Hi all,
My Current System Spec:
Windows 7
Gigabyte Motherboard GA-965P-DS3P (rev. 2.0)
Intel E6600 over clocked to 3Ghz (9 x 333)
OCZ DDR2 8500 4GB (2 x 2GB)
HIS ATI 4850 512MB
Samsung F1 320GB
Corsair HX520 power supply
My pc is used for:
Gaming 50%
General Web, Email, & Office use 35%
MSI Package Development using VMWare Workstations 15%
I’ve recently over clocked to 3Ghz which has made a noticeable improvement in responsiveness but I’m not happy that I’ve had to up the cpu voltage (was running undervolted) to get it stable resulting in more heat and noise, and while it’s faster I’d still like some more performance.
Which brings me to my reason for posting, which is going to be my best upgrade path, I’m already planning to buy an SSD and a next year a DX11 video card (but won’t need crossfire) but also contemplating a CPU upgrade, according to Gigabyte my board will support an E8400, I’ve already tested a FSB on my board of 466Mhz and this gives me a decent amount of headroom to clock the E8400 and would hope for at least 3.6Ghz (9 x 400) without any increase in voltage.
Using Overclockers prices my options are:
A. CPU upgrade
E8400 £126.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-192-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793
Pros – cheaper option which should prolong my current rig for another year, and don’t need new memory and board, should be able to resell the E6600 (just checked Ebay and they are selling for aroung £50) or used to build an upgraded HTPC.
Cons – expensive considering the E8400 is old tech
B. New Board, Memory, CPU upgrade
Was thinking along the lines of…
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz £149.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-299-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz £78.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-177-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R Intel P55 £109.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-205-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495
Total £338.97
Pros – New tech, should hopefully be a significant upgrade and offers a future upgrade path
Cons – Most expensive, and will it be as stable and reliable as my current rig
So what would you do, bear in mind that if the E8400 does last me a year or so by then the price of an i5 upgrade should be significantly cheaper or technology would have moved on enough so that today’s upgrade cost of £338.97 would buy me a significantly faster rig than the proposed i5 build.
Many thanks for looking
My Current System Spec:
Windows 7
Gigabyte Motherboard GA-965P-DS3P (rev. 2.0)
Intel E6600 over clocked to 3Ghz (9 x 333)
OCZ DDR2 8500 4GB (2 x 2GB)
HIS ATI 4850 512MB
Samsung F1 320GB
Corsair HX520 power supply
My pc is used for:
Gaming 50%
General Web, Email, & Office use 35%
MSI Package Development using VMWare Workstations 15%
I’ve recently over clocked to 3Ghz which has made a noticeable improvement in responsiveness but I’m not happy that I’ve had to up the cpu voltage (was running undervolted) to get it stable resulting in more heat and noise, and while it’s faster I’d still like some more performance.
Which brings me to my reason for posting, which is going to be my best upgrade path, I’m already planning to buy an SSD and a next year a DX11 video card (but won’t need crossfire) but also contemplating a CPU upgrade, according to Gigabyte my board will support an E8400, I’ve already tested a FSB on my board of 466Mhz and this gives me a decent amount of headroom to clock the E8400 and would hope for at least 3.6Ghz (9 x 400) without any increase in voltage.
Using Overclockers prices my options are:
A. CPU upgrade
E8400 £126.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-192-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793
Pros – cheaper option which should prolong my current rig for another year, and don’t need new memory and board, should be able to resell the E6600 (just checked Ebay and they are selling for aroung £50) or used to build an upgraded HTPC.
Cons – expensive considering the E8400 is old tech
B. New Board, Memory, CPU upgrade
Was thinking along the lines of…
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz £149.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-299-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz £78.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-177-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1516
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R Intel P55 £109.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-205-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495
Total £338.97
Pros – New tech, should hopefully be a significant upgrade and offers a future upgrade path
Cons – Most expensive, and will it be as stable and reliable as my current rig
So what would you do, bear in mind that if the E8400 does last me a year or so by then the price of an i5 upgrade should be significantly cheaper or technology would have moved on enough so that today’s upgrade cost of £338.97 would buy me a significantly faster rig than the proposed i5 build.
Many thanks for looking
