For 3D/ CAD Work

[ChironX]

AMD has phased out the Phenom II lines when they released their new architectures, namely Bulldozer. The Bulldozer processors, or the normal ones you see now don't have any graphics cores inbuilt. But this is going to change once AMD officially release their Trinity line or APUs - they have Bulldozer class CPUs and Radeon 7xxx class GPUs fuzed together. But that is going to be costly, as predictions suggest.

But, you can definitely go in for a AMD Phenom II X6 Based solution. I remember someone from WB was selling a 1075T+Mobo+RAM for 13k here. That processor is a beast in disguise - it'll perform close to an i5-2400 when it comes to brute performance for single threaded apps, and will surpass when multitasking.

[Hitesh12]

Originally Posted by src2206 What about the new AM3+ platforms? That's a new platform, and I think I would have plenty of upgrade option.

They were a failure. Worse than phenom.
Also I'm not in favour of AMD APU. They are fine for moderate gaming but with CAD I'm not comfortable.
Having threads is good but why compromise on single thread performance ?

Originally Posted by src2206 Let's consider another possibility, when I bought my present system long back (at least 6-7 years), I hardly upgraded it apart from adding a AGP. The only two upgrades I shall be going for are: a 2TB HDD and a SMPS (in case I do not have to buy at this moment). Rest I am not going to do any upgrade for which I may have to change the whole system. So the system suggestion you have offered will work fine for resource heavy sw like Ps CS6, ACAD ot 3DSMax. In a sense 6-7years future proof should be enough, unless sw vendors comes out any new memory monsters. What is your opinion?

Looking at this upgradability factor is not a problem for you. Get a 955 Black Edition (6k) , 3k mobo (right?) and 8gb ddr3 ram(2-2.5k)
1-1.5k more. If I would be in your place , I would go with AMD

[src2206]

Thank you ChironX and Hitesh12

Originally Posted by ChironX AMD has phased out the Phenom II lines when they released their new architectures, namely Bulldozer.

So does it mean that Phenoms are not available in the market any more?

"995 Black Edition" - could you please be more specific about the model? And please suggest a compatible M/B

[ChironX]

AMD Phenom II 955 BE, or Black Edition was once their flagship quad core CPU, running stock at 3.2 GHz and overclockable easily to the realm of 4~4.2 GHz. It held the spot for the best budget gaming/multitasking CPU for a long time, till it was beaten by the arrival of Core i5-2500k. Still, in gaming tasks it's tremendous value till now.

AMD has officially phased out that model since it had released the newer processors with incremental bumps on speeds, like the 965 BE, 970 BE etc. But with the arrival of Bulldozer, these were phased out.

The ones you'll probably find in stores now are older stock clearance ones, so probably you'll be charged more in the stores since they'll want to make as much profit as possible from an already phased out component. Don't fall for that trap. 955 BE has a maximum value of 6k now, with newer value oriented Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors around it. Plus it consumes more power than those processors at idle and in load.

But yes, to a person in a constrained budget, it represents extreme value.

About the motherboard - consider this option Asus M5A78L-M LX V2. Flipkart sells it at around 2.7k.

Tagging @Timon for more motherboard options and prices!

[src2206]

Originally Posted by ChironX AMD Phenom II 955 BE, or Black Edition was once their flagship quad core CPU, running stock at 3.2 GHz and overclockable easily to the realm of 4~4.2 GHz. It held the spot for the best budget gaming/multitasking CPU for a long time, till it was beaten by the arrival of Core i5-2500k. Still, in gaming tasks it's tremendous value till now. AMD has officially phased out that model since it had released the newer processors with incremental bumps on speeds, like the 965 BE, 970 BE etc. But with the arrival of Bulldozer, these were phased out. The ones you'll probably find in stores now are older stock clearance ones, so probably you'll be charged more in the stores since they'll want to make as much profit as possible from an already phased out component. Don't fall for that trap. 955 BE has a maximum value of 6k now, with newer value oriented Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors around it. Plus it consumes more power than those processors at idle and in load. But yes, to a person in a constrained budget, it represents extreme value. About the motherboard - consider this option Asus M5A78L-M LX V2. Flipkart sells it at around 2.7k. Tagging @Timon for more motherboard options and prices!

Thank you so much ChironX, very well put.
Tell me please, how would you put Phenom II x6 in comparison to 955BE? Which would be better? I am more inclined for the x6.

Regarding MB, I would like to have an integrated graphics.

Thanks again, you have been really very helpful.

[ChironX]

Phenom II X6 Compared to the 955 BE is more powerful ~ since it has more cores, more L2 Cache (3 MB compared to 2 MB), it will perform better in threaded applications. In single threaded applications however, they're neck-n-neck.

Check this bench comparison out from Anandtech : AnandTech - Bench - CPU

Looking at the present scenario, a Phenom II X6 is definitely better value than the quad core 955 BE or its equivalents.

[src2206]

Originally Posted by ChironX Looking at the present scenario, a Phenom II X6 is definitely better value than the quad core 955 BE or its equivalents.

