Final setup choices

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d3stiNy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Messages
170
Ok, so I have finally made up my mind on two different choices for a new setup. This will be for some gaming, sims 3 when it comes out, CoD, other big titles that look appealing, I the main reason for this is for a better blu-ray experience. In Totalmedia Theater 3 my CPU is not even listed under minimum for Blu-ray playback:(, plus its been 3 years. I am looking to replace my AMD with Intel. Heard that unless getting a $250+ AMD quad core, the preformance is not that noticable, and I cant afford i7 yet:(. So I was looking at possibly staying with AMD and going the quad core route with this:
AMD Phenom 9950 Agena 2.6GHz Quad-core-$150
GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3-$70
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB-$46

However, I think I am leaning towards this Intel upgrade:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz Dual-core-$168
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3L-$95
OCZ 4GB-$48

Also, Ill get this PSU:
BFG Tech GS-550 550W-$45


I recently got a HD4830, and that thing has caused me more trouble than any other video card with the ati2dvag bug...so I am switching to nVidia 9800 gtx+ for $130. I looked at the GTS 250, but heard that it was a repackaged 9800gtx. I am assuming for $120 it is good, but for the same price are there any other options.

Intel Price total is $485 and AMD is $440.

I have nothing against AMD, just that I heard than as of right now Intel is doing a little better with performance, and with my ATI video card dying on me I am not pleased with AMD/ATI. So is the Intel setup good, or is the AMD setup that much better where I should go with it?

Thanks in advance
 
Which resolution were you using for gaming and/or Blu-ray playback?

A decent dual-core processor and just about any dedicated video card is enough for Blu-ray playback. Both setups would be fine for gaming, as the GPU will handle most of the work in the majority of the games that are released today. However, Core 2 is EOL; there is no future upgrading path for that platform (other than what you have available right now). If you are looking at this build as a long-term system, and you want to upgrade the processor at some point in the future, get an AMD AM2-based board that can support the new Phenom II processors. I'll take it one step further: Go with a Phenom II processor as well. The Phenom II outperforms the Phenom I and can compete with the Core 2 processors (but Core II is still better in many cases).

You might as well go with DDR2 1066 RAM. But get the LS-550 power supply, not the GS-550. There are limits to how far you can cut corners price-wise, but the long story short is that the LS-550 uses far better quality components than the GS-550.
 
I concur with tiraides: Definitely get the Phenom II 710 or Phenom II 720 or Pheom II 940 (if able to handle the cost) since they are all significantly better choices than the Phenom 9950 CPU. PSU wise, the GS-550 is a poor choice while the LS-550 is a superb choice.
 
The resolution is 1680x1050.
And as of right now AMD would be the better choice?
 
I paid 180 or 190 for my e3110 (e8400) almost 1.5 years ago. I can't believe the price hasn't dropped much yet.
 
PC_User said:
2. DO NOT switch to the 9800 GTX+ for $130 when you can get the 4850 512mb for $110. It outperforms the 9800.
Click to expand...

I wanted to go with nVidia because I currently have the 4830 which is causing me a lot of problems with the bug ati2dvag, which after looking for many hours online has no solution, just luck at removing the problem, which I have not resolved after a few days of playing around with my computer.
 
d3stiNy said:
I wanted to go with nVidia because I currently have the 4830 which is causing me a lot of problems with the bug ati2dvag, which after looking for many hours online has no solution, just luck at removing the problem, which I have not resolved after a few days of playing around with my computer.
Click to expand...

What's this bug? I have had absolutely no problems with my 4850 drivers on both Windows XP and Vista 64-bit.
 
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if you just search for "ati2dvag" you will find a lot of issues and no solutions. The solutions offered are acheived by luck I feel because I have tried for roughly 3 days to no avail. Its the luck of the card, and I am one of the lucky ones:mad:
 
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