i3...or something else?

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

ex-Mod
I have saved some cash lately and want to upgrade my shitty processor and motherboard (E5200+Asus P5NSLI) Considering my minuscule knowledge about motherboards, I was wondering would i3 + intel mobo make sense right now or is there something more of value available from AMD around the same price tag? My budget is around 10-12k (the lesser the merrier), I do not OC and my main purpose is gaming. Are 4 cores worth it considering I only need it for gaming?
 
You have DDR2 RAM right now, so you'll also need to buy DDR3 RAM. So consider this cost also. And you can go for a quad core AMD X4 620. Its really a VFM processor and in future games will utlilze all 4 cores.
 
saqib_khan said:
You have DDR2 RAM right now, so you'll also need to buy DDR3 RAM. So consider this cost also. And you can go for a quad core AMD X4 620. Its really a VFM processor and in future games will utlilze all 4 cores.
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DarkAngel said:
Whats the rest of the config. If i-3 then u need to move to DDRIII RAM too.

It would be better if u follow the format as we would have an overall idea about your rig and comment accordingly.

http://www.techenclave.com/pc-buying-advice/template-what-should-i-buy-use-143714.html
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kolguy said:
what ram are you currently using in your system ? DDR II ?
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Guys, obviously I will be getting DDRIII Ram, but sorry for not mentioning that.

And the budget for the RAM part is obviously separate, I just want a suggestion on the mobo-processor combo.

My current config :

Corsair VX450W

HD 5770 1GB

Corsair XMSII 4 GB DDRII
 
As u already have 4GB DDRII now why not invest in a E7500~5k or Q8300 ~ 6.8k and O.C sightly. You might check out themarket deals. There are few E7400 proccies on sale. I dont see a dramatic increase in performce spending 12k on platform change + 2.5-3k for RAM change ( difference after selling existing RAM).
Alternately u can also try to O.C the E5200 to 3.5GHz - 3.8GHz :D The E5xxx series has good O.C potential.

Edit: Just saw u dont prefer to O.C. Missed that.
Q8300 performance is on par with Athlon II X4 635. The Higher clock of E7500 also will come in handy in most of today's games. So just do a small proccy upgrade and do an entire overhaul when required.

If u are having issues with the mobo too and want an upgrade then i would say go the AMD way. Its better VFM with your budget.
Components Description Price (INR)
Processor AMD Phenom II X2 555BE 4900
Motherboard Gigabyte MA-785GMT-USB3 / Asus M4A88TD M EVO/USB3 5600/6500

The Gigabyte one is a AM3 mobo with USB 3.0 whereas the Asus offers SATAIII ports too. Go with the Phenom II X2 555BE if you are ready to gamble on unlocking (~80% success). Even if you cant unlock, its still a potent enough proccy for your gaming. Quad is not a must as of now but if you feel the need for a Quad go with the AthlonII X4 635 ~ 4.9k.

Intel core i-3 530 setup will cost you slightly higher but the H-55 is not as feature rich as the AMD ones at similar price points. IINM H-55 mobos with USB 3.0 costs 7k+
 
DarkAngel said:
As u already have 4GB DDRII now why not invest in a E7500~5k or Q8300 ~ 6.8k and O.C sightly. You might check out themarket deals. There are few E7400 proccies on sale. I dont see a dramatic increase in performce spending 12k on platform change + 2.5-3k for RAM change ( difference after selling existing RAM).

Alternately u can also try to O.C the E5200 to 3.5GHz - 3.8GHz :D The E5xxx series has good O.C potential.

Edit: Just saw u dont prefer to O.C. Missed that.

Q8300 performance is on par with Athlon II X4 635. The Higher clock of E7500 also will come in handy in most of today's games. So just do a small proccy upgrade and do an entire overhaul when required.

If u are having issues with the mobo too and want an upgrade then i would say go the AMD way. Its better VFM with your budget.

Components Description Price (INR)

Processor AMD Phenom II X2 555BE 4900

Motherboard Gigabyte MA-785GMT-USB3 / Asus M4A88TD M EVO/USB3 5600/6500


The Gigabyte one is a AM3 mobo with USB 3.0 whereas the Asus offers SATAIII ports too. Go with the Phenom II X2 555BE if you are ready to gamble on unlocking (~80% success). Even if you cant unlock, its still a potent enough proccy for your gaming.
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Actually, I want to change my motherboard, its really BS so I really dont have any option but to do a platform change.

