A decent AMD upgrade rig - for those interested in upgrading

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MisterBigglesworth

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Hi everyone,

Im upgrading my rig, and have moved to AMD this time around. Was looking for a system that wouldn't break the bank, but would also be decent enough for future proofing a little bit. Not the most amazing system, but recon this will be fine for next 2-3 years.

Its minus the gfx card....as Im going to use my 8800GT for now (have a few unfinished/not played oldish games to get through). Will in the next few months upgrade the gfx card to the below crossfire setup. Again...not the best setup, but its easy on the pocket and will give very good results.

Anyways...added details below as I hope this helps others wanting to upgrade and looking for a similar spec'd system. Prices are cheapest I could find. ;)

UPGRADE - NO GFX CARD
AMD Phenom II X4 965, 8MB, AM2+, 3.4GHZ L2 Cache Quad Core, PCINT, R1,788.00
Asus M4A77TD PRO, PCINT, R924.00
2 x 2GB DDRIII-1333 Generic RAM, PCINT, R1,060.00
CoolerMaster CM690, REBELTECH, R772.17
Vantec ioN2+AS van-700AS PSU, REBELTECH, R1,086.35
1TB-7200RPM 32MB Cache SATA II (Seagate .12 Series), PCINT, R785.00
R6,415.52

EDIT: Took out the crossfire config, rather going single gpu. 5870 would be awesome...but its just far too much cash :(

GFX UPGRADE, UPCOMING
Club 3D Radeon HD 5850 1GB - 256-bit, 725MHz Clock
R2,821.00

GRAND TOTAL: R9,236.52

Thanks to Qwikslver for answering my config questions ;)
 
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This is an awesome PC... Undoubtedly perhaps the best bang-for-buck higher end system you can buy, whilst not sacrificing any quality of components. (Generic RAM is just as good as other RAM if not OC'ed)

However, my personal preference would change two things:

  • The PSU: I'd rather get one of the Vantec's of similar price from Rebel-Tech. This is preference though.. I had the cheap Coolermaster and Gigabytes fail on myself and friends before.
  • The 4850 Crossfire setup you have coming.
    Rather than buying those two heaters with single-slot useless coolers that will make your PC sound like an aeroplane, I'd spend a couple of bucks more and get 2x 1GB 5770's.
    They perform on par with a 4870, and you can get two of those for around R3000. They will also use less than half the power of the 2x 4850s, as well as generating less than half the heat.
    (You may as well just buy another 8800GT and SLi it for almost the same performance, and it will cost you R600 vs R2400.)
 
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Why are you planning on going 4850 crossfire when for a little extra you can get a 5850?

Are you sure pcint have stock?
 
I would not go crossfire, far to many issues with crossfire. Plus you have no upgrade path. The biggest mistake i made was going 5770 crossfire instead of buying a 5870.
 
Changed PSU to Vantec. The CM Real Power was a bit much, and the Vantec seems fine from what I have seen on the net now. Chose the CM initially cos I thought they were a good name.

Frag said:
The 4850 Crossfire setup you have coming.
Rather than buying those two heaters with single-slot useless coolers that will make your PC sound like an aeroplane, I'd spend a couple of bucks more and get 2x 1GB 5770's.
They perform on par with a 4870, and you can get two of those for around R3000. They will also use less than half the power of the 2x 4850s, as well as generating less than half the heat.
(You may as well just buy another 8800GT and SLi it for almost the same performance, and it will cost you R600 vs R2400.)
[/LIST]
Click to expand...

I chose the 4850's cos, even though they not very current, best bang for buck. Read a review on Toms Hardware and they recon 2 of these in crossfire is the way to go, instead of buying a single 5XXX series card. Link below:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-gaming-graphics-card,review-31807-4.html

SLi? I know a 8800GT will run, but can you SLi 2 8800GT's on this Asus MB board?

killadoob said:
Why are you planning on going 4850 crossfire when for a little extra you can get a 5850?

Are you sure pcint have stock?
Click to expand...

