New PC build, revisited for 2012

**Alaric** · 20 February 2012, 15:30 Monday

Hi , Kev! If you can hold off for a couple months , HDD prices should come down. Flooding in Thailand has screwed up production and messed up the prices. The Zambezi cores are nice , but if you can find a AM3 mobo that upgrades to AM3+ with a BIOS update , you can still pick up a Phenom II X4 CPU that is as good , or better , and leave yourself room for a Bulldozer when they get better. They're good for the money but have been somewhat of a disappointment as far as being an improvement over the Phenom II. The Phenom II (X4 or X6) is still available at newegg. I'm drooling over the 980 BE now. For $159 @3.7GHz it's an overacheiver by any standard , and built like a tank. They are being run at 4.1~4.2 stable enough to run Prime95 for 24 hours. My mobo is only AM2+ and AM3 , so I'm out of the Zambezi market. :cry: There is also the 6 core Phenom II series. 6 cores at 3.0 GHz? Sweeeet! and a relative bargain for a proven chip. Just some food for thought.

**Nick M** · 20 February 2012, 15:58 Monday

I picked up the retail version of Samsung's BD player. It doesn't write, but is fairly inexpensive and comes with a perpetual license of Cyberlink's BD software. It also comes with a suite which can be used for burning CD-R's, DVD-R's, etc. BD playback with my 2.8GHz C2D and 1GB Video Card is flawless.

I think it was about $75, and I had a coupon for $10 or $15 off.

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SH-B123L-RSBP-Internal-DVD-Writer/dp/B0044683HI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329767813&sr=8-2

Ah yes... $64 from the egg.

Are you a human?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151232&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Blu-Ray+Drives-_-SAMSUNG-_-27151232

**Kevin P** · 20 February 2012, 17:57 Monday

Originally posted by Alaric

The Phenom II (X4 or X6) is still available at newegg. I'm drooling over the 980 BE now. For $159 @3.7GHz it's an overacheiver by any standard , and built like a tank...

The Zembezi I picked is $109.99, the only other Socket AM3 at that price is the Athlon II X4 645. The Phenom II 980 BE is 50 bucks more. If money were not an obstacle I would consider going that route, but I have to play poor boy right now, to the extent I'm even considering ordering a Dell. But I need something that will last, so that's why I home-build.

I would wait longer but my old machine and my KVM don't get along very well and it's a huge PITA to have the mouse and/or keyboard stop working any time they feel like it.

**PewterTA** · 20 February 2012, 20:55 Monday

Kevin, my backup server is using the same AMD, ASUS, and G.Skill memory. It's a great combo, got Server 2008 and 4 VMs running on it...not a single issue and still plenty fast on everything. Those are good picks!

**Alaric** · 21 February 2012, 12:00 Tuesday

Originally posted by Kevin P

The Zembezi I picked is $109.99, the only other Socket AM3 at that price is the Athlon II X4 645. The Phenom II 980 BE is 50 bucks more. If money were not an obstacle I would consider going that route, but I have to play poor boy right now, to the extent I'm even considering ordering a Dell. But I need something that will last, so that's why I home-build.

I would wait longer but my old machine and my KVM don't get along very well and it's a huge PITA to have the mouse and/or keyboard stop working any time they feel like it.

Wow , good price on a solid chip. I haven't looked at the 4 core Zambezis much. I didn't know they were that affordable! (a relative term). I've had good luck with my ASUS mobo as well. AMD and ASUS seem to play well together. It's a shame about HDD prices right now. I did find this , though
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/SKUSearch...eTitle=WESTERN DIGITAL WD5000AAKX Caviar Blue 500GB 7200 RPM 1
Might save you a few bucks.

New PC build, revisited for 2012

New PC build, revisited for 2012

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