Hmm now that is interesting. Do you think there will be a big pricedrop on the 5xxx series when the 6xxx series comes out? Then again, even if there is, two months is a long time to wait. Trust me, the 460 will not fit into my budget due to the fact that as explained above, I am not building this system myself, so have to order all main internal components from same source. As for 2 460s, that is just way beyond what I need (or even want) - I'm just not THAT into gaming, I just want something that will run smoothly at "decent" quality (yep, its fairly subjective I know) PS: despite not speaking Dutch, that tweakers.net is so well laid out that I still managed to use it! Props to them for sure. Damn, maybe I really should try and build this myself... arrgh
Go on, build it yourself, you know it makes sense . Seriously though, it is well worth building it yourself, you will learn all sorts of new things and it will save you money in the long run as you will be able to upgrade rather than replace. You always have us here to advise if you get stuck with anything.
if your not that into gaming just save the cash and opt for a 5770 instead then it will play most games at high settings. does it have to be from that 1 site though could be better ones around that will offer better prices and more flexibility. edit- what is the site as well so i can take a peek to see what they are like ?
tweakers is great!!! have you considered buying a build system off scan btw and having it shipped.... oh scan dont service the eu market... scan WHY!!!!
Well I am leaning more towards a 5770 now its true, HOWEVER, on the builder's site (materiel.net - pretty good site, check it out - in French tho...) there is only about a 20 Euro difference between a decent 1Gb 5770 and the Sapphire 5830 - is the extra ~10% good value for 20 Euros? (too lazy to go and re check the benchmarks now, but think it also runs quieter and cooler than the 5770, will have to check)
Haha yeah already tried scan - its a shame as they have some great deals! @ bagpuss: materiel.net hows your French?
these seem decent choices if your not building yourself http://www.materiel.net/ctl/PC_de_bureau/59929-HellFire.html#descriptif http://www.materiel.net/ctl/PC_de_bureau/59933-Gamer_par_Clubic.html#descriptif
The Athlon II X3 440/445 is a pretty strong chip, despite it's lack of L3 cache. From your stated main usage (gaming, internet surfing) you don't need anything more powerful. Seeing as the 5770 has a lower TDP, it will produce less heat and therefore (if the fans are equal) it will be cooler and quieter than a 5830. Case: Antec Three Hundred (EUR 57.99) PSU: Cooler Master GX Power - 550W (EUR 61.89) HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 S-ATA - 500 Go - 16 Mo (EUR 41.49) DVD-R: LG GH22NS50 - Bulk (EUR 19.99) CPU: AMD Phenom™ II X4 945 (EUR 135.99) Motherboaard: Asus M4A87TD EVO (EUR 95.49) RAM: Corsair XMS3 2 x 2 Go DDR3 PC10600 CAS 9 (EUR 98.89) GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD5830 1 Go (EUR 179.99) Screen: Illyama ProLite E2208HDS-B2 (16:9, 22", 1920 x 1080, TN, 2 ms, DVI-D) (EUR 169.95) Keyboard/mouse: Advance Desktop Bluelight (EUR 23.96) OS: Windows 7 Famille Premium 64 bits (EUR 114.90) Total: €1068 I would amend your original build in the following way: Case: Same €58 HDD: Same €40 DVDR: Same €19 RAM: Same €99 Keyboard/Mouse: Same €24 OS: Same € 115 Display: You have changed it to: Iiyama Prolite B2206WS (TN, 22", 1680x1050, 2ms) €210 PSU: OCZ StealthXStream II 500W €55 http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Alimentations/57193-StealthXStream_II_500W.html Motherboard: MSI G-45 €65 CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 445 €78 GPU: MSI 5770 1GB €155 http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Cartes_graphiques/54079-R5770_PMD1G.html Total: €918 If you still can afford and want to get a 5830 then I think you should get a PSU with two PCI-E connectors. For the same price as that Seasonic branded PSU, you can get a more powerful one (to the tune of 60W on it's 12V rail) which is built by Seasonic but branded by Antec: Antec Truepower New TP550 80Plus Bronze Modular. Very high quality and likely to be extremely quiet in a bottom mounted case. And obviously +1 to building it yourself, you will find it quite easy and it's pretty difficult to damage anything or put it together wrong. The only thing you have to read is the motherboard manual when connecting up the case's front panel connectors.
Wow thanks and rep to MrTeal for that last post! Query: someone earlier recommended to stay away from the Athlon IIs without L3 cache. And they were talking then about the X4 models. You recommended an X3 which I assume is yet another step down. Is this going to be a concern? I see that you think it should be OK for my usage, but would like to get some more opinions on this. Both of those models use the Cooler Master Silent Pro 500 which I have read some pretty poor reviews about and which put me off quite a bit. The main problem seems to be that yes, it runs v quiet, but as a result very hot too. I found a great PSU test with loads of detail, I'll update this post with it if I find it again.
http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/coolermaster-silent-pro-m500/6/ http://www.anandtech.com/show/2613/9 http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/620/pg5/cooler-master-silent-pro-m-500w-conclusion.html PSU is perfectly fine so i dont know where your reading these bad reviews
Maybe this review will help you make your decision. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,review-31906.html I would tend to believe that the Cooler Master Silent Pro 500W would be a good PSU, it is let down by only having 408 watts on it's 12V rail.
Thanks a lot, that is a truly excellent link - very interesting. Yep, think I have made up my mind, Ok back to the drawing board.
how is it let down by having ONLY 408W on its 12V rail !!! no PSU will have all its power on its 12V rail because when they quote power they mean total combined output.
A lot of PSUs can (or at least claim to) provide all their available power (sometimes 5 or 10 watts less) on their respective 12V rails. I should probably have phrased it 'the only thing that lets it down is...'. A 410 watt power supply would be fine for a single 5770, but I think I would shy away from it when considering 460s/5850/5830s etc. I think the important thing to note from that article are, as stated in the conclusion: "In general, the Athlon II X3 440 might not be the best choice for CPU-intensive games like World in Conflict and perhaps even CPU-intensive, real-time strategy games in general." And "To summarize, the Athlon II X3 440 is an excellent budget gaming processor for single graphics card applications, and probably represents the best price/performance value we've seen to date." So if you are playing particularly CPU intensive games or want to SLI/CF in the future then it is a no to the Athlon II X3, otherwise it is a good buy as it is priced favourably.