Thanks again...
So we can summarize as follows:
1. AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Processor
2. Compatible MB with graphics
3. 2GB Corsair Value RAM
4. SMPS (Corsair 450W may be) if required.

[ChironX]

Originally Posted by src2206 Thanks again... So we can summarize as follows: 1. AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Processor 2. Compatible MB with graphics 3. 2GB Corsair Value RAM 4. SMPS (Corsair 450W may be) if required.

Yup, you got that sorted out then. You can check in our dealer's section, I think some of the folks already put a couple of X6's for sale. If not, post a want to buy thread

Hope you've got your doubts cleared.

[src2206]

Originally Posted by ChironX Yup, you got that sorted out then. You can check in our dealer's section, I think some of the folks already put a couple of X6's for sale. If not, post a want to buy thread Hope you've got your doubts cleared.

Thanks a lot to you

Well, I need to buy it from a physical store, do not have the time to wait. Tried with one of the suppliers here, he offered me a suggestion for AMD FX4100 with asus m5a78l-m lx Motherboard. I have asked him to scout for Phnom x6.

Just one more thing: any specific motherboard?

---------- Post added at 03:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:25 PM ----------

Ok, here is the update from the market.....: 1100T is out, 1050T available price >8.5K

Other options are FX 4100 or Fx 6100.....how good are these? All are of AM3+ platform...

[ChironX]

Sadly enough, the FX 4100 or FX6100 don't stand a chance against the Thubans- i.e. X6 1090/1100Ts. They will thrash them in every single benchmark. The 1100T trades blows with FX8150 - that should give you some perspective. That's the topmost Bulldozer processor we're talking about..

Check this link where a 1090T X6 gets compared to the FX6100 at stock and overclocked settings: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...6&d=1319505559

And about motherboards, depends on your specific requirements. Since your budget is tight, I'd suggest stick to low priced motherboards, most of them are now getting updated with newer BIOS, USB3 and other value added options. Gigabyte, Biostar, MSI - they have some nice budget boards. Even some older Asus boards for AM3 retails for less than 4k.

[Timon]

Originally Posted by ChironX Tagging @Timon for more motherboard options and prices!

Sorry today i got late on this and didn't login on erodov. Sorry mate; But thanks for including my name. Thank you.

[src2206]

Originally Posted by ChironX Sadly enough, the FX 4100 or FX6100 don't stand a chance against the Thubans- i.e. X6 1090/1100Ts. They will thrash them in every single benchmark. The 1100T trades blows with FX8150 - that should give you some perspective. That's the topmost Bulldozer processor we're talking about.. Check this link where a 1090T X6 gets compared to the FX6100 at stock and overclocked settings: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...6&d=1319505559 And about motherboards, depends on your specific requirements. Since your budget is tight, I'd suggest stick to low priced motherboards, most of them are now getting updated with newer BIOS, USB3 and other value added options. Gigabyte, Biostar, MSI - they have some nice budget boards. Even some older Asus boards for AM3 retails for less than 4k.

Sadly, I have been to markets but there is no way I can get X6 1100T or 1090T for decent price. The only options I have are as follows:

FX 6100+Decent board like ASUS ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS M5A78L-M LX for about 9.5K

or

Intel core i5+Mothreboard combo for about 14K.

For the second option I am not sure how much better will be the performance gain for the pretty steep gain in price. Here the important factor is that the Processor will NEVER be overclocked.

EDIT:

Please tell me which "Chipset" of AMD Motherboard that I should look for.

[ChironX]

If you're going for the FX range of processors then you might want to go for the 990x/fx chipsets since they are enthusiast level chipsets and offer the most in terms of overclockability, features and performance.

The current generation of non-overclockable i5 processors, though on the 'budget' range of things, are incredibly powerful. A i5-3470 or equivalent will maul even FX-8150 in most of the applications and CPU bound games such as GTA IV, Starcraft 2 etc. For multi threaded applications, the octo core 8150 gains advantage, but that's about it. The intel processors also consume way less power than their present and past gen AMD ones..

[src2206]

Originally Posted by ChironX If you're going for the FX range of processors then you might want to go for the 990x/fx chipsets since they are enthusiast level chipsets and offer the most in terms of overclockability, features and performance. The current generation of non-overclockable i5 processors, though on the 'budget' range of things, are incredibly powerful. A i5-3470 or equivalent will maul even FX-8150 in most of the applications and CPU bound games such as GTA IV, Starcraft 2 etc. For multi threaded applications, the octo core 8150 gains advantage, but that's about it. The intel processors also consume way less power than their present and past gen AMD ones..

Ok, then for Intel i5, please tell me the model of the budget i5 processor that you are referring to and a good compatible motherboard. I shall surely give it a very serious thought. I must secure the best performance for the money. As I said, I have NO intention of overclocking, so you can just take the OC ability out of the equation, a good on-board graphics would be much more important for me (a primary reason for me to opt for AMD system).

[ChironX]

Ouch! I saw the prices for the budget i5 processors and all of them are 10k+ range. What is the maximum limit of your budget? Tell me..