c.£400 - new CPU/MB/RAM ???

[Henrikson]

Okay - who's listening...?

I'm looking to replace the core components of my rig as it's now aging badly.

Main use will be gaming, some photo editing. Not too interested in SLI or Crossfire as in a couple of years a whole new GPU will cover off any upgrade requirements.

Budget - let's say £400 give or take.
AMD or Intel - hmm, bang for buck??? You tell me.

Current Spec:
Case: FractalDesign Define R2 (NEW)
PSU: 600w - can't remember exactly what brand but good
OS: MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
RAM: 2.0GB Dual-Channel DDR @ 170MHz 3-3-3-7
MBoard: DFI Corp,LTD LP NF4 Series (Socket 939)
GPU: 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 4870 (XFX Pine Group) (12mths max)
HDD: 203GB Maxtor Maxtor 6B200M0 (IDE) 23 °C
80GB Seagate ST380011A (IDE)
80GB Seagate ST380011A (IDE)

I've been using this for the past lots of years and installed the 4870 about a year ago - big performance boost. The case is new and beautifully quiet - plenty of 120mm fans, soundproofing, etc. I have other 1Tb drives kicking around so no worries there.

Give it to me cold, I know how old most of this is...

[Umar]

I think you could sell your current mobo, ram and cpu as socket 939 stuff is rather sought after nowadays and 2GB DDR should get you a fair bit too. I don't think it would be too unreasonable to say that you could make £60-£100 off them :)

Umar

[Gunslinger]

:lol:

i was eyeing up his current specs to see what was about to hit the for sale board :redface:

Looking at what you've got, i'm assuming your looking to keep the PSU and Case, so what your looking at is Mobo, CPU, GPU, RAM and HDD's

not sure how i'd go about this one, finding a true balance could be tricky, i think maybe i'd start at the less obvious end, and take it from there

maybe a cheap SSD for the OS, and a larger SATA II drive for storage etc ?

and a bundle deal similar to this perhaps ?

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Bundles/Motherboard+Bundles/Gladiator+Intel+Core+2+Quad+Q8300+Home+%26+Office+ Motherboard+Bundle+?productId=39712
or
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Bundles/Motherboard+Bundles/Gladiator+Intel+i3+530+%40+4.2GHz+Overclocked+Gami ng+Motherboard+Bundle+?productId=39584

That would leave you with no change out of 400-440 so you'd have to keep your 4870, which by all accounts is not a bad card

it's kind of hard to tell what would be best for you... where do your priorities lie ? in getting the best motherboard + CPU combination you can, and look to upgrade the other components later, or do you want to change all of it now ? looking at your curent spec, your obviously wanting to change the HDD's i'd imagine, whereas the GPU is not so out of date comparitively

[Henrikson]

Thanks Umar - could bump the budget to c.£500 - worth bearing in mind if that performance gain would otherwise be out of reach. Maybe enough for a new SSD as boot drive with Win7?

[Henrikson]

Definitely keep the 4870, case and psu...have a 1Tb HDD SATAII kicking around in a dock which I could repurpose. Really down to MB + CPU + RAM...

I'd avoid the Q8300 as I want to at least believe I'm future proof so would lean towards the i3 bundle - why no i5? Bigger question why no AMD?

[Gunslinger]

Definitely keep the 4870, case and psu...have a 1Tb HDD SATAII kicking around in a dock which I could repurpose. Really down to MB + CPU + RAM...

that changes the equation slightly...



I'd avoid the Q8300 as I want to at least believe I'm future proof so would lean towards the i3 bundle -
fair enough



why no i5? Bigger question why no AMD?

cost .... i was trying to keep the bundle price down lower, to leave room for the extra expense of HDD's

ok, so, as a quick suggestion, bearing in mind the new info above, and extending the budget (sale of older parts) still looking at working from the base of a bundle deal, but this time the i5 at £411

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Bundles/Motherboard+Bundles/Gladiator+Intel+i5+650+%40+4.4GHz+Overclocked+Gami ng+Motherboard+Bundle+?productId=39596

and you can pick up an Intel X25-V Value 40GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive for about £95

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Hard+Drives+(SSD)/Intel+X25-V+Value+40GB+2.5%22+SATA-II+Solid+State+Hard+Drive+-+Retail+?productId=39253


That would give you a pretty swift system


EDIT:
no AMD question i missed - personally, right now i feel AMD are playing catchup, and your going to see new releases from them earlier as they try to close the gap

[Henrikson]

Thanks - that's more like it...

Good looking bundle with added advantage of USB3 onboard. ;-)

Was swaying away from Intel - possibly waiting to see how they react to the 6 core AMDs on their way. You may have swung it the other way now.

