Advice on upgrade please

The0dore · 15 Apr 2011 at 17:41

Hi,

I'm after some help with an upgrade. It's been a while since I built my current rig so I'm out of touch with the latest tech.

Currently running the following:
E6600 (conroe) @ 3.2
4Gb Ram
460GTX 1GB oc'd

I've started a new job from home which involves photo, music, and video editing (nothing too major) I also like to game and I'm into BC2 at the moment. Unfortunately the current rig just doesn't cut it with the gaming and video encoding so I was looking at keeping the GPU and getting the following:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

I've got a budget of around £300. I was going to buy the Radon Pre-overclocked bundle but I thought I could maybe save a few pounds and then get an SSD. Although I've overclocked my E6600 hasn't it all changed now? I'm not sure I'd be confident enough.

Stability is more important to me now but I may overclock a little. If I wasn't overclocking much should I drop the ram to 1333Mhz modules?

All advice is welcome as despite reading up I'm still not sure what the best route would be.

Thanks a lot

stulid · 15 Apr 2011 at 17:43

My advice?

Go Intel.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £137.99
(£114.99) £137.99
(£114.99)
Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION** £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £35.99
(£29.99) £35.99
(£29.99)
Sub Total : £199.14
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £41.73
Total : £250.37

See how the i5 2300 cpu compares against others - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300.html

The0dore · 15 Apr 2011 at 18:03

Interesting. Wasn't there some sort of problem with sandybridge though? Or is the B3 revision a fix or something?

How easy is it to add a little more speed to the i5's?

Reaper 392 · 15 Apr 2011 at 18:07

The0dore said:
Interesting. Wasn't there some sort of problem with sandybridge though? Or is the B3 revision a fix or something?

How easy is it to add a little more speed to the i5's?

B3 revision has fixed the SATA problems.

sandybridge CPU's overclock like beasts. with a decent air cooler you can get 4.6Ghz from them easily. i think someone even managed 4.3Ghz with the standard cooler. overclocking is pretty easy. there is a beginners guide in the overclocking section

stulid · 15 Apr 2011 at 18:08

The B£ is the fix, no more problems.

As for adding speed, you cant, the H61/67 chipset and the non "K" cpu wont overclock. do you need too, you seen how fast it is at stock?

You will have to rely on the built in automatic turboboost to increase performance when then the cpu needs it.

Stretched · 15 Apr 2011 at 18:08

their was a problem with their chipset supported sata 3gb/s ports where they would degrade on roughtly 5% of B2 boreds, the new B3 has had that problem fixed, as far as im aware of if u get a B2 mobo that has the problem u can ask for a trade for a B3 revised one, at only 5% estimated B2 bored affect tho, it was only if you was unlucky

The0dore · 15 Apr 2011 at 20:18

They can't be clocked at all? Although v's the 955 it clearly is a better cpu in most areas and has a better architecture. But what's the life of the socket - the article seems to think it might be better to go for an i7.

I would have upgraded to a q6600 or something similar if the prices weren't so stupid. I mean they're still fetching £70 used on ebay - for a second hand, dead socket it's just not worth it.

I'm keen to avoid the same fate again - I've had some good use out of my current rig but it's disappointing that I can't take it further.

With that in mind perhaps AMD is a better route? Or is there another Intel setup that might give me a bit more years down the line?

stulid · 15 Apr 2011 at 21:05

The only sandybridge that can overclock is the CPU's with a K in the name, and you also need a P67 chipset motherboard.

The0dore · 15 Apr 2011 at 22:14

Ok, having read another thread I might go for something like this:

Asus P8P67-M Intel P67
2500K
OCZ DDR3 4Gb

Would those fit together nicely? It's something that should then last me well into the future.

Thanks for your help.

stulid · 15 Apr 2011 at 22:15

That will work fine, if you decide to get the OEM version of that cpu, dont forget to buy a heatsink.