CPU, Graphics card and others

[lashton]

Okay now people i dont mean to sound rude but I have a few questions and i would like your guys input on the questions i ask ONLY.

1) Is it a good idea to get a Phenom II X2 550 adn try iubnlock it (wether it works or not) and overclock the snot out of it with a good cooler or get a Phenom II X4 955, here in NZ there is over $110 difference between the two
2)Whats a good cooler for this
3)In NZ i can get 2 X 5770 for about the same as a 5850, or get the 5870 before you all say the 5870 is there really a good reason for it, I play like Just cause 2, BF 2 and a few other games, NOT crysis hate that game
4)With the Phenom II X2 550 is it better to get a 790 based board?
5) the core i5 620 is just alittle more than the Phenom II X4 955, which is best performance for money?

 

[welshmousepk]

1) Is it a good idea to get a Phenom II X2 550 adn try iubnlock it (wether it works or not) and overclock the snot out of it with a good cooler or get a Phenom II X4 955, here in NZ there is over $110 difference between the two

im in NZ also, and i chose to get the 550. i successfully unlocked and now run it at 3.6Ghz. i would say its definitely worth it. sucess rates are high, but you must understand its not a guarantee. but either way you at least get a very good dual-core that can handle pretty much any game out there.

2)Whats a good cooler for this

i use a tuniq tower 120, which is excellent. but they now have a 120 extreme which seems even better. but the TRUE or Scythe mugen 2 and many others are great choices.

3)In NZ i can get 2 X 5770 for about the same as a 5850, or get the 5870 before you all say the 5870 is there really a good reason for it, I play like Just cause 2, BF 2 and a few other games, NOT crysis hate that game

pricing in NZ is a little weird, but i would say go for the single 5840, and OC it. very good performance for a reasonable price, and you have the option to add a second later on to get even more performance, instead of having to get rid of two cards to upgrade.

4)With the Phenom II X2 550 is it better to get a 790 based board?

if you want to unlock/OC i would say yes. considering the marginal price difference, its worth getting a quality board with a recent chipset.

5) the core i5 620 is just alittle more than the Phenom II X4 955, which is best performance for money?

the i5 isn't that great. it not an enthusiast chip, and the Phenom 955 would be better for just about anything. multi threaded apps it would obviously be better, but its probably on more even footing for single threaded apps. i would go for the Phenom hand down though, unless you could afford an i5 750 (which is the only i5 worth having in a gaming system)

where are you buying parts anyway? i can recommend some good NZ sites. where in NZ are you anyways?

good luck anyway.

 

[Lmeow]

1) There's only a chance that the Phenom II X2 550 will be able to be unlocked, I'd get the Phenom II X4, because I'm supposing you actually want a quad core, if your Phenom II X2 550 can't be unlocked, well, you're stuck with a dual core.
2) The best AMD cooler according to frostytech is the Thermolab Baram, which costs $76.96NZD from AlphaCity, a great store. Note that you also need to buy a separate fan as well.
http://www.alphacity.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=181_183&products_id=25472&zenid=6c292d17769da843353462e9c11db406
3) The price difference between the HD 5870 and HD 5850 is approx $150-200 NZD, the HD 5850 is more than enough. Two HD 5770s would perform around the same as an HD 5870, but it consumes more power, and really it doesn't seem like you'd need the extra power.
4) With the Phenom II X2 550, it doesn't really matter whether you get 770 785G or a 790 chipset based board, because if you want to unlock the cores, you need the SB710 or SB750 southbridge, which has ACC. Get 770 based motherboard if you only intend to use one card, only has one PCI-e slot, or 790X based if you want a cheap two way CrossFireX board, or if you want top of the line, get a 790FX based motherboard.
5) Core i5 620? If you mean Core i5 600 series, then get the Phenom II X4 955, because the 600 series are just dual cores with HyperThreading, but the Core i5 750 on the otherhand, is around the same for gaming, but a bit better at everything else, i.e. video encoding etc. If gaming is your primary concern, just stick with the Phenom II X4 955, the motherboards are cheaper and well, in gaming they perform the same on average.

 

[lashton]

1) Is it a good idea to get a Phenom II X2 550 adn try iubnlock it (wether it works or not) and overclock the snot out of it with a good cooler or get a Phenom II X4 955, here in NZ there is over $110 difference between the two

im in NZ also, and i chose to get the 550. i successfully unlocked and now run it at 3.6Ghz. i would say its definitely worth it. sucess rates are high, but you must understand its not a guarantee. but either way you at least get a very good dual-core that can handle pretty much any game out there.

2)Whats a good cooler for this

i use a tuniq tower 120, which is excellent. but they now have a 120 extreme which seems even better. but the TRUE or Scythe mugen 2 and many others are great choices.

3)In NZ i can get 2 X 5770 for about the same as a 5850, or get the 5870 before you all say the 5870 is there really a good reason for it, I play like Just cause 2, BF 2 and a few other games, NOT crysis hate that game

pricing in NZ is a little weird, but i would say go for the single 5840, and OC it. very good performance for a reasonable price, and you have the option to add a second later on to get even more performance, instead of having to get rid of two cards to upgrade.

4)With the Phenom II X2 550 is it better to get a 790 based board?

if you want to unlock/OC i would say yes. considering the marginal price difference, its worth getting a quality board with a recent chipset.

