Phenom 955

[Synnz22]

So I decided to upgrade my machine because I would like to play current games....mainly Skyrim because I addicted and would love to max it out.
I currently have a Asus M2N-SLI board with 9600 GT graphics card and an Athlon 64 BE CPU.
I decided to go with the Phenom 955 CPU because I can use it now in this machine while I upgrade. What motherboard would you reccomend for this? Also I have been reading up on the SSD drives. Any recommendations on those as well?

 

[Guest]

An I3 can outperform the 955 at skyrim

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-9.html

and max it out? you are going to have to put down serious money

ssd is just good for booting the system and lowering the loading times, not good for games as you will use up too much space for few applications

 

[HugoStiglitz]

Getting a decent Quad core CPU is only part of what u need.

Decent Quad Core CPU (2500k is most reccomended)
6950 GPU
DDR3 RAM
and a motherboard to take it all.

its going to be a big change

ur looking at
CPU
Motherboard
DDR3 RAM
Graphics Card.
and maybe a Power supply depending on your current one.

Can you list you full current Specs. (CPU, RAM, PSU)
that way we can give our reccomendations.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

oh and a budget. because we can spend your money all day but only you know what you can afford.

 

[Synnz22]

The power supply is probably the only thing worth switching over lol. It's a Coolmax 1000W.
I was wondering about the i3's.
It is kind of a budget. I was thinking bout picking up a part every 2 weeks with budget of $200.

 

[Synnz22]

not $200 total but $200 every 2 weeks lol.

 

[Guest]

If you are putting in some money, then an i5 2500k system should do nicely

 

[Synnz22]

For the most part this system is going to be scrapped. It's an AM2 with 4 gb of DD2 Ram. The only parts that I will be carrying over are the DVD drives and HD's for the most part.

 

[kelfox]

Well, if you want to keep your current CPU, the Phenom II 955 I would recommend going with an AM3+ 990FX based motherboard like this Gigabyte here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

It will work with the CPU you have now, and support the newer Bulldozer CPU's if you want to upgrade even further in the future as well the 990FX chipset supports both AMD CrossfireX and nVidia SLi, so you can use whichever technology suits your needs and provides the best price to performance ratio.

However, as has been stated for gaming purposes an SSD will only help with booting windows and game load times, it really won't impact game performance much if at all. Though, its not like regular HDD prices are any more reasonable than SSD's right now so if you're not recycling your current hard drive for the new build, you might be better served getting an SSD.

You'll also be needing new memory, like this G.Skill kit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

 

[Synnz22]

I like that MB you recommended. I may look into getting that one. Thanks

 

[Synnz22]

The CPU I am currently using is Athlon 5000+ BE.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

so have you already purchased the 955?

 

[Synnz22]

not yet. I was planning on soon. I'm still kinda torn between that or an Intel.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

well at $200 bi-weekly. its something we can work with.

it would be a case of purcahse the Graphics Card first then save $600 or so over 6 weeks and get the CPU, Mobo & RAM

the 1000w PSU will do quite well so no need to change that.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

id get the 6950 ($209.99 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150523

then after 6 or 7 weeks when you have the $600-700 post back and we can reccomend a CPU, MOBO & RAM combo to make best use of $$$