So I think I should go for Phenom II X2 555BE + Giga MA-785GMT @ 10500 (it only makes sense to pay 1k extra for SATAIII if I use SSDs which I dont)

Thanks for the help.

BTW, How much could I get if I sell me proccy+mobo+Ram (bought a year back) ?
 
^Ya the Gigabyte is a better choice considering the bad reputation that Rashi carries. A.S.S. for Asus products might ger cumbersome.
Proccy ~ 2-2.2k
RAM ~ 3.5-3.8k
Mobo ~ I dont have much of an idea about that model. Wait for others to reply.
 
DarkAngel said:
^Proccy ~ 2-2.2k

RAM ~ 3.5-3.8k

Mobo ~ I dont have much of an idea about that model. Wait for others to reply.
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Maybe 2k for the mobo?

Anyways, I wont be upgrading my processor for the next two years, will it be able to handle it till then?

And where to get them at the prices you have mentioned?
 
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Quad Core 3.0 GHz - Rs. 6,900

Gigabyte GA785M AM2+ (ddr2) Mobo - Rs.4,600

Trust me, stick to your DDR2 4GB & go with this system & I guarantee you you won't need to change anything at all for the next 3.5 years (unless something goes BOOM or you want to play 2013's games at MAX).

Alternatively you can go for Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition which is excellent for OCing which you don't want, it has clock of 3.2GHz & costs Rs.7,800, goes with the same mobo. The cheapest yet awesome performing option is Phenom II X4 925 2.8 GHz which costs Rs.6,400 but I would sugest to pay 500 bucks more & gor for X4 945 3.0GHz.
 
aercy said:
AMD Phenom II X4 945 Quad Core 3.0 GHz - Rs. 6,900
Gigabyte GA785M AM2+ (ddr2) Mobo - Rs.4,600

Trust me, stick to your DDR2 4GB & go with this system & I guarantee you you won't need to change anything at all for the next 3.5 years (unless something goes BOOM or you want to play 2013's games at MAX).

Alternatively you can go for Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition which is excellent for OCing which you don't want, it has clock of 3.2GHz & costs Rs.7,800, goes with the same mobo. The cheapest yet awesome performing option is Phenom II X4 925 2.8 GHz which costs Rs.6,400 but I would sugest to pay 500 bucks more & gor for X4 945 3.0GHz.
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Man the guy wants to change his mobo already mentioned +

will you fund his system 2 - 3 years down the line or as you put it things go BOOM, trust me I have a old rig at home and when it was bought I was a noob b nd instead of investing on a C2D I bought a Pentium D and DDR II 533 MHz RAM which later turned out to be so shortlived that in the next six months for a stick of RAM I had to be pay almost 3 times

so I support DarkAngel and advocate that this guy goes in for a complete overhaul
 
ALPHA17 said:
Man the guy wants to change his mobo already mentioned +

will you fund his system 2 - 3 years down the line or as you put it things go BOOM, trust me I have a old rig at home and when it was bought I was a noob b nd instead of investing on a C2D I bought a Pentium D and DDR II 533 MHz RAM which later turned out to be so shortlived that in the next six months for a stick of RAM I had to be pay almost 3 times

so I support DarkAngel and advocate that this guy goes in for a complete overhaul
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What the hell are you talking about??? He is having a Asus P5NSLI Mobo & I am suggesting him a 785 AM2 mobo!!! Is it not a change or what? The system I recommended cannot go wrong. You WERE a nOOb, right? Don't have to be anymore, kid.
 
It all depends on your budget and willingness to spend. Going for Gigabyte MA-785GMT-USB3 throws in USB 3.0 as well.
Also the PhenomII X2 555BE has high unlocking success rate (80%+). So if u are willing to take a risk then you can go for that combo.

If you dont want to take a risk and have a tight budget as you have mentioned the lesser the merrier you can go for the PhenomII X4 945 ~ 6.9k and Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H ~ 4.3k. This board after a bios update works with the 6-cores Thuban's too IINM. (If the stocks are latest it will support Thubans out of box) :)

Another option is PhenomII X2 555BE ~ 5k + Biostar TA785GE ~ 3.8k and retain the DDRII RAM and trying to unlock the remaining cores. As Aercy says 4GB RAM should be enough for the next 2-3 years.
 
DarkAngel said:
It all depends on your budget and willingness to spend. Going for Gigabyte MA-785GMT-USB3 throws in USB 3.0 as well.

