It's about time I upgraded from my Athlon XP3200 / ASUS A7NFII Deluxe system and would like some advice on a quality AM2+ / AM3 capable ATX motherboard under £100 for a Phenom 9950 BE cpu? I have been looking at the ASUS M4A78 Pro and the Gigabyte 790 board. I need firewire,usb etc features and 4 memory slots. Also, the Phenom 9950 BE seem to be quite cheap (~ £125) is this a good buy and wait for the Phenom II to drop in price. Graphics card will be a ATi 4850 and I guess for this lot I will need a 600-700 watt power supply. I will be using the system for 3D CAD, Photo Editing, Video work and the odd flight sim Suggestions please?
If you must use AMD over Intel, then Phenom 2 is a must over Phenom. Phenom is crippled by the lack of cache. They couldn't fit more on the die due to the large manufacturing process. Now they've moved to 45nm with Phenom 2 they can fit more on.
If you are want to use a Phenom in the interim then you will be limited to AM2+ motherboards. An AM3 Phenom will work in AM3 or AM2+ motherboards however an AM2 Phenom or Phenom II will not work in AM3 motherboards. The Phenom II 940 (AM2+) has dropped considerably in price since the introduction of the 955 and is worth a look if you are after a bargain. Pair it up with a Asus M3A78-T AMD 790GX or a Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4 and you should have a reasonably good system for a good price.
Aye, the performance isn't far off the 955 and you can pick it up at scan for £160 at the moment. A good buy if you're looking for an AM2+ chip.
