Help for a friend

[Deleted]

Hey, my friends upgrading for cataclysm (on a budget) and knows how to put pc's together etc, and asked for my advice. I was wondering, ive found him some good components for a good price, and basically what im asking is, is it all compatable? Im not 100%, but im pretty sure it is, always best to get some confirmation.

Motherboard http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177224
Processor http://www.ebuyer.com/product/190673
Graphics http://www.ebuyer.com/product/192856
Hardrive http://www.ebuyer.com/product/182435
Ram http://www.ebuyer.com/product/235776

The grand total being £360 ($553.84) (437.211 euro)
Good price? Also, would it be good for cataclysm ultra?
I know i think its compatable, good price and good for cataclysm, but as i said, its always good to get a 2nd opinion

[vesseblah]

Rather take 7200rpm HDD, will be lot faster. Also you need to get 2x 2GB RAM sticks instead of one 4GB stick.

[Deleted]

Rather take 7200rpm HDD, will be lot faster. Also you need to get 2x 2GB RAM sticks instead of one 4GB stick.

But its all compatable?

[vesseblah]

Honestly, no idea. The motherboard's documentation says it supports x4 955 CPU starting from version 1.7 onwards, but I have no clue which version of BIOS comes out of the box.

[Deleted]

Honestly, no idea. The motherboard's documentation says it supports x4 955 CPU starting from version 1.7 onwards, but I have no clue which version of BIOS comes out of the box.

X4 955 is what is says under the processor, it also says the mother board is AM3 - so i assumed that the AM3 processor would fit aswell. Dont know much about AMD builds :P

[vesseblah]

X4 955 is what is says under the processor, it also says the mother board is AM3 - so i assumed that the AM3 processor would fit aswell. Dont know much about AMD builds :P

BIOS software on the motherboard supports all processors that are available when the board comes out in stores. If the board is few years old and new CPU's that use same socket have become available since, sometimes the motherboard software needs to be updated before the new CPU works correctly.

Same thing happens with both Intel and AMD motherboards, it's not limited to AM3 in any way. The compatibility list of the motherboard you picked shows x4-955 working from version 1.7 onwards, but if the board is very old it might have lower version of the software and need flashing it before the 955 works on it (correctly).

[Deleted]

BIOS software on the motherboard supports all processors that are available when the board comes out in stores. If the board is few years old and new CPU's that use same socket have become available since, sometimes the motherboard software needs to be updated before the new CPU works correctly.

Same thing happens with both Intel and AMD motherboards, it's not limited to AM3 in any way. The compatibility list of the motherboard you picked shows x4-955 working from version 1.7 onwards, but if the board is very old it might have lower version of the software and need flashing it before the 955 works on it (correctly).

But thats an easily solved problem right, just a quick bios update?

[Martsus]

Tell your mate to spend another 100 bucks to get a GTX 460. Best bang for your buck. The card you got now in that config is okay'ish at best, the GTX 460 beats the competition at a 200 euro price lvl.

Oh and nothing wrong with MSI, I'd still go with an asus or giga mobo tho.

[Deleted]

Tell your mate to spend another 100 bucks to get a GTX 460. Best bang for your buck. The card you got now in that config is okay'ish at best, the GTX 460 beats the competition at a 200 euro price lvl.

Oh and nothing wrong with MSI, I'd still go with an asus or giga mobo tho.

Hes a uni student, is currently using an athalon 64 dual core, 2gb ram, 80gb hd and an ati 4450 :P Hes not after incredible performance, but hes wanting to play Cataclysm on ultra / high graphics, and imo, the GPU will only play a big part in the new water effects, the rest of wow is CPU. for £360 i think thats a bargain tbh :P

[vesseblah]

But thats an easily solved problem right, just a quick bios update?

Yep, but how you're planning on doing the update without processor to boot the computer?

That's why I can't promise you it'll work without problems.

[Deleted]

Yep, but how you're planning on doing the update without processor to boot the computer?

That's why I can't promise you it'll work without problems.

Couldnt he just put his old athalon 64 processor in and do it? Or could you find a processor on Ebuyer that wont cause any hastles?

[Martsus]

Hes a uni student, is currently using an athalon 64 dual core, 2gb ram, 80gb hd and an ati 4450 :P Hes not after incredible performance, but hes wanting to play Cataclysm on ultra / high graphics, and imo, the GPU will only play a big part in the new water effects, the rest of wow is CPU. for £360 i think thats a bargain tbh :P

So am I, but really, tell him to drink half the beer he normally does this month so he can get the GTX 460, it's an amazing card. I'm not 100%ly sure how much the realtime shadows along with magical effects along with the new water are going to impact performance but with the 460 you'll be ready for it.

This version is king btw; http://www.ebuyer.com/product/232853 , have it myself, comes with factory overclock and darng, it's silent.

edit; Checking your CPU I saw you chose one of the most expensive AMD quads. For gaming, usually the GPU is more important than the CPU in about 90% of all the available games. You could cut some money there which you can throw on the GPU again. Heck even going for a X3 + the GTX 460 might be better for gaming and WoW in particular than going for a X4 + that radeon.

Also consider Tom's hardware.com for this. Just check their 'Best Gaming CPU for the money' august or september and 'Best Gaming GPU for the money'.

[vesseblah]

edit; Checking your CPU I saw you chose one of the most expensive AMD quads. For gaming, usually the GPU is more important than the CPU in about 90% of all the available games. You could cut some money there which you can throw on the GPU again. Heck even going for a X3 + the GTX 460 might be better for gaming and WoW in particular than going for a X4 + that radeon.

And wrong... As you mentioned, GPU is more important for 90% of the games. WoW is in the other 10% where framerate in 25-man raids depends mostly on raw CPU speed. PhenomII x4 955 drops to around 30fps minimum in heavy aoe, my PhenomII x3 720 drops to around 20fps. AthlonII's will go below 10fps and are pretty damn far from playable.

edit:

One thing in your post that was correct is the card you linked. Gigabyte's 1024MB GTX460 is indeed one of the best grephics cards currently in that price range. Nice factory overclocking and quiet OEM cooler.

[Martsus]

And wrong... As you mentioned, GPU is more important for 90% of the games. WoW is in the other 10% where framerate in 25-man raids depends mostly on raw CPU speed. PhenomII x4 955 drops to around 30fps minimum in heavy aoe, my PhenomII x3 720 drops to around 20fps. AthlonII's will go below 10fps and are pretty damn far from playable.

edit:

One thing in your post that was correct is the card you linked. Gigabyte's 1024MB GTX460 is indeed one of the best grephics cards currently in that price range. Nice factory overclocking and quiet OEM cooler.

Allright did not know that about WoW, thanks for enriching my knowledge there ;-)