EggXpert

Hello People!

I plan on doing my first build in February and I was wondering if people could try to help me out a bit? I already know a bit about computers but I just needed a second opinion and et cetera. 

First problem is I wanted an Intel and I was about to purchase the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 when the AMD Phenom came out. I noticed the AMD Phenom 9500 had HT 3.0 and L3 Cache. So which would be better if I will be running multiple high end programs like Maya, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash?

Current Selections:
AMD Phenom 9500
Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD
2x Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 PC2-6400 (2x 1GB)
Antec Performance One P180
 

The next problem I ran into was if I did buy the AMD Phenom 9500, I have no idea which mother board to purchase. I was looking around and found the ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe. Would this mother board be able to run the my current selections of computer hardware and can anyone make a power supply thats not too expensive since my budget is $1,000 and I haven't selected a graphics card yet?

I am also open to all and ANY recommendations for a more budget build! If anyone know of a computer part with about the same specifications, mainly speed, of  my choices, please post a reply!!!

Thanks,
Warm Regards,
- Jason Xiao

I'll also add my current computer specifications and if anyone thinks I can salvage parts, let me know! 

I have always built AMD rigs but now is not the right time for Phenoms. The Intel equivalent just stomps it. I was in the same situation and simply decided on a 5000+ Black Edition till the whole Phenom line gets sorted out. Later this year there will be the next stepping for the Phenoms but thats LATE in the year I would bet. Either way you go the 2gb of memory you  have already will be fine but memory is so cheap right now you could probably walk away with 4gb of ddr2 800 for near 100.00 to be able to run all those programs nicely. Lot of good psu's to be had for under 100.00. Antec and Corsair to name a couple.

The Q6600 beats the 9500 and the 9600 hands down*

For video cards, I think there are new cards coming out soon. But right now, the Geforce 8800 GT and the ATi Radeon 3870 is the 2 best ones

*If you want a Spider Platform computer, get a Phenom, a 790 AM2 motherboard, and a ATi Radeon 3800 card

So go for the Quad Core then. Alright, what I decided was to also over clock if I decided on an Intel. Can someone link or describe in their own words how to OC a CPU?

Also on the side note, should I get liquid cooling or some kind of cooling device since I am going after a quad core and what wattage should the PSU be?
 

Liquid cooling is not necessary for a Quad core CPU, Only if you plan on OC'ing as other enthusiasts do. I just believe myself that liquid cooling is an accident waiting to happen where you are about to lose your entire pc if the system stops flowing or breaks down.

Personally, I would go with a nice air cooled case which is cooler then liquid cooling in some cases. Go for a zalman or any other good quality brand, read the reviews, but some people are stupid when they put up bad reviews, ie;("The copper plate on the bottom is bent!, this cooler sucks!"), usually thats designated on the user not spreading the thermal compound the correct way, failure to do this can actually fluctuate your temperatures 10 degrees higher.

 

As for the AMD phenoms, go with Intel's quad core, which Stomps the phenom out of the way right now, give AMD a few months to square out the problems. I used to be an AMD fan myself and frankly I don't like the way things are going with them. A bit flaky imo.

As for the PSU wattage, I wouldnt go less then 550-600, A good price-equivalent power supply would be an OCZ gamexstream, Any of the antec series, and 'pc power & cooling' also makes very good quality power supplies. There are a few things to remember when looking at a power supply, The first is, look how many amps are on each rail, it is best to get less rails with more amps, such as one single rail with 52 amps is amazing. OCZ uses quad rails with medium range amperage, which i think holds up pretty good, I have a system reccommended at 720 watts, but im using a 600w power supply on a budget, but it holds up fine, because it's made of quality.

OC'ing a CPU all depends on the motherboard, Without the proper OC'ing knowledge, you can fry your chip if you go too high.. google it or contact me personally and i can help you out.

 
As for the RAM, go with the 4 gb gskill if you're really looking for a budget, those are nice for 100$, crazy stuff.
Usually, I pick ram for quality, but since your on a budget that ram has a 5 egg rating at that cheap price, go for it.

Contact me personally once again for any other questions or i can continue in this thread.
 

Are you going to be doing more designing than gaming?

If so, you might want to look into the workstation class video cards such as the Quadro FX series, they're not cheap but nothing comes close to them for designing and cad/cam work
 

Phenom "bug" means Phenoms lose 15% of total performance potential right off the bat, due to the "BIOS  bug fix".

Intel Quads are awesome, and new ones comign out next month means existing parts will drop in price.

I would not build until mid Feb while pricing is worked out and stabilized. 

DieuxSoldat04:

Can someone link or describe in their own words how to OC a CPU?

There's plenty out there, you just gotta look for it.

www.overclock.net , http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/index.php?, Beginners Guides: Overclocking the CPU, Motherboard & Memory, http://www.overclockersclub.com/

 

 

Okay, I decided to wait for the Penryn Quad Cores.

gulch1969: Can you tell me more about these design cards?

n0r3morse: Can you tell me about the air colling that can be cooler than liquid?

Since I decided to go with Penryn, I will have to postpone the build again to be able to purchase compatible parts. I do know that the Penryn can be bought at some places already but does anyone have a link to compatible mother boards?

Edit: Also, what would be a good Memory Card Reader?