Gaming Help me build a PC!

[Devante]

I have a hard drive already for it.
What's the big difference between 5750 and 5770?

edit: I see it seems a tad bit quicker and it's the same price after rebate so I might as well swap the 5750 for the 5770.
See here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-447-_-Product

 

[shamiko_]

You should get a Compaq Presario Desktop.
They cost $587AUD where i live but probs about $470 in American Moneyz.
And it has 2.8GHz 2GB RAM and 320GB HDD.
So that would be a good consideration.

and he also states he wants a custom pc

 

[Berthenk]

Should be good. You might want to check out a quadcore processor though.

Edit: especially since you're going for the 5770. The triplecore might bottle the neck of that one.

 

[Madridi]

+1 to quad core.. if possible

 

[Devante]

I stand corrected, looking at reviews and tests, it looks like the 5770 runs circles around the 5750.

Does a quad core really make the difference when compared to a triple core when it comes to gaming? I thought games today aren't really made to use more than 2 cores.

How's this for quad core? AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Cor - $99

Also, can anyone tell the difference between these two XFX 5770's?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-462-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-447-_-Product

 

[Berthenk]

There's no difference, only the cooler. Go with the one you want, it doesn't matter in performance.

 

[Cermage]

if you're not afraid to play with a bios a bit. i'd recommend going with a Phenom II x2 550 BE over any of the Athlon II range. Athlon II's lack the L3 cache and don't perform as well as the Phenom Range. The x4 athlon II (620 i think?) is on par with the Phenom II x2 550 BE when are both at stock speeds. however the 550 BE's are unlockable to quad cores (Phenom II x4 945's i think) with certain motherboards with chipsets. with Amd Chipsets, from memory its boards with a 710 southbridge. the 790 boards definitely have them. if you're not sure, look up boards that have ACC (advanced core calibration) or NCC(if you want to go the nvidia chipset route, Nvidia core calibration)

 

[Devante]

I read a little about that, but from what I read unlocking extra cores is like playing the lottery, there's only a chance the CPU you get will either be unlockable or have the cores to unlock.

Sound right?

 

[Berthenk]

I read a little about that, but from what I read unlocking extra cores is like playing the lottery, there's only a chance the CPU you get will either be unlockable or have the cores to unlock.

Sound right?

That's exactly the case. Not all Phenom dual-cores are unlockable to a quadcore. You're lucky if you receive one that's a quadcore that didn't meet quality requirements.

 

[Cermage]

yep, but amd's last revision of the 550's have a stupidly high unlock rate. i have yet to read about a 550/555 with C3 stepping fail to unlock the extra 2 cores on the right gear.

 

[Devante]

Check this out:

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision

and

AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

They are the same price: $100.

Wouldn't I be better off getting the one that is already quadcore? Is .3ghz and a 6MB L3 cache worth taking the risk?

 

[Berthenk]

Depends on the software you're using. I've heard that L3 cache makes about 30% difference in performance. Don't pin me on it, though.
I'd go for the Athlon, you can always upgrade to a faster Phenom. If you wait long enough, you can get an AMD Phenom II X4 970.
It's a quadcore -as you might've guessed by the name- that runs 3,5 GHz stock. There are two versions of which one is unlockable to a hexacore.

 

[Joe88]

I have a hard drive already for it.
What's the big difference between 5750 and 5770?

edit: I see it seems a tad bit quicker and it's the same price after rebate so I might as well swap the 5750 for the 5770.
See here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-447-_-Product

reason I suggested the 4870 was that it was cheaper and is more powerful then the 5770

 

[Devante]

Seems like the 4870 is more powerful, but only slightly.
Looks like 5770 is - while slightly less powerful (could be due to immature drivers?), - it has more features like directx 11 and seems to be way more overclockable. However when direct X 11 becomes prominent, this one will be a medium grade card?

The 4870 is like $20 cheaper though. hmmm

 

[Velveteer]

Seems like the 4870 is more powerful, but only slightly.
Looks like 5770 is - while slightly less powerful (could be due to immature drivers?), - it has more features like directx 11 and seems to be way more overclockable. However when direct X 11 becomes prominent, this one will be a medium grade card?

The 4870 is like $20 cheaper though. hmmm

The 5770 is cooler and uses less power. It'll be quieter, as well. I see no reason to get the 4870 instead. The 4890 is quite a bit faster. I'd be running the 5770 off at least a 450W PSU and the 4870 of at least a 550W.

 

[Originality]

The 5770 and 4870 have the same clock speeds, vRAM, and same number of stream processors (commonly incorrectly referred to as "cores"). The 4870 may by slightly stronger (because they didn't hold back with their flagship card, whilst the 5770 is purely a midranged card) but, as mentioned it uses less power, produces less heat/noise, and is more overclockable. And it's DX11.

Basically, the 5770 is a generation higher with the same specs so it's better.

 

[Joe88]

the 5770 and 4870 do not have the same clock speeds

4870
core - 750mhz
mem - 900mhz

5770
core - 850mhz
mem - 1200mhz

the problem is the 5770 is a 128bit card where as the 4870 is a 256bit card
its holds it back a bit even though it has much higher clocks

general overclocking

4870
core - 850mhz
mem - 1100mhz

5770
core - 1000mhz
mem - 1300mhz

 

[GundamXXX]

Ok quick note

Do not buy any vidcards yet .. ATI is about to release their HD6xxx series so all their older cards should drop in price

CPU go for AMD X2 possibly X4 if you can still afford it
2GB of DDR3 RAM
AM3 mobo, do NOT go for AM2+ its cheaper and supported but AM3 = future
Samsun Spinpoint F1 1TB

that should cost you about 300 - 350 dollars

make sure you get a 650w or more power supply and a cheap ass case with a 10 dollar dvd ... around 500

Use the onboard vidcard for now.. its not THAT bad and in a few months you can pick up a HD5750 for 100 bucks

 

[Originality]

@Gundam, Why get a Samsung Spinpoint F1 when the F3 is better and, generally, sells at the same price?

@Joe, strange, my 4870 is rated at 800Mhz, and I never considered the 50Mhz difference worth mentioning between it and the 5770.

 

[Joe88]

Do not buy any vidcards yet .. ATI is about to release their HD6xxx series so all their older cards should drop in price

didnt know they were right around the corner, nov it seems

but I guess they have to take advantage of nividia's slow coming to this gen (which was an utter failure on their top cards, mid to low not so much)