Geriatric P4 system -what do I replace?

julianhj

julianhj

julianhj

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Joined
27 Aug 2004
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UK
My current system is about seven years old, and it feels it.

It regularly struggles when using Paint Shop Pro, it sounds like my Dyson and I can't run 64 bit W7.

The details:

Abit AA8 i925X M/B
Pentium 4 3.2Ghz CPU
3GB Corsair DDR2 4300 RAM
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Ultimate silent 256MB GDDR3 GFX card
Corsair CX 400W PSU

Sony CD RW drive
Sony DVD RW drive
M-Audio 2496 sound card
Various HDDs, including a new 1TB Samsung F4

Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Dell 2408WFP panel
Logitech LX710 kb/mouse

Windows 7 HP


I'm keen to spend no more than around £300. I'm not a gamer, and the most strenuous stuff I'll be doing is photo processing. The GFX card was bought four years ago and the PSU was bought a year or two ago.

I'm thinking some sort of i3 CPU (don't want AMD), decent mobo, and 4GB of decent spec RAM (Corsair maybe?)

Any suggestions please?
 
There you go.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Asus P8H67-M Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) Asus P8H67-M Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £84.98
(£70.82) £84.98
(£70.82)
OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £237.47
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £49.39
Total : £296.36
Click to expand...

I'm quite aware you cant overclock this bundle, but do you want to at the end of the day?

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5 650 3.20GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail Intel Core i5 650 3.20GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £145.99
(£121.66) £145.99
(£121.66)
Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) OCZ Intel Extreme XMP 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 10666C7 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit (OCZ3X1333LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £221.64
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £46.13
Total : £276.77
Click to expand...

This bundle you can though, & you basically avoid the potential rigmarole of swapping the motherboard which almost certainly would with the sandybridge bundle.
 
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VoG - Currently have the 1TB Samsung F4, which would be my main drive on a new system. My current system runs on a 500GB Samsung F3. I also have a couple of WDs - 320GB and 640GB which are currently used for back up.

Grimley - nice one, thanks!

I know this is OCUK, but I've no interest in OC-ing my machine (please don't ban me! :D )
 
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julianhj said:
VoG - Currently have the 1TB Samsung F4, which would be my main drive on a new system. My current system runs on a 500GB Samsung F3. I also have a couple of WDs - 320GB and 640GB which are currently used for back up.

Grimley - nice one, thanks!
Click to expand...

well the problem is the current crop of i5 boards are flawed, they have defective 3gb SATA ports which can fail at any time, the boards are due to be replaced within the next 4 - 8 weeks by the mobo manufacturers, hence me asking ;)
 
iBSOD said:
May I ask what's wrong with AMD?
Click to expand...

I have an irrational fear of them, fuelled by ignorance and some ancient viewpoint that they were always the poor relation.

I fully accept that AMD might be the best choice, but I want Intel. :)
 
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Cheers VOG, I just read the disclaimer at the bottom of the page for the board you recommend. I'm in no massive rush to purchase - will the revised boards affect prices either way?
 
julianhj said:
will the revised boards affect prices either way?
Click to expand...

not the rrp no, tho i do expect the usual blatant price gouging from the retailers when they get the first stock of B3 chipset boards, which will be the one you want.
 
Thank you for your help, I will sit tight until the new boards are released, and then take the plunge. I assume there will be some sort of announcement by OCUK staff when the new boards are in...
 
julianhj said:
I assume there will be some sort of announcement by OCUK staff when the new boards are in...
Click to expand...

there won't need to be fella, there will be lots of B2 boards users ( me included ) shouting it from the rooftops when the B3's arrive :p
 
VoG said:
there won't need to be fella, there will be lots of B2 boards users ( me included ) shouting it from the rooftops when the B3's arrive :p
Click to expand...

I've heard its going to be around mid march when prebuilt manugfacturers get them in, so I reckon around late march would be a good estimate. Depends if you can wait really.
 
Thanks. I can definitely wait, so no problems there.

I'm now wondering if there is any market value in my old components. Are P4s still wanted?
 
Maybe you could sell your old machine for a £100 - £140 if you very lucky.

Since you already have £300 you could get a nice clean new build for £400.
 
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