GAMING PC UPGRADE ADVICE NEEDED

D

Deleted member 78630

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Ok so I currently have a :

*Core2Duo 2.2Ghz CPU

*2Gb 667Mhz Ram (2x1Gb)

*And my motherboard is a Gigabyte S-series (GA-G31MX-S2)

That I'm thinking about upgrading.

My other specs are :

*600W iON2+ PSU

*ATi HD4850 512 DDR3 GPU

That I'm happy with.

But I feel that my CPU and Ram just aren't cutting it anymore.
So I had a look and came across this.


For R3000 I can upgrade to a Core i3 530 2.93Ghz, 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz (2x 2048MB Memory Modules). Including an INTEL Huntercove H55 Chipset.

But I'm not sure about the motherboard. I checked the price tag on other websites and read about the specs, but how reliable would you say it is?


Or if you can think of a better deal, let me know. The budget is R3000.
 
Stay away from i3 systems. They have integrated GPUs within the CPU and half your money is going to that. For R3000, incl RAM you best best is a Phenom 945 (R1500), cheapest mobo (R800), and cheapest RAM (4gb = R1100). Even that goes R400 over though. You could get 2gb RAM for now and add in later I guess. Anything less would put you in the land of Athlon CPUs which are not that great for gaming. And going the intel route the cheapest option is the i5 750 starting at R2000 for CPU alone.
 
Yes.. Upgrade to a quad or don't upgrade at all.

Also: You feel it's your CPU and RAM, but if you do upgrade to any quad, your 4850 will become the new problem in a gaming machine.
 
CrAzYLeGs69 said:
Ok so I currently have a :

*Core2Duo 2.2Ghz CPU

*2Gb 667Mhz Ram (2x1Gb)

*And my motherboard is a Gigabyte S-series (GA-G31MX-S2)

That I'm thinking about upgrading.

My other specs are :

*600W iON2+ PSU

*ATi HD4850 512 DDR3 GPU

That I'm happy with.

But I feel that my CPU and Ram just aren't cutting it anymore.
So I had a look and came across this.


For R3000 I can upgrade to a Core i3 530 2.93Ghz, 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz (2x 2048MB Memory Modules). Including an INTEL Huntercove H55 Chipset.

But I'm not sure about the motherboard. I checked the price tag on other websites and read about the specs, but how reliable would you say it is?


Or if you can think of a better deal, let me know. The budget is R3000.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with an i3 or an i5...

The i5 gives you hyper threading so its basically a quad core.

The intel mobo is ok, if you never want to overclock. They have a decent warranty and are quite stable.

If you can afford it, save for the i5-750 or i7-860. they both use the same mobo as the i3 and the i7-860 is a quad core with hyper threading, meaning you see 8 cores! Otherwise get a i3/i5 and get 4 gig of RAM.

If you want to OC, get a gigabyte or asus mobo, they about R200-R500 more than the intel. the new asus board also had USB3 and sata6!
 
midkemia said:
Nothing wrong with an i3 or an i5...

The i5 gives you hyper threading so its basically a quad core.

The intel mobo is ok, if you never want to overclock. They have a decent warranty and are quite stable.

If you can afford it, save for the i5-750 or i7-860. they both use the same mobo as the i3 and the i7-860 is a quad core with hyper threading, meaning you see 8 cores! Otherwise get a i3/i5 and get 4 gig of RAM.

If you want to OC, get a gigabyte or asus mobo, they about R200-R500 more than the intel. the new asus board also had USB3 and sata6!
Click to expand...

Erm the i5 750 is a quad core as well. You get both quad and dual core i5's.

Lynnfield (i5 7xx) is a quadcore hyperthreading disabled.
Clarkdale (i5 6xx) is a dualcore with hyperthreading enabled.
Arrandale (i5 4xx & 5xx) is a dualcore with hyperthreading disabled.

Seeing extra 2 or 4 hyperthreading cores doesn't mean you get 2x the performance, either.

@ OP its either i5 750 or AMD P2 945 otherwise it won't be too much of an upgrade at all.
 
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Ya i'm inclined to agree.. If you wanna upgrade go straight to quad or hex core.. Dont get another dual core.. You'll just be disappointed.

Rather take a Phenom 2 quad or the i5 750.. If money is an issue then stick with the lower end P2 quads

You could also think of getting:

Amd socket AM3 Quad-Core athlonx4 635 (2.9Ghz) @ R1,077.89
Asus M4A77TD @ R915.45
2 x Kingston ValueRam KVR1333D3N9/2G @R563.11ea x2 = R1,126.22
Total: R3,119.56

or personally i'd take the
Amd socket AM3 Phenom2 x4 , Quad-Core 955 ( 3.2Ghz ) @ R1,649.47
instead and rather only have 2GB ram for a little while.
*prices from rebeltech*

CPU's compared: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/122?vs=88
 
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nakedpeanut said:
Ya i'm inclined to agree.. If you wanna upgrade go straight to quad or hex core.. Dont get another dual core.. You'll just be disappointed.

Rather take a Phenom 2 quad or the i5 750.. If money is an issue then stick with the lower end P2 quads

You could also think of getting:

Amd socket AM3 Quad-Core athlonx4 635 (2.9Ghz) @ R1,077.89
Asus M4A77TD @ R915.45
2 x Kingston ValueRam KVR1333D3N9/2G @R563.11ea x2 = R1,126.22
Total: R3,119.56

or personally i'd take the
Amd socket AM3 Phenom2 x4 , Quad-Core 955 ( 3.2Ghz ) @ R1,649.47
instead and rather only have 2GB ram for a little while.
*prices from rebeltech*

CPU's compared: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/122?vs=88
Click to expand...

