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Cpu Upgrade Advice

bettz

bettz

bettz

Associate
Joined
25 Mar 2009
Posts
158
Location
Leicester,UK
Guys i'm looking to upgrade from a Athlon X2 6000+ been recommended the following think i've sorted the motherboard out just need to find a cpu to get now i have around £380 to spend maybe a bit more what would you recommend?
P5Q Pro Motherboard Not got it yet though
E8400
Q6600
Phenom?
Or something newer?
 
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What are you going to be using the PC for?
Have you already got the mobo? If not you could afford to look at i7 maybe, but if you already have it dont worry, you'l still get good use out of a decent upgrade.
If your main use is gaming, then go with the faster dual core processor like the E8400 or above, however if you do a lot of video editing/encoding, CAD work etc then you might benefit from a quad, if you can afford it in this instance Id try and look at the Q9550 here, whils tthe Q6600 clocks well the 9550 is a much better chip, twice the cache etc etc
 
No ive not got the board yet everybody i've spoken to has told me to go for a Intel chip & recommended that board. Ive seen a lot of people on this forum are all for phenoms.

It will mainly be used for gaming, encoding films nothing major just thought it was about time i upgraded

I've just bought a Antec 902 case
Scythe kaze master ace
kingwin 600w psu so i'm into case modding & thought why not go the whole way and update everything lol
 
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tbh I'd stay away from i7 at the mo unless you've got a big pile of cash burning a hole in your pocket... but if £380 is your total budget then skt775 is def the one to go for IMO.

I have the Q9550 and the Asus P5Q Pro board that you mention and they are a great combination. The board is a very good overclocker (not the best out there) but gives very good 'bang' for your 'buck'. Also it will of cousre take all the current crop of Core2 and Core2Quad CPU's and supports 1600MHz FSB.

I highly recommend it!:)
 
My current motherboard is a Asus M2V It doesn't support Phenoms

You can also get the QX9650 or QX9770 but these cpus are still very expensive and in this case it may be better to get i7 which gives more power for less money?
 
I'm being tempted even more to go with a new I7 build if i'm going to spend £400 on a new cpu & motherboard.I was thinking about the build needing to last a few years & with the new intel chips coming out is it wise to go with a Q9550 that i wont be able to upgrade further down the line? or stick some extra cash on top of my build and maybe futureproof my build?

The build i was looking at was
Q9550 £229
Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£116.14
Corsair XMS2 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX (2x2GB) £33.98
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 £30
OR
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme £50 (NEW FAN) not sure on price

Total £430 give & take £20 depending on fan or go with this

Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £209.99
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £160.99
OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit (3 X 2GB) (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) £75.98
Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme £56 (fan & bracket) not sure on price!!

Total £502
 
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I'd say wait a while before going I7. DDR3 can be had fairly cheap but the cheap stuff isn't very good. The Q6600's are still very good and I find mine to be an excellent overclocker on the ASUS P5Q boards. I got 4ghz on this one

just had this reply which has thrown me again
 
bettz said:
just had this reply which has thrown me again
Click to expand...

Depends what you mean by cheap DDR3.

As far as I've seen some of the DDR3 triple channel packs here are extremely good value. In your earlier post you had this: "OCZ Gold 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit (3 X 2GB) (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) £75.98"

I would change that for this: Kingston HyperX 6GB (3 X 2GB) Intel XMP DDR3 12800C9 1600MHz Tri-Channel Kit (KHX12800D3K3/6GX) at £89.99 inc that's incredibly good value and what I would call cheap but also damn good stuff - reviewed here

If you are looking to spend £430+ on a skt775 system then yes you should add a bit to it and go i7 instead!:)
 
FaceplantSi said:
Depends what you mean by cheap DDR3.

If you are looking to spend £430+ on a skt775 system then yes you should add a bit to it and go i7 instead!:)
Click to expand...

Thats what i'm thinking it would be different if i had the motherboard with a Intel chip already i would prob get a Q9550 but if it means spending a extra £100 for a newer cpu thats more future upgrade options then i think it'll be worth it hopefully all i'll have to upgrade in the future is to a newer i7 chip

I just need to find a good cooler now trues seem to be out of stock everywhere
 
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Are you going to Overclock the PC?

775 Has a limited lifespan and is not therefore a good idea if your looking to not change the motherboard & ram for a while. At the end of the day its only a matter of time until i5 & i7 replace it.

I think you might be best going the AMD Route as its going to be the best value and within your budget and will allow it to be upgraded with furture AMD CPUs.
 
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is an amazing Heatsink. I used one for a little while and the temps were breathtaking! Only used it for a few weeks when i decided to go over to water cooling. Got to be honest and say the Xigmatek temps were really cool!! The Xigmatek is now sitting in a cupboard getting all hot around the collar!! lol

It has rave reviews on a few review sites. Always coming out near the top of the bunch. Sometimes, right at the top! If i were going Air-Cooling again i would definitely look at that heatsink.
 
lga1366 will be obsolete and replaced by june. the processors will be even harder to find as well. you're about to spend $500 (if you already didn't) on a system that you wont be able to upgrade except for ram, hard drive, and graphics card. shame shame..

One of my friends told me this surely he's talking rubbish?
 
bettz said:
lga1366 will be obsolete and replaced by june. the processors will be even harder to find as well. you're about to spend $500 (if you already didn't) on a system that you wont be able to upgrade except for ram, hard drive, and graphics card. shame shame..

One of my friends told me this surely he's talking rubbish?
Click to expand...

Yes he is
there is another new socket due out arounf then, i5, but its a step down from i7 and aimed more at mainstream where as i7 is still going to be high end, so no its not going to be obsolete
 
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