My build for cousin [Archive] - Steam Users' Forums

Kwiki

10-03-2009, 02:03 PM

My cousin has this pc: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=3199072&lc=en&cc=uk&dlc=en&lang=en&tmp_track_link=ot_we/prodlink/en_uk/3199072/loc:0&cc=uk

Terrible, but we're gonna scrape what we can from it, its Hard drive, monitor speakers, mouse, keyboard, Ram, Case, case fans.

Heres what we're buying:

OS: Windows XP
Processor: ( Help me choose! )

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

Graphics Card: ( Help me choose! )

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150323
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125244
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130360

RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

Btw, do we need a "GPU" or no?

AlecJ32

10-03-2009, 02:07 PM

A graphics card is a GPU.

The motherboard you picked is an AMD-based motherboard, so you would have to use an AMD CPU. An Intel CPU would require a different motherboard.

Why Windows XP?

I would get better ram than that. Look for something with heat-spreaders on it. Heat-spreaders won't mean the ram is top-tier, but RAM without head-spreaders now-a-days is usually bottom of the barrel.

lhwj

10-03-2009, 02:18 PM

OS: Windows XP

I always ask people, why an 8 year old operating system? But I probably know what answer I'm going to get.

Processor: Dual Core or Quad Core (Which company should i get this from)

Definitely quad core, although the tri-core Phenom II 720 is good value at $120. Currently Intel makes good high end processors, AMD are better for more budget solutions.

Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161287 ( Top Seller in new egg Graphics Cards )

That's not a bad card, but it certainly could be better if you could tell us your budget.

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148262

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

I have no problems with these.

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

It is a good choice, no doubt about that but I'm thinking that it's a little overkill for what you have currently chosen, though if you want a more powerful graphics card in future stay with this.

You could always bump down to this if you're running anything under a 4850/GTS250 (including these cards). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018

Btw, do we need a "GPU" or no?

You definitely do, that motherboard has no integrated graphics and they're terrible for gaming anyway.

Luke

Edit: The first processor, the 5200 Brisbane is kinda weak and also not compatible with the motherboard. In your list, the 4850 is the best performing card and also the best value for money.

l4dr0cks123

10-03-2009, 02:26 PM

CPU: Phenom II x2 550
Mobo: AM3
GPU (or graphics card): 4850

Kwiki

10-03-2009, 02:35 PM

Heres what we're buying:

OS: Windows XP
Processor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824
RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

@AlecJ32
Why do you need that in ram?

@lhwj
What do you mean not compatible with this motherboard? Can you recommend one that is?

Alright, So can anyone else make suggestions to my current build?

Kwiki

10-03-2009, 02:40 PM

P.S. We would like to keep our budget below 450, the cheaper the better. My cousin isnt really a gamer, just casual. He just wants to be able to play L4D, CSS with high settings, he doesnt plan on playing high-end quality games nor does he wish to multi task (which is why I said dual core is probably better for him).

Can anyone recommend a cheaper processor?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001028%2040000343%204027&name=%2475%20-%20%24100&SpeTabStoreType=1
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001028%2040000343%204026&name=%2450%20-%20%2475&SpeTabStoreType=1

lhwj

10-03-2009, 02:41 PM

XP is still a bad choice, no matter what anyone thinks. You will only be able to use up to approximately 3 GB of your RAM, and you won't be able to add any more RAM effectively until you upgrade to a 64 bit operating system. Plus on today's systems, Vista and 7's Superfetch makes loading programs faster and this generally helps to improve performance. With SP2 for Vista it is generally very stable and there are mature drivers available too. Games actually run better on Vista / 7. So why do you still want an ancient 8 year old operating system?

Luke

Kwiki

10-03-2009, 02:48 PM

lhwj

10-03-2009, 02:59 PM

So you changed the RAM, I didn't see that. Now you will have to change the motherboard as well, because your first choice would only accept DDR3.

I think this is a decent DDR2 AM2+ board: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376

Now as I pointed out earlier, your power supply is overkill. Since you're on a tight budget you might as well save $20 bucks with this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018

I promise that you're not compromising quality nor output capacity, it's perfectly sufficient for your system.

