Having trouble making decision for new build

[D1football]

phenom x4 II black edition

Q9550 quad core

e8400/e8500

1st time poster here and 1st time builder. I dont know which cpu I should choose. I'm planning my first build but I dont have money to go i7. That leaves me wanting to go with a very strong cpu that can play all current games out (crysis) on high settings without a problem, and keep me high end for at least the next 2-3 years. Any input would be helpful thanks in advance.

 

[flyin15sec]

No advantage one way or another between PhenomII and Q9550. Both will perform similar in just about every game.

E8x00 dual core, only if money is tight. Shave off about $100 from Q9550 and $70 from PhenomII.

 

[o1die]

The new phenom 710 is only $124.99 at fry's, and should overclock well.

 

[kdes]

I would go for one of the quad cores.

what graphic card (gpu) you going for? Also aim for 4GB ram since when windows 7 comes out you will be happy you got the 4GB ram.

Crysis is badly developed game is hard to get the hardware to play it on full. crysis warhead is better optimized for todays hardware..

Just a friendly warning, its hard to put together a pc that will last a few years to play games on full. Every year a new game will come out will need higher hardware to run on full.

On average in my opinion a new pc will last 1 and half years, before having to play a new game on lower settings.Also the recommended hardware requirements on the back of a game box, does not necessarily mean to play the game on full but on high.

I would go for one of the quad cores
GTX 285 or HD 4870 if you can
4GB ram
good MB
Good power supply

That should get you to play all current games on very high, even max depending on the game bought.

Also depends alot on the screen you going to use. for example a resolution of 1280x1024 will give you alot more fps than a resolution of 1920x1200
an fps of 30 is regarded as just playable, a fps of 40 or more is ideal.

 

[billiardicus]

Checkout some Legionhardware articles. They test a bunch of different CPU's with the same GPU on a bunch of different games (example GTX 295 http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=807).

But if you're a first time builder, it might be better to post your budget, what resolution you game at, and what games you want to play, and everyone will help you build a system.

 

[kdes]

So what has happened d1football?