Hi all! Well, I think I'm nearly ready to proceed with buying the stuff now but I just have a couple questions. I don't really know which way to go, the HDCP supported AM2+ motherboard or go for the more advanced AM3. I already have an HDD and a DVD Writer which is why I haven't listed them in the build. The reason why I'm considering the AM2+ motherboard (including the processor, DDR2 ram) is because I want to get an HDMI switching device that will allow me to switch between displays of my PC to my consoles so unfortunately, the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (AM3) motherboard doesn't support HDCP which is a requirement for the HDMI switcher to work. Although, I've come across a few forum posts that suggests the AM3 processors would work with the AM2+ motherboard (providing the motherboard software was updated)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (supports a faster processor and DDR3 ram but isn't HDCP compliant) or Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H (is HDCP compliant but would need to revert to a slower processor and DDR2 ram)

CPU:

AM3: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black, Deneb Core or AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (I'm unsure about which to get. The price difference is small but from what I've heard that with processors, there are cores which perform better than others so I'm guessing the Deneb is better but the thing that I'm confused about is the amount of L2 cache. The Deneb lists only 512KB while the regular one lists 512KBx4, I thought maybe this was a typo on Scan's part but I'm unsure still.) (based on getting the Gigabyte UD4P motherboard)

AM2+: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb Core (based on getting the Gigabyte UD4H motherboard)



GPU: XFX 1GB ATI RadeonHD 5850 (There is the XFX black edition as well but I didn't really think it was worth the extra £20 for 40 more Mhz)


Soundcard:Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi XtremeGamer (Honestly, I just chose this because it was the cheapest Creative PCI-E soundcard that was in stock since I didn't notice any mention of onboard sound on the motherboards)


RAM:

AM3: Kingston KVR 1600Mz DDR3 NonECC DIMM K2 (based on getting the Gigabyte UD4P motherboard)

AM2+: Kingston KVR 800Mz HyperX DDR2 4GB (based on getting the Gigabyte UD4H motherboard)


PSU: 450W Corsair CMPSU-450VXUK (chose it based on Scan.co.uk's psu recommendation tool)

Case: NOX Saphira Midi-Tower

Monitor: LG 22" LCD W2261VP-PF (Reasoning for getting its 22", it supports HD and is HD Compliant (based on getting the Gigabyte UD4H motherboard)

Mouse: Microsoft Wired Basic Optical Mouse

Keyboard: Logitech Ultra Flat Keyboard

Speakers: Creative Inspire 5.1 T6160 (still looking around for these to be honest)

So all the parts in these builds be compatible with each other and would it be worth going for slightly less performance to get the HDCP compliance capability or is the difference in performance between the processors and ram relatively big?

Oh and finally, would either of these systems gobble up the likes of rFactor, iRacing and the all important LFS easily?

You don't need a HDCP compliant motherboard. All that needs to be HDCP compliant is your GPU and monitor. You'll find the HDCP compliant motherboards actually have an onboard GPU, which you won't need.

As for the sound card, both motherboards you linked have this:

Quote :

Blu-ray playback supported by high quality 106dB SNR ALC889A HD audio

I wouldn't even be tempted nowadays to get a soundcard unless its a decent one, such as an Asus Xonar. I tested this, I have an X-fi fatality and was really annoyed it couldn't connect to my front panel audio...so I used onboard instead and I have to say I've stuck with it.

Other than that, good choices and I would recommend AM3/DDR3. Make sure the RAM is AMD compatible! This is one thing that shafted me when I got a dual kit from Scan, I had to take it back because it was designed to work with intel not AMD.

EDIT
To answer more of your questions, from scouting around both CPUs are Deneb cores but the more expensive one is a later generation and should run cooler and overclock better (if you're into that thing)

Your parts will play the games easy to be honest.

My main recommendation don't get the soundcard and spend some more on the case and possibly a third-party cooler for the CPU.

For the 965's, go with the one that says "HDZ965FBGMBOX" not "HDZ965FBGIBOX". The "GM" has a 125w TDP (thermal design power), versus 140w of the GI, which means it will produce less heat.

I recommend getting an aftermarket CPU heatsink so you can overclock your phenom higher (you're basically guaranteed 3.7 ghz even if you're a complete overclocking noob. All you have to do is go into bios and raise the CPU Multiplier higher as well as the vcore to around 1.4v. That's the pro of getting a Black Edition CPU)

FWIW, I'm LOVING my XtremeGamer at the moment. WAY better than onboard and SB Audigy. Logitech Z4s sound so much crisper and clear now. The software isn't bad either

I'd go with the UD4P for the 4 extra USB ports since you won't need the onboard video, as well as looking less "lego" like than the UD4H. DDR3 will eventually be cheaper to upgrade than ddr2 as well, so that's a +.

WAIT! AMD is releasing their new 890FX and 890GX chipsets around this month, and new motherboards are coming out around the same time. Unless you absolutely need a computer today, wait for the new boards to come out.

Quote from shiny_red_cobra :

WAIT! AMD is releasing their new 890FX and 890GX chipsets around this month, and new motherboards are coming out around the same time. Unless you absolutely need a computer today, wait for the new boards to come out.

Won't that just bring USB 3.0, Sata III, and better extreme overclocking ability? Doubt it should affect the average user that much.

