Greetings.
Skip to THE BUILD to jump the history drivel.
History:
I've currently got a system based on the Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ (2 GHz, not overclocked). It's been rock solid over the last couple of years, but has recently begun to crash more and more frequently when under load, especially when warm (it invariably crashed when my AC was off, but not always if on). When I say warm, I mean the CPU is sub 50 C, so by no means hot.
Over the weekend I rebuilt it, removing dust, adding case fans, improving ventilation and fixing the dreaded spaghetti. Things have improved since then, but I do still get 4 - 5 crashes per week, plus the machine is unbearably noisy due to all the extra airflow. During the rebuild I came across 3 swollen capacitors that are likely causing my stability issues. Grumble.
(secretly I've also been feeling that it's become a little slow and dated for my liking, but don't tell anyone!)
_________
THE BUILD:
So it's time for an upgrade. I'm going to do this in stages:
Now: Motherboard, CPU, RAM
Soon: New Graphics card + 2x 24 inch LCDs (currently I have 2x 19 inch on a Geforce 7400GS).
A little later: New 2x 2TB HDDs in RAID 1 + a fast SSD for the OS (currently I have 2x 500 GB).
My Case and PSU still have room to grow, so I'll stick with what I have on that front.
I like to support the underdog (AMD) and consider Intel's i7 platform overpriced for my needs. I am not a gamer and don't intend to overclock anything. I need a snappy, quiet, reliable workhorse that will last me 2 - 3 years. I do quite a bit of encoding, en/decrypting, hi-res photo editing and the odd bit of movie editing.
I'm a Ubuntu man so I should be fine with 4 GB RAM. Sadly I don't live in a place with a great selection of components, but I have narrowed things down to the following options:
AM2 Option:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.0 GHz) AM2
RAM: Kingston HyperX 1066 DDR2 (2 x 2 GB)
AM3 Option:
Motherboard: GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 (3.2 GHz) AM3
RAM: Kingston HyperX 1600 DDR3 (2 x 2 GB)
Price difference: ~GBP 50.
Questions:
- AM2 or AM3? Is the price difference worth it?
- Which CPU Cooler would you recommend (no overclocking required, needs to be as quiet as possible)?
- Any other comments on the components listed?
Skip to THE BUILD to jump the history drivel.
History:
I've currently got a system based on the Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+ (2 GHz, not overclocked). It's been rock solid over the last couple of years, but has recently begun to crash more and more frequently when under load, especially when warm (it invariably crashed when my AC was off, but not always if on). When I say warm, I mean the CPU is sub 50 C, so by no means hot.
Over the weekend I rebuilt it, removing dust, adding case fans, improving ventilation and fixing the dreaded spaghetti. Things have improved since then, but I do still get 4 - 5 crashes per week, plus the machine is unbearably noisy due to all the extra airflow. During the rebuild I came across 3 swollen capacitors that are likely causing my stability issues. Grumble.
(secretly I've also been feeling that it's become a little slow and dated for my liking, but don't tell anyone!)
_________
THE BUILD:
So it's time for an upgrade. I'm going to do this in stages:
Now: Motherboard, CPU, RAM
Soon: New Graphics card + 2x 24 inch LCDs (currently I have 2x 19 inch on a Geforce 7400GS).
A little later: New 2x 2TB HDDs in RAID 1 + a fast SSD for the OS (currently I have 2x 500 GB).
My Case and PSU still have room to grow, so I'll stick with what I have on that front.
I like to support the underdog (AMD) and consider Intel's i7 platform overpriced for my needs. I am not a gamer and don't intend to overclock anything. I need a snappy, quiet, reliable workhorse that will last me 2 - 3 years. I do quite a bit of encoding, en/decrypting, hi-res photo editing and the odd bit of movie editing.
I'm a Ubuntu man so I should be fine with 4 GB RAM. Sadly I don't live in a place with a great selection of components, but I have narrowed things down to the following options:
AM2 Option:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.0 GHz) AM2
RAM: Kingston HyperX 1066 DDR2 (2 x 2 GB)
AM3 Option:
Motherboard: GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 (3.2 GHz) AM3
RAM: Kingston HyperX 1600 DDR3 (2 x 2 GB)
Price difference: ~GBP 50.
Questions:
- AM2 or AM3? Is the price difference worth it?
- Which CPU Cooler would you recommend (no overclocking required, needs to be as quiet as possible)?
- Any other comments on the components listed?
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