what do you think to this system?

[robbiecraigstart]

currently looking a this from overclockers, does anyone have any history with them before? here is the spec;

Primo 6200a
AMD Phenom II X4 quad core 850 3.00 GHZ DDR 3 system (windows home 7 premium 64 bit OEM)
OcUK GeForce GT 430 1024 MB
OcUK V-Line 22" widescreen monitor, black
Wireless keyboard & mouse set logitech
500GB HD
4GB RAM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=FS-259-OK

That is the system. What do you think? Could I get a better system on a better site for less money (the price of that with delivery is £585.40)

Any help in choosing my system is greatly appreciated :-)

[swirlypop69]

I've bought from them before, this PC in fact, no problems with them...

As for the spec itself, there are more computer-tech-minded people here than me so I will leave that to them. Though Intel > AMD

[x42bn6]

Overclockers are fine, but I would genuinely consider spending a little more to get an i5-2500K (or i5-2400 if money is an issue) as the X4 will feel "old" within a few months.

I would do more shopping around. For example: this can be downgraded and a monitor added to produce a better system for roughly the same price. And there are several competitive companies out there that produce similar systems. So take that link as a starting point, rather than an end (I'm not advocating you buy that specific configuration).

[carragherisgod]

as the X4 will feel "old" within a few months

Don't agree with you at all mate. The X4 v i5 debate will go on forever. Some will say "go Intel" and other will say "go AMD". Don't get me wrong, the i series are good but they're just not that much better than the AMD X series. AMD will be better running some apps/games than the Intel variant but the same can be said for Intel against AMD. You have to think price for pound here to be fair. Robbie, there's nothing at all wrong with that system you linked. I know four people with a system very close to that and it can handle anything they throw at it and will be able to do so for a while yet. One thing I would look at is if you could maybe get an Phenom X6 instead? They're not very much more expensive than the X4 and they're a very good CPU.

Oh, I should add, I'm not an AMD fanboy just in case ya'll think I am. I use Intel myself right now and have done for the past two years

[x42bn6]

Don't agree with you at all mate. The X4 v i5 debate will go on forever. Some will say "go Intel" and other will say "go AMD". Don't get me wrong, the i series are good but they're just not that much better than the AMD X series. AMD will be better running some apps/games than the Intel variant but the same can be said for Intel against AMD. You have to think price for pound here to be fair. Robbie, there's nothing at all wrong with that system you linked. I know four people with a system very close to that and it can handle anything they throw at it and will be able to do so for a while yet. One thing I would look at is if you could maybe get an Phenom X6 instead? They're not very much more expensive than the X4 and they're a very good CPU.

Oh, I should add, I'm not an AMD fanboy just in case ya'll think I am. I use Intel myself right now and have done for the past two years

Not true. Sandy Bridge - heck, its predecessor, Nehalem - wipes the floor with the X4. It beats out the X6 comfortably, for crying out loud!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...idge-review/10

The i5-2400 is roughly equivalent to the X6 1100 Black Edition, and that's the mid-range Sandy Bridge chip.

The X4 series is good for value for money but so is the i5-2500K, which is arguably the most bang-for-buck chip out there. Especially since it is easily overclocked.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...enom+II+X4+850

The X4 series is inferior to Sandy Bridge i5s in every way, including heavily-threaded applications which is AMD's strength. The X6 beats out Sandy Bridge i5s/i7s only in heavily-threaded workloads but for low-threaded workloads (i.e. most applications), it loses out by quite a bit.

This is how far ahead Intel are at the moment. You could have posted this a few years back and it would have been true, but not any more.

[salahuddin]

I just ordered an i7 2600k Sandy bridge beast from pcspecialist.co.uk around £800 will enable most if not all leagues running and a very playable version of Skyrim once its out. Currently using an AMD, they were really good once but can't touch the new Sandy Bridge chipset.

[Mr Mikey787878]

easily get an i5 2500k over anything else. (well the i2600k beats it but you won't notice any difference for games)

everything else you've listed is good - there are better graphics cards out there but for FM you won't need them.

