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Is it worth it?

Tute

Tute

Tute

Soldato
Joined
24 Jul 2004
Posts
22,593
Location
Devon, UK
Hey.

I currently have the following in my system:

Core 2 Quad Q9550
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R
4GB G.Skill NR-6400 DDR2

I'm moving to mini-ITX so the board will be going and will be replaced with something small enough to fit in the Sugo SG05.

My question is, while i'm at it, is it worth selling and moving over to one of the new Core i3/i5 32nm CPUs? Power is going to be a concern so their rather reducted TDP is very appealing for one.

I use my PC for a bit of everything - gaming, work, browsing, and the like.

Would I notice a difference in upgrading - and would it be worth it, given the fact that it would mean selling my CPU and RAM to upgrade?

Thanks in advance.
 
I would suggest keeping your current Q9550 and DDR2 RAM and putting it all into a Zotac 9300 M-ITX board. A reasonably cheap upgrade and a will give you the same performance as your current system. If you get a scythe mini ninja cooler - it will be nice and cool too.

As you say, you could jump to i3/i5, but the only chip with similar or better performance to the Q9550 is the i5 750 and this CPU has a 95W TDP, just like the Q9550. Also, selling current kit and buying new RAM/CPU is extra hassle/expense.
 
Yea, that's the one. I must be going slowly mad or something.

The Shruriken looks good and looking at the threads on the forum seem to fit in the sugo nicely.
 
Another thing that's pushing me away from Core 2 is the chipset choice.

Last time I had an nVidia chipset it almost drove me to nervous breakdown. :p
 
That is a fair point, I was burnt by the 780i myself. The Zotac board is fine for stock ( I have one myself running a Q8200 HTPC), but it runs pretty hot (due to the geforce 9300) and overclocking is not really much of an option.

If you want a stable, overclockable M-ITX system, then perhaps the upgrade is worth the premium. Your current stuff should certainly command a decent price if you sell it.
 
Tute said:
Is it worth it?
Click to expand...

Hello Tute,

Make a list of ten reasons you think you want to upgrade and also make a list of ten reasons you don't need to upgrade!

You can add in things like "I want to play" or "I need a little retail Therapy" etc also not forgetting things like "I could buy a pair of new shoes instead" . . . :D

I'm sure after you emptied your head out and put it back together you will have an answer that your happy with! :cool:
 
Tute said:
Core 2 Quad Q9550
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R
4GB G.Skill NR-6400 DDR2


Would I notice a difference in upgrading - and would it be worth it, given the fact that it would mean selling my CPU and RAM to upgrade?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Hell you have a combo there that can fetch nice coin. If you sell it soon.

people are realising that i3 offers a fast nice upgrade

I made a prediction. That Q6600's will very soon be going for 45inc in MM

Reason being a 88 quid chip in the i3 beats it

I reckon the upgrade to i3 530 after the sale of those parts would cost 70

That Q9550 if you strike soon could still fetch 125inc

Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R 35-40


4GB G.Skill NR-6400 DDR2 45 -50

Worse case scenario you get 200 for those parts


Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £95.99
(£81.69) £95.99
(£81.69)
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £84.99
(£72.33) £84.99
(£72.33)
Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK) Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK) £77.98
(£66.37) £77.98
(£66.37)

Total : £260.53

Be quick s775 price will drop very soon
 
cmndr_andi said:
That is a fair point, I was burnt by the 780i myself. The Zotac board is fine for stock ( I have one myself running a Q8200 HTPC), but it runs pretty hot (due to the geforce 9300) and overclocking is not really much of an option.

If you want a stable, overclockable M-ITX system, then perhaps the upgrade is worth the premium. Your current stuff should certainly command a decent price if you sell it.
Click to expand...

That's what i'm thinking. It's just the hassle of selling it but yes, currently the Core 2 stuff seems to command a premium.

Big.Wayne said:
Hello Tute,

Make a list of ten reasons you think you want to upgrade and also make a list of ten reasons you don't need to upgrade!

You can add in things like "I want to play" or "I need a little retail Therapy" etc also not forgetting things like "I could buy a pair of new shoes instead" . . . :D

I'm sure after you emptied your head out and put it back together you will have an answer that your happy with! :cool:
Click to expand...

Spent the past 2 months doing that mate. :D

I don't post in here often, I don't really like starting threads but I want you to stop me bashing my head on the desk. :)

easyrider said:
Hell you have a combo there that can fetch nice coin. If you sell it soon.

people are realising that i3 offers a fast nice upgrade

I made a prediction. That Q6600's will very soon be going for 45inc in MM

Reason being a 88 quid chip in the i3 beats it

I reckon the upgrade to i3 530 after the sale of those parts would cost 70

That Q9550 if you strike soon could still fetch 125inc

Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R 35-40


4GB G.Skill NR-6400 DDR2 45 -50

Worse case scenario you get 200 for those parts


Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £95.99
(£81.69) £95.99
(£81.69)
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £84.99
(£72.33) £84.99
(£72.33)
Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK) Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK) £77.98
(£66.37) £77.98
(£66.37)

Total : £260.53

Be quick s775 price will drop very soon
Click to expand...

That motherboard won't work Easy. My case is mini-ITX. :)

Hence the choice only really being the DFI board.

Is Core i5 not worth the extra over Core i3 then?
 
Tute said:
That motherboard won't work Easy. My case is mini-ITX. :)

Hence the choice only really being the DFI board.

Is Core i5 not worth the extra over Core i3 then?
Click to expand...

Get ya dude.

Not sure on mini ITX mobo's for I3/i5 CBA to google.

The only difference between i3 and i5 6XX series is Turbo boost,

The 6XX i5's are pointless CPU's when for less you can get a i5 750
 
Tute said:
I want you to stop me bashing my head on the desk. :)
Click to expand...
No problem! :p

So your using a LGA775 Yorkfield in a Intel® G33 uATX motherboard, everything works fine but you have now decided you like the look of the Sugo SG05 mini-ITX chassis and want to build a new system based around that? . . . you say your PC is for "gaming, work, browsing, and the like" so I'm wondering how you intend to carry on gaming with a mini-ITX build? . . . do you have multiple PC's or are you wanting to game with the IGP? . . . what graphics card do you have? :confused:

I personally don't think the Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9550 is really worth £170 sheets although I know a lot of people still do, just seems strange that it's more expensive than far more capable processors such as a Intel® Core™ i5 750?

Give us a bit more feedback about your overall ideas for how you want your PC set-up to be! :cool:
 
Okay, it's a setup to go as small as possible. These are my thoughts.

Core 2 Quad Q9550 [or] Core i3-530/Core i5-660/Core i5-750
Zotac 9300-ITX [or] DFI Lanparty MI P55-T3
ATI Radeon HD5850
4GB DDR2 [or] 4GB DDR3
Scythe Big Shuriken
Intel X25-M G2 128GB
Slimline DVDRW
Sugo SG05 with the 450W PSU upgrade

I think this may actually all work with just the normal 300W (have done a lot of reading about on this) but then the 450W one will be available at the end of the month.

So yeah, basically i'm wanting something cool, quiet, frugal on power yet powerful enough to drive frames to an HD5850 without complaint.

There's not really a budget, i'm willing to buy any of the CPU/motherboard combinations i've stated, i'm just wondering what's the best value for money.
 
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