AMD "What To Buy" Guide 2006

[perkam]

Obsolete Pls delete

Perkam

[eddieate]

looking good, Im not sure about the 'AMD Mainstream Gaming' having SLI/Crossfire.
Wouldn't just having 1 better performing card work well there?

For the silent one how powerfull do you want it?
theres a nice "Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB GDDR2" clocked at 400/800
or even an "XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition 256MB DDR2" clocked at 500/900
hope that helps
Ed.

|EDIT| god thats a mess^ just a minute...

[perkam]

looking good, Im not sure about the 'AMD Mainstream Gaming' having SLI/Crossfire.
Wouldn't just having 1 better performing card work well there?

For the silent one how powerfull do you want it?
theres a nice "Leadtek GeForce 7600 GS SILENT 256MB GDDR2" clocked at 400/800
or even an "XFX GeForce 7600 GS Extreme Edition 256MB DDR2" clocked at 500/900
hope that helps
Ed.

|EDIT| god thats a mess^ just a minute...

I wanted to do silent this time but i just erased it because then I'd have requests for turion x2/merom rigs as well.

So I'm focusing on desktop rigs only. For Mainstream, mainstream sli/xfire is what both nvidia and amd are aiming at and frankly the fun you have with two mainstream cards is amazing. Plus with dongleless xfire quickly becoming the future, the X1800GTO xfire was a must add in

Both Intel Mainstream rigs have E6400 conroe because of less fsb required to reach 3ghz plus difference between e6300 and e6400 is $30 for higher multi Plus both have same models because due to the small price difference there's no way to justify an having different ones seeing the small price difference between e6400 and e6300 and the big $90 price difference between E6400 and E6500, hence E6400 is ideal.

Perkam

[[XC] leviathan18]

mainstream mainstream should be 2gb cheap instead of moderated price 1gb i think that kind of rig will have more befenits from a cheapo 2gb than 1gb moderated price...

[Starscream]

dito on the crossfire/SLI at mainstream gaming.

Cheapest 7600SLi is like 150 euro so times 2 thats 300.

i can get a 7900GT for 256 :/

so id rather get 1 7900GT wich will beat the SLI 7600GT in alot of games and is cheaper.
(this si EU prices for me dunno bout US prices)

Might also give examples of wich motherboards are good boards for the categories ?
Like what are good allround boards what r good clocking boards and wich boards are unstable and buggy as hell.

[perkam]

mainstream mainstream should be 2gb cheap instead of moderated price 1gb i think that kind of rig will have more befenits from a cheapo 2gb than 1gb moderated price...

I saw the demand for 2gb ddr2 in the mainstream, hence the "futureproof" mainstream rig.

Mainstream mainstream rig is for those who want a decent overclocking experience on a budget

Perkam

[perkam]

dito on the crossfire/SLI at mainstream gaming.

Cheapest 7600SLi is like 150 euro so times 2 thats 300.

i can get a 7900GT for 256 :/

so id rather get 1 7900GT wich will beat the SLI 7600GT in alot of games and is cheaper.
(this si EU prices for me dunno bout US prices)

Might also give examples of wich motherboards are good boards for the categories ?
Like what are good allround boards what r good clocking boards and wich boards are unstable and buggy as hell.

No good mobos out yet for `either AM2 or Conroe or at least no variety yet.

I'm sticking with mainstream sli, just changed the names around a bit. It may seem useless, but mainstream sli has been underappreciated here at xs lately. Did everyone forget 6600GT SLI ownage on the orb ?

Perkam

[[XC] leviathan18]

i thinks is better if you make a poll with price point for each category after that we can check best value perfomance parts for each category

[perkam]

i thinks is better if you make a poll with price point for each category after that we can check best value perfomance parts for each category

I would have to make a poll for each rig there, so that's besides the point...plus if I didn't have mainstream sli, the two mainstream rigs would be far too similar.

