Mid Range AMD Cpu & Motherboard

dinodon

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Looking for recommendations for mid range Gaming AMD CPU , Motherboard Combo.
I will be running only single monitor.

How is this motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131647 OR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198&cm_re=amd_870-_-13-157-198-_-Product


Heres what i chose so far

5080229790_41f7047398_m.jpg
 
Solution
Here's the lowdown.

Do a bit more research is my advice but here's my further advice:

First, the CPU.
Per core, the phenom II is faster and games will make use of the L2 cache, however, at the pricerange for graphics you are looking at, this doesn't make any difference because your CPU will be slowly walking in order to keep up with a 5450. Even An Athlon II x2 at 2.8GHz would be fine for anything up (pushing it a bit) a radeon 5770.
BFBC2 is a bit of demanding game and makes great use of multiple cores.
MW uses only 2 cores. MW2 can use 3 cores.

Taking this into consideration, a quad core will likely benefit you more in the long run, even if it is lacking the L3 cache and is 0.2GHz slower. BFBC2 is a bit of a more CPU demanding...
Yep get the Asrock. To recommend a CPU for you though we need more information:

-pricerange
-intended video card setup
-intended games to be played
-monitor resolution
-target game settings and FPS

Also, "midrange" pricepoint means different things to different people. For example, it means $100 to me but to a lot of people it means $150 and to some people it means $200.
 

dinodon

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pricerange 150
-intended video card setup ATI 5450 or better
-intended games to be played Call of duty modern warfare , Battlefield bad company 2
-monitor resolution 1920 x 1080
-target game settings and FPS 100+
 

dinodon

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Heres what i chose so far



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819103846
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813157198
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814102858
 
Here's the lowdown.

Do a bit more research is my advice but here's my further advice:

First, the CPU.
Per core, the phenom II is faster and games will make use of the L2 cache, however, at the pricerange for graphics you are looking at, this doesn't make any difference because your CPU will be slowly walking in order to keep up with a 5450. Even An Athlon II x2 at 2.8GHz would be fine for anything up (pushing it a bit) a radeon 5770.
BFBC2 is a bit of demanding game and makes great use of multiple cores.
MW uses only 2 cores. MW2 can use 3 cores.

Taking this into consideration, a quad core will likely benefit you more in the long run, even if it is lacking the L3 cache and is 0.2GHz slower. BFBC2 is a bit of a more CPU demanding game than other games.

The video card:
I'm just going to come out and say it. The 5450 is a poor choice and you obviously did no research into video cards. I have a 4850 (equal to a 5750) and I can't play BFBC2 at 1920x1080 unless I turn down all the other settings. And even then, I would be lucky to get 60FPS.
Right from toms performance charts:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2010-gaming-graphics-charts-high-quality/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2,2465.html
Notice anything? That's right. The 5450 isn't even on the list because it performs worse than the 5550 at the bottom of the list.

The first modern warefare game is a bit more forgiving and I have more experience with it on multiple systems and cards. For comfortable gameplay at that resolution, I would recommend at least a radeon 5670.

So now my advice: You mentioned your CPU budget was $100. I recommend you take that and cut it in half. Take that $75 and buy an Athlon IIx3. Take the other $75 and add it to your (I assume based on 5450 prices) $50 graphics card budget. That should be enough to get a radeon 5670 or a 5750.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103872&cm_re=athlon_II_x3-_-19-103-872-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161309
 
Solution

damasvara

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Jul 20, 2010
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I was waiting for this, since I hate to bring the bad news. :D

enzo's right. With that budget vs expectations, there's no solution but to break down the cruel fact. "Even" with the mid-end 5750, maxing out all eye candies with 100+ FPS at high resolution is next to impossible. I recall a similar question answered also by enzo here, which requires a $4000 budget (or was that pounds?) including triple/quad SLI SLI GTX480. Now that's what I call a monster rig!

The moral of the story is, be reasonable with your expectations.
 

damasvara

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You mean this? (quoted from the website):



Okay, let's do some check marks. First, the author said nothing about 1920 x 1080 resolution. Second, he also didn't specify the intended FPS. Third, he didn't mention anything about maxing out the settings. And last, he also implicitly mentioned that the setup has limited performance.

Sorry, but you simply need to lower your expectations. :)

BTW, is this gonna be your first build?