5) the core i5 620 is just alittle more than the Phenom II X4 955, which is best performance for money?

the i5 isn't that great. it not an enthusiast chip, and the Phenom 955 would be better for just about anything. multi threaded apps it would obviously be better, but its probably on more even footing for single threaded apps. i would go for the Phenom hand down though, unless you could afford an i5 750 (which is the only i5 worth having in a gaming system)

where are you buying parts anyway? i can recommend some good NZ sites. where in NZ are you anyways?

good luck anyway.

thankls for that I am in auckland

 

[lashton]

How does this list look:

site is "http://www.alphacity.co.nz"

Thermaltake V3 Black MID TOWER W/450W
$118.70 $118.70

Thermolab BARAM Enthusiast cooler, takes 120mm fans, suits Intel Socket 775, 1366CPUs, AMD Socket AM2+/AM2 CPUs
$68.41 $68.41

3 X Arctic Cooling, Low Noise Case Fan F12, 120 x 120 x 25mm, 1350 RPM, Fluid Dynamic Bearing, Noise Level: 20.0 dB(A), 0.3 Sone
$11.11 $33.33

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Processor 3.1GHz 7MB Cache
$132.00 $132.00

Samsung 1.5TB EcoGreen F2 HD154UI HDD - SATA II 3.0Gbs, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms seek, 3 Years Warranty
$155.26 $155.26

logitech mk250 wireless desktop keybaord and mouse combo 2.4 ghz cordless
$31.46 $31.46

Asus VH232T 23"Wide Full HD 1920x1080 20000:1 5ms Speakers DVI/Analog Black Glossy LCD Monitor
$242.37 $242.37

DFI LANPARTY-BI-785G-M35 AM3 M/b, 785G+SB710, DDR3 1600, SATAII, RAID, PCI-Ex16, Int VGA, Gbe LAN, USB2.0, 8Ch Audio, mATX, Hybrid CrossFireX
$147.67 $147.67

2 X crucial 2gb 240-pin dimm ddr3 1333 non ecc
$80.17 $160.34

benq dw240s 24xspeed internal dvd rw drive sata balck
$40.54 $40.54

logitech ls21 2.1 channel speakers 1x subwoofer 4w 2 x satellite shielded speakers 1.5w w/headphone jack /volume control
$29.66 $29.66

sapphire vapor-x hd5850 1g ddr5 pci-e video card . oc version . ; 735mhz / 1050mhz ( 11162-03-40r )
$498.94 $498.94

Sub-Total: $1,658.68

 

[welshmousepk]

those prices are before GST though right? so ads another 12.5 percent to that.

i woudl really reocmend using PConlineshop.co.nz, they are cheap, fast and reliable. i go to them for most everything.

if you want lots of help and support though, modsterPC are excellent. the guys there really go out of their way to help and will make sure you get what you need.

 

[lashton]

they are actually more expensive than the alpha city, anyway i used them before and I will NEVER use them again the worst service i could have concieved

 

[welshmousepk]

really? ive used them probably a half dozen times and always receiuved the stuff next day and in perfect condition.

fair enough about the prices though, i didnt Compare, but i always do the research before buying parts and alphacity is one i have never bought from.

 

[lashton]

i bought one thing from them it took almost 1.5 weeks to get to me, the box was opened before sending and the CF bridge and a power connector were missing

 

[Raidur]

i bought one thing from them it took almost 1.5 weeks to get to me, the box was opened before sending and the CF bridge and a power connector were missing

Ew, fail company fails.

Better than fake i7s! 😉

 

[lashton]

so what do you think about my components, any ideas?

 

[Lmeow]

How does this list look:

site is "http://www.alphacity.co.nz"

Thermaltake V3 Black MID TOWER W/450W
$118.70 $118.70

Thermolab BARAM Enthusiast cooler, takes 120mm fans, suits Intel Socket 775, 1366CPUs, AMD Socket AM2+/AM2 CPUs
$68.41 $68.41

3 X Arctic Cooling, Low Noise Case Fan F12, 120 x 120 x 25mm, 1350 RPM, Fluid Dynamic Bearing, Noise Level: 20.0 dB(A), 0.3 Sone
$11.11 $33.33

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Processor 3.1GHz 7MB Cache
$132.00 $132.00

Samsung 1.5TB EcoGreen F2 HD154UI HDD - SATA II 3.0Gbs, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms seek, 3 Years Warranty
$155.26 $155.26

logitech mk250 wireless desktop keybaord and mouse combo 2.4 ghz cordless
$31.46 $31.46

Asus VH232T 23"Wide Full HD 1920x1080 20000:1 5ms Speakers DVI/Analog Black Glossy LCD Monitor
$242.37 $242.37

DFI LANPARTY-BI-785G-M35 AM3 M/b, 785G+SB710, DDR3 1600, SATAII, RAID, PCI-Ex16, Int VGA, Gbe LAN, USB2.0, 8Ch Audio, mATX, Hybrid CrossFireX
$147.67 $147.67

2 X crucial 2gb 240-pin dimm ddr3 1333 non ecc
$80.17 $160.34

benq dw240s 24xspeed internal dvd rw drive sata balck
$40.54 $40.54

logitech ls21 2.1 channel speakers 1x subwoofer 4w 2 x satellite shielded speakers 1.5w w/headphone jack /volume control
$29.66 $29.66

sapphire vapor-x hd5850 1g ddr5 pci-e video card . oc version . ; 735mhz / 1050mhz ( 11162-03-40r )
$498.94 $498.94

Sub-Total: $1,658.68

Looks good to me, except three things.
Firstly, I wouldn't trust the 450W PSU that comes with the Thermaltake case - I'd get a proper PSU, something like a Corsair VX550W.
Secondly, I'd get an SSD for bootup + few games, such as the Corsair Reactor R60 60GB, and a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM drive for storage - they're one of the fastest drives available.
Thirdly, do you want to add another HD 5850 later, or is one enough? Because if one is enough, then just stick witht that board. Otherwise you'd want to look for either 790X, 790GX or 790FX based boards for CrossFireX. They should all have either the SB710/750 southbridge, which is what you'd need to unlock cores.