AM3 boards best bang for buck now?

[CBuffer]

Upgrading is really fun. I love thinking through the combinations of hardware I can buy. If only shopping for clothes was this enjoyable!

My old system is a P4, so everything must go. I am thinking through my upgrade options on the AMD front. Last system I built was a Phenom II 555 BE system with the lovely Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H 880G. It unlocked the dual cores to quad in a snap.

What MoBos are great value for AMD now days and what things do I need to consider, e.g. that not all chips are for AM3 boards. These are the chips I could get and prices (limited where I will buy)

Phenom II X6 1090T BE AM3 - 673 MYR / 136.50 GBP / 224.30 USD
Phenom II X6 1055T AM3 2.80 - 578 MYR / 117.23 GBP / 192.63 USD
Phenom II X4 955 (Black Edn) - 423 MYR / 85.79 GBP / 140.98 USD
Phenom II X2 AM3 555+(B/E) - - 280 MYR / 56.79 GBP / 93.32 USD **
Athlon II X2 250 AM3 3.00 2MB 4000 - 178 MYR / 36.10 GBP / 59.32 USD

BTW, Is the 555 the only CPU in that list that can unlock, or can some of the quads unlock to six cores, the hexes unlock to eight?

 

[Chihlidog]

Dont. Dont go with anything current from AMD. Bulldozer is very, very close to release and theres a good possibility that it will be a good performer. AM3 is a dead socket almost without a doubt.

Just hang on a few more weeks if you want to go AMD.

 

[saint19]

Hi and to OCF.

1- I don't see the points for get a new AMD mobo now when BD is near and SB offers better performance for similar price.
2- The X4 955 has been a very good CPU for price/performance, and buy a six core CPU isn't a good idea now IMO.
3- You can unlock some other CPUs, (X3 to X4) but not X4 to X6 (the only one was the 960T and only comes with OEM rigs) and not X6 to X8 (for now)

 

[CBuffer]

Thanks for your suggestions, and for your welcome. I can't do a thing for more than a month anyway, because I will have to leave Bangladesh (where I live) to buy the setup in Malaysia anyway, and I won't go for 4-8 weeks. So this delay it seems is good for me. Doesn't stop me window shopping for the moment!

The PhenII 555 I bought my brother at Christmas, that unlocked from 2 to 4 cores, seems like a mega bargain. It really flies along. Got him some Corsair XMS memory and a GTX460 card also.

So, even the PhenII 555 looks like a bad deal at this point, considering the SB 2500/2600, which must have steaming performance to be better value?

 

[magik_missles]

The PhenII 555 I bought my brother at Christmas, that unlocked from 2 to 4 cores, seems like a mega bargain. It really flies along. Got him some Corsair XMS memory and a GTX460 card also.

That is my system to a "T". It was perfect for the total cost I ended up paying. That being said, waiting a little bit for better parts is always the best bet.

 

[Pvee]

Another point of view.
If you don't have to have the latest, there may be some great deals on the old AM3 Motherboards and Cpu's after Bulldozer is out.

One of my favorite boards is the Biostar Ta785g3.

Around 50.00 dollars or less with Combo deals at Micro-Center.

I have installed four of these with cpu's up the the Phenom X4 975 (3.6gig).

It comes with software. Hardware Monitor and a Overclock software program that allows you to save different clock rate config files.

 

[Woomack]

I'm not sure if it's really best bang for buck board now but for sure seems interesting in ~150$ price ( at least in my beautiful country inc 23% tax ) http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3894#ov
990FX , AM3+, CF/SLI, ... and what's most important is all black