New gaming rig budget 450-650 965 phenom or 6 core phenom?

[vexun11]

Hello, I have been saving up and after getting my tax returns it is time to replace mobo cpu and ram

I would prefer to shop from newegg or Maybe EBCComputers.com Sandy city utah location because I work all day when ups comes and often miss packages because I am not home to sign them.

This will be a gaming rig but I would also like to speed things up a bit, I use dual 22' displays @ 1680x1050 I have a radeon 5830 and would like to add another card crossfire if not now in the future. I would like to overclock but only if the system I order will be good at doing so This might sound stupid but I like parts to look good because I purchased my thermaltake case because it looks good and I have a side window looking in, There is some pretty cool looking ram out there lol..

Currently I have a dual core amd x2 system which I will be setting aside, I have a 650 watt psu, a thermaltake case mid size a radeon 5830 and all I need is a new motherboard ram and cpu, I am wanting to go along the lines of a phenom 965 with a motherboard with atleast 2 pci-e. I want to be able to use this for a while, atleast a few years, My budget is around 400-650 depending on how good of a deal I am getting, I was tempted to get an i7 build but I would rather spend the extra money on a SSD to go with the phenom x4 965 and get more performance. I have been checking out some motherboards, there are a lot of good deals on newegg, what I want is the best bang for my buck, atleast 2x pci-e slots and I prefer usb 3.0 if possible but the most important thing is it being easy to work with and not known to have any issues, I have done some homework but I would really like to get some feedback as I am kind of new to all of the modern PC hardware.

I also want to get 4 gigs of ddr3 1600 memory, I want it to be compatible with the motherboard so I wont have to tweak anything for it to work and get a headache doing it. If everything works out okay and my temps are good I might overclock in the future, I have 4 120MM case fans 2 on the side blowing in, 1 on the front blowing in and 1 exhausting air in the back, I would prefer being able to use the stock heatsink that comes with the cpu because I have had issues in the past installing heatsinks. If I am able to find a cpu / mobo / ram for under 350 -400 I would like to look into an SSD Drive, something under 200$, I have 3 sata hard drives, I am curious if there is a motherboard out there that would support 6 sata devices or more.

Sorry this is so random.

Budget 400-650, I mostly need feedback with what parts to order (cpu ram and mobo) and I would like to order these parts within the next week or so but if the 6 core AMD cpu's are worth it I can wait longer but thats a whole different subject.

Thanks

 

[englandr753]

While I think the 6 core AMD chip is worth waiting for, it will likely blow your budget. Tbh, I have an Athlon II 620 @ 2.6g and OC to 3.2 very stable with very little effort. It runs cool and the lack of L3 cache is a very minor setback but should do extremely fine and will easily keep your budget in order.

I would go with the following:

CPU: 99.00 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704&cm_re=amd_630-_-19-103-704-_-Product


Memory: 119.99 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260&cm_re=ddr3_4gb-_-20-145-260-_-Product

Motherboard: 139.99 7.87 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128438&cm_re=am3_motherboard-_-13-128-438-_-Product

I would get this cooler: 33.88 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057&cm_re=cpu_cooler-_-35-103-057-_-Product

I have this cooler and it works pretty well. There are others that do great for around the same price so read reviews and make your own decision if you have a different preference.

This totals 399.74 and gives you plenty left over for your SSD.

If you are itching for the 965 and are willing to spend up to the 650 for the mobo/cpu and ram I highly recommend you wait for the 6 core cpu and see what the price will be. The worse case scenario is it will drop the price on something else you can go with if you don't go with the 6 core. It may or may not, its worth waiting for if you have to have the top end AMD. If you go with the 6 core you will need to verify the motherboard you are getting will support it. A lot of current boards out there will likely have a BIOS update to make it compatible.

I think you would be just fine with the 630 but ultimately thats up to you as far as how much you are willing to spend and what bragging rights you are looking for...

 

[englandr753]

If you go with the 630, simply crank the 200mhz cpu fsb from 200 to apprx 240~250 and you should be set...

 

[englandr753]

Very nice. I will wait for the 1090T release/reviews myself. I have 2 Q9550's and am willing to sell one and part out that system to get setup with that new chip myself if the numbers look good. I have had to RMA my EVGA 730i twice and am tired of tearing it down to RMA every three months anyway.

You would think newegg would get one of these chips first, lol...