Proc and mobo suggestions?

[RainDownMyBlues]

So I have a new PSU and Video card on the way to give my current machine a little bit of life. Nothing fancy, a name brand 550W PSU and a HD5770 as I assumed I was going to wait until January to redo the rest of the machine...


However I just sold a piece out of my live guitar rig that netted me an extra $300. I was wondering suggestions for a Processor and Motherboard for that or under.

I've been thinking of THIS as it's 20 cheaper than the 965 and apparently very simple OC'ing will easily get it up to those speeds.



Would prefer two PCI-E slots. Thanks guys.

 

[CdnAudiophile]

Take a look at this:

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 114.99 + 10 MIR and free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor - Retail -$185 free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103692

Also I suggest going with this ram:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $93.99 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

 

[StrangleHold]

As far as the 965, I would spend the extra 10 bucks and get the C3 stepping 125W model. Or just drop the 965 and save some and get the 955.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

 

[RainDownMyBlues]

As far as the 965, I would spend the extra 10 bucks and get the C3 stepping 125W model. Or just drop the 965 and save some and get the 955.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

...I actually linked to a 955. As I said, I've heard it doesn't take much to get it up to the 965's standards.

Also, that mobo linked aparently doesn't work with the new C3 stepping.

 

[CdnAudiophile]

...I actually linked to a 955. As I said, I've heard it doesn't take much to get it up to the 965's standards.

Also, that mobo linked apparently doesn't work with the new C3 stepping.

The boards ship with the correct bios now so that's not a problem. The unlocked multi of the 965 can be very useful in overclocking and I have seen most around 4.0GHZ. It's possible to do that with the 955 but for the money difference why not just go with the best?

 

[RainDownMyBlues]

They both have unlocked multiplier I believe? And because I'm only working with 300 bones. Ha, my blood isn't very rich.

 

[CdnAudiophile]

Yea I wasn't thinking, you are right both have unlocked multi's.

 

[maroon1]

What about this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.305921

For a little more you can this combo which has motherboard with USB3.0 and SATA 6GB/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.309196

And i5 750 is faster than PII

 

[jasonn20]

Here's thermal reactor suggestion with combo discount

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

 

[RainDownMyBlues]

How is the i5's faster? Lower clock, and if I remember correctly, no hyper threading. What gives?

 

[RainDownMyBlues]

And no unlocked multiplier for the i5...

Pros and cons to that and the AMD?

 

[maroon1]

How is the i5's faster? Lower clock, and if I remember correctly, no hyper threading. What gives?

i5 has lower clock but it has better performance clock for clock, and turbo mode in i5 allows it to auto-overclock up to 3.2GHz when not all cores are being used

Also, you can look at benchmark to see which one is faster
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=105&p2=89
(Note: In some benchmark lower means better, so look at each one carefully)

 

[RainDownMyBlues]

So the consensus is I should get the i5 over the A3 quad core 965?