Hardware Upgrade Advice

[karachidude]

Hello guys,

i m thinking of upgrading my system and i would appreciate some advice.

My situation:

I m not a gaming person,but would like to enjoy some of them after i get one of these,but not like a hardcore gamer.I want a upgrade which wont choke on more than 1 OS's,and would let me play games smoothly like the Need for Speed Shift,and let me install and check out and test all the software i want ^_^ .

Check out the Processors and Motherboards from which i can choose

The following are in consideration:

Processors:

INTEL CORE 2 DUO E8500 3.16Ghz (6MB CACHE - 1333Mhz FSB) (This one is RS(Pakiastan currency) 16500 here)

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83Ghz (12MB CACHE - 1333Mhz FSB) (This one is RS 20400 here)

INTEL CORE i5 750 2.66Ghz (8MB CACHE - 2.5 GT/s) (This one is RS 19700 here)

AMD AM2 PHENOM II 64 X4 940 (8MB CACHE 3Ghz) (This one is Rs 22300 here)

Motherboards:

INTEL DG35EC (LGA775-SND+AGP+GIGA LAN-1333MHZ FSB) PCX SLOT (This one is RS 6600 here)

I dont know much about mother boards,so some insight would be usefull,and i have never used an AMD before

I want to ask if theres a big difference performance wise between Core2Duo and Core2Quad,and which one should buy.

Does the CASING make any difference,CoolMaster is 4150 here and the normal one is 2200 here

Any kind of recommendation or insight in assemling a new PC would be welcome.

K'dude

[DaBrain]

What kind of budget do you have (in dollars). I could recommend a good system based on your budget. About the processors you mentioned, I would definitely go for the i5. Unfortunately, the motherboard you mentioned is not that type of socket( it is LGA775, which is for Core2Duo and Core2Quad). So you will need to switch your MB if you're going for the i5.

[karachidude]

the budget there in Israel is different from the budget here,because things are normally cheaper here then there,if u convert them to dollars.

u suggest me what u think,then i wll check out the prices here and tell u.

does i5 fundementally need DDR3??

u can check out the motherbords and processors available here at galaxy

tell me what u think

1dollar=80 Rs here,and i have like 25-27000rs

[shought]

Either go with the Intel E8500 or wait for Intel i7 to become affordable ;)

If you're on some kind of 'restricting budget' then you might want to have a look at AMDs though, they generally offer a better price/speed rate ;)

[SokraT]

if you aren't into heavy gaming,then AMD Athlon II X3 is a good way to go .go here.if you do multitask,then go for the X4 model of the same CPU.the athlon II cpus are the same as phenom II but they are stripped of the L3 cache,which doesn't affict gaming more than a little fraction.

for the graphics chipset AMD HD 4650/70 are good cards:shader 4.1 and good gaming for up to 1440 * 900 resolution.

the mobo isn't that hard to choose.just choose one which will support your chosen cpu and graphics card.

[DKT27]

You can go for one of the cheapest i7. It's priced here in Indian Rupee at about 16,000. And the mobo at 15,000 - 18,000.

Note: Both mobo and processor should match each other. You cannot use i7 extreme mobo with the i7 standard processor, or similar.

[karachidude]

@shought

yeh its the cheapest one in my list,and probably the most suitable....but i can shed out a few extra bucks if theres a substantial difference between Core 2 Duo and Quad.. but again i dont know if i even need a Quad as i dont do video editing and all the extra heavy stuff

@Sokrat

thanks for the link man

@DKT

i7 is pretty expensive,not only the processor but the combination they ask for.I dont know if they even allow DDR2.its out of my reach for know i think.

[DaBrain]

@shought

yeh its the cheapest one in my list,and probably the most suitable....but i can shed out a few extra bucks if theres a substantial difference between Core 2 Duo and Quad.. but again i dont know if i even need a Quad as i dont do video editing and all the extra heavy stuff

@Sokrat

thanks for the link man

@DKT

i7 is pretty expensive,not only the processor but the combination they ask for.I dont know if they even allow DDR2.its out of my reach for know i think.

AMD Phenom X3 720: 100-140 USD

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H Motherboard: 90-100USD

HD 4850 512 MB VRAM: ~110 USD

4GB DDR2 800 (2 x 2GB) : 90-100 USD

500GB 7200RPM HDD: ~60 USD

550W PSU: ~100USD

And whatever case you want ( if you want it to look nice or you need better airflow for the computer to be quiet and stuff, get the Coolermaster).