Now with that $20 saved you can afford to have 4 GB of RAM. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134747

You're probably bought into the myth that "Vista uses loads of RAM". In a way that's true, as the OS will fill up all your RAM with stuff using Superfetch but what they don't tell you is that the memory is freed if required by programs. I've been on Vista for two years now, running it on multiple systems with 2 GB of "slow" DDR2 667 RAM and yet it's still smooth and responsive.

Luke

steveroger

10-03-2009, 03:04 PM

I run both XP and Vista. Both are fine, Vista is easier to use and has more features. If I was buying a new PC or building one I would get Vista with the Windows 7 upgrade so that I could stay current. You can always buy XP later and do a dual boot if you just feel you have to have XP. But the truth is you don't need XP.

Kwiki

10-03-2009, 04:48 PM

@lhwj
The 4850 radeon card needs 450W, 370 is to little correct?

I did not realize ram had a category, anyways ive narrowed it down to either.

1. Get a new ram disk
2. Get a new MOBO

Here is the ramdisk That looks good to me
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098 (DDR2 2gb) - 2000 reviews
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134747 (DDR2 4gb)

Here are current MOBOS in my mind, there all the same price so help me decide!
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131381 (DDR2)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131384 (DDR2)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376 (DDR2)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324 (DDR2)

Also, Whats the difference between M4A78 Plus and M4A78-EM?

Also with mother board changed, which processor should i use? Remember, cheaper the better.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

lhwj

10-04-2009, 05:19 AM

@lhwj
The 4850 radeon card needs 450W, 370 is to little correct?

Incorrect. The 4850 does 120 watts max, your processor will probably do about 60 watts, rest of your system about 20-30 watts so you're actually doing only about 200 watts loaded. The 450 watt rating is meant to take into account crap $20 units which can't do half of their advertised output. Not to mention that the proper way to measure output is to look at the current on the 12 volt rail(s). A lot of older or poorly designed power supplies allocate too much current on the 3.3 and 5 volt rails so you have probably 200-300 watts effective out of the 500 watts advertised.

I really think you should cough up the extra $15 for an extra 2 GB of RAM. No matter what OS you're running it's always good to give extra breathing space and avoid hard disk trashing when you run out of memory.

As for the motherboard this is my all time favourite. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376 . Bought it before for a friend's build and I can say it's a pretty darn solid board.

Luke

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 06:58 AM

Incorrect. The 4850 does 120 watts max, your processor will probably do about 60 watts, rest of your system about 20-30 watts so you're actually doing only about 200 watts loaded. The 450 watt rating is meant to take into account crap $20 units which can't do half of their advertised output. Not to mention that the proper way to measure output is to look at the current on the 12 volt rail(s). A lot of older or poorly designed power supplies allocate too much current on the 3.3 and 5 volt rails so you have probably 200-300 watts effective out of the 500 watts advertised.

I really think you should cough up the extra $15 for an extra 2 GB of RAM. No matter what OS you're running it's always good to give extra breathing space and avoid hard disk trashing when you run out of memory.

As for the motherboard this is my all time favourite. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376 . Bought it before for a friend's build and I can say it's a pretty darn solid board.

Luke

I checked on other forums and I keep hearing negative feedback about asus products and none about Gigabyte (Even in M4A378 VS MA770 threads). So ill probably go with that.

As for the PSU, We'll probably stick with the 500W for future upgrades just in case.

And we'll get extra ram, even though as you said only 3 is going to be used.

Heres my current build according to suggestions, if anyone wants to suggest any changes thats great.

OS: Windows XP
Processor: ( Look Below! )
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824
RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134747
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
MOBO: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376

Because our mother board is AM2 / AM2 +, and Phenom is AM3, but Athlon is AM2, Im a bit confused.

Help me choose
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343%2050001028%201051733662&name=Socket%20AM2%2b
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210

MOST IMPORTANTLY

Will this mother board fit in to the existing case?

