawn of War 2 and Starcraft 2 as well as Diablo 3 when it comes out) and as a media center which will be hooked up to a 1080p Plasma TV.

I've decided on the Sapphire Ultimate 4670 as the GPU but am unsure as to the CPU and motherboard configuration. My only three concerns are that it must be inexpensive, (about £150 for the combination), reliable and quiet. Any suggestions?

[kris23]

i recommend something based around the AMD Phenom II tri or quad cores with 4GB DDR2 and AMD 790GX chipset

[CDsDontBurn]

I would suggest that you go something intel. like a 945 chipset motherboard and an e8400. 4GB of DDR2 RAM is still a good suggestion.

[Mac Daddy]

Whatever manufacturer you chose I would opt for a quad core if you are doing a lot of video decoding /encoding ... very CPU intensive.

[Matth]

In Intel, a Quad won't leave you anything for a motherboard out of that budget.

If the encoding is under ATI Avivo, then the graphics card will be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

I'd be wary of the 945 chipset (Intel), it's well past its sell by date, a Pentium 4 era chipset retrofitted with Core 2 capable VRM on newer boards, and overclocked at any FSB over 800 (QDR) / 200 (base clock), though it seems they can hold down 1066 acceptably.

[Gastrian]

Kris23, would I need a 790GX chipset though if I'm going for a dedicated graphics card?

I'll be running the encoder while I'm asleep and at work using DrDivX (or another software if I find better). Running with the GPU will I notice much difference between a Dual Core and a Quad Core Core 2 CPU? Also after the initial load I'll be doing batches of 3 to 4 Blu-Ray discs so it won't be constant encoding.

Would this be a good combination?
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Socket 775 2.4GHz (800MHz) L2 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer Intel Core 2 Duo E4600
Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G iP31 Socket 775 5.1 channel audio ATX Motherboard - Ebuyer Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G iP31. Its a little over my budget at £160

[kris23]

the 790GX chipset is the only cheap chipset that has the SB750, you dont need to use the onboard GPU if not needed. the 790GX chipset supports crossfireX

generally, to get the same features seen in the AMD chipsets you will need to spend a big chunk more on the intel side to get a good quality P45 board.

with your budget restrictions, AMD is the best value.

also, you'll like a tri or quad core more than a fast dual core when encoding.

try looking for an AMD phenom II 920 with a cheap 790GX chipset, if too expensive try an AMD tri core

[Gastrian]

Has the quality of the 790GX motherboards improved? This review was 12th December 2008 and only recommends to got for the Asus M3A78-T which I can only find for £100 or more
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews....=681&pageid=17

There is a Biostar TA790GX-A2+ for £73 which I can then use with the AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 Black Edition which is just under £100 so its less than £25 over my budget which I can stretch too.

[kris23]

the M3A78-T is a very high end product compared to the majority of the other 790GX boards

as long as you have a good return policy with your retailer, youre set. i dunno how good Biostar is but thats the most popular board at newegg and dont have a very high failure rate so i say go right ahead

[OldBuzzard]

ASRock AOD790GX

Newegg.com - ASRock AOD790GX/128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

And before you dismiss it because it's an Asrock board, check out a couple of reviews on it. Danged nice board with plenty of features, and not all that costly.

Reviews:
http://www.pro-clockers.com/reviews/?id=129

http://www.thinkcomputers.org/index....reviews&id=850

http://www.cpu3d.com/review/5844-1/a...roduction.html

[Gastrian]

Thanks for that, sadly I'm British so can't shop at newegg and the only listing I can find for it over here puts it around the £100 mark which puts it out of my price range if I'm going for a Phenom X3 CPU as well.

[CyberpowerUK]

Grab any 790GX based board they're all pretty much the same. I've found the performance to be very good on all boards now the BIOS has matured somewhat.

Personally I like the M3A79-T although that's over £100. The DFI Dark series are very good as well

Mike

[Matth]

Originally Posted by Gastrian

Kris23, would I need a 790GX chipset though if I'm going for a dedicated graphics card?

I'll be running the encoder while I'm asleep and at work using DrDivX (or another software if I find better). Running with the GPU will I notice much difference between a Dual Core and a Quad Core Core 2 CPU? Also after the initial load I'll be doing batches of 3 to 4 Blu-Ray discs so it won't be constant encoding.

Would this be a good combination?
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Socket 775 2.4GHz (800MHz) L2 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer Intel Core 2 Duo E4600
Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G iP31 Socket 775 5.1 channel audio ATX Motherboard - Ebuyer Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G iP31. Its a little over my budget at £160

If you were following that example, I'd ditch the E4600 (Duo 2.4GHz 800FSB 2MB cache), in favour of:
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz Socket 775 1066MHz FSB 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer
It's cheaper than the 4600, cheaper than the 7300 even - so long as the motherboard can do 1066 (yes)

[blibbax]

e7400 with P31 sounds like a good solution, if you can live with two cores, which I imagine you can. Just as a heads up, you won't be playing many new games at high settings 1080p with that graphics card. It should certainly be fine at low/medium though. If you can pick up a 9600GT at a similar price, do.

You also need to think about fan noise if it's a media centre, from GPU and PSU especially.

[Gastrian]

The 1080p will be mainly for movies. The Sapphire Ultimate 4670 is a fanless graphics card so there'll be no noise from that and I'll be running a single 1TB Green Western Digital HDD.

Are the stock coolers for AMD and Intel CPUs generally quiet at non overclocked speeds?

[blibbax]

Originally Posted by Gastrian

Are the stock coolers for AMD and Intel CPUs generally quiet at non overclocked speeds?

Yes, but not as quiet as you'd be wanting for a media centre. I'd strongly reccomend spending less than £10 on a cooler from a reputable mak,e with PWM, so that you can have ultra low fan speeds without worrying about temperatures.

Vampyrbyte (a DH forum member) has an e7300 with the stock cooler, and at maximum fan speeds he sometimes gets load temps above 60 degrees celcius.