Hi! I'm planning on buying a new machine at the end of this month. My PC is quite old now, plays Starcraft 2 on lowest settings but i already found lots of games my pc cant even run - or very badly. Since it is old, im planning to start from the beginning with a complete new setup including case and everything (inside the tower - no monitor). So far, im looking forward to buy AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE (3,2 GH /w C3) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1024MB, VAPOR-X) 4096 MB Ram (G-Skill, 2x2048) - [need to save a bit of money, i wont need more then 4gb RAM, can be upgraded later] Now i dont now anything anymore about Motherboards....can someone help me out? Good North-/southbridges nowadays, what do i really need (not exactly planning to OC but since the CPU is BE and has a free multiplier i can OC in 2 years or so =) and what kind of power supply do i need? 550 W ? or are 450W enough (the Graphic-Card says at least 450W). Can someone help me out? Shouldn't be too expansive. But theres no use posting US-Prices to me since im gonna buy it in germany. But there shouldn't be a huge gap between these countrys, therefor using the US-prices as a guideline makes sense. Thanks in advance.... Amd. Edit: Im planning to spend 700 Euro on my new PC for everything, thats about 850-860 US-Dollar
700€ is going to be quite hard I'm afraid if you want something decent. You could opt for a dual core, I also recommend 550 Watt if you plan on upgrading your dekstop in the future.
doesn't help me out to much. Not everybody is spending 2000 on a new PC, and even not everybody needs to play on highest settings. I just need something new, upgradeable, not to bad. Im not expecting much, my PC is now 4 years old - a Athlon XP 3000+....bought it for 400 back then (about the half of my new system) and it went on till today..... I think we have different expectations about a system that works good..... My main-question is still unanswered: What kind of a Mainboard?
THis is the MOBO I have. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128398 I run the AMD Phenom 965 3.4ghz and its fine. I really enjoy GIGABYTE products I have never had a problem with them and they always come ready to install. They make really great MOBOS imo. This one is a bit cheaper (And is in stock) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128445 Also. Check this out. http://www.starcraft2forum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6052 a pretty good guide made by Joneagle.
The 870, 880G and 890GX are the latest mainstream ones from AMD. I think both give you SATA3 and USB3. Current flagship is the 890FX but I think boards with this chipset costs around double the others. Like Korith, I'm also partial to Gigabyte. As for power supply, 450W should be enough. My mildly overclocked Phenom II X6 1055T+HD 5670 build consumes just 295W AC while running Intel Burn Test (Linpack) and Furmark simultaneously. However, I don't think 500~600W power supplies cost considerably more and they would give you more leeway for upgrading. Quality trumps wattage. You're better off getting a decent quality PSU at lower wattage than a high wattage PSU of unknown quality.
My old 450 PSU Burnt out after about 6 months, And I would have random restarts which people told me due to not being enough power. On a side noteThough Rui-no-onna Let me know if I linked any MOBOS that are not compatible with his build.. I am VERY new at building computers and don't know everything down to the wire.. Would be a little embarassing linking him a product that didnt have the right CPU socket or something. LoL
Again, quality trumps wattage. I'd rather trust a SeaSonic or Corsair 300~400W rather than an el-cheapo 600W that comes with a case. Heck, Hardware Secrets tested a generic 500W PSU and it was only able to put out 250W and that's with a lot noise. Companies may also have power supply line-ups of varying quality, usually depending on the price range. For example, the Cooler Master Elite Power 460W can only deliver 420W of power at 47.3C and the Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550W can only deliver 503W at 45.5C. Compare that with a Corsair 400CX which delivered 484W at 49C and Corsair 750TX which delivered 900W at 45C. That's not to say all Cooler Master power supplies are bad. The Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W can deliver 895W at 48.9C. I think same goes for Thermaltake. You get what you pay for, I guess. *Note: All figures taken from Hardware Secrets power supply reviews.
Think im gonna go for a Gigabyte GA-870-UD3 and a be quiet! Pure Power BQT L7 530W. Tower is going to be a Xigmatec Midgard Black
