Athlon II x4 635 + Asus M4A89GTD

post #1 of 11

7/27/10 at 4:56pm

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Hi,

I'm going to use this computer for HTPC, music, some photo editing, and I want to start checking out some FPS and auto racing games, and might or might not get more into games in the future.

I'd mostly like your feedback on the speed and capability of the CPU and motherboard.

AMD Athlon II x4 635

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131631

Will I be able to playback two movies, one on each monitor, and browse the web while recording two shows without lag?
Will my window redraws be snappy and quick?
If I get a faster CPU, will I notice the difference?
Although I want to spend as little money as possible of course, if you expect I'll see a performance increase at times, I'd rather overspend by an extra $100 or so than see a performance hit.
I think I'd prefer the CPU to reach 50% capacity under heavy loads than max out.
I prefer to overspend without overkill than to underspend for the CPU and motherboard.

Video:
I'm going to connect to an HP ZR24w 24" monitor for work and connect via s-video to a 4:3 TV until I get a flat-screen TV next year.

I'll get a TV capture card (analog and digital) later this year and I'll research that later. Hauppauge seems to be the most popular, but Avermedia seems to have better technical support so I'm leaning towards them.

Case:
ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case 3 External 5.25" Drive Bays
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811182566

Drives:
Intel SSD 40GB, Western Digital 2TB 7200rpm SATA drives

OS:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. I chose Pro because I wanted to be able to connect to the box via RDC, which Home Premium doesn't allow apparently.

Sound output:
I'll be connecting to an external DAC via USB or s/pdif.

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231276

I asked tomshardware.com for their initial input and you can see the full thread here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/29...-asus-m4a89gtd

Please let me know if everything looks good to you or if you see any issues.

Thanks!

-- Ed

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post #2 of 11

7/27/10 at 6:58pm

1,242 Posts. Joined 1/2007
Location: Toronto, ON Canada
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Well since you're familiar with Tom's Hardware, note that they recommended the Athlon II x3 445 over your CPU of choice, as it saves $15...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ii,2675-3.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom's Hardware

Best Gaming CPU for $100: None

As mentioned previously, the Athlon II X3 445 features such value-oriented (and yet, wholly solid) gaming performance that it is difficult to recommend spending up to $130 for similar results.

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post #3 of 11

7/27/10 at 7:11pm

7,004 Posts. Joined 3/2004
Location: Twin Cities
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I have an x4 620 running in a Gigabyte 785 mobo with the same memory. I use it for Photoshop, Vegas Pro, andd running the back end server duties (recording, Play On, rip serving, etc.) for SageTV.

Your setup should do what you are looking at. You may still get hiccups depending on specific activities you are doing at any point in time, but honestly i doubt you will eliminate all hiccups even with a faster CPU.

What kind of "movies" are you looking to playback? Blu rays, dvds, hulu/netflix streams? I've never tried playing two movies while surfing, but I'd guess that it would play fine. Playing Netflix smoothly with another stream and other internet surfing will likely suffer.

Further, your biggest issue will be playing the audio for two movies at the same time. It can get tricky.

Recording shows is easy, they will record fine, although I would question why you would want to get an analog tuner.

Just throwing this out, the first set of Ripjaws memory modules (2x 2GB) I got would not run reliably in any combination of the 4 slots I tried. I ended up RMAing them (G. Skill tech support was top notch in dealing with the RMA) for a second set. The second set also had glitches in the first set of slots, but ran stable in the second set. I would question getting memory that doesn't say it is specifically designed for AM3 systems. That said, G. Skill was good to work with, replying within a day to emails.

-Suntan

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post #4 of 11

7/27/10 at 7:13pm

7,004 Posts. Joined 3/2004
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Quote:

Originally Posted by ES_Revenge

Well since you're familiar with Tom's Hardware, note that they recommended the Athlon II x3 445 over your CPU of choice, as it saves $15...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ii,2675-3.html

If a person is planning to do significant photo editing while running video, I would recommend paying an additional $15 to add a 4th core.

-Suntan

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post #5 of 11

7/28/10 at 12:44am

14,890 Posts. Joined 1/2006
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Quote:

Originally Posted by webdev50

I'm going to use this computer for HTPC, music, some photo editing, and I want to start checking out some FPS and auto racing games, and might or might not get more into games in the future.

I'd mostly like your feedback on the speed and capability of the CPU and motherboard.

