Cheap guts upgrade ~£200

Whoop

Whoop

Whoop

Associate
Joined
27 Nov 2003
Posts
2,486
Location
Loughborough
Morning,

Overall I'm happy with my system but since upgrading my HDD last month it has been niggling at me with a few things (only 4Gb ram, no Sata3 and so on) so I thought I'd swap out my mobo, cpu and ram.

Here is what I have -

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache
DFI LANPARTY JR P45-T2RS iP45 Socket 775
Scythe Mini Ninja CPU Cooler
OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 Dual Channel
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 SUPER OC 1024MB GDDR5
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbs Solid State Hard Drive
Intel X25-M Mainstream 80GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint F4 EcoGreen 2TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVD±RW/RAM/DL Serial ATA
Corsair 520W HX Series Modular PSU
Lian Li PC-V351B Aluminium Cube Case

Initially I considered the AMD FX-6 6300 as I'm not spending a lot but then I read the I3-2120 isn't actually that bad despite it being low end.

I don't expect miracles but help! I'm trying to keep the cost low so under £200 and not over if possible ;)

Oh, I tend to ignore overclocking too :o

Cheers!
 
Personnally I'd save up the extra £60 and get an i5 as the difference between an overclocked E8400 (you should have it overclocked) and the i3 isn't worth £200 imo. :)
 
Sasahara said:
Personnally I'd save up the extra £60 and get an i5 as the difference between an overclocked E8400 (you should have it overclocked) and the i3 isn't worth £200 imo. :)
Click to expand...

I would do the same. The i5, even a lower end non overclockable one would be good, but then you might as well get the overclockable one. £40 more than a lower end i5.
 
Hmmm wife may not be impressed but would you retain the same mobo choices if I were to go for an i5? (argument being longevity) :o
 
definitely go for an i5. My mates got an i3, they're budget. thats the best way to describe them. back in the day your specs was high spec, and you wouldnt see enough of a performance boost with just an i3 mate.
 
Idleman said:
Considering the OP does`nt OC, i think he will see a difference.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/56?vs=677
Click to expand...

I'm not saying he won't see a difference, but that difference isn't worth £200 compared to the difference he'd see if he spend around £60 more. :)

I think this is well worth £60 more, with add OC potential in the future.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=677

The 2500k (£161.99) is about the easiest CPU to overclock. practically anyone can get 4.0 Ghz with a half decent heatsink.

If you really against overclocking the i5-3330 (£143.99) is also an option, but imo the 2500k is a better buy even if you don't overclock as it's likely to retain a higher value. :)
 
squarehead94 said:
definitely go for an i5. My mates got an i3, they're budget. thats the best way to describe them. back in the day your specs was high spec, and you wouldnt see enough of a performance boost with just an i3 mate.
Click to expand...
Not true. Comparing to a stock clock E8400 the i3 would be a lot faster, which is around as fast as a Core2Quad at 3.8-4.0GHz gaming performance wise (and faster in lighter threaded games); E8400 is only around as fast as a G530.

With that said, yes it is worth stretching for a i5...but if cannot affording around £160 for a new i5 CPU, then could always try to look for a 2nd hand i5 2500K for around £120.
 
Decide what you need from the mobo.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3470 3.20GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £149.99



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155

If you don't need the features from a Z77 board don't get one. :)

If you go for a 2500k you might find all you need is a H61 chipset (you won't be able to overclock with this chipset)

And with the Ivy Bridge cpu you might find the B75 fits in with what you need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom