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 dual/quad-core 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) |
$275 |
| Cooling | Tuniq Tower 120 | $46 |
| Video | SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 | $400 |
| Motherboard | ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe | $189 |
| Memory | G Skill DDR2-1100 (PC2-8800) 4GB Memory Kit F2-8800CL5D-4GBPI | $90 |
| Hard Drive | Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST310000333AS 1TB | $110 |
| Optical Drive | LG BD/HD DVD / 16x DVD+/- RW GGC-H20LK | $99 |
| Audio | Creative 7.1 Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium | $90 |
| Case | Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower | $100 |
| Power Supply | SILVERSTONE ST70F 700W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply | $100 |
| Display | ASUS VW246H Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor (1920x1080) | $290 |
| Speakers | Logitech G51 155 watts RMS 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers | $90 |
| Input | Microsoft CA9-00001 Black PS/2 Standard Keyboard and Optical USB/PS2 Mouse - OEM | $16 |
| Operating System | Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM | $99 |
| Bottom Line | $1994 | |
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You can read our review of the Phenom II X4 for additional information. The Phenom II 940 X4 at 3.0GHz is the fastest of the currently shipping AMD Phenom II processors. The Phenom II is very similar in L2/L3 cache configuration to the recently introduced Intel Core i7. Performance is also comparable to the best Intel 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.
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We've paired the Phenom II 940 with the superb ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe. At $190 the ASUS is not cheap or even a great value for a 790FX/SB750 setup, but it is one of the most loaded and best performing AMD boards we have used this year. ASUS loads the board with Gigabit LAN, IEEE 1394 support, four PCI-E x16 slots (dual x16, tri x16/x8/x8, or quad x8), two PCI slots, a single eSATA port, and six 3Gb/s SATA ports featuring RAID 0/1/10/5. The M3A79-T Deluxe also works very well with Phenom II and end-users will not be disappointed in performance or overclocking capabilities.
The ASUS also includes superb onboard sound with the ADI AD2000B 8-channel HD audio. This is probably the best onboard sound solution we have tested so far. A Creative 7.1 Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium audio card was included in the components mostly for game compatibility. You can save $90 and use the onboard ADI sound without sacrificing much if anything in sound quality.
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The GPU choice is the top-performing Sapphire 100251SR Radeon HD 4870X2. This dual-GPU card is an exceptional performer on the 790FX chipset, as you would expect. The selling price has been around $500, but with current promotions you can buy this Sapphire 4870X2 for just $400. That is an exceptional buy that delivers top performance at a very fair price, and if you ever want more gaming power a quad-GPU (two 4870X2 cards) is an option, albeit one we don't really recommend unless you have a 30" LCD.
The Tuniq Tower 120 cooler was also used on the AMD Value Midrange System described on page 4. The rest of the components are the same as the Intel Performance Midrange PC. This includes the Seagate 1TB hard drive, the LG GGC-H20LK BD/HD reader and 16X DVD burner, the Antec Nine Hundred case, the Silverstone 700W PSU, the Logitech G51 powered speakers, the ASUS 1080p 24" 1920x1080 LCD Monitor, the Microsoft OEM keyboard/optical mouse, and Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM. You can find more information on these choices on the previous Intel Performance Midrange page or on page 3.
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Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I think one of the big qualms about calling this "mid-range" is that in general, the mid-range has been defined by the absence of the exponential cost/power ratio taking place. Right now, there is a substantial cost for only a fractional performance increase in these systems over something that costs half as much. Even with as much as the claimed "30 percent" performance increase, you're spending twice as much or more. You can build an amazing system, referencing the entry-level article, and the E7300 comes within 72% of the 965! Not the 920... however, the price of that system is 42% of even the 920. Granted, it's not just the processor that's different...With just an extra $50-100 on that entry-level upgrading to the E8600, you get within "88%"! So, in the end, we'll call it a 10% performance increase for a 200% price increase. (because that article references the 965, not this lower 920. I guessed on the 2% difference between the two).And a GTX280? Since when is that mid-range performance? It's pretty overkill for the 1920x1080 res of the monitor in my opinion (but it's just that). I'm of the opinion that you should not spend more on your graphics card than your display for a few reasons:
Displays are harder to upgrade, due to higher cost of shipping when trying to sell. Also, they technically aren't supposed to be thrown away (heavy metals) so they are more expensive to take care of if/when they break out of warranty. I would typically spend more on the monitor, and if needed, upgrade the card later, rather than the other way around.
