Suggest A Mother Board and Processor

[prateek007391]

My MSI 7211 board and Intel Pentium D processor just died. Now I am searching for a new MotherBoard. Well I am ready to pay 16K to 20K for Board and Processor.
So Please suggest me some good Motherboard and Processor.


(I was looking for AMD Phenom II X6 or Intel i7 Processor but I don't have good information about them.)

 

[saswat23]

Your budget is just great.

If you dont wanna OC then:
CPU: Intel i7-2600 -- 14k
MoBo: Intel DH67CL-B3 -- 5.7k
Total ---- 19.7k

If you plan to OC then:
1.
CPU: Intel i5-2500k -- 10.5k
MoBo: Asus P8Z68-V -- 12.5k
Total ---- 23k

2.
CPU: Intel i7-2600k -- 15.7k
MoBo: Asus P8Z68-V -- 12.5k
Total ---- 28.2k

IMO: i5-2500k + Asus P8Z68-V is the best option for your budget.

These are online prices, so the street prices will definitely be less as these prices were more or less the same b4 2months too.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

If Pentium D was suffice to your needs then you dont need to spend that much.

AMD Phenom II X4 BE 955 - 5800 (This one is pretty much as powerful as Core 2 Quad 9XXX Series)

Gigabyte GA-880 G - 4900 = Total 10700

Above said configs will perform Upto 10 to 40% More than AMD one but also will cost you double.

 

[prateek007391]

I think Phenome II X4 is great. I bought one Phenom about 2 Years ago and its still running great.

Well I had one question - does i7 support Windows XP3. Because the softwares we use in office are quiet old and they are not compatible with Windows Vista or 7

 

[saswat23]

Yes, i7 suppots XP versions..
Going for P2 955BE will be a good choice too and you can use the remaining 10k to get a good GPU + PSU or upgrade your PC components..

 

[prateek007391]

Okay, I just got P2 955BE. Its running Great and handle everything quiet superbly

 

[Tech_Wiz]

Congrats. And its a Black Edition so you can oc it also. On Stock Volts and Cooler you can pretty much hit 3.5 GHz without issues.

 

[Cilus]

Congrats prateek007391, I'm a proud owner of Phenom II series for quite some time. My previous processor was a Phenom II X4 955, same CPu you've purchased. Even with the stock cooler, you can reach 3.6 GHz by just increasing the multiplier to 18X.

 

[prateek007391]

Does OC hampers life.

 

[Skud]

Congrats prateek.

 

[saswat23]

Congrats prateek.

YES, TO SOME EXTENT OC HAMPERS AND DECREASES LIFE OF PROCESSOR.

 

[Skud]

Does OC hampers life.

With proper cooling and caution, the decrease may be insignificant. Particularly, if you haven't touched the volts. Moreover, an multiplier unlocked CPU is supposed to operate at a higher multiplier than the stock without much of a problem.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

OC doesnt hamper life as long as you are keeping temperature under Control.

I have OCed My PII 955BE to 3.6 GHz just by pushing Multi to 18 & HT Link to 2200 with no change in Voltage and on Stock Cooler.

Funny thing is Phenom II Once OCed to 3.6 - 3.7 GHz Range matches Performance of i7 920 (Stock) or even does better in some cases as far as gaming goes and beats it in 1 out of 3 Sandra Tests. Not to mention Costs almost 40% less

Proof: Test Systems And Benchmark Setup : Phenom II 955 Versus Core i7 920: Gaming Value Compared

So No worry. Kick that baby to 3.6 and Enjoy. If temp get too much for your comfort (Rare Possibility) then lower a notch to 3.5

 

[Skud]

OC doesnt hamper life as long as you are keeping temperature under Control.

I have OCed My PII 955BE to 3.6 GHz just by pushing Multi to 18 & HT Link to 2200 with no change in Voltage and on Stock Cooler.

Funny thing is Phenom II Once OCed to 3.6 - 3.7 GHz Range matches Performance of i7 920 (Stock) or even does better in some cases as far as gaming goes and beats it in 1 out of 3 Sandra Tests. Not to mention Costs almost 40% less

Proof: Test Systems And Benchmark Setup : Phenom II 955 Versus Core i7 920: Gaming Value Compared

So No worry. Kick that baby to 3.6 and Enjoy. If temp get too much for your comfort (Rare Possibility) then lower a notch to 3.5

Or get an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

With After market cooler if you have RB-C3 Stepping then you can push it even to 3.8 to 3.9 Without Issues.

Btw Skud there are Stickies about i7 & i5 Best Cooler thing but for Phenoms what options we can look at? (I might Buy one as well. OCing is so much fun than getting a Higher Clocked "Vanilla"

 

[Skud]

Most of the coolers are compatible with both the platforms with proper mounting systems. So whatever recommendation goes for Intel should hold good for AMD also. If budget is not a concern, Noctua D14 is the way to go.

 

[Cilus]

Actually for advanced users, buying a Black edition Phenom II processor makes more sense. For example a Phenom II X6 1090T, priced @ 9K, when overclocked to 3.8 Ghz to 4 GHz, performs better than a Core i7 975, priced @ 30K. Other thing is the Phenom II processors come with far better stock cooler than their Intel counter parts. My Phenom II 1090T has 3 copper heat pipe based cooler and 3.6 Ghz can be pushed by multiplier increase with temparature completely under control.
For testing, I overclocked it to 4 GHz with 20X multiplier and 1.45V. I tested it with 3D mark 11 and it was completely stable with max load temp of 58 degree C.

 

[Skud]

Intel stock coolers suck big time.

AMD's are far far far better...

 

[coderunknown]

^^ not all. most Phenom II X4 (or Phenom II X2 also) HSF have noise problem. & some can't even keep the temperature under control. but Cilus used to run his processor at 500Mhz+ over stockspeed using just the bundled HSF. totally a luck thing.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

I did that too with Stock on my X4. Temp are fine.

For moderate level OC AMD Stock coolers are good to go. They are a bit noisy when at full load though but not that much.