New CPU/Mobo Purchase

399 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Strat79, Nov 24, 2009

Strat79

Discussion Starter · Nov 23, 2009

I'm in the process of researching for a new CPU/Mobo purchase. Gearing myself for hopefully a nice Black Friday deal, but if not, still getting something. Have already ordered a 650w/[email protected]/30Amps per rail, PSU. I will most likely be going with a Phenom II 550BE but I have a few questions about them and Mobo's that you all may help answer. Keep in mind I'm on a very limited budget of maybe $200 or a little more for the cpu/mobo.

First question is about 550BE's. Are the C3's out yet and which crop have the Egg been shipping out recently for 550BE's as far as stepping and unluckability? I have my eye on the $102 one they are showcasing and wondering if I should go ahead and get it or maybe get from another retailer that is shipping better crops.

My second question is about the motherboards. I understand I will need a 710/750+ chipset to attempt unlock. I'd like to get one with a possible Crossfire upgrade for my 4870 later on, but that is not a must and it must be DDR2(not going to pay the crazy prices to switch over to DDR3 atm). I have been eying GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H
for $89.99 which is really all I would need, but it lacks in the PCI-E department. Could anyone give some more suggestions for around $90-130 range? The Egg is offering some Biostar 790GX/750 MB as a combo deal with the 550BE atm for $172 too. It has 2 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot (CFX x8) at least but I'm not sure how good it will be on unlocking or OC features. The main thing I want is unlockability, OC features, DDR2 and xfire a plus. It doesn't have to be topend and the best, as long as it has those features. Help me decide

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Freakn

· #2 · Nov 23, 2009

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1) (Note 5)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4_1) (Note 6)
(The PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX4_1 slots support ATI Hybrid CrossFireX technology and conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

Taken from the spec its to PCIEx16 and PCIEx4 as the secondary which i think is holding mine back on the graphics front...

But a great all round board, though not much room once you put 2 double slot graphics cards leaving only one pci slot usable

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Strat79

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 23, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freakn

This board does open up lots of everclocking options, and i was able to get the combo stable quad @ 3.7Ghz and even booting into 4. a few times but hot days so decided to back off for a while..

But

Taken from the spec its to PCIEx16 and PCIEx4 as the secondary which i think is holding mine back on the graphics front...

But a great all round board, though not much room once you put 2 double slot graphics cards leaving only one pci slot usable

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the PCI-E issues honestly. I doubt I will every go Xfire, but the option would be nice. I'd probably just go to a bigger single card like 5870 or 5970 later on if I did upgrade. The main points I need are tons of OC features, Unlock cores if it can and DDR2, cheap. That Biostar combo deal is pretty cheap but I'm not sure how it does on OC features and unlocking. It has everything else I need though. But between the two, I'd probably get the Gigabtye, I trust them waaaaay more.

My main concern in this whole process is picking which CPU to get or rather where from. I'm not up to speed on the whole C3 stepping and if it's out and available and what the Egg is shipping out atm as far as steppings. I'm really hoping they put the 550BE on sale for Black Friday on the Egg.

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Strat79

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 24, 2009

I've done some more reading and figured out the new C3 stepping is only starting on the 555's and not out yet as far as I can tell, so that answers one of my questions. Anyone know what the Eggs recent batch of 550's have been doing on unlocking? I think I will just grab one on Black Friday(hopefully with a nice % off) and either the Gigabyte board I linked in the first post or the MA790X-UD4P.

Can someone give me the key advantage of the UD4P over the UD3H. I don't see that much difference other than little more raid options and some other small stuff that I don't really care about. What does going from the 785G to 790X chipset get you? Is it worth the $20 difference?

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