im thinking about building a computer, whats the difference in these cpu's?

[mr clark25]

i am going to build a new computer, and am going to get a quad core amd cpu.

i found these two cpu's, both are phenonom II x4:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-674-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-808-_-Product


i can't find any difference.... is there any difference?



can anyone recommend me any other parts, like a good motherboard, power supply, hard drive, etc.?


all i have right now for this build is a case, so i will need a lot of parts...

[cascade9]

HDZ955FBGMBOX is the older 'C2' stepping version.

HDZ955FBGMBOX is the newer 'C3' stepping version.

Unless you are plannign a major overclock, the difference is tiny. Not worth worring about. Since they are both the same cost, got for the HDZ955FBGMBOX ;)

Motherboard- Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 (SATA III and USB 3.0 supported)-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443

Hard drive, WD Caviar Black (SATA III)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

Power supply....er, depends on how much money you've got, how quiet you want it, and what other stuff you are going to install ('gaming' video cards eat a lot of power, normal video cards use a lot less, etc)

[mr clark25]

thanks for pointing out the difference!

i do plan to do a small OC, probably only to about 3.5ghz (maybe less)

that motherboard and hard drive looks great. i will probably end up getting the motherbaord, but $100 for a hard drive? is it worth it? i bet it would last a lot longer than a $45 hard drive... the reviews look good on both.


i would like to get a nice graphics card, but i dont know if i want to pay for one... (i dont want to go any higher than $100 for a graphics card, but i dont know much about the price on power supplies...)

i dont really care about noise.


i would like to get a nice cpu cooler, too. how much would water cooling (cpu, maybe northbridge) set me back?

[cascade9]

The WD Caviar Black drives are worth it, but if you dont need 1TB of space you can save a bit by dropping down to 500GB-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

I'm a big fan of the 'black' drives, they are faster and (should) have a longer life than the 'blue' drives-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

If you arent a gamer, but do watch some videos on your computer a GT220 (about $70) is perfect. If you dotn watch video, then you can get away with a GT210 or even a lower card ($40 or under).

Water coling....IMO, dont bother. The kits are lame, and custom building a water cooling setup isnt easy.

[earthpigg]

looking at the information available there, and noting that one has this:


(limit 5 per customer) what's this?

Why is there a Quantity Limit for this item?
So that we may give all of our customers the same chance at purchasing our most popular products, this item has a quantity purchase limit, restricting the number of items you may purchase to be delivered to a single account or address in one 48-hour period. After that period is over, you may order again.


further noting that CPUs will sometimes be marketed at an artificially lower clockspeed to match the demand...

would it be reasonable to conjecture that one has the 'limit 5' thing because word got out that this batch can be massively overclocked?

meaning: that batch may have actually passed testing to be certified at 3.6 or 3.8 ghz, but they are sold as 3.2 because there is insufficient demand for 3.6 or 3.8 at prices AMD is willing to sell them at?

[cascade9]

looking at the information available there, and noting that one has this:

further noting that CPUs will sometimes be marketed at an artificially lower clockspeed to match the demand...

would it be reasonable to conjecture that one has the 'limit 5' thing because word got out that this batch can be massively overclocked?

meaning: that batch may have actually passed testing to be certified at 3.6 or 3.8 ghz, but they are sold as 3.2 because there is insufficient demand for 3.6 or 3.8 at prices AMD is willing to sell them at?

CPUs dont really have 'artifically' lower clock speeds. I know what your saying though. What genrally happens is that when a CPU is indroduced, not all the CPUs can run at max speed. So they test them, CPUs that 'fail' at clock speed x.xx get lower to the next rating down (eg y.yy) and retested, and this keps going untill the CPU passes its speed test.

As time goes on, yeilds increase, and more and more CPUs can be run at 'full' speed. AMD (and Intel for that matter) cant sell all the 'top of the line' CPUs, so once they have the quota filled for x.xx CPUs, they then move on to tsting the rest at y.yy, etc..

I wouldnt say that the FBGM can be massivly overclocked, the reall difference between them and the FBGI would only be a percentage point or 4 LOL.

I havent had a long look at the differences though...for all I know the FBGM is 'thunban' (X6) based and can be unlocked to X6 on the right motherboard.

BTW, AMD only goes to 3.4GHz. Thats the fastest (clockspeed) CPUs they sell.

