New system required

[Guest]

from 2002 to the present ive had 2 pcs
both still running fine.

Athlon XP 2000 1 gig memory - xp - sound blaster audio

amd 2.2 ghz - nvidia 8400 1 gig memory -

now its time to come into the duel / quad / range

my budget about 500 pounds
advice from friends was

processor 955 phenom -
cooler master hyper 212 - no idea if this works on the phenom

currently i run xp corporate on my system would this be ok on a new
system or is a switch to windows 7 in order ?

memory unsure what i need if its xp 2 gig - windows 7 prob 4gig - advise

hard drive prob 250 - 500
standard cd/dvd burner .

graphics nvidia - prefered

my budget is around 500 - can anyone advise a mother board.

all im after is a system that will play games on around medium
settings - 1024 - 768 rez -

open to advise on the above questions or opinions on
something different .

bryan.

 

[WR2]

Hello jammo2002uk

You can do a lot better than medium settings @ 1024x768 on your £500 budget.
To give you some ideas look over this Bit-Tech Article: Affordable All-Rounder

 

[Motopsychojdn]

The Bottom build link in my Sig was a Shade over £450,

I could've shopped around and got parts cheaper but I was in a hurry
And it Hammers World of Warcraft on full settings on 1680x1050 res

Motherboard I'd suggest
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190979

Processor: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191955

I Think your O/s should be fine if you have original install disk? Or maybe find a 'Backup' copy of Win7

I'd take 4Gb of memory whichever O/s you choose, with a 64bit O/s you have the choice of adding more as money allows.

Is there the option of robbing your old Hard drive,soundcard,case and cd/dvd drives from old system?
and with an Amd system, I would go for Ati graphics to be honest but if you insist on Nvid, I have a 6 month old 9500Gt you can have for less than brand new costs
I find that ebuyer is usually competitive for pricing, but I also use Pixmania and Ebay
hope this helps,
Moto

 

[Guest]

so will the 2 processors u advise be better for
just everyday use than a 955 phenom

2.8GHz AMD Athlon II X2 240
AMD Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz

i could rob my old sysem im on now
but ... i always prefer a back up
and the 1 im on would be it.
my other pc sits at my parents as there
backup .

but lets face it these days u can pick up
dvd/cd drives for peanuts - and a hard drive
well no biggy .

so this i were i stand with looking for a half decent
processor for playing games mid spec with xp prefered
but im open to w/7 eventualy 2/4 gig memory
psu + is it worth getting cooler master hyper 212 to sit on one
of thoes processors - i hear a few people say get a 9600gt
for mid gaming - as i say doing the looking first b4 i jump

 

[Guest]

also isnt the above am2 so that would mean
i couldnt use the new ddr 3 right ?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Yup, Dvd/cd drives you can grab for less than a tenner,
Hard drives, Ebay or local supplies shop
Graphics card you want the best you can get tbh but if you go too far, the rest of your system will bottleneck it and youll be upset your supposed top end Gfx card is sh@t
Ram, I would recommend 4Gb whichever system you use,like I say a 64bit you can add to later
And the 212 will sit fine on the chip, just make sure your case is big (Width ways as you look from the top) enough for the height of it
I say the x3 435 chip cause I've built with two, so I know they're ok for id gaming,and the 440 is obviously a slight upgrade from them
Moto

 

[Motopsychojdn]

nope, youll be fine for DDr3, I have DDr3 1600 on my chip, the gf's can only support DDr 1333,
Once you get your processor, Google its numbers on the top of it, you will find out what chip exactly you have, then google that for the info on what ram it supports.
it was only cause I checked her chip out that I bought her the right speed Ram, otherwise I'd have just bought her some 1600 then wondered why it was slow

* Just to clarify, the chips I'm recommending are the Amd X3 435 and the X3 440*
Moto

 

[WR2]

An aftermarket CPU cooler is only needed if you're going to be overclocking the CPU to get a bit more power out of it. Otherwise the stock cooler that comes in the retail package is fine. Are you interested in overclocking the CPU?
The Hyper 212 Plus would run about £20. That's a pretty big jump in price for a £60~£65 CPU.

I agree that the Athlon II X2 240 or X3 440 3.0GHz are good choices in the mid-range budget builds. You'd have to jump up to the Athlon II X4 635 or x4 640 @ £85~£100 to get into the quad cores for very little increase in performance in games.

 

[Guest]

mobo wise with this kind of processor
am2 or am3 ? - as for the cooler i duno about
over clocking just thought at 20 quid what the hell

i was lookin at processors here at my local store

http://www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&gid=1
dont see 440 on there

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Ebuyer ftw
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=1&q=440&subcat=2827
The stock heatsink and fan will be fine if your not clocking it.
my stock is fine and I'm unlocked and clocked
I am ofc assuming your a U.K. member
and whichever of the above chips you go for you want a Am2+ or Am3 socket mobo, I'd recommend an Am3 just for future-proofing if nothing else.
Moto

 

[Guest]

how come the x240 has 2 meg cache

but the x3 only has 512 kbs dont seem like alot ?

 

[WR2]

The x3 is 512kb per core, so 1.5mb total. x240 is 1mb per core & 2mb total.

You can see something of the cache vs core trade off in this chart over @ AnandTech Athlon II X2 255 3.1GHz 2MB L2 vs Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz 1.5MB L2. Slightly faster CPU and more cache vs 3 cores and less cache per CPU core.

 

[Guest]

cosidering this is were i usualy buy from
what would be the best processor for medium settings games
on 1024 - 768

processor page
http://www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&gid=1

and what about a mobo for it
http://www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&gid=4

 

[Guest]

anyone ?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Realistically for future-proofing, You want a triple/quad core on an Amd3 mobo, from whats on offer there, I'd say the http://www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&pid=5024 and http://www.web-systems.co.uk/?page=Products&pid=5173
but I would seriously check out Ebuyer and ebay for the same products to see you can shave a few quid off be rude not to hehe
Moto

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Systems by Mousemonkey