Also the PhenomII X2 555BE has high unlocking success rate (80%+). So if u are willing to take a risk then you can go for that combo.

If you dont want to take a risk and have a tight budget as you have mentioned the lesser the merrier you can go for the PhenomII X4 945 ~ 6.9k and Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H ~ 4.3k. This board after a bios update works with the 6-cores Thuban's too IINM. (If the stocks are latest it will support Thubans out of box) :)

Another option is PhenomII X2 555BE ~ 5k + Biostar TA785GE ~ 3.8k and retain the DDRII RAM and trying to unlock the remaining cores. As Aercy says 4GB RAM should be enough for the next 2-3 years.
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So, what do you recommend for me? I dont mind spending an extra thousand or two given that it will be worth it.

And where could I get Gigabyte MA-785GMT-USB3 and PhenomII X2 555BE at the prices you mentioned?

I live in Chandigarh and the only dealer who could possibly have that at the cheapest rates is Lynx, but he doesn't have it at the price you mentioned.
 
^Well the prices are from lammington road(Mumbai), PrimeABGB and Ritchie street prices(Chennai), Delta Peripherals. If u are buying locally then please post the options available and prices so that members can suggest accordingly.

Basically IINM there wont be a noticeable performance difference between 800MHz DDRII and 1333MHz DDRIII RAM. As u already have 4GB DDRII RAM it should suffice for next 2-3 years. It depends on your upgrade cycle. If you will upgrade ur CPU+Mobo in 2.5-3 years or so go for DDRII setup. If your upgrade cycle is longer then go for DDRIII-USB 3.0 mobo.
 
DarkAngel said:
^Well the prices are from lammington road(Mumbai), PrimeABGB and Ritchie street prices(Chennai), Delta Peripherals. If u are buying locally then please post the options available and prices so that members can suggest accordingly.

Basically IINM there wont be a noticeable performance difference between 800MHz DDRII and 1333MHz DDRIII RAM. As u already have 4GB DDRII RAM it should suffice for next 2-3 years. It depends on your upgrade cycle. If you will upgrade ur CPU+Mobo in 2.5-3 years or so go for DDRII setup. If your upgrade cycle is longer then go for DDRIII-USB 3.0 mobo.
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My upgrade cycle depends on how much money I can spend, I've seen that I upgrade my rig much before then what I thought i will at the point of purchase. But, as things are going in my life I think this could well be my last upgrade. (Most probably, I wont be using my current rig after say 1 years or so, It will just stay at my permanent address i.e my parents house ) How much will the DDRIII-USB 3.0 mobo suffice me? 3-4 years?

Prices that are available to me locally @Lynx

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition - 5040

Gigabyte GA-785GMT-USB3 - 6038

VAT @4% - 443

Total - 11078 + 443 = 11521

AMD Phenom II X4 945 - 7535

Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H - 4463

VAT @4% - 479

Total - 11998 + 479 = 12477

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition - 5040

Biostar TA785GE 128M - 3749

VAT @ 4% - 351

Total - 8789 + 351 = 9140

I can also buy it online or from some dealer given that it would be a more economical choice.
 
If we are to go by the life span for DDRII then DDRIII should be the mainstream for the next ~3yrs. Also USB 3.0 drives will become cheaper once it becomes main stream standard.(By late 2011 or early 2012)

But if u are you are just going to use it for next year or so then stick with this. Whats the point in spending more if the system is not gonna be utilized to full potential after that. The below setup should suffice for an year or so. (If unlocked then it will remain a good rig for even upto 2 years)

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition - 5040
Biostar TA785GE 128M - 3749
VAT @ 4% - 351
Total - 8789 + 351 = 9140
Click to expand...
 
DarkAngel said:
If we are to go by the life span for DDRII then DDRIII should be the mainstream for the next ~3yrs. Also USB 3.0 drives will become cheaper once it becomes main stream standard.(By late 2011 or early 2012)

But if u are you are just going to use it for next year or so then stick with this. Whats the point in spending more if the system is not gonna be utilized to full potential after that. The below setup should suffice for an year or so. (If unlocked then it will remain a good rig for even upto 2 years)
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The thing is that if im spending 9.5k, I can put in some more money and spend 11k too.

And one more thing, do you think these prices are okay? If not, then can you suggest me a more economical way of getting these things?

I think I should go for Phenom X2 555 BE plus the 3.0 USB mobo but lets see how events unfold.
 
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