AMD Phenom Quad Core - good value?

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Post by mstombs » Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:56 am

Yes, an upgrade from mine, I got a cheaper passive cooled gfx card, bigger hard disks etc... for serial you just need one of these from a UK supplier...

http://www.pccables.com/07120.htm

You will be re-using 2 DVI monitors, DVD writer, card-reader mouse, keyboard ...?
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:14 am

Yes reusing an ATA DVD writer, card-reader, mouse etc....just a new base unit. Worth it? I have to order this thing soon before the wife realises that there is hand-bag money this month. Too many un-used hand bags in the lofts already, yes that is plural of loft :? Don't get me started on her old shoes/outfits etc. At least I make my computer live for at least 8 years before being handed down to my kids. Even my old machine that I am typing on now is good enough to play FarCry/BF2 so good enough for the kids.
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:23 am

Final order and may be my final post ever when she finds out:-
EV Silver Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive 14cm Front Fan - No PSU 134797 221 in stock £17.99 £17.99
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 HyperX Memory CL5 2.2V 148859 114 in stock £39.17 £39.17
Inno3D 9800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDCP HDTV out PhysX and Cuda ready PCI-E Graphics Card 156882 20 in stock £91.76 £91.76
Seagate ST3250410AS 250GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache - OEM 131301 28 in stock £34.25 £34.25
ASUS P5Q SE iP45 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 150285 36 in stock £74.19 £74.19
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor 131950 246 in stock £159.99 £159.99
Startech Low Profile PCI 2 Port 16550 - Serial Card 124103 15 in stock £19.99 £19.99

Cart total inc vat: £437.34


Once I press continue I have you to blame ;) I can ditch the case, nice case, and go for an E8500 instead though....faster 2 core rather than 4 slower cores that would be marginally better for my CAD. Currently using Athlon X2 64 3800+ processor 4GB and FX580 card, miles better than my P4 2.0 with 512 RDRAM and 7600GT card. I was looking at a prebuilt machine here but realised that it isn't that good and has limited upgrades.
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Post by thechief » Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:52 am

Go on eMu, you know you want to click "continue". ;) Good luck when Her eMuness finds out, :rip:
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:37 am

ok my final version should be:-
ASUS P5Q SE iP45 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard 150285 36 in stock £74.19 £74.19
Maxtor STM3250310AS 250GB SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM 131214 335 in stock £33.99 £33.99
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor 131950 247 in stock £159.99 £159.99
EV Silver Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive 14cm Front Fan - No PSU 134797 221 in stock £17.99 £17.99
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 HyperX Memory CL5 2.2V 148859 112 in stock £39.17 £39.17
Sapphire HD 4830 512MB GDDR3 DVI VGA HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card 159710 9 in stock £85.07 £85.07
USB to Serial 9 Way adapter (with 9 to 25 adaptor) 103054 630 in stock £7.99 £7.99

Cart total inc vat: £418.39

Gone back to ATi cards even though I have blown 3 in the past 12 months and nVidia works better with Linux, the saving for the same performance can't be missed.
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Post by thechief » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:52 am

Looks good. ;) But is it better value than this? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159373
Only problem with this is the onboard gpu. But surely you have one that can be recycled?
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:38 am

thechief wrote:Looks good. ;) But is it better value than this? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/159373
Only problem with this is the onboard gpu. But surely you have one that can be recycled?
The prebuilt has a Foxconn mobo, not as good as the Asus. Includes Vista, which I already have. I need the decent graphics card for CAD and gaming, mine is an old 7600GT. I think I have a much better solution, plus the Q6600 is better than the Q8200.
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Post by thechief » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:43 am

eMuNiX wrote:the Q6600 is better than the Q8200.
Is this true? :shock:
Edit: this benchmark site doesn't seem to agree!
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:35 am

thechief wrote:
eMuNiX wrote:the Q6600 is better than the Q8200.
Is this true? :shock:
Edit: this benchmark site doesn't seem to agree!
More L2 cache and more o/c capabilities, but really not much in it and I could maybe have saved a couple of quid.
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Post by thechief » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:38 pm

Which is better for virtualisation? I have been using VirtualBox on Linux and have now installed it on Windows as well, and can see my ageing Athlon XP struggling. I believe that some of these quads are good for virtualisation, while some are not so good.
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Post by eMuNiX » Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:41 pm

I think that they both have Virtualisation Technology and Virtual Machine Monitor. I had heard that these were being dropped in the future as few are using them, could be a load of rubbish that statement, read it in a forum somewhere, but the i7 pages on Intel’s site down mention VT or VMM. I think VMWare ignores both of the above and does what it wants to do. I think the only other thing, might not even register on some people as a consideration, but the Q8200 has SSE4 instructions, the Q6600 doesn’t.

drats, eBuyer have cancelled my order, trying to deliver to a non-Paypal confirmed address (work) yet if I fill it in the old fashioned way it won’t be a problem. Looking at the minimal differences between the 2 processors I may as well go Q8200 for the saving, complete setup comes in at £397 so below budget, I’m happy now as Mrs.eMu can’t cut my bits off :cheers:
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Post by thechief » Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:00 pm

Well done! :)
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Post by eMuNiX » Fri May 08, 2009 11:55 pm

Machine all here, all built. Still using the stock cooler, no overclocks yet, but running CAD and a couple of games the temps don't go above 32°C which is really good. Watching the task manager shows all cores used, though in a slightly odd way. Vuze is running and that is running on core 3 whilst cores 1,2 & 4 are pretty much idle. Not riproaringly faster than the old machine on single applications but after that wooooo. Really nice to see some proper HD content without the machine dying on its feet for a change. Later I'll get some of the newer HalfLife2 games, I have Episode 1 but 2 wouldn't run on the old machine this one should eat it. Steam awaits just ashame it wasn't the weekend before last as the Orange box was going for something like a fiver (I found out after the event). Live fully rendered CAD images, phwoar :)
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Post by thechief » Sat May 09, 2009 9:57 am

Cool. :) The true test is how long it takes to compile RT firmware. ;)
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