First build - Conroe or Cheaper S939 ...?

Associate
Joined
13 Jul 2005
Posts
132
Hi guys,

I want to upgrade my system soon and when i do it'll be my first build. I'm liking how well conroe seems to be performing and well they clock with a decent motherboard. However i'm also tempted to get a cheaper S939 system to tide me over till the middle of next year when i can upgrade to Vista, DX10 etc...

I've come up with a couple systems. So i'm basically wondering what you guys would do in my position? Get the more expensive conroe or the cheaper but slightly less performance S939 system.

Conroe System:
CP-127-IN
Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-127-IN) £154.95
HD-046-WD
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD) £46.55
CD-041-PO
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £22.95
CA-054-LL
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.95
CA-017-OC
OCZ ModStream 520w ATX2.2 Power Supply (CA-017-OC) £54.95
MB-062-GI
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-062-GI) £109.95
GX-044-CO
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO) £129.95
MY-014-GS
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 NR PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBNR) (MY-014-GS) £114.95

Total inc Vat. £802

S939 A64 system:
HD-046-WD
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD) £46.55
CD-041-PO
Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM (CD-041-PO) £22.95
GX-044-CO
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO) £129.95
CP-150-AM
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-150-AM) £54.95
FG-000-AR
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£9.95
MB-014-DF
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF) £74.95
CA-040-AN
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN) £65.95

Total inc Vat. £476 (i've got Ram i can use for this system already)


Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Dec 2005
Posts
14,443
Location
Manchester
I would look at it from a finances point of view first.

Can you really afford a more expensive Conroe rig right now? If so then great, go Conroe. If not stick with an AMD system [or not bother at all]

I only buy a new main PC every 2-3 years so I am usually looking for the best - which means lots of money I have to save. Buying an intermediate PC would cost more in the long run so to cut this long post short - go for the Conroe rig if you have the money. If not wait.

SiriusB
 
Associate
OP
Joined
13 Jul 2005
Posts
132
At the moment, i'm running an old dell 8300 (3ghz P4, 1gb of ram and a 6800gt), it handles games ok... but i do like playing stuff with all the eye candy on.

Tbh, the thing which entices me to get a new pc now is building the rig myself and overclocking it. Since i bought the Dell over 3 years ago, i've got really interested in pc's... so the building/OCing side of it is something i'd like to get into.

I imagine like everyone else, conroe is looking a very good prospect atm... especially the lower 6300 and 6400 models which seem to overclock really well. But like you guys say, the cost is a bit more what with having to get new ram and a decent overclocking/priced conroe motherboard, of which there seem to be a bit of a shortage.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Dec 2005
Posts
14,443
Location
Manchester
Stiffler05 said:
At the moment, i'm running an old dell 8300 (3ghz P4, 1gb of ram and a 6800gt), it handles games ok... but i do like playing stuff with all the eye candy on.

Tbh, the thing which entices me to get a new pc now is building the rig myself and overclocking it. Since i bought the Dell over 3 years ago, i've got really interested in pc's... so the building/OCing side of it is something i'd like to get into.

I imagine like everyone else, conroe is looking a very good prospect atm... especially the lower 6300 and 6400 models which seem to overclock really well. But like you guys say, the cost is a bit more what with having to get new ram and a decent overclocking/priced conroe motherboard, of which there seem to be a bit of a shortage.

If you can hang on a month or two there should be some really nice Conroe motherboards coming out. Apparantly Abit are making a comeback with their Conroe boards.

SiriusB
 
Soldato
Joined
24 May 2006
Posts
3,828
Location
Surrey - UK
It should give the mobo companys time to fix any bios issues they have to, i know there is a few ickle problems here and there.

And of course as said above, there should be some more boards coming out to choose from.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
13 Jul 2005
Posts
132
SiriusB said:
If you can hang on a month or two there should be some really nice Conroe motherboards coming out. Apparantly Abit are making a comeback with their Conroe boards.

SiriusB

Yeah, i'd heard there were a few good MB's on the horizon. Is it the Nforce 590's that are due out soon? Perhaps the price on the current ones may have dropped a little by then too.

My only thought is whether the price and availability of the amd processors will be similar to what they are now. So if i did decide to take the cheaper route after a month or too i'd be stung by price increases due to low stock levels.
 
Back
Top Bottom