Would it be bad (amd)

[EXT64]

The AM3's have already been tested by Gigabyte (check their website) so they have at least a few made in retail (C2) stepping.

One word of caution, I have the Gigabyte board and it still has a few minor BIOS glitches. I can tell you them if you'd like. From what I've heard, the Asus 790GX is a little more stable, but accounts vary. I'd suggest sticking with the 790GX since it is very good for the price.

Also, if you are worried about the shipped BIOS being incompatible, just buy a cheap $20 Sempron for that first boot. On top of it, at the time I bought mine my board was $10 off so the extra CPU cost only $10. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

 

[vochtige]

Hey guys, i started my search. i don't know if you guys know Medion. it's realiable they say, so i found this 2 systems: the links are in dutch, but i'll give you a little translation.

https://www.medionshop.be/nlshop/catalog/compareItems.do

the black one has: phenom 9550 2,2ghz, ati 4850, 4gb ram (667mhz), 1000gb (WD), tv tuner card with wireless controller price 799euro's

the white one has: Q6600 (intel), nv 9600GT, 3gb (800mhz), 1000gb... but no TV- tuner card or controller... price 749euro's

so guys, the black one with the tv-tuner card and the better graphics card is it worth the extra 50 euro's? is 4850 a big diffrence against 9600GT? would the amd phenom hurt me? just guys tell me what you think?

 

[salem80]

The AM3's have already been tested by Gigabyte (check their website) so they have at least a few made in retail (C2) stepping.

One word of caution, I have the Gigabyte board and it still has a few minor BIOS glitches. I can tell you them if you'd like. From what I've heard, the Asus 790GX is a little more stable, but accounts vary. I'd suggest sticking with the 790GX since it is very good for the price.

Also, if you are worried about the shipped BIOS being incompatible, just buy a cheap $20 Sempron for that first boot. On top of it, at the time I bought mine my board was $10 off so the extra CPU cost only $10. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

But don't forget that ASUS BIOS UPDATE Through USB FLASH Disk with
""ASUS CrashFree BIOS3"" and "ASUS EZ Flash2 " offer u update Bios Like this MOBO
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=149&l3=736&l4=0&model=2341&modelmenu=1
but i don't know if it work with new cpu

 

[nsimo86]

Hey guys, i started my search. i don't know if you guys know Medion. it's realiable they say, so i found this 2 systems: the links are in dutch, but i'll give you a little translation.

https://www.medionshop.be/nlshop/catalog/compareItems.do

the black one has: phenom 9550 2,2ghz, ati 4850, 4gb ram (667mhz), 1000gb (WD), tv tuner card with wireless controller price 799euro's

the white one has: Q6600 (intel), nv 9600GT, 3gb (800mhz), 1000gb... but no TV- tuner card or controller... price 749euro's

so guys, the black one with the tv-tuner card and the better graphics card is it worth the extra 50 euro's? is 4850 a big diffrence against 9600GT? would the amd phenom hurt me? just guys tell me what you think?

Both systems have serious flaws. The AMD needs faster RAM and it would be nice to get at least a phenom 9850 or 9950 if not a phenom 2. The Intel system needs a better graphics card and 4gb of RAM. Are these systems customizable at all?

 

[vochtige]

no they are not customizable. so it's not a good way to go for? it would be my last desktop system i think! i've got at least 1.5 years to use a pc like i do now. after that i'm not more on school, but working.

not a good idea?

 

[nsimo86]

its a toss up, you would need to replace the RAM on either machine. I think I would go with the AMD machine as you could always upgrade the cpu in the future. What motherboard chipset does the AMD use?

 

[vochtige]

i mailed them for more technical information!

they don't give the mobo brand or even the types....

prebuild, you know what that means!! 667mhz ram, why it's not good enough?

 

[EXT64]

Well, for reference what I use (and the Phenom max) is 1066, which is quite a bit faster than 667. It doesn't mean your computer can't work well (I ran DDR1 400MHz up until a couple weeks ago) but it will be limiting it, and who wants that in a new system (especially with DDR2 prices so low).