[karachidude]

hey thanks...i m checking it out ^_^

[Toshiro]

ATI 5850 for DX 11 :D

If you use your proc. power a lot. (like rarring, converting etc.. ) than you can get a quad core (or i7)

If not.. Just go with a C2D or i7. I would do the i7, due to it's processing power (if you compare it to the C2D) cuz programs/games are getting heavier to run, so you could do a while with an i7

If you choose an i7, take a look at the Asus P6T SE mobo. Around the 150 € in Europe.

Also I dunno how it is @ your land, but OCZ is getting cheap here..

OCZ Platinum Edition 2 GB 50€.

This is kinda a game pc.. not a Hardcore one, but it'll run the games that aren't released yet really smoothly :D

The thing is.. I you want to upgrade your CPU and Mobo, your PSU or RAM could become a bottleneck. So you're not getting the full power out of your system. ;)

[DaBrain]

Update: Today AMD released new triple-core Athlon IIs. The Athlon II X3 435, for example costs only about 90$ and performs practically the same (about 3% less in gaming) as the Phenom II X3 720, which is about 125$. So it may be worth it to wait!

[karachidude]

ATI 5850 for DX 11 :D

If you use your proc. power a lot. (like rarring, converting etc.. ) than you can get a quad core (or i7)

If not.. Just go with a C2D or i7. I would do the i7, due to it's processing power (if you compare it to the C2D) cuz programs/games are getting heavier to run, so you could do a while with an i7

If you choose an i7, take a look at the Asus P6T SE mobo. Around the 150 € in Europe.

Also I dunno how it is @ your land, but OCZ is getting cheap here..

OCZ Platinum Edition 2 GB 50€.

This is kinda a game pc.. not a Hardcore one, but it'll run the games that aren't released yet really smoothly :D

The thing is.. I you want to upgrade your CPU and Mobo, your PSU or RAM could become a bottleneck. So you're not getting the full power out of your system. ;)

thanks for the tips man...ur absolutely rite,games and stuff are getting heavier,better go for somthing that will last for atleast 4 years,without choking on u...i dont have the budget for i7,but i wll try my best to fiddle out some more money for the QUAD...otherwise i wll go for the E8500 C2Duo...

i realize that Motherboards dont matter much,cause whichever i buy in my budget for the C2Duo or Quad,would not let me upgrade to i7 or i8 in the future,so i wll go a reletively cheap one.

I wll upgrade my RAM to hopefully 3GB,and choose a new PSU according to the Motherboards requirement,i m also changing my case.

[karachidude]

Update: Today AMD released new triple-core Athlon IIs. The Athlon II X3 435, for example costs only about 90$ and performs practically the same (about 3% less in gaming) as the Phenom II X3 720, which is about 125$. So it may be worth it to wait!

Thanks for the up DaBrain,but i wll stick with Intel for the time being...i wll give AMD a go,as a second PC when i have enough cash..i have never used an AMD,and it would be exciting to buy it. :)

[DaBrain]

Nice prices btw in Pakistan, it's kinda weird that even though Intel has extensive research facilities in Israel prices are relatively high.

[WaKa WaKa]

Personal Advice: don't buy any Intel mobo. They suck. <_<

In Argentina its very expensive. An E8400 cost U$S 220

[karachidude]

Nice prices btw in Pakistan, it's kinda weird that even though Intel has extensive research facilities in Israel prices are relatively high.

yeh they distribute according to the average income and stuff :P

[karachidude]

Personal Advice: don't buy any Intel mobo. They suck. <_<

In Argentina its very expensive. An E8400 cost U$S 220

Ok i wll take a look at Asus than ^_^

[HX1]

You know I am batting 0 for 0 here.. but my advice would be to go with a board that you can upgrade the chip in .. that would expandable to 16 GB Ram..Something that could grow with your needs and advances in technology and software..

I would look into the individual chipsets available on each board before deciding between each.. clock timings and really looking at which one is going to render the best performance..and expansion.. not to mention the endpoint in its support cycle.. don't buy too cheap as it can be that the support for is being made obsolete.. not long after stocks are depleted to make way for the next...so a mixture of life span, extensibility, performance.. which may be a final effect of being more informed at what all of the numbers mean.. for each subsystem..

Forethought to your expansion.. and what you really may get into( use it for ).. I would want to leave the door open to those things..at minimum for expansion..

