Hi all, I'm in dire need of a system upgrade.(still using an 'old' notebook) I'd like to spend around 1300€ and I am not really after OCing my components. Here's what I've build up on paper so far:

CPU:            Phenom X4 9500 AM2 BOX CPU 4x2.2GHz 89W 65nm Quad Core"
Motherboard:	ASUS M3A, 770 (dual PC2-8500U DDR2) 
Graphicscard:	ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB GDDR4 (RV670 )
RAM:         2x Corsair - CORSAIR TWIN2X 2048 MB Ram DDR2 PC800
Hard-disc:	WD Raptor 150GB HDD 10000rpm sATA serial ATA 16MB cache
Soundcard:	?
Case:           ANTEC Midi Tower NSK4000
Screen: 	HP Pavillon 22' TFT screen
CPU-Cooler	ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU-Cooler
OS:             Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
Power Source:	Corsair VX 450W ATX 2.2 (CMPSU-450VX)
DVD-ROM:	HEWLETT PACKARD 16x48xDVD DIE
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All in all it would cost me ~1310€ (=~1880 USD)

Any recommendations on what to change and do I miss something? What about a sound card, will I even need one? Also as you can see I've chosen AMD and ATI over Intel/Nvidia - and I'd kinda like to keep it that way. :) Thanks a lot

You can get decent sound out of pretty much any modern motherboard. Is there a reason you're determined to stick with the phenom though? Take a look at pretty much any review site and you'll see that they are still slower and consume more power then the intel alternative. Some quotes from Anandtech's review.

Quote: Intel's Q6600 is 20% faster than AMD's fastest Phenom due out in Q1, it's 30% faster than Phenom at the same clock speed, and 35% faster at the most competitive price point.

Quote: At idle, the Phenom's power consumption is competitive with Intel's quad-core, but under load Intel takes the cake.

Quote: Inevitably some of these Phenoms will sell, even though Intel is currently faster and offers better overall price-performance (does anyone else feel weird reading that?). Honestly the only reason we can see to purchase a Phenom is if you currently own a Socket-AM2 motherboard; you may not get the same performance as a Core 2 Quad, but it won't cost as much since you should be able to just drop in a Phenom if you have BIOS support.

Since the fastest Phenom (9900) can't even keep up with the slowest Intel quad core (Q6600) I simply don't see any reason to waste money on it.

Quote: Original post by tstrimp
Since the fastest Phenom (9900) can't even keep up with the slowest Intel quad core (Q6600) I simply don't see any reason to waste money on it.

Agree. The current Core2 Intel chips absolutely blow everything out of the water within the same price range. Plus they run cooler. Summary: cooler, cheaper, faster (hard to argue with that).

Similar thing with ATI over NVIDIA. NVidia's drivers are substantially better & the cards perform better. They are far worse for heat however. But whatever. This can be rationalized much more than the AMD case [smile]

Otherwise since you've no problem spending money, the single biggest performance gain you'll see (after video card) would be giving that Raptor a twin and setting up a RAID0.

As always the PSU is the single most important component for stability. Make absolutely sure you have enough power and that the PSU you've chosen is very good. I typically go the extra mile and grab a PC Power & Cooling brand; they're more expensive but are to PSUs as Corsair is to RAM.

-me

(Edit, rewrote post)

Alright, second try - gimme your thoughts. :)

CPU	        C2Q Q6600 2400MHz LGA775 8MB Cache 4Core FSB1066 65nm boxedCPU-Cooler	ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 CPU-CoolerMotherboard	MSI P35 Neo2-FR Socket775 FSB1333 ATX P35/ICH9R PCI-ExpressGraphics Card	Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB GDDR4 (RV670 )RAM	        2x  CORSAIR DDR2 2048MB TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHXHD	        WD Raptor 150GB HDD 10000rpm sATA serial ATA 16MB cacheCase	        ANTEC Midi Tower NSK4000 w/o PSUPower Unit	BeQuite Straight Power BQT E5-550WScreen          HP Pavillon 22' TFT screenDVD-ROM	        HEWLETT PACKARD 16x48xDVD DIEAnti-Vir	Kaspersky® Anti-Virus 7.0OS	        Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit---------------This setup would cost me around 1440€, 100 more than the previous.Also included Kaspersky, which seems to be the best anti-vir around right now.

About a raid setup, maybe some time later when I want to get some more out of the machine.
I don't really want to invest more money than this. :)

Thanks!

[Edited by - Track on December 21, 2007 11:32:01 AM]

Where are you buying your CPU from? Check if it is shipping with a CPU heatsink&fan or not. If it is, since you aren't over clocking, why bother with buying an aftermarket piece when the stock fan works fine for stock clock rates?

Quote: Original post by Talroth
Where are you buying your CPU from? Check if it is shipping with a CPU heatsink&fan or not. If it is, since you aren't over clocking, why bother with buying an aftermarket piece when the stock fan works fine for stock clock rates?

it's an austrian online shop (.at) - I could theoretically buy all but 3 things from them.
I doesn't actually say whether a headsink comes with it. I guess there's one included in the 'Intel Boxed' package. Does anyone know whether that Box also includes a thermal paste?

You ask why I'd bother with a different fan? My main-argument would be noise. I hate too noisy fans! Also it surely won't hurt the CPU to be cooler.

Finally about OCing, I would be nice to overclock some of the components when they start to get 'really old'. But for now stability is the most important for me.
Talking about my current Asus Notebook - I actually have to downclock it using Hardware Notebook Control or it overheads and shut downs. (under full pressure - the fan is cleaned!)

Thanks for your opinion