[Hayame]

so, i was really really bored >_>

and i was so bored that i ended up making this guide.

phenom 2 builds

well  before you say that why i went up with the phenom 2 and not with the i7 core is that the phenom 2 is near 3/4 or so the price of the i7 and almost comparable. the phenom 2 wasn't meant to compete with the i7 but with the q9000s, and still it keeps up with the i7 core and at cheaper prices Especially since its using ddr2 which is really cheap now days, you can find 2gb of ddr2 800 for 20 bucks >_>.

lets start off with a simple build. I wouldn't put up if the build is overclockable or not but it's up to you guys.

...
teh build 1, med gaming.

• Processor : $235.00 AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz *PRICES DROPPED*
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103471
  
  
• Memory : $76.99 mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820146785
  
  
• Motherboard : $144.99 DFI LANPARTY DK 790GX-M2RS
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813136058
  
  
• Video card : $166.99 SAPPHIRE Radeon hd 4850 1gb
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102802
  
  
• Power Supply : $92.00 PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817703005
  
  
• Case: $109.99 Antec 900.
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129021
  
  
• HDD: $64.99 Western Digital Caviar 500gb sata 3.0gb/s
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136073

now, let me go over this build.

the processor, ahh the phenom 2, 940, 3.0ghz stock. 45nm.
reasonable choice of this cpu is that it's very much improved over the phenom 1.
cool n' quite has no problems no more.
lots and lots of things to state about this Wonderful cpu, lets move on though.

Memory, ahh mushkin, need i say more?
good timings and good voltages.
reliable.

Motherboard, heh... dfi as you expected, with this stable motherboard, go overclock to 4.5ghz...*not fully guaranteed about the
4.5 ghz but 4.0ghz would do.*

Video card, radeon 4850 1gb, fast card. cheap, handles high resolutions.

Power supply, As you see that this power supply is from pc power and cooling.
I, myself have this power supply right now.
it is very very good, i barely hear it. runs cool, AND a fact that it's 610w continuous at 40c On One single rail.

Case, Wow who would have though about two 120mm fans in the front for Better cooling?
well antec has good thing also is psu unit bay is on bottem for less cable problems...

Hdd, another western digital hard drive, 500gb 7200rpm...

rawr next build prob this week or so.

time for build 2!

[]$[Homie]

What rig u got Hayame?

I've been really tempted to get a Phenom II (teh 3.0ghz)

atm Im running a Phenom I 9950BE 2.6Ghz, overvolted to 1.45V, and getting a super stable 3.2Ghz or a 90% stable 3.3Ghz.

Temps @ stock Volt is the same as the ambient temp, full load gives ~8C above ambient. Overvolted on idle it sits about 5C over ambient, after hours of full load gaming it gets up to ~12C above ambient temp.(on Water)

This is on a Asus M3A79-T deluxe, with 4Gb of 2x2Gb DDR2 OCZ Platinum 1066Mhz.

What I'm most interested in is what if any kind of results you have had on overclocking the MkII's

Atm I'm holding out to see when the dates for the DDR2+3 compat version is being released. (as teh DDR2 version will drop in price)

[Hayame]

you should be able to just keep that build, just upgrade the cpu.

[]$[Homie]

Yes, I know I can just upgrade the CPU

Thats why I said I was interested to know if you had any ocing experiance with the phenom II, if so what kind of speeds you where getting

If they will reliably hit 3.5ghz+ then I might fork out the cash. If they are only hitting say 3.4 if ur lucky, theres little point me spending the cash for a mere 200Mhz on top of what I can already achive with the 9950BE

I've already got 2 phenoms sitting on a shelf here, I dont really want a 3rd

[Hayame]

o_O well i know that it can hit 3.8 if you know what your doing.

[Muffie]

Quote

o_O well i know that it can hit 3.8 if you know what your doing.

3.6 with air easy

prolly hit 4 with water cooling

[žalost (old)]

I have a 3.8ghz hyperthread for $100. 
i seldom fill it to 100%. i'm not even overclocking it

[{C9}Wolverine (old)]

Quote

• Case: $109.99 Antec 900.
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129021

Case, Wow who would have though about two 120mm fans in the front for Better cooling?
well antec has good thing also is psu unit bay is on bottem for less cable problems...

May I suggest this case for a savings of $60 to put into something else?

• Case: $49.99 Antec 300.
  http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129042

This is the case I will be using in my next build. It's not as large but it still has the 2 front fans, 1 top fan, and 1 rear fan.

[]$[Homie]

me =

CPU - AMD Phenom I 9950BE (2.6Ghz, Oced to 3.2 stable at 1.45V)
Mobo -  Asus M3A79-T deluxe (this mobo alone added 300Mhz per core to my CPU and this is under Vista64 over a bs MSI and Gigabyte board... never had MSI or Gigabyte b4, and wont ever again)
RAM -  4Gb of 2x2Gb DDR2 OCZ Platinum 1066Mhz. unganged @ 2.1V 5-5-5-24
Case - Thermaltake Kandalf LCS (Black with built in triple rad watercooling)
PSU - Tagan BZ900 modular PSU
Grfx - 2xHD3870 (both oced from 777Mhz core to 840Mhz......was going to go to a hd4870x2, but I might skip the 48xx range, and wait for the Dx11/Win7 cards to appear later, atm I dont really need much more grfx power at all games can be played atm at 1920x1200 4xfsaa and 16xansio with no issues)
HDD - 2x500Gb in RAID0, with 3rd 500Gb for Backups (1.5Tb total storage)
Audio - SoundBlaster X-FI Platinum Edition (with X-Drive/Live Drive)
and some generic DVD Burner

Pulls about 16,500 3DMark06 marks.. which considering its not cutting edge anymore she holds up well....finally

Took over a year (and 3 Phenoms) to get a AMD Quad with the performance I wanted in the first place

This damn MkII is still calling at my wallet ... found a retailer selling at under £200....argh

[Hayame]

thanks wolf, i have that case right now, its really good airflow.

and for homie, yeah save up for a dx11 and win7 video cards.