[karachidude]

yes definately,ur rite...the Motherboard should be expandable for the future...and i wont be taking the cheap one...i wll with somthing in middle range...but i dont have the money rite now to buy a expensive one...most i came accross support upto 8GB,but i wll search for a gud 16GB buy,according to the budget

thanks for the adivice heath ^_^

[RadioActive]

If you're looking for a decent quad-core CPU at a reasonable price I suggest you get the PII X4 940BE and get a 790GX or at least a 780G board.

If you're looking for a dual-core then an Athlon X2 7750 or 7850 along with a 780G board should do the trick, it will offer a decent performance for day-to-day use and casual gaming and it's pretty cheap.

Oh, and Both systems use DDR2.

Regarding Intel CPUs, Core2Quads suck, mainly because they're overpriced while Core2Duo (E8XXX are decent) are not bad at all. And for the board a P43 or higher should be good.

But I suggest you stick with AMD (either quad or dual cores) simply because it offer more bang-for-the-buck ;)

Also you should know that Intel boards are dead future-wise since i5 and i7 use different boards, while AMD's still has a bit more to go since AM2+ boards also supports the newer AM3 CPUs :)

Just my two cents.

[karachidude]

yeh ur actually rite there..C2D and Quad Intel Boards wil be dead soon cause the i7 and i5 wont support them,and theres no such problem with AMD.

But i wll go for a Intel rite now,but will buya AMD later for my sis.

Actually E8500 is in my budget,i m only about 50$ short for a Quad,if i can get that extra 50bucks i wll take the Quad,which will hopely sufficce for the comming 4-5years.

790GX is out of my reach cause it really expensive,but i will check on the 780G,i hope it support Quad and Duo.

Thanks a bunch for your two cents ^_^

[RadioActive]

yeh ur actually rite there..C2D and Quad Intel Boards wil be dead soon cause the i7 and i5 wont support them,and theres no such problem with AMD.

But i wll go for a Intel rite now,but will buya AMD later for my sis.

Actually E8500 is in my budget,i m only about 50$ short for a Quad,if i can get that extra 50bucks i wll take the Quad,which will hopely sufficce for the comming 4-5years.

790GX is out of my reach cause it really expensive,but i will check on the 780G,i hope it support Quad and Duo.

Thanks a bunch for your two cents ^_^

780G is still a decent board and it does support quad-core, but imho you won't really need quad-cores unless you do a lot of encoding or any cpu intensive tasks.

I really suggest you get the X2 7750/7850 on a 780G board, it's reasonably cheap and will deliver a decent performance (unless you're a hardcore gamer/encoder) not to mention future proof :)

Edit: 4~5 years?! my friend, that's wishful thinking :D my PC (check my signature) is less than a year old and I'm already considering upgrading it hehe

[karachidude]

yeh well i am not a hardcore gamer and do very processor intensive tasks,but i will look into video editing once i get one of these...but the thing is i bought my Pentium D 3.2Ghz less than 3 Years ago,thinking the same thing,that i dont do games or graphixs,i thought i dont need a Duo or Quad..but now,with minimalistac software even by my standard the Pentium D chokes,it sucks...so i would try to make the best use of the money i have got,and get the best that i can afford...like u said u r already thinking of upgrading...if u had gotten urself a Quad it would have been sufficient ^_^

thanks again for the advice man :)

[RadioActive]

yeh well i am not a hardcore gamer and do very processor intensive tasks,but i will look into video editing once i get one of these...but the thing is i bought my Pentium D 3.2Ghz less than 3 Years ago,thinking the same thing,that i dont do games or graphixs,i thought i dont need a Duo or Quad..but now,with minimalistac software even by my standard the Pentium D chokes,it sucks...so i would try to make the best use of the money i have got,and get the best that i can afford...like u said u r already thinking of upgrading...if u had gotten urself a Quad it would have been sufficient ^_^

thanks again for the advice man :)

I think you misunderstand something, I'm *not* using a dual-core, and I *do* use CPU-intesnive applications (games, encoding, coding and virtual machines :P) oh and in case you didn't notice I use a Phenom II X4 940BE OC'ed to 3.3GHz :D

Don't compare your situation with mine, because my needs and use of my PC are rather different than yours and my humble advice to you is based on my experience, I just don't want you to end up spending cash on things you won't really need or make use of because I see a lot of people do that and end up regret it :s

[HX1]

Yeah.. and it would seem something else might be wrong .. a 3.2 GHz processor should still kick it out..maybe its not your processor slowing you down..