CPU upgrade

[Alonso]

Hi
I'm currently running an Athlon X2 5000 in an Asus M2N-E motherboard. I'm looking to upgrade the cpu to a Phenom II X2 550. Will I see benefits to this upgrade or should I hold on to my cash. The machine is used mainly for gaming.

 

[hp7909]

Depends on the rest of the spec especially amount of RAM, GFX, etc?

How about going for the Athlon II X3 445? (Slightly) cheaper & the extra core might be a better performance increase.

 

[Alonso]

It's got 4gig of RAM with a GTX460. Using Vista

 

[PCM2]

Get rid of Vista and you're done .

 

[hp7909]

It's got 4gig of RAM with a GTX460. Using Vista

32 or 64 bit?

Oh & nice win in Sunday's Singapore F1 GP

 

[Alonso]

Thanks
64 bit

 

[Alonso]

Get rid of Vista and you're done .

I've never had any problems with Vista. Is it really worth upgrading to Windows 7?

 

[hp7909]

64 bit

Ok, that makes full use of your 4GB. Other than Windows 7 being a much better & stable OS (i.e. in my case/experience), if Vista is working fine for you don't see any need for you to switch.

I still think you should go for the X3. It will also be a good chip to have if you decide to upgrade to AM3, DDR3 motherboard/setup.

 

[thingemajib]

Ok, that makes full use of your 4GB. Other than Windows 7 being a much better & stable OS (i.e. in my case/experience), if Vista is working fine for you don't see any need for you to switch.

I still think you should go for the X3. It will also be a good chip to have if you decide to upgrade to AM3, DDR3 motherboard/setup.

actually i found win 7 to perform much better/faster than vista on an older system (sempron build circa 2006). on a newer and more powerful system, the difference was less noticable, but still there

 

[hp7909]

actually i found win 7 to perform much better/faster than vista on an older system (sempron build circa 2006). on a newer and more powerful system, the difference was less noticable, but still there

I first installed it on a Netbook which previously had XP & was amazed how fast it was running plus the new features. Quickly switched my laptop & bought another copy for a new build, all 64-bit. Compared to Vista, besides performance & stability improvements, they're some useful implementations e.g. you finally know what USB device you're unplugging!!! Also, driver support for old/new devices seems much better

 

[Harpss1ngh]

I've never had any problems with Vista. Is it really worth upgrading to Windows 7?

Definitely worth it mate. Vista is a hog, it can even hurt your fps in some games. Windows 7 is what Vista was supposed to have been in the first place.

 

[PCM2]

I hate Vista with a passion. I am just glad I upgraded to Windows 7 when it was about £44 (amazing I know). It also has much better performance than Vista if you have an SSD I think. Either way the performance difference on a pretty high-end system was noticeable and on a lower-end netbook absolutely night and day.