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Thread: Upgrade help

  1. #1
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    Default Upgrade help

    My system is in need of an upgrade. This is what I currently have in it:
    Motherboard: Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 @ ~3.1GHz
    CPU Cooler: Thermaltake V1
    Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Primary Drive: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD
    Other Hard Drives: Total 8TB Between a WD Black and Red, and a Seagate.
    Ram: 4 OCZ OCZ2F8004GK PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz 2 GB Fatal1ty Edition Dual Channel Kit - 8GB Total Ram
    Optical Drive: LG BluRay/HD DVD Combo
    HDD Drive Bay
    Sound Card
    Keyboard: Logitech G510
    Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 3.5G
    PSU: Apevia 680W
    Case: Antec 900
    OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
    System Rating in Windows:
    CPU - 6.6
    RAM - 6.6
    Graphics - 7.3
    Gaming Graphics - 7.3
    Primary Drive - 7.3

    My motherboard/CPU are socket 775, so that really limits what I can upgrade without building a whole new system, which is out of the question due to money. I have been looking at Core 2 Quad processors in socket 775, but I am having a hard time finding one that is actually better than my Duo since it is clocked at ~3.1GHz. Most of the comparisons are with the Q9000 series, which are hard to find in my price range of ~$50. From what I can tell, my system bottlenecks at the CPU more than anywhere else, especially in BF4.

    Those that knew my wife Seksi_Zena and I back before we took off for our son's birth know that money is always an issue due to her various medical problems (she is still kicking and says Hi btw). So, any suggestions?
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
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    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    Windows System Rating is really not much to go by, to be honest.

    CPU/Motherboard: For a quad core, socket 775, the Q9650 is the "best in slot." Unfortunately, it is also unbearingly expensive. For the time being I'd refrain from upgrading, unless you can spare the money for a new motherboard.
    The next best budget CPU is the G3220 on the 1150 Socket. You can find it for $51 here

    Video Card: Almost anything above the $120 price point is better than a GTS450, by varying margins. If you are not running into issues with your current card, however, you don't need to change it up at all.

    So my suggestion is:
    Save up a bit more money for a more modern motherboard. They are much more capable of being upgraded in the future. That or switch to AMD.

  3. #3
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    I know the rating is not really a benchmark, just threw it up as well with everything else.

    I was going to say that the G3220 is still only a dual core, but after looking at my E7600 compared to it at CPU-World, I think it would probably improve performance regardless of the same number of cores and slightly lower speed.

    I had a ATI 4870 factory overclocked which was good but I started having problems so I switched with my wife. I will put the specs up for her computer later since she doesn't use it anymore and it is an AMD chipset so I might be able to switch over that way.
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
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    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    At a low price point, ex: $50, the performance gains will always be marginal. The G3220 is considered to be "the best" budget gaming CPU and is featured in a lot of builds for budget gaming in mind.

    You can always buy used/refurbished. You can get the Q9650 for roughly $120 on ebay, but in used condition.
    Comparison @ CPU-World

  5. #5
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    I know the price range we have really limits options. The CPU for my wife's computer is an AMD Athlon II x2 240 and her motherboard is an ASUS M4A785-M. All wrapped up in a Rosewill Cruiser. I know the CPU she has is a little worse than E7600 (CPU-World), but I am not as familiar with the various AMD rankings. Would it be easier/better (cheaper overall) to switch to her motherboard for the AM3 socket?
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
    Panzerbuchse Leaderboard Current Ryzen 7 Gaming Rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/jDrV3C

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    Knee High to a Worms Ass hugglesthemerciless's Avatar
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    I'd recommend getting one of the AMD APU's, they combine a decent GPU and CPU into one die for a very good price point. You'll have to look at what pricepoint you're comfortable with (I can't help out much, I know a lot more about Intel benchmark results since they're currently the industry leader) but getting an APU will save you the need to upgrade your graphics card.

  7. #7
    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AOD_Vial8R View Post
    I know the price range we have really limits options. The CPU for my wife's computer is an AMD Athlon II x2 240 and her motherboard is an ASUS M4A785-M. All wrapped up in a Rosewill Cruiser. I know the CPU she has is a little worse than E7600 (CPU-World), but I am not as familiar with the various AMD rankings. Would it be easier/better (cheaper overall) to switch to her motherboard for the AM3 socket?
    Unfortunately, there is no 'real' significant upgrade in your current price point between AMD and Intel because the AM2+/AM3 socket and LGA 775 socket are both very outdated at this point. The best AMD CPU for the AM2+/AM3 socket would be the AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition. It's listed for roughly $90 used on ebay. Any other CPU in your socket range would be a waste.

    Tom's Hardware is usually my 'go-to' site for benchmarks and other helpful reviews. Here's the site and August 2014's Best CPUs for the Money

    Sorry for the bad news, brother.