MOBO: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376

CASE: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00679529&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=3199072

It didnt say its exact case but the mother board in the current pc.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c00638516

says this

Form factor

* Micro ATX size form factor, 9.6 in x 9.6 in

The gigabyte model has this

Physical Spec
Form Factor ATX
Dimensions 12.0" x 8.3"
Power Pin 24 Pin

lhwj

10-04-2009, 10:45 AM

I'm going out in a moment but I'll say this quickly;

1. Yes I forgot that you have a micro ATX case. That means you need a Micro ATX motherboard. Will someone find a good one please.

2. This is the general compatibility rule. There are three sockets, AM2, AM2+ and AM3. AM2 and AM2+ are physically identical, and they're normally interchangeable except for some older motherboards which won't accept AM2+ processors. AM3 processors will work in either AM2+ or AM3 boards. AM2+ processors will not work in AM3 boards, as they have an extra pin.

Luke

Baron_Fel

10-04-2009, 10:51 AM

AM3 uATX 785G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135241)
AM2+ uATX 785G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394)

Ambig

10-04-2009, 11:02 AM

Kwiki, can you please follow the guidelines (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=537330)? Specifically, "I would like some advice about upgrading some hardware components?" It would really save us some time if you would format your part links in either of the two ways shown in the post.

Anyway, of the two motherboards Baron_Fel posted, you should get the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394), because is uses DDR2 memory in place of DDR3 memory, which will help keep the costs to a minimum.

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 11:06 AM

AM3 uATX 785G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135241)
AM2+ uATX 785G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394)

Im going with this one, It supports DDR2 RAM, rather then the other one which is DDR3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Its cheaper and supports AM3/AM2+/AM2, rather then just AM3. Unless theres any other difference, please point them out!

Or I may go cheap and use on of these boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128342
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128383

By the way this AM2/AM2+/AM3 stuff is confusing, in new egg theres categories...

AM2 (2)
AM2+/AM2 (79)
AM2+/AM3 (15)
AM3 (39)
AM3/AM2+/AM2 (37)

So, If i get a AM3/AM2+/AM2 board, Will only AM3/AM2+/AM2 fit in it? Or is am3/am2+/am2 the most compatible board with anything?

Ambig

10-04-2009, 11:12 AM

Im going with this one, It supports DDR2 RAM, rather then the other one which is DDR3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Its cheaper and supports AM3/AM2+/AM2, rather then just AM3. Unless theres any other difference, please point them out!

Or I may go cheap and use on of these boards
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128342
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128383

You're Canadian, aren't you? That is the US site, the prices are different.

By the way this AM2/AM2+/AM3 stuff is confusing, in new egg theres categories...

So, If i get a AM3/AM2+/AM2 board, Will only AM3/AM2+/AM2 fit in it? Or is am3/am2+/am2 the most compatible board with anything?

AM2/AM2+/AM3 are, for the most part, the same socket. The main difference is the processor features. An AM3 processor can fit in an AM2+ and AM2 socket, provided that the BIOS has been updated to accommodate it.

But honestly, you're thinking WAY to hard over this. Just go to the manufacturer's website and check their compatibility list and you can't go wrong.

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 11:31 AM

Bleh, Alright Ill be using this board:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Question now is, What processor?
Phenom II / Phenom / Athlon II / Athlon64 /Sempron

Here is my position, Im building a PC for my 15 year old cousin who doesnt have enough cash.

Budget: $500 ( Cheaper the better! )

Alright here is my current build, feel free to suggest changes:

MOBO: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
PROCESSOR: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694
PSU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007
RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134747
VIDEO CARD: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

Total Price: $432.95

However, I am still not happy with this price....

Also LHWJ suggested I use a different PSU:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018 (370W)

My Video card said I need 450W, But LHWJ claims 370W is sufficient enough to power my system, what should i do?

With that in mind, I selected a few other PSU's that may help me in my budget issue.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159062 (500W - 29.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028 (460W - 37.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148027 (500W - 39.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052 (500W - 64.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007 (500W - 87.99)

Should I stay with my Earthwatts? Or choose another one?

And my Mobo I am still having doubts.

