Double upgrade

[Litvi]

I currently have the setup shown in my sig and I'm basically splitting it into two:

The case, RAM, mobo and CPU are going towards build 1 (which is for the family), the PSU, graphics card and HD is going towards build 2 (for me :D)

Build 1 is then being supplemented with an HD and a GeForece FX 5500 from the old family PC (they don't use it for anything graphics intensive :rolleyes:) and need a new PSU, I'm thinking a simple OCZ StealthXStream 400W

Build 2 is really what I need the most advice in: current plan is to get an Antec 902, a GTX460 1GB - I'm intending to go for the 2 card setup where the 9800GT can take care of the game PhysX - but the biggest problem is what to get for the mobo, CPU and RAM. With the CPU atm I'm thinking a Phenom II X4 955 BE - which apparently OCs nearly as well as the 965 - and the RAM can follow the mobo, but with the mobo I really have no clue lol (sigh at Abit going bust).

Budget for the CPU, mobo and RAM is £300, I'd really like to hear your advice. :)

[Bigian88]

are you looking for a DDR2 or DDR3 build?

that would fluctuate the prices a fair bit but £300 is more than enough to get you decent parts.

i would look at:

ASRock 880G Extreme 3 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/AMD+Socket+AM3/ASRock+880G+Extreme3+%28Socket+AM3%29+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=41129)
G.Skill RipJaw 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3+Dual+Channel+%E2%80%93+1600MHz+%2F+PC3-12800/G.SKILL+RipJaw+4GB+%282x2GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C8+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=37613)
AMD Phenom II X4 995 Black Edition (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/AMD/Phenom+II+AM3/AMD+Phenom+II+X4+Quad+Core+955+Black+Edition+125W+ C3+%28Socket+AM3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39930)

Total - £289 delieverd

[TheMadDutchDude]

I can't see that being much of an upgrade over your Q6600.

Get yourself a better cooler. Something along the lines of a Thermalright Venemous X. Take your Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz and you'll be laughing. A much cheaper solution and it will keep up with the 955 any day. Bang in the new GTX 460 and away you go.

Ooh, don't bother with a seperate card for PhysX, it doesn't add much, if any performance on to your games. It's a waste of electricity! ;)

[AmdOverclocker]

are you looking for a DDR2 or DDR3 build?

that would fluctuate the prices a fair bit but £300 is more than enough to get you decent parts.

i would look at:

ASRock 880G Extreme 3 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/AMD+Socket+AM3/ASRock+880G+Extreme3+%28Socket+AM3%29+DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=41129)
G.Skill RipJaw 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3+Dual+Channel+%E2%80%93+1600MHz+%2F+PC3-12800/G.SKILL+RipJaw+4GB+%282x2GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C8+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=37613)
AMD Phenom II X4 995 Black Edition (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/AMD/Phenom+II+AM3/AMD+Phenom+II+X4+Quad+Core+955+Black+Edition+125W+ C3+%28Socket+AM3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39930)

Total - £289 delieverd

lol that rams terrible compared to the G.Skill ECO ram for the same price:thumb:

[Terbinator]

I can't see that being much of an upgrade over your Q6600.

Get yourself a better cooler. Something along the lines of a Thermalright Venemous X. Take your Q6600 right up to 3.6GHz and you'll be laughing. A much cheaper solution and it will keep up with the 955 any day. Bang in the new GTX 460 and away you go.

Ooh, don't bother with a seperate card for PhysX, it doesn't add much, if any performance on to your games. It's a waste of electricity! ;)

+1.

Just stick an Athlon II build together for your family.

[sibeer]

Agreed the CPU you are looking at is that it really isn't great shakes above the Intel one you currently have. If you really want to save money then grab one of these for the family PC:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Gladiator+Atom+BareBones+PC+%2B+180w+PSU+?productI d=39606

[Litvi]

OK thanks for your advice, I was thinking that the Phenom II would be more of a performance jump up from the Q6600 though - cooler I have is good enough imo, the current OC to 3.0GHz is with no voltage increase so I could easily push it further if I wanted to - with regard to the bundle deal I'm looking for potential for easy upgradeability of the processor in the future so hence going for an AMD because their future realeases are likely to be backwards compatible
Atm after piecing everything together looking at getting the following then (I want DDR3 build):

for build 1 (total £289):
ASRock 880G Extreme3 £88
AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE £66 - the motherboard in theory allows me to unlock the 2 latent cores, does anyone have any comments on this feature?
OCZ Gold 2x2GB DDR3 1600MHz £86
OCZ StealthXStream 400W £27
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev2 £22

for build 2 (£258):
Asus GTX460 1GB Voltage Tweak Edn £176
Antec 902 £82

Anything glaringly bad/missed?