Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750
Motherboard: Asus M3N78-VM
RAM: OCZ 2GB (2X1GB) Dual Channel PC2-6400
Casing: Antec NSK 2480 with 380W PSU
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB
For now, I will talk on the reasons that I choose the AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 processor. I used to dislike AMD processor but hey, they have improved over the years and more and more users are turning their attention to AMD processors when building new personal computers.
Price
I must say that I am attracted by the price. Even though AMD performance is still a bit behind Intel when it comes to benchmarking similar processors but it is the price that differentiate both of them. AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 is a dual core processor at 2.7GHz each with Phenom (AMD Quad Core processor) technology and it supports DDR2 RAM at 1066MHz. It comes with a £55 - £65 price tag. With almost the same processor speed, Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 will cost about £100. The latter may be faster but price makes a difference.
Heat
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 has also proved to be cooler than the previous 6400+ and 6000+ series. Surprisingly, I could not find any 6400+ on sale now. I have not decided on the CPU heat sink but most probably, I will be using the standard heat sink.
Upgrade
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 uses socket AMD+ and if I were to upgrade the processor, I can only upgrade with AMD Phenom X3 or X4 series but not the latest AMD Phenom II processor. However, I guess that I will not be upgrading the processor anywhere near future.
Conclusion
I think that AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 dual core is a good bargain. I do not think that I will do an overclock once I build the system. Indeed, it will be interesting to do overclocking because of all the extra speed and power that you gain. However, I just need a proper and quiet machine and I do not have the budget of getting extra cooling gadgets for the new personal computer that I am going to build.
