AMD Phenom II X3 core 720 BE

[punisher 281]

I'm currently in the process of building my own computer, first time, and have settled on the AMD 720 Black Edition. I'm choosing this because of the low price, and some have told me that it performs really well. I'm mainly going to be playing games like Crysis, surfing the internet and watching movies. What is everyones thoughts on this CPU?

I'm also pairing the AMD up with this board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

Please don't recommend one of the new i5's or i7's because they are way out of my budget.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Have you looked at this board as well?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128398

Compare the 2, but the Gigabyte is about 15-20 cheaper after a rebate and looks to be close to the same thing. But double check it though. However, my current board is a Gigabyte and has been running strong close to 2 years, very few complaints with it. Also, do you plan to do crossfire or the like? If not, I think newegg has a Biostar board with the same chipset for 80 bucks or something like that. I think it only had 1 PCI-E slot though, but if you were interested in that route, you could try to stretch the budget a little higher for a better chip or better video card.

 

[punisher 281]

I really want to keep the board I have because ASUS is good for overclocking, so they say, and it comes with 2 PCI 2.0 slots. Eventually I will buy a pair of 5770's.

Any comments about the 720 BE?

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

I would recommend this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

I own two of those boards and they're very solid and superb overclockers (the board also allowed me to unlock a Phenom II X3 720s with ease).

In my humble opinion, Gigabyte > Asus (been this way since around 2006).

 

[punisher 281]

I'm kind of leaning towards the ASUS because it has onboard video which can hold me off until I can afford one of the 5770's. Unlocking the 4th core isn't really a main concern to me since Crysis will be the most demanding thing I run.

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

I'm kind of leaning towards the ASUS because it has onboard video which can hold me off until I can afford one of the 5770's. Unlocking the 4th core isn't really a main concern to me since Crysis will be the most demanding thing I run.

Well in that case your thread is pretty much closed. There is really nothing to add here lol

That CPU will be fine.

 

[xsever]

I have that CPU and I all I can say is that it's very powerful for how much it costs . I have the 4th core unlocked which adds to its value.

I highly recommend it.

 

[warmon6]

I would recommend this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

I own two of those boards and they're very solid and superb overclockers (the board also allowed me to unlock a Phenom II X3 720s with ease).

In my humble opinion, Gigabyte > Asus (been this way since around 2006).

I say before 2004, Have a 8IPE1000 Pro2 motherboard for my 478 pin p4 cpu.

 

[punisher 281]

Thanks for the help guys. This is a more useful site than that "other" one.

 

[DokkRokken]

Asus has recently released a BIOS update that makes core unlocking a little more accessible, in case you're feeling lucky with that 720.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/10/21/asus-refines-amd-core-unlocking/1

 

[redgarl]

I would recommend this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

I own two of those boards and they're very solid and superb overclockers (the board also allowed me to unlock a Phenom II X3 720s with ease).

In my humble opinion, Gigabyte > Asus (been this way since around 2006).

Well, if you want to gamble I say do it...

My GA-965P-DS3 died on me 3 times in less than 16 months... I was on my fourth board which I decided to get rid of for a mere 20$.

No... with my recent experiences... MSI >>> Asus >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Gigabyte.

Here a small read for you how Asus screw up everything lately... as for Gigabyte, they can rot in hell... never again I will buy one of their product...

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16229/4

 

[punisher 281]

That was a good read, but I'm going to use a pair of Sapphire 5770's. They have intake vents on the ends of the cards. The mobo also has plenty of spacing between the PCI 2.0 slots.