Hardware to accompany Phenom 9950

[djfiii]

I'm building a new PC which will act primarily as a htpc, and will be doing video encoding. I think I've settled on the quad core phenom 9950 cpu (was looking at the Intel Q9450 b/c the price dropped to 189 on newegg). On that note - I've looked at the benchmarks, and intel beats AMD on almost all of them, but I'm wondering what the practical difference would be in terms of time to encode a dvd to avi. Anyone have an opinion there? It seems the downside to the intel chip is that there are very few, if any, motherboards with onboard video capable of HDMI / DVI out, which I definitely want - I won't be gaming so I can save some significant cash with onboard video. With the phenom, there are plenty of motherboards with the AMD 780G and 790GX chipsets that have that onboard video. Does anyone think it;s preferable to get the Intel chip, a mobo without onboard vid, and a cheap PCI-e card with DVI / HDMI out?

It's been a while since I've built a PC, so I want to make sure everything I'm getting is compatible. For the RAM, I was thinking 4GB but I'm not sure about PC2-6400 vs PC2-8500, or how those relate the FSB speed. I also would like to be able to overclock the CPU, but don't want to go too hot because I don't want so much fan power that the thing is rediculously loud (it's an htpc after all).

Those are really the only components I have questions about - the mobo / ram that should accompany a phenom 9950. The rest I'm good with. All suggestions and tips appreciated!

Thanks

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

The 9950 X4 will be fine, and as for the motherboard get the one with the best onboard graphics. The RAM should be a 1066mhz or 1000mhz kit overclocked to 1066mhz. Phenoms LOVE 1066 RAM. Get the CPU to 2.8 and forget about it, unless you get a motherboard with the SB750, but that would negate the benefit of onboard graphics.

 

[djfiii]

why would that negate the benefit? Some of what I've read recently suggests the best mobo for the 9950 X4 is a 790GX north bridge and sb750 south bridge. I'm not clear on how that impacts the onboard vid?

 

[djfiii]

also, would a Antec NeoPower 550 550W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply be sufficient for this CPU or should I get something like a 750W?

 

[johnyeah]

I'm building a new PC which will act primarily as a htpc, and will be doing video encoding. I think I've settled on the quad core phenom 9950 cpu (was looking at the Intel Q9450 b/c the price dropped to 189 on newegg). On that note - I've looked at the benchmarks, and intel beats AMD on almost all of them, but I'm wondering what the practical difference would be in terms of time to encode a dvd to avi. Anyone have an opinion there? It seems the downside to the intel chip is that there are very few, if any, motherboards with onboard video capable of HDMI / DVI out, which I definitely want - I won't be gaming so I can save some significant cash with onboard video. With the phenom, there are plenty of motherboards with the AMD 780G and 790GX chipsets that have that onboard video. Does anyone think it;s preferable to get the Intel chip, a mobo without onboard vid, and a cheap PCI-e card with DVI / HDMI out?

It's been a while since I've built a PC, so I want to make sure everything I'm getting is compatible. For the RAM, I was thinking 4GB but I'm not sure about PC2-6400 vs PC2-8500, or how those relate the FSB speed. I also would like to be able to overclock the CPU, but don't want to go too hot because I don't want so much fan power that the thing is rediculously loud (it's an htpc after all).

Those are really the only components I have questions about - the mobo / ram that should accompany a phenom 9950. The rest I'm good with. All suggestions and tips appreciated!

Thanks

You mean the Q6600 right? The 9450 is currently out of stock at $319.99.

For an HTPC, Phenom 9950BE and a 790GX or 780G is probably one of the best combinations out there. You could get an Intel CPU + Motherboard + Low Profile GPU (it'll cost roughly $100 more, due to the extra video card you have to get and the performance for Q6600 at stock is not as good as the 9950BE). If you plan to play games, the 790GX or the 780G is the bare minimum you can play games with and most low profile video cards perform better than the onboard graphics.

If you plan to overclock, both CPU's are about the same. You can refer to anandtech or other sites for CPU benchmarks.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

why would that negate the benefit? Some of what I've read recently suggests the best mobo for the 9950 X4 is a 790GX north bridge and sb750 south bridge. I'm not clear on how that impacts the onboard vid?

Sorry, the price of the 790GX went down since I last looked, never mind.

 

[djfiii]

You mean the Q6600 right? The 9450 is currently out of stock at $319.99.

For an HTPC, Phenom 9950BE and a 790GX or 780G is probably one of the best combinations out there. You could get an Intel CPU + Motherboard + Low Profile GPU (it'll cost roughly $100 more, due to the extra video card you have to get and the performance for Q6600 at stock is not as good as the 9950BE). If you plan to play games, the 790GX or the 780G is the bare minimum you can play games with and most low profile video cards perform better than the onboard graphics.

If you plan to overclock, both CPU's are about the same. You can refer to anandtech or other sites for CPU benchmarks.

yes, sorry meant the q6600. the only reason I was even considering the extra $$ on the intel setup is because I'll be doing video encoding as well. Right now, on my 1.4GHz athlon it takes about 12 hours to encode a ripped dvd (raw VOB) to avi So if I cut that down to 1.5 hrs with the 9950, and the q6600 does it in like 1.25 hours, I'd rather save the money and go with the phenom. I don't plan to play games (nothing like crysis anyway - maybe simple stuff like WoW or other not so intensive GPU stuff). Thanks for the tips!

 

[djfiii]

Sorry, the price of the 790GX went down since I last looked, never mind.

ok, I thought perhaps you meant that there was some performance hit with the SB750. yes, the cost is reasonable. Looking at the GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX for $130. thanks for the tips!

 

[djfiii]

So here is my final setup. I have not pulled the trigger yet. Any suggested modifications?

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $70
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $130
Antec EA650 650W ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 - $80
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit - $90
AMD Phenom 9950 BLACK EDITION Agena 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 140W - $174
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - $65
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - $130

anyone know if that motherboard has any trouble with the 140w being sucked out by that CPU? I read that some boards can't handle the draw and it can actually fry the board.

 

[dirtmountain]

I'd go even cheaper on the power supply unless you plan to go with a graphic card in the future a $40 430w antec earthwatts with the system as is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006
The 9950 125w for $11 more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291

 

[djfiii]

I'd go even cheaper on the power supply unless you plan to go with a graphic card in the future a $40 430w antec earthwatts with the system as is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006
The 9950 125w for $11 more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291

nice, will do! I don't plan to add a graphics card later. there happens to be a $20 off combo deal with that antec case I snagged with a lot of antec PSU's but even with that, they are still as expensive as the 650W PSU. So you don't think the 125W CPU + other hardware will tax the 430W CPU? Any idea how much power hard drives suck? I will most definitely add drives later - potentially 3 more SATA tb drives. With that in mind, should I maybe stick with the 650W?

 

[superchris7]

Promo code EMCBAAHDD will get you $10 off the Phenom 9950BE 125 Watt on Newegg until 10/13. That will be about the same price with less heat.

*edit, I don't know if the promo code will work for everyone. You may have to sign up for the newsletter to use it.

 

[djfiii]

doh, just purchased. but thx!

 

[johnyeah]

doh, just purchased. but thx!

You can still email their customer service. Chances are they will let you get a $10 refund or something a long those lines.