Decent AMD Gaming Solution

It has been a long time since I looked at an AMD product, but I think they now have a price/performance advantage over Intel. My friend asked me to build a decent gaming rig under 900 dollars. I have a few question about the the combination of these two parts.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ BE
DFI 790FX M2RS

At 87 dollars I figured that the 5000+ was too good of a deal to pass. Would I see large differences in performance compared to for example the X2 5600+ Windsor? I do plan to over clock the CPU. I also heard a lot about the 790FX M2R, but the M2RS is looking good for its price and similarity to its better brother. Is it fine to same some money and go with the M2RS? I know it has the SB600, is it fine I only plan to run a single hard drive off the of it?

My intentions are to save some money in order to invest it in a good video card. :)

Those chips usually OC pretty well from what I've seen, though I've not owned one. For an X2 the M2RS should be fine, I'm running a phenom in mine actually (though not OC'd because of a busted CPU, blah). I hear people complain about the SB600 but I run 3 SATA drives and they seem to do fine, so... :shrug:

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Originally Posted by SparkyJJO

Those chips usually OC pretty well from what I've seen, though I've not owned one. For an X2 the M2RS should be fine, I'm running a phenom in mine actually (though not OC'd because of a busted CPU, blah). I hear people complain about the SB600 but I run 3 SATA drives and they seem to do fine, so... :shrug:

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Sorry for the bad luck. :(

I'm searching for good comparisons between an Intel and AMD rig when it comes to games. (ex: Call of Duty 4, CSS, and maybe Crysis) I'm not worried about 3Dmark, just strictly games. I think that I wont see a major impact in FPS to warrant the price of an Intel rig.

I agree, I don't think you will either. Games are still GPU limited for the most part, as long as the CPU ain't an old slouch. A newer AMD or intel chip will both do fine.

900 dollars is enough to build a system around an Intel E8400..

I have nothing, absolutely nothin against AMD, am currently on a s939 x2 4200+ .. but sooner than later i am definately upgrading to Intel ... building around e8400

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Originally Posted by vcp-cur

900 dollars is enough to build a system around an Intel E8400..

I have nothing, absolutely nothin against AMD, am currently on a s939 x2 4200+ .. but sooner than later i am definately upgrading to Intel ... building around e8400

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If the AMD system is perfectly capable and costs less, why not save the cash? :shrug:

get an F3 windsor chip X2 5600 i think check for the one that has CZ in the stepping that means its F3 they will clock to 3.5+ if you get a good one. i have a 5000BE but it tops out 3.34ghz stable im trying for 3.4ghz but it will take some tweaking.


the new 5000BEs on the egg only do ~3.1GHZ the have a bunch of bad stepped chips

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Originally Posted by cdawall

get an F3 windsor chip X2 5600 i think check for the one that has CZ in the stepping that means its F3 they will clock to 3.5+ if you get a good one. i have a 5000BE but it tops out 3.34ghz stable im trying for 3.4ghz but it will take some tweaking.


the new 5000BEs on the egg only do ~3.1GHZ the have a bunch of bad stepped chips

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Thank you for the heads up. :up: Will make sure to check the stepping when I go shopping.

CF HD4850 with your 5000+BE

all future games will be optimized for quads a cheap Q6600 and a P35 board would be an ideal starting point for a cheap rig.

im getting an 8800gt soon, and im wondering if i should get a phenom 9750 or a new intel mobo with one of the higher clock quads from intel... i dunno how 2 overclock LOL