  8. #8
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    No need to apologize, I had pretty much figured as much when I made the thread. I was mainly looking for confirmation. What socket would you recommend I save up for? I will need a new motherboard, cpu, and RAM (DDR2 is in the same boat as LGA775).
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
    Panzerbuchse Leaderboard Current Ryzen 7 Gaming Rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/jDrV3C

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    Knee High to a Worms Ass DarkWngDuck's Avatar
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    Micro Center has Intel Core i3-4360 3.7 GHz LGA 1150 for $139 and you get $60 off the motherboard which means you could find a board for roughly $15 cost.....that processor competes with the previous generation Intel I5 cpu's it would be you best bang for your buck.

  10. #10
    Knee High to a Worms Ass DarkWngDuck's Avatar
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    Also if your not against Ebay ..i just picked up an Intel socket 1366 MoBo new for $50 to that im putting an I7 920 in from my kids Dell PC im rebuilding....you can find an I7 920 CPU on Ebay for around $50 so you would have total $100 in an I7 setup that can be easily overclocked to 3.2 ghz on stock cooler. Intel DX58SO is the board listed....they have it listed for $70 or best offer ...so i offered $50 and they accepted the offer (they still have 470 boards available)...just got it yesterday going to put it together today. That board has SLI or Crossfire capabilities for easy future upgrades. And the I7 is still a beast of a processor from that series. So if you go used i would say that would be the most bang for you buck.

  11. #11
    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AOD_Vial8R View Post
    No need to apologize, I had pretty much figured as much when I made the thread. I was mainly looking for confirmation. What socket would you recommend I save up for? I will need a new motherboard, cpu, and RAM (DDR2 is in the same boat as LGA775).
    For Intel:
    Intel Pentium G3258 + Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Motherboard: As of 8/16/2014, Sold on NewEgg as a Combo for $100
    G3258: LGA 1150, Dual Core, Rated Best Under $70 Entry-Level Gaming CPU by Tom's Hardware. It's a slightly better CPU than what you have BUT it prepares you for better, updated CPUs for the future.
    Gigabyte MoBo: Supports 4 DDR3-1333/1600 slots, up to 32GB. Also has SATA 6 Gb/s for your SSD.

    G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 $70
    Your run of the mill DDR3 RAM.

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    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    Even better deal, based off my previous post, if you can shell out of the DDR3 RAM.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...=Combo.1810725

  13. #13
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    That's not too bad, I would probably be able to scrounge around and find enough for the combo and ram. Put some aside for it now and a little each paycheck. Walmart just changed it's dress code so I have to get all new shirts and those are about $15-20 each. But I have until the end of next month before that starts so I can hold off on that for a couple checks at least. If it comes down to it my wife can eat Raman. >:-)
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
    Panzerbuchse Leaderboard Current Ryzen 7 Gaming Rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/jDrV3C

  14. #14
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    Upon getting home and looking at both of the combos and getting my wife to agree to letting me get the one from your last post, I decided to think about it one more time and look at the specs a little closer on the motherboard. Unfortunately, neither will work anywhere easily for me, as I need 6 SATA ports and 2 PCI x1 ports. The first combo for $100 would work, however, one of the PCI cards I have would cover the fan on the graphics card. Also, I am not sure the card I have would work with either due to it's size. I have a full ATX motherboard and case currently so I wasn't thinking about that until now. Also, the heatsink I have, the V1, most likely won't work with how close the RAM is. I could get by without the PCI sound card and network card, if needed, but the size restrictions with the cooler and graphics card are a little harder to work around. I will keep looking around though and see if I can find a motherboard that will work with the G3258 (which I like the specs on) at my new "wife approved" total of $100. Thanks!! :)
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
    Panzerbuchse Leaderboard Current Ryzen 7 Gaming Rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/jDrV3C

  15. #15
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    I really should stop trying to figure things out and compare stuff when I am running on no sleep. Unfortunately, that is the only time I have. In your opinion, would the stock cooler that comes with the G3258 be enough to keep it cool? My case has the following fans: 2 120mm front, 1 200mm top, 1 120mm side, 1 120mm rear. Also, the PSU is on the bottom of the case, which helps with the top 'hot dead zone' that some cases get. If the stock cooler, in conjunction with the current fans, will be enough, it will vastly increase my options as I won't have to try to find a motherboard that fits one of the coolers I have already, which are outdated. According to PCPartPicker, the GTS 450 I have will work with the last combo you linked that I was going to get, so it should work with any other Micro ATX motherboards that have the required ports.

    As far as the PCI cards I have, one is a sound card and the other is a network card. I like having both, but are either really worth it anymore? I have had the sounds card since December 2007. This network card I have had since February 2012. I went to school for NCS and have never trusted the onboard NIC for quality, but it has been over 10 years since I used one on my own computer. I need 1Gbps speed for backups to my server and streaming to my Raspberry Pi, but most onboards have that now. If those are not necessary anymore, then I am pretty much golden as long as I can find a board with 6 SATA ports, or I suppose I can use a PCI SATA card, which would work as well for all my other drives and just use my SSD and main 2 & 3 TB drives with the onboard ports.