strikeback03 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
Using the numbers published in Anand's release review of the Phenom II, here is the advantage the i7 920 holds over the E8600 and the E6750. The E7300 was not tested, and the E6750 generally performed better than the tested E7200, which is why I picked it to roughly represent E7300 numbers. All these are such that 100 means twice as fast or half the time to complete.920 over E8600: 50.6, 38.7, 72.4, 136.3, 44.8, 84.3, -6.8, 103.3, 148.6, 111.5, 43.2, 87.6, 64.2, 114.6, 59.3, -5.7, -3.4, 42, -2.7
920 over E6750: 97.1, 82.2, 118, 214.1, 89.7, 135.4, 24, 174.2, 216.7, 184.5, 100.4, 151.6, 122.2, 180.9, 94.2, 11.9, 19, 74.8, 2.9
Other than some current games and single-core Cinebench, the 920 is generally at least double the E6750 and 60% faster than the E8600. Replacing the processor, motherboard, memory, and power supply from the E7300 system guide with those from the 920 system guide gives a system price of $1268, so 52.2% higher for what is often more than 100% more performance in tested benchmarks. Obviously for lots of games or other single-threaded programs and internet, etc, the cheaper system is fine, but the 920 offers lots more performance for not a ton more money and on these programs does better than diminishing returns. Getting the price of an E8600 from Newegg today, switching that for the E7300 costs 983, making the $1268 920 system 30% more expensive for upwards of 60% better performance in CPU-intensive applications.
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
As I stated on the first page it is my belief that a mid-range system, as defined in this article, should be “computing solutions with some staying power in the market”. I certainly don’t expect that of Entry or Bargain systems. That is the reason I stretched to select Mid-Range systems with Phenom II and an entry i7 Socket 1333 system at the top.As I said in the Guide, I had first put together a balanced Phenom 9950 system at the $1400 complete system price point. When Phenom II was introduced with an entry $235 920 part (just $55 more than the price of the 9950 on that day) and a top 790FX motherboard dropped its price to $105 it made more sense to pick Phenom II instead at that same $1400.
The Guide was ready to go last week with very different system selection. We did not have a Phenom II or an i7 in our recommendations then. However we knew Phenom II was coming Thursday, and we also knew it would shake up our System selections. That is why we reworked all the systems over the weekend and delayed posting until today.
Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
Granted, by the time it gets around to upgrading a system using the Wolfdale or Yorkfield architecture, they will be hard pressed to find something better to upgrade to, as it seems that technology is getting dropped. I just feel this article is about 5-6 months early. I think the prices for these parts will be "mid-range" in about that time or so. So I guess this is a good planning article if you're not doing it this month or next...A well thought-out article, but I just disagree with the timing, a bit.
tester3000 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
That system is clearly not mid-range. Mid-range is around $800. That's a freaking high end and the $2000 is ultra-high end. Not many people can afford over $1000. $800 is the sweet spot for most people. Without monitor of course. Add another $200 for monitor.boboko - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
>"That system is clearly not mid-range. Mid-range is around $800. That's a freaking high end and the $2000 is ultra-high end. Not many people can afford over $1000. $800 is the sweet spot for most people."Maybe. But the type of people who read Anand Tech and build a system from components will almost always keep about half the stuff from their old system. I'm getting ready to build a new PC, and all I'll buy is the CPU, MB, and memory. I'm still debating whether to buy a new video card, or wait a month or two for the prices to go down. But I'll keep my drives, my monitor, my case, my OS, my power supply, and my sound card and speakers, so even using these components that you claim are out of anyone's price range, I'll only be spending around $500, and I might make some of that back selling my old MB and CPU as a barebones that I stick into one of the several cases and PS's I got for free after rebate when Fry's was selling them evey month.
strikeback03 - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
well, "most people" buy prebuilt from Dell or their local Best Buy, etc. For those building their own system, $1500 would generally qualify as midrange.The budget guide had a few builds under $1000 including monitor.
Jorgisven - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I'd agree. "Most people" will not be reading articles like this. "Most people who are looking at building their own" have a good idea of their budget, and it's generally higher than "most other people", because performance and control is more important generally speaking.elerick - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
I have to agree with the author on this. He talked about the idea of reworking midrange, but ultimately stated his case for not changing.You can't please everyone, I build a new rig every 2 yeaars and I always do exactly what this author has put into an article. He choose the latest arcitectures and then picked the most affordable version / upgradeable. That is why the Core i7 920 ($300) and Phenom II ($235 & $275) were picked. I couldn't agree more with those picks for the month of January. Next month those picks could change, based on Intels counter pricing to Phenom II launch.
7Enigma - Monday, January 12, 2009 - link
From article:"Phenom II performance is more in line with Intel's latest Core i7, and for that reason we really wanted to select the Phenom II 920 for the AMD Value Midrange."
OK, the new Pheom II processors are definitely a good step in the right direction but this is a bit misleading to say IMO.