Well, my HDD is SATA 3GB/s so SATA III is useless to me really and I'm not pushed for USB 3.0. It'll probably be a while yet before it becomes universal.

@spacedskunk: thanks for all the info . I had a look on the Kingston website and the ram should be compatible with the processor. It seems that its based on voltage so the DDR3 ram is within the voltage range for AMD. Its strange to think that 0.05V can make the difference between ram working with an AMD processor to an Intel one.

Quote from shiny_red_cobra :

WAIT! AMD is releasing their new 890FX and 890GX chipsets around this month, and new motherboards are coming out around the same time. Unless you absolutely need a computer today, wait for the new boards to come out.

Could have told me that a few weeks ago Hopefully they are expensive which will make me feel better

You should've made a post here a few weeks ago.

Lep, you can drop an AM3 chip into an am2+ board. which means you can have an AM3 running on DDR2. the speed difference between DDR2 and 3 is not enough imo.
i currently have the AM3 550 (duel core) andf it's in a gigabyte AM2+ board.
it's running like a dream too.

Oh right, thanks for confirming it dadge. I did read though that you can only do that with the Gigabyte boards. I think I'll go for the AM3 board anyway if the HDMI switcher works with it because after calculating the cost difference of the builds, the AM3 build turned out cheaper but I don't exactly understand why. The UD4H (AM2+) board costs £120 while the UD4P costs £103. The processor and DDR3 ram is slightly more expensive than the Phenom II 940 and DDR 2 ram but it still doesn't make up for the cost difference of the board so oddly enough, newer equals cheaper

any am2+ board will take an AM3 chip.
with some boards you can unlock locked cores (like in my 550 for example)

Quote from dadge :

with some boards you can unlock locked cores (like in my 550 for example)

Do I need custom bios for that?

i am not sure bud. but if you're buying that chip to unlock the other cores, i'm sure you'll have found a suitable mobo to do the trick. there's loads out there too.

EDIT: small search got me this: http://www.siliconmadness.com/ ... x2-550-black-edition.html

http://www.theinquirer.net/inq ... 50-black-edition-surprise

some more searching will help too

Ok, I've finally decided on the final build. Can anyone just confirm with me if all these parts are compatible with each other? Thank you.

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, S AM3, 3.4GHz, 8MB Cache, 125W, Retail

GPU: 1GB XFX HD 5850 XXX, PCI-E 2.0(x16), 4500MHz GDDR5, GPU 755MHz, 1440 Cores, DP/ 2x DL DVI-I/ HDMI

MB: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 DDR3, AMD 790X, DDR3, 1866(OC), SATA 6Gb/s; 3Gb/s, RAID, USB 3.0; 2.0, ATX

RAM: Kingston KVR 1600Mz DDR3 NonECC DIMM K2

PSU: 650W Corsair CMPSU-650TX, single 12V rail

Case: ASUS TA-K51, Gloss Black, Mid Tower Case w/o PSU

Monitor: 22" Viewsonic VX2260WM

Yes, they are (not sure about the case )

Well, its an ATX case so it should be supported and check out that gloss!

Nice build. How much RAM did you get?

Well, I haven't gotten anything yet which is why I just wanted to confirm with you guys if it all fits together well. I'll be getting 4GB for now and if I feel I need more later, I'll probably get 2GB more.

By the way, would any of you guys know where I could find 4GB Kingston DDR3? It was on Amazon a while ago but not anymore and the only alternative I found is selling for €100 which is a fair bit more than what Amazon were selling it for (£75). I checked Scan (where I'm getting all the other parts) but they only have Corsair, no Kingston. I know Corsair is meant to be fine but I know that Kingston is the daddy.

Right, I can't find Kingston so I'll go with Corsair. Thing is though, I'm unsure what to go for. I've found 2 4GB Corsair kits that according to the Corsair website are compatible with the Phenom II. One is 1333Mhz and the other is 1600Mhz. The motherboard is only compatible with 3 speeds (DDR3 - 1066 / DDR3 - 1333 / DDR3 - 1666(OC)). Since the cost difference between the two is something like £1, I thought I may as well go for the 1600Mhz one but the thing I was thinking about is, could I overclock it safely to 1666 without having to install an extra fan? Or would I just be better sticking with the 1333Mhz kit and don't do any overclocking it. I have no real knowledge of overclocking to be honest but I'm planning on reading on it later after I get the PC. At the moment, with all the money this is costing, I don't think I can spend any more on added cooling but something else also, if I did get the 1600Mhz kit and underclocked it to 1333Mhz, would it perform better than the 1333Mhz kit?

Corsair > OCZ > Crucial > KingStone.

kthx

thanks . kthx?

ah! "k thanks". Why are you thanking me?

A blatantly sarcastic way of saying "Ok, thanks" in 1337 sp3ak.

Quote :

-Internet talk isn't even worthy of being called a dialect. It's a mutilation of language, and we are the people who have to compensate for it's brazen idiocy.
-lol kthx

Right, ok, well, no problem then

So, would anyone advise which ram to go for?

They're here and here. I'd have to underclock the second one from 1600Mhz to 1333Mhz or overclock it to 1666Mhz but I'm not buying any additional cooling so I'm not sure if I will overclock it.

I'd go for Corsair.