$900 Best Phenom II X4 Gaming/Etc. Overclocking

[DaSick1]

Best I could come up with.

(4) Cooler Master R4-C2R-20AC-GP

AMD Phenom II x4 955

ARCTIC COOLING MX-3

Asus m4a79xtd evo

CoolerMaster CM-690

Dynatron 80x80x15mm

Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3 1800MHz

Lite-On IHAS424 SATA 24X http://images.compusa.com/skuimages/large/L12-1334-main01-jl.jpg
OCZ XTC Memory Airflow Cooler

Patriot 8GB Xporter XT (ReadyBoost)

Radeon HD 5850

Screws

Sticker

Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme

Ultra Lifetime Series Pro 750w

Got card reader, 1 750GB HD for Windows 7 x64, etc. and 2 300GB HD in Raid 0 for games.
Overclocking: 3825MHz Phenom II 955 BE 17x @ 1.5v (Does 3.7MHz reg. Voltage)(Does 4MHz 1.45v)
225MHz base clock
900MHz (1800) KHX1800C8D3K2/4G - 8-8-8-24 @ 1.60v
2700MHz @ 1.4125v NB-CPU VID, 1.26v NB
O.C. Radeon 1GHz on the GPU
1210 MHz on memory I've seen.

 

[MothMusic]

I like the new way you set this out with the pics! http://tsutton.site90.net/imgs/signature_smiley1.jpg

Not fair, I did that in my first post!

 

[MothMusic]

Your build is solid, but for $900 you should really be going with an i5..

The gpu really depends on your resolution so the 5850 may or may not be overkill.

 

[cory1234]

Your build is solid, but for $900 you should really be going with an i5..

The gpu really depends on your resolution so the 5850 may or may not be overkill.

There isn't a huge difference in performance between amd and intel and that chip is good for ~4ghz.

It's really personal preference.

 

[MothMusic]

There isn't a huge difference in performance between amd and intel and that chip is good for ~4ghz.

It's really personal preference.

I know... But I've been knocked down so many times for suggesting a Phenom II x4 over the i5, that I just gave up.

And I can configure an i5 crossfire gaming rig for around $700, so $900 just seems like overkill, thats why I suggested i5..

 

[pepperman]

Look at all the extras he includes though (flash drive, aftermarket case fans, etc.). Plus, the parts he includes are high quality parts.

 

[MothMusic]

Look at all the extras he includes though (flash drive, aftermarket case fans, etc.). Plus, the parts he includes are high quality parts.

Your half right. Its not the usb drive or the fan though, its that $300 gpu. Still its a very powerful and good machine though.

 

[pepperman]

You'd be better off putting $300 towards a better gpu anyway; I guarantee with a modern quad your cpu will NOT be the limiting factor when it comes to gaming (disclaimer: quad cf/sli don't count).

 

[MothMusic]

You'd be better off putting $300 towards a better gpu anyway; I guarantee with a modern quad your cpu will NOT be the limiting factor when it comes to gaming (disclaimer: quad cf/sli don't count).

What better gpu? A 5870?

 

[pepperman]

No, I'm saying that he made the correct decision to put a $300 gpu paired with an AMD setup as opposed to a $250 or so gpu paired with an i5 setup.

 

[MothMusic]

No, I'm saying that he made the correct decision to put a $300 gpu paired with an AMD setup as opposed to a $250 or so gpu paired with an i5 setup.

Whoops, I see what your where saying. I thought you meant the opposite.

Yea but unless your screen res is over 1900 its really not necessary. I posted some rigs that did just what he did, and I got a lot of flack for not going with i5/5770 rather than 955/5870.

 

[pepperman]

That's because a lot of people don't know how games are coded. You could run a 5850 on a lightly OC'ed Q6600 and not see a slow down. GPUs are usually the limiting factor right now when it comes to gaming.
In reality, you don't even need a quad to drive modern gpus; a high speed dual core (such as the wolfdale chips--though sadly they are now EOLed) will usually give you more frames than a lower clocked quad (unless the game is specifically coded for more than two threads) which is why we hardly see any jump in performance from dual, to triple, to quad on most games (unless they are specifically coded for more than two threads).

 

[pepperman]

Though you are right about the res; though if you're gaming at a significantly lower res, you probably don't need a high end cpu anyway.

 

[MothMusic]

That's because a lot of people don't know how games are coded. You could run a 5850 on a lightly OC'ed Q6600 and not see a slow down. GPUs are usually the limiting factor right now when it comes to gaming.
In reality, you don't even need a quad to drive modern gpus; a high speed dual core (such as the wolfdale chips--though sadly they are now EOLed) will usually give you more frames than a lower clocked quad (unless the game is specifically coded for more than two threads) which is why we hardly see any jump in performance from dual, to triple, to quad on most games (unless they are specifically coded for more than two threads).

Yea but more and more modern games are/will use multiple cores. Since the 360/PS3 utilize multiple cores, when those games are ported to pc the multi core tech is ported too, so eventually all newer games will go multi-core.

But yea, dual cores can be useful if you want to play older games for less money than a quad.

 

[pepperman]

I guess my main point is that gpus are the limiting factor, and skimping on the gpu and putting more money towards a better cpu is irresponsible.
Granted, if you have the money, and you already maxed out your gpu for the res you will be gaming at, by all means, get a better cpu; it will increase frames, but not as much as a better gpu will if you aren't at that point with your budget.

 

[MothMusic]

I guess my main point is that gpus are the limiting factor, and skimping on the gpu and putting more money towards a better cpu is irresponsible.
Granted, if you have the money, and you already maxed out your gpu for the res you will be gaming at, by all means, get a better cpu; it will increase frames, but not as much as a better gpu will if you aren't at that point with your budget.

Well gpus cut off between the 5770 and the 5870. So there isn't much middle ground. If this guy doesn't have a 2500 res monitor than its still a waste. Now if you have some sort of specific, odd goal, like getting counter strike source at over 100fps then it could be useful.