Upgrading -- Crossfire

[gabe4183]

Briefly, a few months ago i got 2x sapphire 4850s on sale... and i now would like to purchase a cpu/MOBO to compliment... Specifically the best bang for my buck. It doesnt have to be THE best but a really solid set up that will last me for a while. Thanks for your help!

current set up is
a8n 32 SLI deluxe
amd 64 4600+ 2.21ghz
3gb ram
700 watt psu

 

[rewindlabs]

Why not post your budget...you will want to go phenom...most likely an x4

 

[gkay09]

+1 give us your budget...
Here is a start...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128384

 

[gabe4183]

im not biased on amd or intel chipsets is there a reason to choose one over the other these days?

I dont have a set in stone budget but what i would like to spend is 400 bucks roughly for both parts and 50 more for the ram -

If i could sell my current computer I was toying with the idea of just buying another case PSU harddrive and making a whole computer outta the scraps

this is what i was thinking about so far
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220174
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152031

again if you think an amd set up would suit me better so be it.. im mainly looking for opinions and perspectives i havnt already thought of. Ive had my current mobo combo for over 4 years.. it served me well i just want something for the next four years that will sustain my gaming and help me get out of the double digit frame rates.

Thanks for your time!

 

[gabe4183]

*crickets*

 

[aberchonbie]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.181992

how about that?

Runs a Phenom II 940 clocked at stock speeds of 3.0GHz (easily OC'ed) paired with an ASUS M4A79 Deluxe (which will run your 4850's in Crossfire at full PCI-e 2.0 x16 speeds with an option to add another gpu in a 16/8/8 fashion)

The mobo is also running the 790FX NB and a 750 SB (which are pretty much all recent chips) You can look at the specs of the mobo and you'll pretty much find that it can accommodate all of your needs (unless you have specific needs you havent told us about)

This is the only cpu/mobo combo that I see on newegg right now where the mobo would be decent enough to last you another 4 years..

For RAM, go for 4GB with Vista x64. Your system would be solid.

This combo will set you back 355 on newegg.

 

[aberchonbie]

Also, AMD/ATI suggests a minimum 550W power supply for crossfire of two 4850's..

Should get something around that range from a quality psu manufacturer (ie. PC Power & Cooling, Corsair, some Antecs, etc.) btw, Raidmax is not a top tier power supply manufacturer :[

You can look for a Intel LGA775 based system in which case you will want a mobo with either the p45 or x48 chipset for the northbridge (p45 = x8, x8 for pcie lanes while x48 = x16, x16 for pcie lanes) x38 is a lower binned/older chip from the x48 but also runs pcie slots at x16, x16 speeds..

 

[gabe4183]

But whats more cost effective? Spend 700 bucks on a i7 setup or 350 just to gain the additional usage of my extra 4850 in xfire mode? The difference is how long will either setup last me in competitive gaming performance