Perkam

[Skyline GT-R]

Intel FutureProof (7900GT/X1900GT/Intel E6400/Fast 2GB DDR2/Third Party Air)

I would replace that E6400 with an E6600 because of the 4MB cache That makes it even more futereproof

[Cooper]

Intel 915 Presler

915 doesn`t support Presler or Smithfield

[perkam]

915 doesn`t support Presler or Smithfield

915 is the new non-VT value preslers coming out in q4, not the chipset

Conroe the architecture itself is futureproof...if more cache was factor, I'd have recommended a presler which all have 4MB cache

Perkam

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

i dont agree with the budget gaming rig.


you advise a a64 over a sempron. the difference between 256kb and 512kb cache is small. and your paying about 40-50$ for it compared to similair speed sempron. that money would be much better suited for upgrading gfx card.

also. i think its worth noting that the best price/GB drives right now are the 250gb drives.

[perkam]

i dont agree with the budget gaming rig.


you advise a a64 over a sempron. the difference between 256kb and 512kb cache is small. and your paying about 40-50$ for it compared to similair speed sempron. that money would be much better suited for upgrading gfx card.

also. i think its worth noting that the best price/GB drives right now are the 250gb drives.

BIG EDIT: Sticking with A64 Single Core AM2 for second value rig...you HAVE to see these prices !!! ...and thx for the heads up on the hard drives

Perkam

[eddieate]

I liked the idea of the silent one
also for the Intel Value, seeing as this is for future rigs the upcoming 915 or the 920,
which should be cheaper by then, just seem to offer so much more than the 805.
Ed.

[perkam]

Building...

Perkam

[[XC] leviathan18]

memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231050 79$

[perkam]

memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231050 79$

Good Eye...adding in now

EDIT: Done Thx for the help. Shaved off $125 with that and other changes

Perkam

[perkam]

AMD Value and Gaming on Budget rigs added to first post

Lemme know what you guys think.

Perkam

[Starscream]

No good mobos out yet for `either AM2 or Conroe or at least no variety yet.

I'm sticking with mainstream sli, just changed the names around a bit. It may seem useless, but mainstream sli has been underappreciated here at xs lately. Did everyone forget 6600GT SLI ownage on the orb ?

Perkam

SLI/Crosfire good for ORB yes, good for actual gaming no not for the price.
yeha if u got 1 7600GT now ok add a 2nd one after a while but when ur building a complete new PC going directly with Crossfire or SLi on a mainstream/budget game PC id say no.
Simply cause the added 2nd card doesnt justify the price for the 2nd card when gaming.
That 2 7600Gt score wel in 3dmark isnt the main thing for people when building a gaming pc on a budget.

[[XC] leviathan18]

crap the gaming on budget is SO CHEAP and it should work nice for almost every game out there at high 1024x768 just fine

[perkam]

SLI/Crosfire good for ORB yes, good for actual gaming no not for the price.
yeha if u got 1 7600GT now ok add a 2nd one after a while but when ur building a complete new PC going directly with Crossfire or SLi on a mainstream/budget game PC id say no.
Simply cause the added 2nd card doesnt justify the price for the 2nd card when gaming.
That 2 7600Gt score wel in 3dmark isnt the main thing for people when building a gaming pc on a budget.

Gaming pc on a budget is in the value section. I've renamed the rig to Mainstream benching for clarity

Leviathan, yea the gaming for a budget rig looks good...and it looks better now @ $749 I gave the assumption that you have spare cd drives lying around so that's $50 off

Building XPS Killer now...

Perkam

[Ruroni]

Good stuff! I like this.

One concern. WD > Seagate?

edit: Hmm looking again at budget gaming, 16MB cache is a bit tasty. 7200.9 Seagate or WD 16MB, guess it depends.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148111

edit2: 300GB for $10 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148131

[perkam]

Dell's XPS 600 Dual Graphix: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...XPS600F4&s=dhs - $3354 (Ha !)

Check the first post for AMD AM2 XPS Killer

Perkam

[[XC] leviathan18]

chechk this one perk http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231073 same speed same timming same brand less money lol

edit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131011 this mobo or at least this chipset mcp 590 for the XPS killer should be better