Need a small PC upgrade

[QuackPot]

I have a (almost) 6 year old desktop which is on it's last legs and I need a fairly cheap replacement.

Current specs are:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
2GB DDR
GTS250 1GB
2x 250GB HDDs
480W Tagan PSU

I'm currently looking at a:

Intel i3 540 (maybe a i5 if psu can handle it)
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H
4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
GTS250
480W Tagan PSU


I know it isn't the best of specs but I'm not made of money and I want something cheap before the VAT goes back up next year.

So would the newer rig be ok on that PSU? That's my main concern atm. I'm like to push to a i5 760 but I'm not too sure about cooling and power consumption. I did read on another forum that someguy with a AMD x2 3700, 4850 and 4GB of ram worked well on his 460W psu. But would the tagan be powerful enough for the new rig?

Also, any other suggestions about specs and where to buy them?


Cheers.

 

[stulid]

your psu will be ok for your planned upgrade.

Or you say your not made of money, so how about this cheap option?

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £75.19
(£63.99) £75.19
(£63.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Asus M4A78LT-M 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £48.99
(£41.69) £48.99
(£41.69)
Sub Total : £156.73
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 17.50% VAT : £29.00
Total : £194.73

 

[QuackPot]

How does that AMD compare the the i5 760? I also hear there are new i5 CPUs coming out? Will this be anytime soon and is it worth waiting for?

 

[stulid]

Now thats a thread hijack!!!!

How does that AMD compare the the i5 760? I also hear there are new i5 CPUs coming out? Will this be anytime soon and is it worth waiting for?

this shows a comparison of the two cpus - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/105?vs=191

But take into account the i5 760 is almost 90-100% more expensive for the cpu, you did say your not made of £££.

Intels new Sandy bridge range of cpus and new socket 1155 stuff is out in about two weeks, Jan 9th I think.

 

[QuackPot]

Now thats a thread hijack!!!!




this shows a comparison of the two cpus - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/105?vs=191

But take into account the i5 760 is almost 90-100% more expensive for the cpu, you did say your not made of £££.

Intels new Sandy bridge range of cpus and new socket 1155 stuff is out in about two weeks, Jan 9th I think.

Yeah, sandy bridge does look good. I presume the mobo's and cpus will be cheap or at the same price range as the current setups I'm looking at?

 

[stulid]

I have no idea of prices, but being new I can imagine it costing a fair bit.

If you went AM3, you can use the cpu and obviously the DDR3 ram in the new AMD AM3+ boards that will be out mid year when Bulldozer is released, allowing as sort of future upgradability.

Then just swap the cpu if you ever feel its not enough.

 

[Blue160]

I didn't think it was guaranteed that AM3+ will support current chips due to the big differences with the Bulldozer architecture.

 

[stulid]

I didn't think it was guaranteed that AM3+ will support current chips due to the big differences with the Bulldozer architecture.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/di...rocessors_Will_Require_New_Platforms_AMD.html

"The existing G34 and C32 server infrastructure will support the new Bulldozer-based server products. In order for AMD’s desktop offering to fully leverage the capabilities of Bulldozer, an enhanced AM3+ socket will be introduced that supports Bulldozer and is backward-compatible with our existing AM3 CPU offerings," an official from AMD said

 

[Blue160]

Jolly good. I'm wrong again