Any suggestions? Here is my wishlist. Let me know what you think (i.e. can I save money in any areas?). Case - NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail CPU - AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HD985ZXAGHBOX - Retail MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail HDD - Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (x's 2) PS - Rosewill RP550-2 550W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply - Retail Memory - CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5 - Retail Fan (replacing OEM) - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail DVD Drive - LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30 - OEM TOTAL = $752.93 I read that the onboard video is good enough, so I will stick to that for now.. Or should I just buy a video card while I am at it?
You are welcome to stick with the AMD build, but if I was personally specifying a system I would choose an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R Board for the same budget. You need to bin the Rosewill PSU, they're crap, get a Corsair HX 520W instead (520W is ample, it's the brand that counts). Your CPU cooler should change to the Freezer 7 pro if you use intel, otherwise keep it, it's a good cooler. Rest of the components are fine, but if you go intel, you'll need a small graphics card to shove in. The system will be fine, but you won't be able to play any games unless you put in a proper dedicated graphics card.
After reading more and more about CPU's I am thinking that quad core might not be the way to go. I do a lot of downloading, surfing the net, watching movies, blah blah blah, but I do not do any high intensive processing (extracting large rar files might be the most intensive), therefore I will probably never use 4 cores. I think dual core will be the way to go as I will have faster speeds. Let me know what you think, and what chip you think I should go with. I still can't decide Intel or AMD... Here is what I am thinking (I haven't looked at the boards yet)... AMD AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6400IAA6CZ - OEM Processors Type: Desktop Series: Athlon 64 X2 Hyper Transports: 2000MHz L1 Cache: 128KB+128KB L2 Cache: 2 x 1MB Manufacturing Tech: 90 nm 64 bit Support: Yes Hyper-Transport Support: Yes Model #: ADX6400IAA6CZ Item #: N82E16819103290 PRICE = $139 INTEL Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail 2x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Processors - Desktops Processors Type: Desktop Series: Core 2 Duo FSB: 1333MHz L2 Cache: 6MB Manufacturing Tech: 45 nm 64 bit Support: Yes Hyper-Threading Support: No Virtualization Technology Support: Yes Model #: BX80570E8500 Item #: N82E16819115036 Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy PRICE = $189 The big difference I am seeing is this... AMD L1 Cache: 128KB+128KB L2 Cache: 2 x 1MB INTEL L2 Cache: 6MB Why does Intel not list L1 cache, and why is the L2 cache so much bigger? I just need to find a good board... Still undecided on the chip though...
E8500 hands down, it obliterates the 6400+. Realising just how little you're doing with your PC, a dual core will be fine for your purposes.
umm there is not point comparing their clock speeds, as the intel will obliterate it. IMO intel build atm, paired up with a 4550 and you off happy.