CURRENT: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
ALTERNATIVE: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128407

Should i stick with my current? Or go with the cheaper alternative?

lhwj

10-04-2009, 01:18 PM

Also LHWJ suggested I use a different PSU:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018 (370W)

My Video card said I need 450W, But LHWJ claims 370W is sufficient enough to power my system, what should i do?

You keep saying that you want things to be cheaper, I tell you to bump down your power supply and you keep questioning it. Now if what I have said was incorrect or inaccurate surely people would have stepped in and objected. Close to 200 different people have read your thread, and I'm sure quite a few of them would be pretty knowledgeable about this.

Please read this again:

The 4850 does 120 watts max, your processor will probably do about 60 watts, rest of your system about 20-30 watts so you're actually doing only about 200 watts loaded.

So if anyone disagrees with this please say so.

Even if my calculations are wrong and the system does more like 250 watts that's still okay, because (27Ax12V) = 324 watts. Still nowhere near the limits.

With that in mind, I selected a few other PSU's that may help me in my budget issue.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159062 (500W - 29.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028 (460W - 37.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148027 (500W - 39.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052 (500W - 64.99)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007 (500W - 87.99)

Those are bad brands, with the exception of Thermaltake and Antec. The latter two are slightly better, but not much. There's more to a power supply than its output capacity; if the voltage fluctuates too much it may decrease the lifespan of your component. Quality really matters here, it's okay to buy a quality one that's slightly above your system requirements, but it's not okay to buy a poor quality one, no matter if it's rated 700 watts and your system will only do about 300 watts. You need to start reading power supply reviews to differentiate the good from the bad and ugly.

And my Mobo I am still having doubts.

CURRENT: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
ALTERNATIVE: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128407

Should i stick with my current? Or go with the cheaper alternative?

Cheaper alternative. You want things cheap right? There's no practical difference between the two. It's not like your cousin will need more than 8 GB of RAM; anyway 4 GB DDR2 sticks are still rare and it's unlikely they'll ever be popular due to DDR3.

Luke

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 01:51 PM

Read a few Reviews about them.

COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS-460-PMSR-A3:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/550/10

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500W:
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/thermaltaketwv500w/

I may use the Cooler Master, been hearing good things Its actual wattage is 430, according to the review, which should be sufficient enough to power my system according to Lukes calculations.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028

Current Build:
MOBO: (CHANGED) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128407
PROCESSOR: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694
PSU: (CHANGED) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171028
RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134747
VIDEO CARD: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

New total price: 362.95

Alright almost everything is perfect, just a few more changes.

Ive narrowed down a few Processors to my budget:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

I would appreciate if you guys help me with this last task in choosing the perfect processor for me!

Thank you all so much for helping me so far, Espescially you luke, just one more!

Ambig

10-04-2009, 02:25 PM

Ive narrowed down a few Processors to my budget:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

I would appreciate if you guys help me with this last task in choosing the perfect processor for me!

Thank you all so much for helping me so far, Espescially you luke, just one more!

Arg... Why didn't you read the sticky I pointed you to for asking for help in this forum... :o:mad:

Anyway, go for the AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687) of the choices you presented. 14 CAD for an extra 100 mhz isn't worth it in my opinion. The performance difference will be negligible.

Note how I linked you to the processor. That is how you should do it as well, or the alternative way in the sticky.

lhwj

10-04-2009, 02:29 PM

Baron_Fel

10-04-2009, 02:38 PM

Its not a question of it mattering or not, its just what the Athlons are - budget CPUs derived from Phenom IIs. They end up performing like budget CPUs like the E5xxx and E6xxx from Intel.

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 02:46 PM

So to sum it up, Its just really fast ram? What good is 6mb ram, and is it worth the $20 difference?

Its not a question of it mattering or not, its just what the Athlons are - budget CPUs derived from Phenom IIs. They end up performing like budget CPUs like the E5xxx and E6xxx from Intel.

Didnt understand you one bit.

lhwj

10-04-2009, 02:57 PM

Originally there were the Athlon X2 dual core processors, then along came Phenom, and now Phenom II. The Athlon II x2 processor you're looking at is derived from the Phenom II architecture. It's basically the same thing with less cache.

It's the same with Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo.