    System currently: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4LX3NG Note: some parts are custom added since they are not in their system. Also, it says there is an incompatibility between the RAM and motherboard, but I can assure you, they work together just fine.
    System with your combo: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bvtrqs Note: This motherboard requires 1 more SATA port for my current drives, but with an addon card, that will be ok. Also, the case I have does NOT have the 3.0 USB ports, it was changed after mine.
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
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  16. #16
    Can I have your Tots Epicside4's Avatar
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    get a quad core processor it really will help

  17. #17
    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    -If you don't overclock, the stock cooler is perfectly fine.

    -If you know how to and want to, configure your case fans in a push/pull set-up if it isn't set-up in the case already.
    Example: Pull in cool air from the front of the case and push air out through the top and back.
    The best way to determine if a fan is set-up for push(intake) or pull(exhaust) is to find the little arrow that's pointing at the direction of the airflow on your fans.

    -Sound card: If you are extremely picky about your audio(I have a friend who is OBSESSED with audio quality), keep the sound card
    -Network card: At this point, I would just use the motherboard's onboard 10/100/1000 ethernet(almost all mobos have one) UNLESS you need the second RJ-45 port.

    -SATA ports: I know you have sizing restrictions, but there are no other "deals" for both CPU + MoBo in your price range besides the $100 deal has exactly 6 SATA(2x 3Gb, 4x 6Gb).
    If you don't use the network card, there will be no problems with the GPU taking up space in the second PCI slot.
    One stick of 8GB RAM can be used instead of 2x4GB if you're worried about CPU fan clearance.

  18. #18
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    Actually went ahead today and ordered the cheaper combo you linked while my van was in getting an oil change. ***more below on THAT adventure***

    - Don't plan on overclocking at all, just know that some processors run real hot on games with stock coolers.

    -As far as the fans, the front 2 120's and the side 120 pull, while the top 200, back 120, and PSU push warm air out. Also, the CPU cooler I currently have is set to push warm air to the rear 120. If you are not familiar with the V1, take a look at it, thing works great but is a beast in size. My 4870 was actually easier to work with.

    -Sound card is a bust as it is full PCI, not PCI x1, forgot about that before. If needed I can get a better PCI x1 card, or an internal one that plugs into a USB header (saw one of those online a while back, looked interesting).

    -Sata ports should be ok. I can take out 2 of the 1TB drives and swap them for a single 2TB in my server, or hell, upgrade to another 2 or 3 and use the old components to make a semi-decent gaming computer and sell to pay for everything.

    -RAM I am not sure about yet. Going to wait and see how prices change for a while. By the way, does it make much difference in the number of modules as long as the speed/total capacity are the same between the different configurations such as 4x2GB, 2x4GB, 1x8GB?

    *** I had them look at the tires since it shakes pretty bad on the interstate during our daily commute. They told me that the reason was because of the alignment, which we suspected. But with the alignment how it is, the inside edges of both front tires are racing slicks, not the middle or outside, just the inside. The rest of the tread is perfect, which is why nobody had noticed it yet. Funny thing is, the van runs straight as an arrow with the steering wheel perfect, no angle or drift at all, just has the steering wheel dancing and the whole van vibrating once you get up over 65. One of my brothers is getting married on the 29th in Lake Geneva, which is about 130 miles away. They said there is no way the van will make it there and back as bad as they are, that much driving would be too much in one stretch. So, we get to get new tires and an alignment, which is not what we were wanting to spend our quarterly bonus on. Our anniversary was the 9th and my wife's birthday is the 30th so we were planning on using some of the money on us and her while we were on vacation for the wedding, since we weren't able to do anything for our anniversary. How does the saying go? "When things start to look up, you get DICE'd?"
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
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    Criminal Lawyer is a redundancy Kc2000's Avatar
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    In terms of RAM, the performance increase you'll see between 2x4GB vs 1x8GB is pretty small. The reason I go for two sticks is for the redundancy factor. If one of my sticks decides to poop out, I always have that second stick waiting. But that's a rare occurance anyways and you're more likely to get sent a bad stick of RAM than have one poop out.

    So to answer your question, 2 sticks in dual channel is slightly faster than 1 stick in single channel, but may not make that big of a difference anyways.

  20. #20
    Very funny Scotty, now beam down my clothes AOD Member AOD_Vial8R's Avatar
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    Ok, that is what I was thinking, on both performance and backup. This will make it a little easier to shop around then. Thanks for everything!
    Let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to help or find someone for you.
    Panzerbuchse Leaderboard Current Ryzen 7 Gaming Rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/jDrV3C


 
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