[marsey99]

6 core intels are already out in the server markets so...its amd's 8 core cpu i want to see filter down :)


going of your budget, and with bang for buck in mind i would start with a i5 750, pair it with a good gigabyte board with onboard features you want/need (idk these so no point guessing) and 4gb of good ram. ddr 3 1600 should be plenty. if you want hdd i would stay away from sdd as i dont think they offer good bang per buck, i have 2 500gb samsung f3 in a short stroked raid array and they fly and cost my about £75.

i think i would spend any cash you have left over on a heatsink and more fans as i know that case can take a few, if you can fit it in the case i would look at the arrow 14 or noctua d14 as they are the top of the air cooling tree.

[Gunslinger]

Thanks - that's more like it...

Good looking bundle with added advantage of USB3 onboard. ;-)

Was swaying away from Intel - possibly waiting to see how they react to the 6 core AMDs on their way. You may have swung it the other way now.


the added bonus of that bundle as i see it, is the pre-overclocked and pre-assembled

1. you know the components will OC, rather than taking the gamble on buying seperately, and you get aria's warranty with that

2. it's pre-built - plug and play litterally :lol:

[zaz]

Or you could buy the same components yourself from Aria for less than the bundle costs and build it yourself, saving about 30 quid :)

[Henrikson]

spotted the diff in bundle cost to separates - have built my own many times so not worried about the pre-assembly (although would be nice).

little concerned about the bundled heatsink/cooling

was looking at the i5 750 and wondering if I should stretch?

[El Wayneo]

YOu could get;

Core i5 750
4GB G.Skill Ripjaw 1600Mhz
ASUS P7P55D LE Mobo
Titan Fenrir

Delivered for £399.39

[Gunslinger]

I still come back to the "known to OC" thing, the single items, unless tested are not guaranteed to OC, or at least OC as far as you might want... £30 might seem like a waste, but for peace of mind, and pre-built, i'd probably consider it.

As for the cooler, yeah i can see your point, you could try contacting them and see if they would swap it out for you, would probably cost you the difference (i think these things are put together on order right ?)

[Henrikson]

Thanks El Wayneo - I'll check out the MB

Thanks again Gunslinger - definitely worth a call, although as the heatsink has to be mounted they wouldn't be able to soak test too easily I'd have thought. Worth a shout though.

So many options - that's what I both love and hate about build your own.

:thumb:

[GingaNinja]

Sorry to muddy the waters, but have you considered seeking any parts second hand? I recently upgraded my system. I was able to snag a recond-hand retail i7 920 (C0 stepping) for £120, including cooler. I then bought a UD3R and 6GB of Patriot DDR3 from Aria. In all, the total investment came to about £370, offering decent performance now and the potential to upgrade to future socket 1366 chips.

Ginga

[Henrikson]

Good call GingaNinja but I'd end up spending a bunch of time trying to find a part and not having the confidence in it arriving working - when it's an expensive part I'd rather buy new and have the support of someone like ARIA behind me.

For lower value CPUs and most other "less delicate" electronics then I'm a firm believer in 2nd hand. So I will be selling my 3200 939 Athalon if you're interested.
;)

[GingaNinja]

Good call GingaNinja but I'd end up spending a bunch of time trying to find a part and not having the confidence in it arriving working - when it's an expensive part I'd rather buy new and have the support of someone like ARIA behind me.

For lower value CPUs and most other "less delicate" electronics then I'm a firm believer in 2nd hand. So I will be selling my 3200 939 Athalon if you're interested.
;)


I hear ya! However, I find myself drawn to the value like a moth to a flame. I've yet to have a DOA either.

That said, there's nothing like unwrapping brand new gear, and the support and service of a good retailer are very reassuring. So good luck on your upgrades.

On the subject of your 3200, I have a 3200 X2 gather dust. Really must get round to doing a clear out of my own stuff! When I get up to 50 posts I'll raise a thread in Trading Post.


Ginga

[Gunslinger]

lol, that reminds me i have an old 3700+ Sck 754 CPU kicking around somewhere :P and maybe a 3200 as well !

[Henrikson]

Aren't we a bunch of hoarders - anyone fancy a mint C64 2ith disk drive, and Atari 130XE with dual drives, a Spectrum 48k with interface 1 and two microdrive units, a Sega MegaDrive, a SNES, etc...? All kicking around somewhere.

Shame I sold my original AMD 486DX30 - now that was a processor... :thumb:

Or am I a little too old school?

[Gunslinger]

Those interface 1 units for the specy rocked... i also had an opus disc drive if i remember correctly (probably still do somewhere:P) ... hi-tech in it's day