AMD

[BDC]

OK it seems that core2duo is the cpu of choice currently. before finances took me out of the market, I was thinking of a AMDx2 939\Tyan tomcat cpu mobo combo. Now that the $ is looking better it seems the system I build will need to be Vista ready altough I plan to take XP at least to Vista 'SP1'.
So essentially what I'm asking is apart from AMD cpu . CoolerMaster or Lain-Li alu case and 1500-2000$ I'm a clean slate, the only things written in stone is the alu case and AMD, I have not researched much else and therefore have few pre-concieved notions. I trying it like this to try to get real world as opposed to factory hype.
This will be my first ground up build everything else has been maintenance and upgrades
Finally a couple of things -graphics sli\crossfire
cpu 939 am2
thanks in advance BDC

 

[skyguy]

Your budget is $1,500 to $2,000....very good budget to work with.

Something I don't understand though....with that GOOD budget you STILL want to go with a current AMD, even though you've stated yourself that you know it gets trounced by C2D?!?!?

I would totally agree going with AMD if you're on a very tight budget, but your budget is actually very good. So why go with a slower, older system when you can easily afford newer technology that's faster, cooler, and quite inexpensive now?

Am I missing something obvious here????



Oh, and for the record...I'm no Intel fanboy. I've actually owned more AMD systems than Intel in my day......I'm a bang-for-the-buck fanboy....and C2D makes far too much good sense over AMD for the next while.

 

[yipsl]

I've owned 4 AMD CPU boxes, one Cyrix and 5 Intel since 1993. That includes two CPU upgrades on one Pentium motherboard.*

Right now, I went AMD, partly for budget but also partly because I felt that AM2 would be a good platform for an upgrade to an AM2+ quad core when they arrive. There are people arguing socket 939 performance over AM2, but I think the backwards compatibility of AM2+ processors is a compelling reason to consider AM2 for a new build over socket 939.

The benchmarks aren't all that compelling that budget C2D is radically superior to budget X2, the difference seems to be in the high end right now, and I still don't see it as enough to warrant a change. I just don't trust Intel regarding socket 775 motherboards that accept a low end C2D accepting a future native quad core. They've done the voltage on the motherboard bait and switch tactics too much the past few years.

If I'd had $1500 for a new build, I'd have still gone AM2, but I would have opted for one of the last X2's with a 1 meg cache like the 5200+ Windsor, gotten a 750 gig Seagate SATA 3.0, a Seasonic 500 watt PSU and an 8800GTS.

Otherwise, I'd still have gone for the same barebones I have today. The only other change is that I could have gone with performance DD2 800 over budget 667, but compared to my old Northwood, this box rocks. It just rates at 20 out of 32 similiar systems in 3D Mark 06. Perhaps that's because I haven't tried overclocking it.

My advice is get what you want now. Current performance with or without regard to future upgrades. Some people don't mind swapping out the mobo, but I hate that myself, so I go for a system where I know I can get the next CPU I want when it arrives at a price I can afford.

* memory lane:

386SX-40 AMD CPU soldered onto the motherboard!

486 DLC 40 Cyrix (designed to go into a 386 motherboard LIF socket)

486 DX2 50 Intel

486 DX2 80 AMD (slight upgrade to run Daggerfall, on the same motherboard as the DX2 50).

Pentium 120 Intel

Pentium 166 Intel

K62-450 AMD

P4 1.6 Williamette Intel

P4 2.8 Northwood 533 fsb Intel

Athlon X2 3800+ AMD

Most of the time, I upgraded because games I wanted demanded it. It's not like anything out there really forced upgrades. Gaming on the PC, though much maligned by both console fans and nongamers has really pushed the envelop and we would not be at Vista Aeroglass without 3D first becoming standard in games.

 

[alcattle]

I second the vote for AM2 socket. Future proof as much as you can. I like my Lian-LI case but many use the cooler master here. Figure out some of your other choices and we can point you further. SLI? Overclock? Level of Gaming? Other uses?

 

[elpresidente2075]

Another vote for AM2, if at least for the DDR2 standard it supports. DDR is getting old, and will be completely obsolete soon enough. Upgradeability is also a plus, especially since AM2+ and AM3 are supposed to use the same socket/memory, although AM3 will also be DDR3 compatible.

As for SLI/Crossfire, they're not worth the money, at least in my opinion. This is because in 5 months they get outperformed by one single-card setup for half the price. But if you have the money, the need for speed, and the want to show off to your friends, its all the bang you can get. I'd go for SLI (were I to do it at all) due to better driver support (ATI drivers are notably worse than Nvidia), and the fact that Nvidia's chipsets seem to be more overclockable than most, as well as having many connectors for things like HDD and USB.

You have a lot of dough to spend on this system, and it seems you'll be spending the most on your proc and video card(s). You may, however, want to go slim right now, save your cash for AMD's next arch to come out, and get it then. Like alcattle said, a bit more information would be very welcome in making a better recommendation.

 

[BDC]

Thanks for the input. I also would prefer to 'future proof' as much as possible , I do not intend to overclock ,my gaming is moderate (civ4 some Oblivion)),I don't have a need for blazing speed , I agree about driver support for ati but I like their crossfire solution if I were to start with a single vid card. I intend to have dual hdd on a raid (sata).
I halso would have no patience for a for upgrading my mobo would rather upgrade the cpu would prefer a mobo thats a bit bullet proof, its why I was looking at the Tyan tomcat last year.
Just a reminder wasn't the 939 supposed to go deeper into the before they changed their mind and went am2 , like intel thay can/will change specs on us,just not at the drop of a hat.

BDC

 

[lupinesithlord]

I'd suggest Geil ultra pc2 6400 Ram, I've found it to be good and economical at the same time when I have used it. 2 gigs of 4-4-4-12 can be had in the 210ish range(2x1).
Now I realize that my next statement might bring into question my sanity (and or intelligence), but nonetheless I would suggest looking at the
Biostar TForce590SLI Deluxe motherboard. It was rated as the highest performing am2 motherboard at motherboards.org, their review system has been accurate over the years. I had issues getting over the idea of buying a Biostar for my personal rig, but am glad that I did, as it is a real nice board.
I used to use strictly intel for years, but moved to AMD with the xp2200. I also like the future proofing of the am2.
If youre looking for hard drive as well, Seagate 7200.10s. great drive, 5 year warranty and western digital has gone downhill in quality over the years...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor
BIOSTAR TForce590SLI Deluxe Socket AM2
GeIL Ultra 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 PC2 6400
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
EVGA Ge-force 7600s sli
Logitech G-15 keyboard (love the backlit keys)