Need to upgrade CPU... advice please

longers

longers

longers

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15 Dec 2009
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My current system is as follows

AMD Phenom II 955 BE (overlocked to 3.8ghz)
Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P
Radeon 69702gb
4GB Ram

I want to upgrade the CPU to an Intel chip as i mainly play Iracing and Arma 2 both of which run considerably better on Intel chips than they do AMD ones ! Also i want to ditch this stupid titan fenrir cooler i have which takes up my entire case space !

My problem is that im not sure what Intel chips my motherboard supports and if i do get a new CPU will i need to get a new motherboard as well... ideally i want to keep same motherboard to keep costs as low as possible.

Could someone recommend me a good cpu to go for, it doesn't need to be the best ever, just something which is a decent upgrade from what i currently have and is compatible with my motherboard... or if there is nothing compatible with the motherboard maybe someone could suggest a good motherboard/cpu combo !
 
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ok, so whats a good intel motherboard/cpu combo to go for which doesn't cost crazy money but offers a good performance increase over what i currently have ?
 
Yea, that motherboard won't work with any Intel CPUs, it is AMD CPUs only.

If you want a recommendation for a new motherboard and CPU, then I would go for this board and this cpu. if you don't plan on using crossfire in the future, then this board will be fine and is cheaper.

looking at this the i5 2500K will be a fair bit better in ARMA2 and it is know to overclock much better (with a half-decent cooler aim for at least 4.4Ghz).

Here is a more general comparison between the two CPUs in a range of applications and games - with both CPUs running at stock speeds.


May I ask what make and model RAM you are currently using and what CPU cooler you have?
 
Cheers, will check them out

Budget : no idea, £300 maybe... ideally less !
My Ram : can't remember and don't have computer in front of me
CPU Cooler : Titan Fenrir and i hate it with a passion, its ridiculously huge and hardly fits in my case... it looks stupid as well lol.

I won't be overclocking anything as its all far too much hassle for my simple mind, plus i don't want to have to buy some big stupid cooler like my titan fenrir... id like to just be able to use a nice small stock cooler !
 
One other thing, where is a good place to sell my old motherboard and cpu ? and how much am i likely to get for them second hand ?

i assume its ok to ask that here seeing as the money will go to overclockers when i buy a replacement !
 
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Sub Total : £224.98
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 : £46.90
Total : £281.38

Keep your RAM, keep your hated Titan fenrir or use the Intel stock cooler supplied.

We cant tell you how much your other bits are worth.

We cant name competitors.

If you wanted Crossfire? then this motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-165-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1906
 
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longers said:
Cheers, will check them out

Budget : no idea, £300 maybe... ideally less !
My Ram : can't remember and don't have computer in front of me
CPU Cooler : Titan Fenrir and i hate it with a passion, its ridiculously huge and hardly fits in my case... it looks stupid as well lol.

I won't be overclocking anything as its all far too much hassle for my simple mind, plus i don't want to have to buy some big stupid cooler like my titan fenrir... id like to just be able to use a nice small stock cooler !
Click to expand...

In that case your budget should just support the i5 2500K CPU and the MSI P67A-GD65 board - so long as your existing DDR3 RAM can be carried over (when you find out what the make and model number of it is we can tell you whether it is compatible).

As for the CPU cooler - the Titan is actually a really nice cooler, but I know what you mean about the size - they are massive especially if you have a small case. Perhaps time for a bigger case :)

Does your titan come with a s1156 mount? If not you will need to buy one or stick with the stock cooler. Alternatively, you could sell the titan and buy a new, smaller aftermarket CPU cooler which will work on the new board - like this one.

longers said:
One other thing, where is a good place to sell my old motherboard and cpu ? and how much am i likely to get for them second hand ?

i assume its ok to ask that here seeing as the money will go to overclockers when i buy a replacement !
Click to expand...

Unfortunately we can't mention any competitors or give any price checks in this part of the forums as it is against forum rules.

However, when you get 250 posts you will be able to access the OCUK members market and sell your kit and do price-checks in the dedicated sub-forum. In the mean time I would suggest having a look on the popular auction site for prices and sell it on there (just make sure you a take a load of dated pictures of the motherboard and serial numbers if you go down this road - as we have learned from this thread).
 
cheers for the responses. no idea if the titan comes with a s1156 mount but i definitely want to get rid of it !

would love to check out the OCUK members market but no chance of me getting 250 posts anytime soon !

i guess i'll check out the dreaded ebay !
 
the early fenrirs (not the EVO) had the extra mount sellotaped/stapled to the rear of the packaging, does this ring a bell?
 
it does not ! i definitely want to ditch it though as i can't be bothered to buy a new case just to give it some extra space... plus it took me about 10 hours to attach the damn thing !
 
i exaggerate but i had serious issues with it, the damn metal strap on thingys kept falling off as i was trying to attach it, plus i suffer from a savage case of butter fingers.

either way it left a bad impression and i hate the damn thing with a passion !
 
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