Looking to build a new PC [EDIT: Built]

[AamirM]

Should'a gone with a Sandy Bridge instead.

SBs are cheap but not that much considering his budget. AMD is still better at <$100 CPUs right now IMO. The cheapest SB, i3-2100, is dual core and is ~$130 whereas he got this quad core for like ~$75-85 (guess). Also worth mentioning is that the i3-2100 has half the cache compared to this Phenom II. So all in all, this Phenom II should be better at gaming/multitasking than the cheapest SB.

(This opinion is formed considering the same budget)

[kode54]

A quad core that's crap. I still say $600-700 is a good target price to go for when buying a decent system that will last at least two years before it really starts to show its age.

[lordmissus]

lol

[I.S.T.]

Should'a gone with a Sandy Bridge instead.

SBs are cheap but not that much considering his budget. AMD is still better at <$100 CPUs right now IMO. The cheapest SB, i3-2100, is dual core and is ~$130 whereas he got this quad core for like ~$75-85 (guess). Also worth mentioning is that the i3-2100 has half the cache compared to this Phenom II. So all in all, this Phenom II should be better at gaming/multitasking than the cheapest SB.

(This opinion is formed considering the same budget)

Gaming depends on more than just cache...

[AamirM]

A quad core that's crap. I still say $600-700 is a good target price to go for when buying a decent system that will last at least two years before it really starts to show its age.

Well yeah. But I was saying that for his budget, it was probably the best he could get. Remember, this guy has to pay 20% VAT as well. So a $700 build for you is $840 for him. But at least he gets free healthcare lololol.

i5 2500k costs 3 times as much, and only gets me en extra 20% performance increase according to that anandtech benchmark 9looking at th e 3.1ghz phenom ii x4, which my CPU essentially is with all 4 cores unlocked).

Nope, 20% in worst cases maybe. Otherwise almost 40%-80% more. Remember, you got lucky with this CPU and that the AMD CPU prices have come down after the SB release. Otherwise compared to your dual core, it would've given you more than times it costs.

Gaming depends on more than just cache...

Well, yeah but having more cache helps. Again, for his budget, I think spending less on CPU and more on GPU is more worthy than vice versa. I don't think spending more on SB and getting a cheaper GPU would've helped him in gaming much.

[odditude]

mmm, good popcorn.

kind of irritated quicksync requires h67 (and an elegant but memory-whoring 3rd-party software kludge if you're using a discrete GPU). oh well, thanks intel - you're forcing me to not splurge on an upgrade til z67 (or possibly even ivy bridge).

[lordmissus]

lol

[kode54]

Yay, more nerds buying loud-ass keyboards.

I like my laptop style desktop keyboard, and after using it for years, I can type well on my laptop as well.

[lordmissus]

lol

[paulguy]

Why no Windows key? There are plenty of useful hotkeys that use it, and it makes for a nice extra modifier in Linux.

[lordmissus]

lol

[Deathlike2]

Fortunately for you, all Sandy Bridge mobos are being recalled since their SATA ports have issues.

Oh well, the platform itself is limited to only 2 6Gbps Intel ports (usually comes with another 2 via 3rd party chips)... somehow AMD has had the upper hand for a bit on the standard (except for their entry level and semi-older stuff).... of course, it only matters if you can afford the new series of SSDs that would need all of it...

[lordmissus]

lol

[kode54]

What OS would you be running on a new machine that doesn't support TRIM natively?

[lordmissus]

lol

[Deathlike2]

There are drives that do TRIM-like stuff w/o required OS support... but you would have to research it on your own.

[I.S.T.]

The issue oddly enough does not effect the SATA 6G ports, just the SATA2 ports.

[lordmissus]

lol

[funkyass]

windows 7 has a lot of good shortcuts that use the windows key.

Like moving windows between monitors.

You need OS support for TRIM to work.

[I.S.T.]

The issue oddly enough does not effect the SATA 6G ports, just the SATA2 ports.

And it gets worse:

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20329

[AamirM]

Meanwhile, prices of both AMD's Phenom II X6 1090T hex core, and Core i7-950 quad core have been slashed to $200. Good time to buy one of these things if you are planning on upgrading on budget. But both AM3 and LGA1366 are basically EOL though so your upgrade options will be very limited. But if you're going for something like gaming, they are still a very good buy (though both get destroyed by the i7-2500).

As for SB, wise thing would be to move your HD and SSD to SATAIII and move CDROM to SATAII (because it is used far less) for now. If you have more HDs or need more ports, you can get a PCI SATA controller card. Way better than waiting over a month, without a PC, for fixed stuff to arrive. That time would be better spent on waiting for Z68.

[Rashidi]

Z68.

i always chuckled seeing that name, as that name reminds me of Z80.
how did intel decided that name anyway?

[grinvader]

Z68. :P

i always chuckled seeing that name, as that name reminds me of

the bastard child of motorola's 68000 and zilog's z80

[kick]

Meanwhile, prices of both AMD's Phenom II X6 1090T hex core, and Core i7-950 quad core have been slashed to $200. Good time to buy one of these things if you are planning on upgrading on budget. But both AM3 and LGA1366 are basically EOL though so your upgrade options will be very limited.

Not really (for AMD users at least). Just buy an AM3+ (Bulldozer-compatible) board and rock with the Phenom II X6. If you need more power later on, you can sell the X6 and upgrade to a beastly octo-core

[AamirM]

Except, you failed to mention the fact that AM3+ board haven't been released yet.