I like that idea, but how much is the estimate cost then? Going over the budget with a couple of hundred isn't that big a deal. I can't view the rebeltech page.
 
But I do have my eye on this, but then I'm stuck with only being able to upgrade to DDR2 800 ram (says so on the MB box) although at Gigabyte they say up to DDR2 1066. Which I guess is fine.

(Comment on this, and I'm not sure if it will work as my MB says it supports 1.8V and this is 2.1V)

And then I would still have my sorta high-end MB.
 
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I would just get a core 2 quad CPU and 800 or 1066 RAM, save the rest for future system. You can still get good benches on s775 as well.
 
i agree octall, why upgarde your whole system, new cpu mean new mobo and ram.... wait for a better time to upgarde as now is not the time! there is very minimal performance increase from the new I series... unless you coding! If you upgarding for gaming its not worth it! BTW your ram is not holding you back what so ever...ram hardly ever makes a huge difference! Just as long as you have enough its all good.... but that 2.2GHZ must be a bitch! ever tried overclocking...done any research?

Iv had my [email protected] for over a years now... coupled with as ati5870 and 4GB(DDR800) and my P5n32-e sli(680i chipset) and this has lasted me for years gaming at maximum! Only recent upgrade was GFX. I have also looked around for a new cpu, something like Q9700 or something like that. At the end of the day it will cost you to much just to see another socket release at the end of the year! You get that cpu of yours up to 3GHZ and you wont be disappointed.

Good luck
 
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Looter said:
i agree octall, why upgarde your whole system, new cpu mean new mobo and ram.... wait for a better time to upgarde as now is not the time! there is very minimal performance increase from the new I series... unless you coding! If you upgarding for gaming its not worth it! BTW your ram is not holding you back what so ever...ram hardly ever makes a huge difference! Just as long as you have enough its all good.... but that 2.2GHZ must be a bitch! ever tried overclocking...done any research?

Iv had my [email protected] for over a years now... coupled with as ati5870 and 4GB(DDR800) and my P5n32-e sli(680i chipset) and this has lasted me for years gaming at maximum! Only recent upgrade was GFX. I have also looked around for a new cpu, something like Q9700 or something like that. At the end of the day it will cost you to much just to see another socket release at the end of the year! You get that cpu of yours up to 3GHZ and you wont be disappointed.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Where the core 2 duos have been excellent performers and have had great longevity, their day is done. You simply can not game on a dual core anymore and expect to play all games fluidly. Get a quad of some kind and call it a day. The old socket Qxxxx CPUs could be a cheap upgrade that will hold you for at least a year, but I would personally still try go for an AM3 or LGA1156 upgrade.

And what magical socket is this thats being released at the end of the year? Intel is only replacing their socket end of 2011, and AMD has not announced any plans for a new socket in the near future?
 
Archer said:
And what magical socket is this thats being released at the end of the year?
Click to expand...

It's not the end of the year, but the beginning of the next one, and it's LGA1155. In case you didn't know, Computex Taipei just happened, and many companies displayed boards for Sandy Bridge.
 
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Rudimental said:
It's not the end of the year, but the beginning of the next one, and it's LGA1155. In case you didn't know, Computex Taiwan just happened, and many companies displayed boards for Sandy Bridge.
Click to expand...

LGA 1156 and LGA1366 will still exist and are both good platforms. LGA1366 only has its replacement scheduled for end 2011. A good platform will have good longevity. Otherwise go AM3, slap a 6 core in, and you'll be set for at least 2-3 years.
 
Archer said:
Where the core 2 duos have been excellent performers and have had great longevity, their day is done. You simply can not game on a dual core anymore and expect to play all games fluidly. Get a quad of some kind and call it a day. The old socket Qxxxx CPUs could be a cheap upgrade that will hold you for at least a year, but I would personally still try go for an AM3 or LGA1156 upgrade.

And what magical socket is this thats being released at the end of the year? Intel is only replacing their socket end of 2011, and AMD has not announced any plans for a new socket in the near future?
Click to expand...

This man, he speaks the truth.

I was debating on sticking with my C2D E8200 after getting my 5850. Decided to go for a i5 750 and I can't begin to tell you the difference it makes.

As Archer said, the Core 2 duo's are great cpus but they have had their day. If you gaming and you are running a high end card you would be silly not to upgrade to a new quad.
 
Grimspoon said:
This man, he speaks the truth.

I was debating on sticking with my C2D E8200 after getting my 5850. Decided to go for a i5 750 and I can't begin to tell you the difference it makes.

As Archer said, the Core 2 duo's are great cpus but they have had their day. If you gaming and you are running a high end card you would be silly not to upgrade to a new quad.
Click to expand...

+1
 
OK total is: R3,462.16 with the same mobo, the P2 x4 925, 2x2GB DDR3
OR total is: R3,752.18 with the same mobo, the P2 x4 955, 2x2GB DDR3
Take2 just so expensive!
The same core2quad u wanted is R2,173.91 from rebeltech

You could also get the Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.8Ghz (1333FSB 12MB) for R 2,449 incl. from PCint

I personally went the i5 route as you can can see. But more for the lower power consumption less heat output.

The P2 perform really well and i think if you worried about future proof DONT go intel, rather get AMD's AM3 platform.
 
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I upgraded from a E8400 to a Q9550, made a big difference in gaming.
 
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