[DownTown22]

i am going to build a new computer, and am going to get a quad core amd cpu.

i found these two cpu's, both are phenonom II x4:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-674-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=amd_phenom_ii-_-19-103-808-_-Product


i can't find any difference.... is there any difference?



can anyone recommend me any other parts, like a good motherboard, power supply, hard drive, etc.?


all i have right now for this build is a case, so i will need a lot of parts...

Motherboards.....I like ASUS and DFI. A lot of builds I've seen on the forums here use Gigabyte - they always seem to be a favorite.

Power supplies...I like OCZ and Coolermaster. My OCZ (600W, modular) is whisper quiet.

Hard Drives....I love my Samsungs! I have 2x1TB in my DNS-323 to store music, movies, etc while my HTPC has a 500GB and my desktop also has a 500GB. I've had them for a few years now and have had no problems. I've found they run a lot quieter than the Seagate drives I used to buy.

RAM...I use OCZ and G.Skill. RAM's cheap, so you might as well go with 4GB (2x2GB)

Video Card...I'd stick with nVidia chipset. As for the board itself - I have an EVGA (8600 I think) and an XFX (9500GT) and the XFX on my HTPC is also whisper quiet.

I apologize for the lack of links, but my internet is on the crappy side these days.

[mr clark25]

OK, i think i have it all planned out:

mobo (gigabyte):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443

cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

RAM (ddr3 @ 1600):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211450 (x2)

power supply (650w):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

graphics card (9500 GT):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150322

cd/dvd burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

cd/dvd reader:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135202

case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
the case i was going to use is for mini-atx motherboards :(

total: $676 including shipping.


any more recommendations?

[cascade9]

You dont need a CD/DVD burner and a CD/DVD reader. The burners read CD/DVD just fine.

I'd probably go for a 2x2GB DDR3 kit, not buying 2 single sticks.

[mr clark25]

ok, here it is:

mobo (gigabyte):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443

cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

ram (ddr3 @ 1600)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
(about the same price as the other stuff, but its a brand name. thanks for the tip ;))

power supply (650w):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

graphics card (9500 GT):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150322

cd/dvd burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 (x2)


case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058



i should be able to order all of this in 2-4 weeks...

[DownTown22]

Here's the same power supply I currently use in my HTPC (DFI motherboard, AMD PhenomII X3, XFX 9800 graphics and 4GB GSkill RAM):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

It's a little cheaper than the Antec you have listed but with the mail in rebate it's only $55. It is 50W less, but 600W should be plenty.

What I like about the OCZ is the fact that it's modular, meaning you only have to plug in the power cables you actually need. The fan moves air like nobody's business and super quite.

[cascade9]

Doh. I knew I forogt something....

Might be a good idea to spend a few extra $$$ and get a GT220 video card instead of the 9500GT. It should be a little faster, has better VDPAU features, and run a little cooler.

[DownTown22]

Been a while since I checked prices on the new nVidia cards, those are cheaper than I thought!

Here's a couple nice ones:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130525 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130525)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150493 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150493)

In fact, these XFX's are fairly reasonably priced:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001669%20600030348%20600007855%206 00007321&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20G/GT%20series (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001669%20600030348%20600007855%206 00007321&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20G/GT%20series)

[mr clark25]

sorry for taking a while to get back. i have been busy...


thanks for the suggestions! i think i will take them.

like you said, i think the graphics card (GT 220, 1gb of ram) will last a lot longer. its only $20 more.

i think that power supply will look a lot better in that case than a classic gray one. and its $10 cheaper, but valued a lot higher than my original power supply.


thanks for all of the recommendations and help.

power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
graphics card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130525

[DownTown22]

Lookin' good!

[cascade9]

sorry for taking a while to get back. i have been busy...

like you said, i think the graphics card (GT 220, 1gb of ram) will last a lot longer. its only $20 more.

thanks for all of the recommendations and help.


No problem.

Two tinyt, weenie things-

You can get a GT220 cheaper than that. Id probably spend the few extra $ to get the EVGA version, its (IMO) a better brand than ECS,

Also, get this version-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130524

I'll bet you are sitting there wondering what the difference is between them. The version you have linked to is DDR2, and that is a DDR3 card. Newegg doesnt have the speed specs on the DDR2 EVGA card, but typically the memory on the DDR2 versions tend to be a fair bit slower...DDR2 also runs a bit hotter than DDR3.