Havent checked if they have stock, but as above...Toms Hardware recon its best bang for buck. I guess in terms of future proofing better, maybe a 5850 is better. But they like R3000+, which is a bit too much for me right now.

Qwikslver said:
Rather go 5770 x-fire or 5750 x-fire.
Click to expand...

Was thinking of this...but then its 2 X 5770 (256bit in total) compared to 2 x 4850 (512bit). Im taking the review from Toms Hardware here WRT 2 X 4850...so I dunno, maybe I need to read up more on this...

killadoob said:
I would not go crossfire, far to many issues with crossfire. Plus you have no upgrade path. The biggest mistake i made was going 5770 crossfire instead of buying a 5870.
Click to expand...

What do you mean no upgrade path, and why was it a mistake crossfiring the 5770? Bit new to this dual gfx card stuff... :o

cerebus said:
2x4850 1gb@2400 is good value.
Click to expand...

I think so?
 
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Crossfire just isnt worth it. You really dont want the issues associated with multiple GPUs. Just go with a 5850. Slightly more expensive but well worth it.
 
Well to start i don't think 2 4850 for 2.4k is all that great. Seems expensive. You are buying old technology and dx 11 really does look incredible. Well i spent like 3.8k on 2 5770's so now i cannot have anymore power without replacing them with something bigger. If you buy a 5850 for 3k then if you need more power you can add another one. Not to mention if a new game comes out you must wait for ati to release a profile update to be able to use the game with both cards, this i have learn't can take a while :D

You should go 5750 rather than a 4850 crossfire if you are going to go crossfire. Then with games you get issues with crossfire which require further driver updates and again this can take sometime to sort out.

Crossfire works really well, ati fixing problems related to crossfire well that is where the problems comes in. Wait and wait and wait and fix one issue a new one pops up and again you wait and wait and then they fix, then the next game has some issues and again you wait for a fix.
 
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You cant compare the bus width of the 4850 to the 5770. The 5770 uses ddr5 ram which has double the bandwidth of ddr3.
 
I'm going to also agree that you should add in a bit extra and get a 5850. You'll save yourself hassles, power draw, and give yourself room to upgrade. You'll have plenty of power to run anything with 1 5850 though.
 
Ancalagon said:
Crossfire just isnt worth it. You really dont want the issues associated with multiple GPUs. Just go with a 5850. Slightly more expensive but well worth it.
Click to expand...

Saw killadoob's response below about crossfire...that really is not so lekker.

killadoob said:
Well to start i don't think 2 4850 for 2.4k is all that great. Seems expensive. You are buying old technology and dx 11 really does look incredible. Well i spent like 3.8k on 2 5770's so now i cannot have anymore power without replacing them with something bigger. If you buy a 5850 for 3k then if you need more power you can add another one. Not to mention if a new game comes out you must wait for ati to release a profile update to be able to use the game with both cards, this i have learn't can take a while :D

You should go 5750 rather than a 4850 crossfire if you are going to go crossfire. Then with games you get issues with crossfire which require further driver updates and again this can take sometime to sort out.

Crossfire works really well, ati fixing problems related to crossfire well that is where the problems comes in. Wait and wait and wait and fix one issue a new one pops up and again you wait and wait and then they fix, then the next game has some issues and again you wait for a fix.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, I had no idea! :( I guess a single 5850 is then the better bet. I really dont want issues like that, waiting for fixes. It will drive me insane! Do the SLi cards have the same issues, having to wait for fixes for this kinda thing too?

Qwikslver said:
You cant compare the bus width of the 4850 to the 5770. The 5770 uses ddr5 ram which has double the bandwidth of ddr3.
Click to expand...

Just looked over the specs in more detail...thanks for pointing this out.

Gonna try get a 5830, 1GB, 256bit. The 5870, as awesome as it is, is too far out my price bracket :(
 
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Nooooo, dont get the 5830. Its crippled a bit too much for the price its going for. 5850 or 5870, choose whichever your budget allows for
 
Never run sli but i know that nvidia's driver releases are far better than ati's and happen far more often.

