cpu and motherboard, maximum budget £200

Savage_Smithy · 31 Dec 2012 at 22:42

my PC is a little underpowered now so first thing on my list of upgrades is a new CPU and with it a new motherboard.
i'm currently on an asrock m3a770de with a phenom ii x2 555 BE cpu

would a cpu/mobo change give a big boost or would i be better off upgrading graphics first? (hd5770 x2 in crossfire)

so far i have liked the look of the fx-6300 and an msi 990xa-gd55 motherboard at a total of around £180

i want it to be a decent all rounder from gaming to video editing, rendering etc
as i like to try everything and i want it to keep up with me.

so are there any better choices for around this budget (absolute max being £200)?

also if it isnt too much trouble to ask, if you have any better suggestions, please explain why they are a better suggestion.

thanks,
smithy

triggerthat · 31 Dec 2012 at 22:56

Sell your old stuff and put it towards a 3570K and a Z77 board.

R-evans · 31 Dec 2012 at 23:14

triggerthat said:
Sell your old stuff and put it towards a 3570K and a Z77 board.

I didn't want to be the first to spec a none AMD build

honosuseri · 31 Dec 2012 at 23:16

Did you try unlocking the 555BE to a quad core?

Savage_Smithy · 31 Dec 2012 at 23:19

honosuseri said:
Did you try unlocking the 555BE to a quad core?

i gave it a go but either i did something wrong or the other cores are bad because it wouldnt even post

triggerthat said:
Sell your old stuff and put it towards a 3570K and a Z77 board.

the £200 budget included me selling the old hardware, but i will consider it if the performance difference is worth the extra £70?
why is it worth the extra money?

Savage_Smithy · 1 Jan 2013 at 19:49

not sure what the rule on bumping here is but i'm hoping to make my order soon and could do with help on my final decision

Bacon? · 1 Jan 2013 at 19:54

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
Total : £263.77 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Definetley worth spending the extra

snips86x · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:01

How about this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £86.99
Total : £198.34 (includes shipping : £9.50).

honosuseri · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:04

Bacon? said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
Total : £263.77 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Definetley worth spending the extra

+1 providing he has DDR3 RAM or he will need to add that to the basket too. Avoid anything AMD, for your needs you do want to be on this 1155 socket.

snips86x · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:12

Added DDR3, cheapest 8GB 1600 on the market:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £35.99
Total : £234.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

However, if you overclock, you'll need a decent cooler also:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x Prolimatech Black Genesis CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £53.99
1 x Noctua NH-U12DX 1366 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366 / LGA1356) £47.99
1 x Alpenföhn Sella CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £17.99
Total : £191.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).

The Prolimatech is a personal fav, add 2x 140mm LED Fans, and you've got a great looking and efficient cooler

honosuseri · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:17

snips86x said:
Added DDR3, cheapest 8GB 1600 on the market:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £86.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £35.99
Total : £234.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

No! Just No! The i5K is more money but better (link). The quicksync tech on intel CPUs is great to assist video encoding too. AMD is not competitive, it sucks too much juice and runs too hot. I'm not an intel fan boy, I have a 555BE too in my HTPC (it unlocks luckily), for the OPs stated purpose he wants to be on the 1155 socket, even if he has to wait and save a little more cash.

Why use that RAM when the Kingston kit is a more reputable brand, same price and has a lower CAS rating?

Savage_Smithy · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:19

okay, thanks for those replies. cooling wise i already have an arctic cooling freezer xtreme rev. 2 cooler. and as for the memory i have 2x2gb of crucial ballistix DDR3 1600mhz.

since people are in favor of the i5 even with the vastly increased price, why?

i know the intel chips are of better quality but the amd has 2 more cores, more cache and is a lot cheaper

Bacon? · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:19

Agree with Hono. The i5 will eat any AMD chip for breakfast and have enough room for a light snack afterwards!

Plus its not to do with the number of cores, but the architecture of the chip itself. The i5 has a much better IPC and several feautres like Hono mentioned quicksync.

The dual core i3 is better than the 8150 for gaming in most current games because they do not use 8 cores.

snips86x · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:20

Savage_Smithy said:
okay, thanks for those replies. cooling wise i already have an arctic cooling freezer xtreme rev. 2 cooler. and as for the memory i have 2x2gb of crucial ballistix DDR3 1600mhz.

since people are in favor of the i5 even with the vastly increased price, why?

i know the intel chips are of better quality but the amd has 2 more cores, more cache and is a lot cheaper

.....and that's why I'm AMD. For me, it's all about what is cheapest!!!!

Bacon? · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:22

snips86x said:
.....and that's why I'm AMD. For me, it's all about what is cheapest!!!!

No its not. If budget is an issue get the Ivy i3. It is a better chip for almost every use than the AMD chip.

honosuseri · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:23

snips86x said:
.....and that's why I'm AMD. For me, it's all about what is cheapest!!!!

There is something called false economy fella

snips86x · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:25

Bacon? said:
No its not. If budget is an issue get the Ivy i3. It is a better chip for almost every use than the AMD chip.

At the time, it was AMD.

honosuseri said:
There is something called false economy fella

hmm....not sure you've got that one right, but I'll let it pass

Bacon? · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:25

honosuseri said:
There is something called false economy fella

Are we permitted if he keeps arguing for AMD to point him in the direction of the guy who paid £900 on finance for a 4100 with a 560 TI 1GB

And Snips what do you mean at the time it was AMD? We are no longer living in Athlon days.... Modern AMD CPU's are beaten by Intel CPU's for the majority of tasks.

snips86x · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:26

Bacon? said:
Are we permitted if he keeps arguing for AMD to point him in the direction of the guy who paid £900 on finance for a 4100 with a 560 TI 1GB

HA! That's a little over the top, even for me.

Bacon - If I cared that much I'd get an upgrade. I dont!!! AMD does what I need it to do. I'm content with it!

honosuseri · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:28

Bacon? said:
Are we permitted if he keeps arguing for AMD to point him in the direction of the guy who paid £900 on finance for a 4100 with a 560 TI 1GB

I remember you spec'ing AMD over intel when you first joined the forum too and you needed educating to realise why it was "wrong".....so get off the high horse