 

[vochtige]

yeah, maybe you are right!! i'll pick up some 8 gb ram 1066mhz, but how can i know if the mobo suports 1066mhz? the latest mobo's all do, but i can't even find out the brand(manufacturor) of those motherboards!

 

[nsimo86]

You'll have to find out from them but I am guessing its either a nvidia board or a micro atx board since it only has 1 pci express x16 slot. Its not bad, you just will be limited in your upgrades. You can only have one video card and probably only be able to upgrade to a phenom 9850 (if you would even need to). Overall its not a bad system for mainstream uses and will play games fine. The 8 gig will be a good upgrade with vista and even if the board doesnt support 1066, it should support 800 which is still an upgrade.

 

[EXT64]

Well, 8GB may be a little overkill, but it can't hurt. The 2x2GB 1066 kits are quite cheap right now (around $50). The only problem is that prebuilt systems sometimes have limited BIOSes, and to run 1066 you normally have to adjust some BIOS settings.

 

[nsimo86]

Oh yeah I was thinking it was vista 64 but its probably 32bit vista so 4gigs is enough

 

[jerseygamer]

Oh yeah I was thinking it was vista 64 but its probably 32bit vista so 4gigs is enough

4 gigs works for both. Its perfect actually.

 

[nsimo86]

some people use applications that benefit from 8gigs

 

[vochtige]

i'm still waiting on their mail.

i think i can choose between 32 or 64 bit. they offer both choices in the same box. i really don't know what they mean about that, maybe they have an upgrade dvd-rom with vista64?

eumh, how long will 4 GB be enough in the pc-world? i run xp with 2 gb for a long time now, how long will 4 gb last with vista?

and again, thanks for the advices and comments!!

i think they have msi motherboard. mmh, i use asus now, and only have bad experiences with msi because there usb2.0 ports always do ****

 

[vochtige]

oke new update:

i've mailed my favorite pcshop with the question what he can get me for 750-800 euro's amd phenom II.

so i don't think i'm going for that medion prebuild thing that costs me 800euro's. good choice? i'll post what i'm getting...

 

[vochtige]

i'm gonna change the motherboard to an GigaByte MA790FX-DS4

the site says it suports the upcoming am3 cpu's from amd. so will it fit the new phenomII am2+ also?


and amd phenom II 920 pr 940??? 30 euro's diffrence. what to get?

 

[nsimo86]

the phenom 2 should work with any 790gx/fx motherboard.

Go with the 940 if you want to overclock, otherwise the 920 is ok.

 

[bricker123]

samsung syncmaster T220 paired with my 17 inch 740BF. both great screens. currently i'm using both. i'm planning to game my old games, and i'm willing to play gta IV! i'm not an encoding guy or something. and the I7 gaming performance at the moment aren't so wonderfull. that's why i don't want to spend so much money.

about the gpu: the 9800GTX+ and 4850 are at the same price. i'm using nvidia for many years, don't know what ati has to bring me.
i know myself, and i'm a person who buys a new gpu after 1.5 years. so spending more money for a 4870 isn't my thing.

can someone give me some numbers about asus motherboards? like m3n ... because intel is known for me, but amd is an unknown path for me.

about the cpu. i hear here and there rumors about Phenom II to be only an upgrade cpu. but what about the people who don't want to spend so much on mobo and ram? i payed for my old pc 1005 euro's (let's say it's the same in dollars at that same time). i got a p4 630 3.0 ghz, 6600gt xxx 256mb xfx gpu, 2x80 gb maxtor sata 1 and a cheap nec dvd burner that doesn't work enymore. in those 3 years i changed the gpu to a 8600 (what dubbled my performance in fps, but didn't do what a 8600gt suposed to do... all known subject 😛p)

so now i can get for 800 euro's the best amd processor, a X8XX model card and more ram...

are there reasons to go for intel again?