AMD based system suggestions

[DREDIOCK]

Ok Squad mate wants to build an AMD based system.

Suggestions on CPU and motherboard? Best current combos with a possible eye on the future?


I'll post again with  budget as he didnt indicate. But Im under the impression he is willing to spend a couple of dollars for a decent system

[Getback]

He'll be happier with an Intel system. Howsoever, from what I understand the amd duo cores have bugs and you need to do some work arounds. The quads from what I understand don't.  So there you have all I know.


PS. You may get a better response in the Hardware and Software forum.

[1701E]

As mentioned, this is better in the "Hardware and Software", but before it is moved some can help.

Any reason he wants AMD?  I prefer AMD for the price, but for someone willing to pay a little bit Intel is a better option.
AMD Dual cores, as said, require a patch to fix a small bug, no big long fix, just download and install. If he is set on AMD:
AMD Athlon X2 5000/6000+ are good Dual cores, not sure for Quads.  And Motherboard, I have had best luck with Biostar Boards.

[USRanger]

I have an AMD Athlon x 2 5000+  w/ 2 gigs of RAM.  My vid card is only a 7600, but I play AH w/ hi res and detail sliders on full detail and stay at a steady 75 fps (max screen refresh rate), even though I have 50 processes running.  It's the first AMD I've ever owned and I have nothing bad to say about it.  Works great for anything I do.

[eagl]

www.hardocp.com just did a review of what the latest AMD cpus do when matched up with DDR3 memory.  On a price/performance basis, they stack up well against the intel offerings.  The AMD cpus aren't as fast but they are less than half the price too.

[1701E]

I love my 4850e Athlon, but Intel does have slightly faster CPUs.
If he wants a budget build AMD is my suggestion, but if he has about 1,000$ to spend, Intel would be a bit better.
I run about 60+ FR with my 4850e (Power saving CPU), 2Gb RAM and a 7900GS.

[Russian]

This will set him back 1.3K....but this will eat anything thrown at it. 

Intel Core i7 920
GiGabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
6GB DDR3 1333
BFG GeForce GTX280
WD Caviar 1TB SATA
CORSAIR CMPSU-650

[DREDIOCK]

PS. You may get a better response in the Hardware and Software forum.

Yea I know. I meant to put this thread there and I guess I screwed up LOL

Skuzzy. Move to the appropriate forum please if you will

[DREDIOCK]

I know about the Intel AMD difference. thats why I went Intel with my build and mentioned that . But he seems to want AMD
Being more up with the intel stuff and not as much with the AMD stuff
Thus this thread was created

I do have to say though. AMD machies seem to be a whole lot quieter then Intel ones. Near silent on some

[Fulmar]

AMD's got the budget CPU market pretty much.  Though you can overclock the cheap Intel processors to some crazy speeds (but OCing isn't for everyone).  It depends on the person's budget #1.  Are they looking at $500? $800? $1000+?

i7 Intels are pretty much the standard, though Phenom II's look like they can compete with DDR3 support added.  Phenom II's also have the advantage of having cheaper mobo's than Intel i7 boards (at least for right now).

Get a budget first before really deciding on parts.  They may be an AMD fanboi, but no sense trying to spend $xxx on an AMD system if an Intel for the same price can outperform it.  Or vice versa.

[Getback]

Yea I know. I meant to put this thread there and I guess I screwed up LOL

Skuzzy. Move to the appropriate forum please if you will

I've done the same thing. When I finally found it folks were making all kinds of harsh comments lol.

[1701E]

If he is dead set on AMD (like I have been for the past 2 years), what does he want the computer to do?

Budget Average: MS Word, Internet, Solitaire, Music.  $300-400
Budget Gamer: Decent speeds, Older games with some new on low-graphics, Mild photo/video editing. $450-600
Editor: Good enough for advanced Photo shopping, Video editing. 500-600$ (Not sure about this one, never was into editing)
Gamer: Plays newest games decently, good FR on high settings $650-850
High-gamer: Ready to blast anything for today and the next few years.  900$+

These are estimates I am using after some quick builds I throw together at random times, so prices vary over time.
For you people that say these prices are waaay off, I am using AMD not the overpriced Intel.

[Babalonian]

I'm not an AMD type of guy , but if your mate really wants to keep an eye on the future and get his money's worth, Intel has never let me down in those areas where-as AMD... well it was almost ten years ago.

The best setups I've had for performance and getting my money's worth are Intel processors on Intel-chip motherboards.  I've been hooked on Intel-CPUs + Intel-chip-MBs for over eight years now, and the first rig I built that way I still use, and it works great with a reformat every other year or so.  The MB just has to be a brand I kinda trust (every MB brand has sold me a bad board sooner or later).

AMD I don't have anything too negative to say about them (a good friend of mine absolutley loves his AMD quad-core with 2 gigs of DDR3, and It's as quiet as my 8-year old Intel rig)... the last time I had an AMD was almost 10 years ago, and all their chips I thought back then ran pretty hot and kinda overclocked from the manufacturer (I live in a semi-desert environment, the cooling my AMD rig required back then made it so I couldn't sleep in the same room with the thing running, but you have opposite experiences, so *shrug*.  I tried three different 3rd-party cooling devices too, all had to rev up to max speed to keep it cool.). 

I finaly went Intel because I don't overclock my systems, it just seems more my style for my rigs: robust performance while the system overall ran smooth and cool.

[Hungry]

None, I learned my lesson the hard way, pay the price and get Intel

[drdeathx]

HERE IS THE AMD UPDATE


The PHENOM II (940 and 920)was introduced weeks ago. It benchmarked very well and equals or surpasses the Q9400 by Intel. Intel quickly lowered prices almost across the board on many processors bringing their value up. The war is back on in the mid priced processors.

Remember a few things about the Phenom II. It is supported by SocketAM2+ and SocketAM3+ which is awesome. What this means is current owners of SocketAM2+(DDR2) can immediately upgrade which is a nice thing. New builds can purchase Phenom II 940 for about $235 and a nice mobo for $140 and have a real nice system(SocketAM2+). The SocketAM3+(DDR3) mobo's will be out very soon but I am sure they will be more money. I am also confident the Phenom II's will benchmark even higher with SocketAM3+ which will put AMD hopefully back in the race.

The Intel i7 series continues to be the leader until we see the performance of SocketAM+3 and DDR3. The architecture of the i7 series seems to be better. The i7 720 is around $250 but the mobo supporting it is much more and DDR3 will be much more than DDR2. The higher end i7's are from $500 -$1000. If your squadie want to build an awesome AMD system, I would highly recommend it. It is the right time.


The MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum is nice for about $140 (Socket AM2+)  I am assuming this supports Phenom II 45mn process.
Asus M4A79 Deluxe AMD 790FX Socket AM3 Motherboard for around $200

I listed 2 manufacturers to be un biased. MSI is 750A chipset but the ASUS is 790 chipset which is better. It depends on what he wants to spend. He could build a nice system depending on choices, between $700 and $800.

Everyone is so into Intel which they should be in the past years but they are not aware of the latest AMD processors(Phenom II). BTW, guys are overclocking the Phenom II's between 3.6Ghz and 4.0Mhz with air.