Cache is not really RAM, so you can't call that cache 6 MB of RAM. I wished somebody else would explain this to us clearly.

Luke

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 03:00 PM

Ah I see, so you dont know either?

Ambig

10-04-2009, 03:10 PM

It's more than just clock speed though, the Athlon is missing a whole 6 MB of L3 cache compared to the Phenom II. Whether this really matters or not, I'm not sure. (but for a budget build it shouldn't) I brought it up in this thread: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=980502

Luke

I don't know if what you posted was a response to me. But the 3 processors posted is:

AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681)
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103687)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane 2.7GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210)

As you can see, the top two are the same processor, except with a 100 mhz difference. None of them have any L3 cache. The Brisbane is something like a 3 year old processor, and shouldn't be considered.

Unfortunately, the cheapest Phenom II X2 is at 96.99 CAD and the Phenom II X3 is 133.99 CAD. The Athlon II X2 245 is 74.99 CAD. If he can't afford the Phenom II X2, then he can't afford it. But personally, I would either go for an Athlon II X2 or a Phenom II X3. I personally don't think that the Phenom II X2s are worth the extra cash over an Athlon II X2. While there is a performance difference, I personally don't feel that it's enough in most games to be worth the additional cost:

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/aii_250/

And CPU cache is used to store the most commonly used data, instead of on the RAM. It helps reduce latency. reading from system memory has a higher latency than reading from the CPU's cache.

lhwj

10-04-2009, 03:17 PM

I don't know if what you posted was a response to me. But the 3 processors posted is: ...

It was actually. But I assumed that the OP was already set on the Phenom II, as in post No. 21:

PROCESSOR: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694

So it's my fault for not checking the three processors you quoted, and the OP's fault for not labelling them like you asked him to :D

Ah I see, so you dont know either?

No, unfortunately I don't; I'm not familiar with the architecture of processors. I'm just a casual consumer like you ;)

Luke

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 03:23 PM

I see, So Ill probably go with the 245

lhwj

10-04-2009, 03:35 PM

Yes, cheaper = better right?

Heck you could drop to this single core, only $37. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698

No I'm joking, you wouldn't want a single core today; I would buy it though and build an ultra cheap rig to play around if I had the money :)

Luke

Ambig

10-04-2009, 03:38 PM

I see, So Ill probably go with the 245

If you want a comparison like explanation for CPU cache, it's like this.

Imagine you're doing a research paper that needs 300 different sources. On your table, you can only fit 20 books, your room you're in can only have 80 books and the rest of your 200 sources are in the library that you're in.

Obviously, your most used books will be on the table (your CPU cache). Then your second most used books will be in the room (your RAM), and the other 200 books are the library (your HDD).

You can get to the books on your table the fastest, the ones in your room second fastest, and in the library will be third fastest.

The more books you can get in your table, the faster you can work because you don't have to search the room as often and the more you don't have to search the library.

But, unlike tables, CPU cache is expensive and takes up room.

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 03:54 PM

If you want a comparison like explanation for CPU cache, it's like this.

Imagine you're doing a research paper that needs 300 different sources. On your table, you can only fit 20 books, your room you're in can only have 80 books and the rest of your 200 sources are in the library that you're in.

Obviously, your most used books will be on the table (your CPU cache). Then your second most used books will be in the room (your RAM), and the other 200 books are the library (your HDD).

You can get to the books on your table the fastest, the ones in your room second fastest, and in the library will be third fastest.

The more books you can get in your table, the faster you can work because you don't have to search the room as often and the more you don't have to search the library.

But, unlike tables, CPU cache is expensive and takes up room.

Brilliant explanation, in child-like terms, haha.

Baron_Fel

10-04-2009, 04:16 PM

heh. The athlon II quads would be the same small table with more people working on it then :D

Kwiki

10-04-2009, 05:38 PM

The main idea of this build is to make sure the Gaming Performance is intact. Meaning we dont want graphics errors, over heating, power supply issues.

If my build is ideal for running games like L4D, CSS, TF2 on High settings, then thats alright with me.

kdawgmaster

10-04-2009, 09:38 PM