Take battlefield bad company 2, nvidia released drivers to support sli during the beta, ati only released after the actual game came out. Nvidia is far superior with releasing drivers and fixes but at the moment they are not really in the game i reckon unless you are a fan boy.
 
Archer said:
Nooooo, dont get the 5830. Its crippled a bit too much for the price its going for. 5850 or 5870, choose whichever your budget allows for
Click to expand...

5850
Club 3D Radeon HD 5850 1GB - 256-bit, 725MHz Clock, 1024MB 128-bit GDDR5 Memory 4000MHz, 1440 Stream Processing Units, 400MHz RAMDAC, Dual DL-DVI, HDMI, Display Port 2 Year Warranty

5830
Club 3D Radeon HD 5830 1GB - 256-bit, 825MHz Clock, 1024MB 256-bit GDDR5 Memory 4200MHz, 1120 Stream Processing Units, 400MHz RAMDAC, Dual DL-DVI, HDMI, Display Port, 2 Year Warranty

They look so similar, not following why the 5850 > 5830?

killadoob said:
Never run sli but i know that nvidia's driver releases are far better than ati's and happen far more often.

Take battlefield bad company 2, nvidia released drivers to support sli during the beta, ati only released after the actual game came out. Nvidia is far superior with releasing drivers and fixes but at the moment they are not really in the game i reckon unless you are a fan boy.
Click to expand...

So you really stuck in the middle when it comes to ATi / Nvidia. Sheesh. Will go the single GPU route, just need to figure out which one. Got some time, so thats kewl...and I can save a bit more....well, try to!
 
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killadoob said:
Never run sli but i know that nvidia's driver releases are far better than ati's and happen far more often.

Take battlefield bad company 2, nvidia released drivers to support sli during the beta, ati only released after the actual game came out. Nvidia is far superior with releasing drivers and fixes but at the moment they are not really in the game i reckon unless you are a fan boy.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with 'superior drivers.' One of the latest drivers ended up overheating and in some cases destroying the GPU. Yes, its only happened once but surely something that devastating would have been found during testing?
 
Archer said:
I have to disagree with 'superior drivers.' One of the latest drivers ended up overheating and in some cases destroying the GPU. Yes, its only happened once but surely something that devastating would have been found during testing?
Click to expand...

Yea people are harping on this but apart from that driver release they are very good with making sure you have the latest drivers to play your games. That overheating thing as far as i know was just blown out of proportion, i know people who loaded the driver and nothing happened so yes they did make a mistake but as i said they are miles ahead of ati at ensuring your sli setup can run the latest games even if the game is in beta.

Actually i am talking nonsense i had a 9800gx2 which was sli haha, so of course i have used sli :D.
 
CrazyFig said:
5850
Club 3D Radeon HD 5850 1GB - 256-bit, 725MHz Clock, 1024MB 128-bit GDDR5 Memory 4000MHz, 1440 Stream Processing Units, 400MHz RAMDAC, Dual DL-DVI, HDMI, Display Port 2 Year Warranty

5830
Club 3D Radeon HD 5830 1GB - 256-bit, 825MHz Clock, 1024MB 256-bit GDDR5 Memory 4200MHz, 1120 Stream Processing Units, 400MHz RAMDAC, Dual DL-DVI, HDMI, Display Port, 2 Year Warranty

They look so similar, not following why the 5850 > 5830?
Click to expand...

Benchmarks, benchmarks, benchmarks, benchmarks........ 5850 is significantly faster than 5830 in gaming performance.
 
Ok, I gotta admit Im lost when it comes to GFX card specs. I have no idea what any of that stuff means. Has anyone got some links for a noob like me that explains stuff easily / how GFX cards actually work...and what each part means and what its for? I know I can search on Google, but really dunno even where to begin?? EG, bold parts below...basically a website that explains it all...so a noob can understand easily:

HD 5850 1GB - 256-bit, 725MHz Clock, 1024MB 128-bit GDDR5 Memory 4000MHz, 1440 Stream Processing Units, 400MHz RAMDAC, Dual DL-DVI, HDMI, Display Port 2 Year Warranty
 
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