More ram can never hurt - 8gb would be future proof but you can always add more later and 4gb is plenty for now.

The one thing that might add to speed (certainly loading speed anyway) is an SSD (solid state drive) They're pricey - about £150 for 120gb but stick your operating system and frequently used applications on that and you'll see a noticeable jump in speeds.

[axehan1]

Don't agree with you at all mate. The X4 v i5 debate will go on forever. Some will say "go Intel" and other will say "go AMD". Don't get me wrong, the i series are good but they're just not that much better than the AMD X series. AMD will be better running some apps/games than the Intel variant but the same can be said for Intel against AMD. You have to think price for pound here to be fair. Robbie, there's nothing at all wrong with that system you linked. I know four people with a system very close to that and it can handle anything they throw at it and will be able to do so for a while yet. One thing I would look at is if you could maybe get an Phenom X6 instead? They're not very much more expensive than the X4 and they're a very good CPU.

Oh, I should add, I'm not an AMD fanboy just in case ya'll think I am. I use Intel myself right now and have done for the past two years

My pc is the amd phenom ii x6 1100t 3.31 ghz.and it can take anything fm throws at it.so you should be fine mate.

[carragherisgod]

Not true. Sandy Bridge - heck, its predecessor, Nehalem - wipes the floor with the X4. It beats out the X6 comfortably, for crying out loud!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...idge-review/10

The i5-2400 is roughly equivalent to the X6 1100 Black Edition, and that's the mid-range Sandy Bridge chip.

The X4 series is good for value for money but so is the i5-2500K, which is arguably the most bang-for-buck chip out there. Especially since it is easily overclocked.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...enom+II+X4+850

The X4 series is inferior to Sandy Bridge i5s in every way, including heavily-threaded applications which is AMD's strength. The X6 beats out Sandy Bridge i5s/i7s only in heavily-threaded workloads but for low-threaded workloads (i.e. most applications), it loses out by quite a bit.

This is how far ahead Intel are at the moment. You could have posted this a few years back and it would have been true, but not any more.

I think you're missing the point here. The Phenom will run anything you throw at it. If it's cheaper and WILL run everything you need, why spend more on an i5 (which I already agreed is a good chip) for minimal (if any) improvements? Now if you told him to go i7 instead of the X4 I'd say yes, do it. But an i5 and X4 are not that different. I have access to both and can say I don't see the point spending more on an i5. there is a recession on ya know lol. I'm not trying to start a war of words here. This is just my opinion from my personal experiences with both brands.

[x42bn6]

I think you're missing the point here. The Phenom will run anything you throw at it. If it's cheaper and WILL run everything you need, why spend more on an i5 (which I already agreed is a good chip) for minimal (if any) improvements? Now if you told him to go i7 instead of the X4 I'd say yes, do it. But an i5 and X4 are not that different. I have access to both and can say I don't see the point spending more on an i5. there is a recession on ya know lol. I'm not trying to start a war of words here. This is just my opinion from my personal experiences with both brands.

It depends on what the i5 is though. If it's a first-generation i5 (i5-abc, 3 digits), then yes, they are roughly equal. If it's a second-generation i5 (i5-abcd, 4 digits), however, then it will rip the X4 to pieces, for breakfast. Quite easily.

I've shown you a benchmark where the i5-2400 competes with the X6 - that's right - it's too good for the X4. The performance difference between the X4 850 and i5-2400 isn't minimal - it's huge. Here's a comparison of the X4 910 (which is better than the 850) and the i5-2400: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/85?vs=363

In fact, the second-generation i3-2100 competes with the quicker X4 955 (as opposed to the X4 850 as the OP stated) - the X4 955 only wins in heavily-threaded workloads, but the i3-2100 wins on games: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/88?vs=289 For a similar price, too. Here's another review of the i3-2100: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...i3-2100-review - it competes with the X4 980 BE!

So, to me, the i3-2100 is quite a bit superior to the X4 850, for slightly extra money, except in heavily-threaded workloads (i.e. video editing).