AMD Performance Midrange

The introduction of Phenom II has made putting together an AMD performance midrange a joy again. While the Phenom was an honest competitor at the price points where AMD chose to compete, the poor overclocking of the AMD Phenom compared to Intel Core 2 Quad processors was always a nagging reality. Phenom II changes all that, and AMD in 45nm clothes is once again a screaming overclocker. We reached 3.9GHz in our testing for the Phenom II launch with a Phenom II 940 CPU. That same CPU is the starting point for our AMD performance midrange PC.

AMD Performance Midrange PC
Hardware Component Price
Processor Phenom II x4 940 Black Edition
(3.0GHzx4 125W 4x512KB L2, 6MB L3)
$215
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V $40
Video Sapphire Radeon HD 4890 1GB (After $20 Rebate) $230
Motherboard Foxconn A79A-S AM2+/AM2 790FX $140
Memory OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1066 Dual-Channel Kit OCZ2RPR10664GK 5-5-5-18 (after $15 Rebate) $55
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 1TB $90
Optical Drive LG BD/HD DVD / 16x DVD+/- RW GGC-H20LK $99
Audio On Motherboard 8-channel -
Case Lian Li PC65B Black Aluminum Mid Tower $100
Power Supply Silverstone ST70F 700W SLI/CrossFire 80 Plus Modular (after $25 Rebate) $100
Base System Total $1069
Display ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI WUXGA LCD Monitor (1920x1200) (after $30 Rebate) $320
Speakers Logitech G51 155W RMS 5.1 Speakers - Retail $135
Input Microsoft CA9-00001 Black PS/2 Standard Keyboard and Optical USB/PS2 Mouse - OEM $16
Operating System Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $99
Complete System Bottom Line $1639
SSD (Optional) OCZ Vertex OCZSSD2-1VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk $209

For detailed information on the Phenom II, please read our AMD Phenom II launch article and the follow-up Phenom II X4 810 and X3 720. The Phenom II 940 at 3.0GHz is the fastest of the currently shipping AMD Phenom II processors, but that will likely change in a few weeks. The Phenom II is very similar in L2/L3 cache configuration to the Intel Core i7. Performance is also similar to comparably priced Intel midrange chips. As the first 45nm AMD processors the Phenom II also overclocks very well, finally approaching the overclocking levels enjoyed by Intel since the introduction of the Core 2 Duo.

The component that made the early Phenom II systems affordable was the Foxconn A79A-S motherboard, which is compatible with AM2+/AM2 and is based on the AMD 790FX chipset. The selling price of this Foxconn A790FX board was $224 just a few months ago. Today it is available for $140, and we have seen it as low as $105 with the rebates that come and go on this board.
 
This Foxconn board offers true dual x16 PCIe slots, which may be important if you plan to run Crossfire. If that is not important and single x16 or dual x8 PCIe will be fine, then you might consider a 790GX board with DDR2 support. These can be easily found for $100 or less, saving $40 to $45 on the system price. Performance is similar to the 790FX, though our Motherboard Editor still recommends the older FX chipset where squeezing the very last bit of performance matters.

The Phenom II is not the hot CPU you find in the Core i7, but it still benefits from third party cooling - particularly if you plan to overclock. We paired the Phenom II 940 with the Xigmatek Dark Knight, which performed well in the lab. At $40 the Xigmatek is also an excellent cooling value.

Since the Phenom II 940 does not support DDR3, our DDR2+ motherboard was populated with a 4GB kit of OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2-1066. This memory is rated at a fast 5-5-5 at DDR2-1066 and it performs at faster timings and lower voltages at slower speeds. Whether you use it as a stock DDR2-1066 memory or overclock it to its limits, this OCZ memory should provide the headroom you need to bring out the best in this system.

The case for the Phenom II performance midrange system is the well-regarded Lian Li black all aluminum case. This Lian Li case has a reputation for exceptional quiet with its four 80mm fans with a fan speed controller and the excellent heat dissipation you expect from an all aluminum case. What is unique is the $40 savings on this case through the month of April, which reduces the cost to $100. There is even a side window for those who like a view of their working system.

Other components in the AMD performance midrange system are the same used in the Intel performance midrange. You can find descriptions and thumbnail images of those components on the previous page.

Finally, you should notice that the AMD performance system, using the current top Phenom II and DDR2 memory, is around $180 cheaper than the Intel Core i7 performance midrange system. The reason for this is very simple, and that is that the Core i7 is a better performing system. AMD and Intel are competitively priced these days and the comparative costs of an Intel or AMD CPU is now a good indicator of the performance. There are always exceptions to a broad statement like this, but generally pricing and performance are fairly gauged in today's market.
 
You might also consider waiting for the AMD Phenom II high performance CPU that fully supports Socket AM3 and DDR3 memory.  AMD will soon replace the 940 and 920 with updated processors that fully support the latest Phenom II AM3 socket.  Performance of the 940/920 replacements will not likely be better than the current 940/920, but the future Phenom II upgrade path will be cleaner.
Intel Performance Midrange Final Words
Comments Locked

73 Comments

View All Comments

  • marc1000 - Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - link

    yes! and the prices remain at the level of the launch, so we never will have a Radeon4850 for $130... it will always cost $170 or even more!
  • raWill - Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - link

    I totally agree. In Australia even when the USD and AUD was $1 for $1 we were still paying higher prices. The PC, Console and games entertainment market is just as huge here as everywhere else.

    You dont need to go past the CPU's to see just how vast the difference in price is. AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE is USD$145. Here in Oz it's AUD$229 (cheapest pf the cheap). Factor in exchange rates 0.70/1 = $160. Problem is (exchange rates aside) An AUD here in Oz is practically the same as a USD for the USA. Cost of food, cars, movie ticket, etc.

    Gigabyte GV-R485ZL-512H - Newegg USD$135 / Here AUD$224.
    After exchange rates same card costs USD$157 here. Injustice!
    Add in lack of decent hardware warranty support. Leadtek for example requires you to ship products to a central location in OZ which in turn are shipped bulk to Taiwan for repair or replacment (round trip 2+ months).

    With regards of Laptops the price gap is tremendous. We don't even get the latest mobile graphics cards, everything, even from dell is outdated hardware (in most cases the P8600 is the top of the line). If you want a gfx card you will pay through the nose. A Dell w/9800 is in excess of AUD$3000. Something that can be sourced from newegg for much less than $2000 (eg. MSI GT725-075).

    Rant over. Great guide though.
  • iAURA - Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - link

    It seems just like yesterday when I was spending less than $500 to build a decent rig, my my, times have changed.

    Good article.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now