Phenom ii x2 555 to Pentium G440

[PhilGQ]

Hi

I am currently running a Phenom ii x2 555 its AM3 but on AM2+ motherboard so DDR2 and SATA2, so overdue for an upgrade several years ago. I am looking at new Motherboard, RAM and CPU and possibly cooler (currently have H50). I can keep my GPU,PSU, case, SSD for now.

I don’t want buy into DDR3 now so basically only option is Skylake which is fine (Haswell-E is too rich for me). I want to go for reasonably decent spec, thinking:

i7-6700K
£150ish motherboard
2x16GB of RAM (to leave two lots free for later)

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough money for everything I want all at once. Since the CPU is the main cost I was debating getting the rest but throwing a Pentium G440 in at around £50 for time being, then swapping out for i7 in a few months.

I’d would be grateful for any thoughts or suggestions on this, is this a good strategy based on where I am to where I want to go, or should I wait until I have saved up enough and do it all at once?

 

[PhilGQ]

I would get a Core i3 6100 and a £100 motherboard or a Core i5 6500 and a cheaper motherboard.

Thanks, I’ve looked at this you may be right about i3 and cheaper motherboard and if I stick to 16GB RAM I can get a good upgrade for £300ish.

Tried unlocking your phenom to a quad core?

It unlocks, but won’t boot, I’ve also tried each combo of 3 cores, none work.

wouldnt the AM3 mobo support a FX series processor such as the "Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8370"( https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-...hz-socket-am3-processor-retail-cp-381-am.html ) a bios update may be needed but performance would be night and day compared to the phenom dual core !

Its AM2+ motherboard, the Phenom II x6 is best I could get and that’s old as well.

 

[PhilGQ]

Does anyone know if Corsair H50 water cooler will fit on Skylake CPU.

 

[PhilGQ]

All coolers that fit 115x fit skylake.

Thanks, I thought that was the case but wasn't certain.

 

[PhilGQ]

Have you tried feeding it more volts after unlocking it? I'd try 1.5v as a test.

A well clocked p ii x6 is still a good chip.

I messed about with it a lot back when it was new. Gave up after no joy, no real complaints though its done me quite well for over 5 years.

 

[PhilGQ]

Thanks for the responses guys,

I have actually decided to bide my time for now. I have some other big expenditure come up so I am thinking wait 3-6 months and then get go straight in to i7.

 

[PhilGQ]

Events have overtaken me!

My computer has been crashing in window 8.1 after about and hour, whether gaming or just browsing. I assumed it was software but have been hoping to manage until I upgrade to save on the faff of a reinstall. However, the problem has spread to my Linux installation on seperate drive but is much worse sometime crashing after.

Long and short is I am not waiting so I have raided my "in case of emergency fund" and ordered the i7 6700K and an MSI M7 motherboard, I stuck to 16GB RAM and threw in a Samsung M2 SSD instead.

CPU and motherboard have already arrived, couple of days tomorrow for RAM and Tuesday for SSD.

This will be one hell of an upgrade.