AMD Athlon II x4 635

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131631

Will I be able to playback two movies, one on each monitor, and browse the web while recording two shows without lag?
Will my window redraws be snappy and quick?
If I get a faster CPU, will I notice the difference?
Although I want to spend as little money as possible of course, if you expect I'll see a performance increase at times, I'd rather overspend by an extra $100 or so than see a performance hit.
I think I'd prefer the CPU to reach 50% capacity under heavy loads than max out.
I prefer to overspend without overkill than to underspend for the CPU and motherboard.

Video:
I'm going to connect to an HP ZR24w 24" monitor for work and connect via s-video to a 4:3 TV until I get a flat-screen TV next year.

I'll get a TV capture card (analog and digital) later this year and I'll research that later. Hauppauge seems to be the most popular, but Avermedia seems to have better technical support so I'm leaning towards them.

Case:
ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case 3 External 5.25" Drive Bays
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811182566

Drives:
Intel SSD 40GB, Western Digital 2TB 7200rpm SATA drives

OS:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. I chose Pro because I wanted to be able to connect to the box via RDC, which Home Premium doesn't allow apparently.

Sound output:
I'll be connecting to an external DAC via USB or s/pdif.

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231276

HD 4290 is underpowered for a desktop resolution over 1920x1200. Almost all Avivio video processing tasks will be disabled. A workaround is add a discrete graphics card and connect a display to onboard video and another to the card. As HD 4290 does not support S-video, you will have to add a discrete card supporting it (or use a VGA-S-video adapter) anyway.

- CPU: Athlon II x4 635 is the best in this class for video editing and multitasking, needless to say.
- MB: Overkill, overpriced & underpowered iGPU. I would choose this cheaper, excellent mb: GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H.
- GPU: a Radeon HD 4xxx with a 7-pin mini-DIN connector. Onboard video+HD4550 (each of iGPU and HD 4550 are underpowered for > 1920x1200) or HD 4670 alone (good enough for 1920x1200+SDTV).

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post #6 of 11

7/28/10 at 5:38am

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Hi renethx, thanks for your reply! Great to hear you like the Athlon II x4 635!

What do you think about this motherboard and video card? I had been considering both instead of the Asus. I thought the Asus IGP might be fast enough, but it sounds like it's not.

Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128438

XFX HD-467X-ZDF2 Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150450

Will I be able to run 1920x1200 simultaneously on a monitor and SDTV with one card, or do I need one card for each monitor?

Will my window redraws be snappy and quick, or should I get a faster card and if so, what would you suggest I look at?

Thanks!

-- Ed

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post #7 of 11

7/28/10 at 6:36am

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GA-890XA-UD3 is an excellent choice (if you don't use iGPU). HD 4670 is good for up to 1980x1080p+1776x1000p. This should be good for almost every application possibly except for games.

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post #8 of 11

7/28/10 at 6:55am

1,242 Posts. Joined 1/2007
Location: Toronto, ON Canada
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Quote:

Originally Posted by webdev50

XFX HD-467X-ZDF2 Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150450

XFX is great stuff and they have a great warranty as well. However you pay a price premium for that over other manufacturers' cards, and XFX cheaps you out by not including the ATi HDMI adapter. A lesson I learned on my XFX HD 4830. While it's not so big a deal for you now as you're connecting through S-Video (which is going to look quite poor BTW), if you later want to get HDMI audio out of the card you're going to have to buy an ATi HDMI "dongle" (a generic DVI-HDMI adapter won't give you audio).

On the plus side, they aren't expensive and you can get one off eBay for less than $10; on the minus side it sucks that you have to go to the hassle of getting one separately despite the fact you probably paid more for the card than other manufacturers' versions, and those guys usually included the adapter. I say "included" (past tense) because most 4670s (and most cards newer than that) have an HDMI port right on them but the XFX does not due to the use of two DVIs and the S-video which you need. But on other cards where the same was the case with the output connectors, other manufacturers included the adapter.

That said I would still choose the XFX over all others personally, and really it looks like you need to pick it because it's the only one with S-video; but, just a note for sometime down the road when you might be wondering "hey how come I can't get HDMI audio?"

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post #9 of 11

7/28/10 at 8:15am

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Actually there are not many choices for HD 4xxx cards with a 7-pin mini-DIN connector and XFX HD 4670 DDR2-800 1GB is a good choice IMO.

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post #10 of 11

7/28/10 at 2:07pm

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Thanks for the feedback, guys! I appreciate it.

Aside from their video capabilities, for what reasons would you choose the Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 over the Asus M4A89GTD? Or why would you not choose the Asus?

Thanks!

-- Ed

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post #11 of 11

7/29/10 at 5:28am