Phenom II 955 Build

[effel]

I'm helping a friend put together a brand new system, and he needs everything included. He isn't very tech savvy, but has the confidence to assemble the system himself. I think that the 955 is a more sound choice than the 940, because he most likely won't be overclocking the system. I don't want to go on and on with a justification of every part, but I did a fair amount of research for each selection. Feel free to share your comments.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8565294

 

[Outlander_04]

Its a nice build and will work well .

Depending on the budget , you could consider an AM3 mb and DDR3 RAM . Theres a small performance advantage ,but there should be support for parts for a longer period of time .
With some searching through the combo deals thats going to cost about $75 more

Also consider a 4890 gfx card . Very similar performance and price so buy the one with the best game bundle .

And since Vista going to be replaced shortly you could save money now by just downloading the RC of Windows 7 that will be available free in a few days .

 

[fullmetall]

Theres one thing in mind, wouldnt put a big beefy card on a little psu.

the 550w could work but, for how long?

650tx would be the recommended purchase for this build.

anything else can be upgraded down the road: mobo/Ram.

 

[Helloworld_98]

Fullmetal, it depends on efficiency not wattage, a 550w with 80Plus Gold can be just as good as a 650w with 80plus for instance.

but then again 80plus gold certified's are expensive PSU's, usually fanless though.

 

[effel]

bumping.

I'd like to get more responses.

 

[xthekidx]

It looks good to me, the BFG LS550 will do fine with one GPU. Seriously consider though if the 955 is worth $55 over the 940. You probably not see any difference in performance, maybe 1 frame per second in games. You will see a lot more benefit going with a better GPU, like the GTX 285 or even a 4850x2, which could still run on that PSU.