Opinions on e8400 and Phenom II X3 720 BE Build

[123q]

So I am hoping that the community can shed some light on my first/new build and give me some good opinions/advice on parts


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within next 2 weeks

BUDGET RANGE: no more than $800 (excluding monitor)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, home(work)[Microsoft Office], internet surfing, videos/movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers. monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Living in Canada; preferred websites/retailers would have to Canada Computers or Tiger Direct

PARTS PREFERENCES: stereotypical towards AMD and ATI due to crappy AMD+ATI system i have now; would like a fresh start with INTEL and nVIDIA, but I'm open to suggestions

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024 (currently)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: want a computer that can boot up in 5 secs. My current computer takes like 2 minutes =.=. Really, i just want a computer that doesn't lag and can do well in the latest games (mostly L4D, CoD) at medium settings.

CURRENT PARTS:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket LGA775, 3.0 GHz OR AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition


Asus P5Q PRO Turbo Socket 775 Intel P45 + ICH10R OR Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H Socket AM2+


OCZ REAPER DDR2 PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL: 4-4-4-15
4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel Kit

BFG GeForce 9600GT OC nVidia GeForce
9600GT Chipset (675Mhz) 512MB (1800Mhz)
GDDR3 Dual Dual-Link

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 500GB
16 MB Cache (OEM)
Corsair 450VXW 450W ATX Power Supply
SLI-Ready, SATA Ready, 80 Plus*

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Intel) or (AMD)

LG G-H20L-S10 /Black SATA LightScribe
DVD-Writer 20xDVD+R/-R 8x
DVD+RW/6x DVD-RW 12xDVD+/-R9
Dual Layer 48xCD-R 32xCD-RW OEM

Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case ATX*

Cooler Master 120mm Case Fan

Thanks

 

[Proximon]

Doh! Missed the Canada part. Now I'll have to do more work... below might be a guide though.

That's all a bit light for the price and performance.

X3 720BE and 790GX AM3 board
This is a crossfire board and will accept a second video card. The PSU listed later will also support the second 4850. So, lots of upgrade room here. DDR3 will be around for a long time, although you are paying a bit more up front for it. The deal on the board makes up for the cost of DDR3.
G.Skill DDR3
--
Antec 300 Illusion and EA650PSU
More fans in this case for the hotter parts.
--
XFX 4850
Quite a deal right now. Nice warranty.
--
WD 640 GB
DVD drive
--
CPU cooler
No extra thermal paste needed. Will probably block first two RAM slots on board, but this will not impair performance.

 

[Proximon]

From newegg.ca, but you can find similar deals at NCIX
http://www.ncix.com/

DDR3 and X3 720 combo
Gigabyte 770 AM3 board
Antec 300 case
OCZ 600W PSU
XFX 4870 1GB
WD Caviar Black 640GB
DVD burner

 

[123q]

Doh! Missed the Canada part. Now I'll have to do more work... below might be a guide though.

That's all a bit light for the price and performance.

X3 720BE and 790GX AM3 board
This is a crossfire board and will accept a second video card. The PSU listed later will also support the second 4850. So, lots of upgrade room here. DDR3 will be around for a long time, although you are paying a bit more up front for it. The deal on the board makes up for the cost of DDR3.
G.Skill DDR3
--
Antec 300 Illusion and EA650PSU
More fans in this case for the hotter parts.
--
XFX 4850
Quite a deal right now. Nice warranty.
--
WD 640 GB
DVD drive
--
CPU cooler
No extra thermal paste needed. Will probably block first two RAM slots on board, but this will not impair performance.

Thanks for the reply; i like the reviews/benchmarks for the ATI HD4850, its beats the 9600 GT but then in Canada, they don't sell the XFX 4850, or any 4850 at that price; closest is the Sapphire 4850 @ $129.99

That goes same for the case, they only sell the version w/o the fans, so you need to buy them for yourself!

Thanks for the advice though, i really appreciate it. But seeing as you commented on the Phenom II, i assume its better then Intel 8400 build?

EDIT: whoops you posted faster than me

 

[Proximon]

Better? Only in games that support more than 2 cores. It's a similar part though at a good price. I have no problem with an E8400. I use one myself pushed to a very moderate 3.6Ghz.... if you could fit it into the budget it would be OK.

The thing is, LGA 775 is pretty much a dead end platform. AM3 and DDR3 is something that can probably be upgraded in two years, whereas any P43 board you find in the price range is going to be obsolete.

Right now, I have to worry about the future of this platform. Do I switch to a quad such as the Q9550 before they all disappear? I don't need one, my computer is very fast. I might need one next year.... will I still be able to get a quad at a decent price?

So, today AM3 is the best choice. You'll get great gaming performance from that 4870 and a better chance at upgrades later.

 

[Outlander_04]

If you check the CHARTS section of Toms and have a look at the 2009 cpu section you see the 720 out performing the e8400 in every 3d game .
But the main difference is price . The amd is cheaper

 

[megamanx00]

The 9600GT is a bit low end now, and since you're getting a crossfire board you can't get another 9600GT to sli it latter for more performance. At current prices the Radeon 4850 is a really great buy (the 512MB version is as low as $90 US. Don't know what that is in canadian). Anyway I would say that the 720 BE is preferable, but of course some games don't like an odd number of cores so depending an E8400 may be a better option.

 

[123q]

If you check the CHARTS section of Toms and have a look at the 2009 cpu section you see the 720 out performing the e8400 in every 3d game .
But the main difference is price . The amd is cheaper

Yeah, i saw that too, but here, the e8400 beats the X3 and X4 in games

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3512&p=8

not by alot, 6FPS

 

[Outlander_04]

Yeah, i saw that too, but here, the e8400 beats the X3 and X4 in games

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3512&p=8

not by alot, 6FPS

I guess this is about combinations of gfx cards and set ups on various computers .

Part of the difference might be that the AM3 board was running 4 x 1 gig of RAM in the am3 tests , but the ddr2 rigs were running 2 x 2 gig . And it was very slow DDR3 in the anandteh article .

maybe its not fair to say one is better than the other in gaming , but its definitely fair to say one is lighter on your pocket

 

[123q]

I guess this is about combinations of gfx cards and set ups on various computers .

Part of the difference might be that the AM3 board was running 4 x 1 gig of RAM in the am3 tests , but the ddr2 rigs were running 2 x 2 gig . And it was very slow DDR3 in the anandteh article .

maybe its not fair to say one is better than the other in gaming , but its definitely fair to say one is lighter on your pocket

thats definitely true, as of now, i thinking of saving more money and get a x2 550 instead of the x3; seeing as they perform similar to each other