fuloran1

Heya guys, looking to get some feedback on this upgrade. I am hoping to use as much as I can from my old rig (memory, hard drives, power supply) and just up[grade my proc, board and vid card for now. I was looking at the following and would love some feedback. + rep for all constructive responses.

Proc
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103674

Vid Card
XFX GX260XADJC GeForce GTX 260 896MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150398

and I am looking for board suggestions. I will have maybe 150-200$ more to spend.

Basically I am looking for the best bang for the buck spending maybe 600$. Thanks in advance!

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The Official MSI 790FX-GD70 Owners Thread

Afrodisiac

For the same price as that GTX 260, you can get an HIS 4890, link, which is a superior card.

The processor is fine, 955 is a beast. For motherboard, you should get the MSI 790FX-GD70, link. Best AM3 board out now.

However, with that board you would need some DDR3 memory. I don't think it's a bad thing, no point staying with DDR2 if you're upgrading to a 955 (although you can use AM2/DDR2 with a 955), but it might be too much for your budget. I would recommend the 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-2000 kit, link.

Total is $623 without shipping:


Good luck with your upgrade.

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fuloran1

Thanks Afro! I was REALLY hoping to keep using the ram I have since I have 8 gigs. Any siuggestions from you (or anyone) on a board I can use it with, yet still upgrade to ddr3 later?

Thanks again man, great suggestions

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תרגום זה היה בזבוז מוחלט של הזמן שלך

The Official MSI 790FX-GD70 Owners Thread

Afrodisiac

Yeah, I noticed later in your sig that you have 8GB of high-quality DDR2 RAM, so it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to stick with DDR2/AM2+ boards. There are some decent choices so no big deal.

I'm a DFI fanboy but I can't lie and say they haven't had quality issues for a while now, but the 790FXB-M2RSH is a nice board when the PCI-E slots aren't dying, link.

Then there's the ASUS M4A79 deluxe. Can't say I like this board, but it's quite popular, link.

The one I wish was not discontinued is the Gigabyte 790FX-UD5P. Basically, the DDR2 version of their great 790FXT-UD5P. Deactivated on newegg, link. If you can find one from another store, it would be my best recommendation. It should handle your 8GB RAM the best.

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fuloran1

so using an am3 chip is ok in an am2 board? if so i found the board you liked on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VNBJ0A/...SIN=B001VNBJ0A

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תרגום זה היה בזבוז מוחלט של הזמן שלך

The Official MSI 790FX-GD70 Owners Thread

stangcharger

use this board if you want to use your DDR2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128387

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The Official MSI 790FX-GD70 Owners Thread

fuloran1

Thanks Stang, I am just wondering too, would i really see a difference between ddr3 and ddr2? Keep in mind that I would only have 4gb of ddr3 while I have 8gb of the ddr2.

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תרגום זה היה בזבוז מוחלט של הזמן שלך

The Official MSI 790FX-GD70 Owners Thread

The Duke

Difference with the RAM, more so dependent on the speed and timings of the DDR3 compared to what DDR2 you now have.
If the DDR2 stuff you have can do at least 1066 stable, you should do fine with a DDR2 setup

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Afrodisiac

The difference between 8GB and 4GB is massively more important than the difference between DDR3 and DDR2 (which is only significant in bandwidth benchmarks).

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jimibgood

M4A79 deluxe is still one of best overclocking board for all Phenoms. Our club highest overclocks came from this board and it is DDR2...... DDR3 may at best get you 1-2% better performance. If you have DDR2 it is not worth the upgrade at this point or at least till the new chipsets come out in 2010. DDR2 and DDR3 motherboards currently basically feature the same chipsets and do not overclock any better than this M4A79 Deluxe by Asus that I am suggesting.

I overclocked to 4.09Ghz stable with the board with my 955

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...1361&Tpk=m4a79

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High overclock 4.28GHz:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=756990

http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq77/AAdeath/oc2.png

http://www.overclock.net/gallery/dat...medium/186.jpg
http://www.overclock.net/gallery/dat...medium/267.jpg
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