Q9650 upgrade time ? ? ?

jeggsy

jeggsy

jeggsy

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Guys,

Not been on here for a while but now I'm back, it can only mean one thing..... Upgrade time :D :D :D

My current system is a stock Q9650, Gigabyte GA-P45-UD3P, Gigabyte GTX-560SOC, 8Gb RAM etc.

So far I've been looking at the building myself a new system based around an AMD FX8350, Asus Sabertooth V2 or Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 V3, 16Gb RAM etc.

What do you guys think ? ? ? will it be much quicker than my old Q9650 setup ? ?

If it helps, I'm not really a gamer but use it for a bit of CAD work, photo's music etc. I know from reading that the AMD setups are a bit slower than an i5/i7 but to me an FX8350 system is still a good spec for less money and have a bit of fun tweaking/clocking :D

If I'm honest I don't really feel like I need a new system but it's been 5 years since I built this and I was planning on handing my old Q9650 setup to my olds whilst I get a new toy !


Cheers
Jeggsy
 
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No need for an expensive motherboard..

Id just get this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £47.99
Total : £269.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).



+ cooler, though we'd need to know what case you have..

Maybe double up on the RAM if you feel 16GB is important. I dabble in CAD on my PC and i feel 8GB is enough but if i was using CAD everyday i'd want 16GB. :D
 
Martini mentioned in another thread about not being the ideal time to invest in a AM3+ mobo. Excuse my ignorance as I blatantly have not caught up on latest tech just yet but can anyone offer the explanation why (as I was considering AMD but always go for bang for buck in my decisions)?

Thanks
 
Th0nt said:
Martini mentioned in another thread about not being the ideal time to invest in a AM3+ mobo. Excuse my ignorance as I blatantly have not caught up on latest tech just yet but can anyone offer the explanation why (as I was considering AMD but always go for bang for buck in my decisions)?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Because AM3+'s base spec is inferior to that of FM2+ in some ways.
AMD just sacked off FM2, so for Steamroller cores in APU's, you need FM2+ (Forgetting that FM2 was newer than AM3+ anyway)

It'd make a lot of sense for AMD to release a new desktop socket, which has a beefed up base spec for Steamroller.

I mean right now you've got AM3+ chips that "work" with FX83's but will throttle them.

Meaning, AM3+ may not have any future proofing at all, and Steamroller has potential.
 
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Ok, thanks for some info Martini. So I take it AMD are not releasing a new socket offering, meaning that the FX83's are in-between mobo progressions or am I way off here?
 
I don't understand what you're saying.

I'm saying, I think it's very likely AMD release a new socket for their successor to Vishera.
No one expected Kaveri to need a new socket, but they shot one out anyway and sacked off FM2, it's quite unlikely AM3+ won't be sacked off too.
 
AMD said that they'd release a new CPU after Piledriver for AM3+, since then they've said nothing more. As yet then, people are still expecting Steamroller CPUs for AM3+. The platform is getting older, but it's still more than adequate. I would expect a new chipset for any new AM3+ CPUs, with forward compatibility with 970/990FX boards.
 
People were expecting Bulldozer for AM3, look how that turned out (AM3 never got an exclusive CPU)
FM1 users were expecting Trinity.
FM2 owners were expecting Kaveri.

I'd rather err on the side of caution.

AM3+ is meant to be the flagship, and has inferior specs to FM2+.
A chipset won't change that, unless they locked it to specific chipsets.
Even if you do consider it "adequate"
 
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AMD said that AM3+ would still be used. They may change their mind, but there's no evidence to say that Steamroller won't be used with AM3+. Caution is fine, but that's all it is.
 
I know that.
But that could have been the AM3+ refresh.

We'll wait and see, but I'm firmly in the new socket territory.
It's the only way I can make sense of AMD dicking their APU users again.
 
Maybe, maybe not. A pessimistic outlook is fine, but there's been no scrap of evidence yet to say Steamroller will not be on AM3+, there has been evidence to say it will.
 
If you expect the worst only good can come from it..

If you wish for logic and decency you should have gone intel.. :D

Joking.. but seriously.
 
Been looking and here's a rundown of what I think will be my build:-

Asus Sabertooth V2 motherboard
AMD FX8350 CPU
Corsair TX850M modular 850w PSU
Lian Li PC-8NWX case
2x 8Gb Corsair Vengeance Pro 1660MHz DDR3 RAM
1x Asus 7850 2Gb VGA card
1x 500Gb Western Digital Velociraptor (OS drive - Already got but use SSD later !!)
1x 2Tb Western Digital Black (Data drive)
1x 2Tb Western Digital Green (Backup Drive)
1x Bluray RW

Not 100% on RAM or VGA yet... Always been an Nvidia fan but seeing as it's an AMD CPU & chipset then an AMD VGA card isn't going to hurt ! Need to investigate RAM a bit more and depending on cost then I might up the VGA card a bit to a 7870 or 7950.

Not looked at CPU cooling yet but not planning to clock it too much so just a descent air cooler will do.

What you guys think..... Any good ? ? ?

Will that be much quicker than my old Q9650 system ? ? ?

I know what you guys are saying about the AM3+ socket and 990 chipset is getting on a bit now but after looking at the Intel side of things then I've seen issues about USB3 issues, sockets keep changing etc. so I don't think either sides too rosy ! I'm not an AMD or Intel fan but just want a descent performance for a descent price and to my mind the AMD route ticks those boxes at the moment.
 
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The Sabertooth's a brilliant board, though a little expensive. If you want to run at ~4.5GHz or so and you don't think you'll want SLI, then the Asus 970 EVO R2.0 board is much cheaper (it's £90). The 8320 (£115) will save you more, they still regularly overclock to 4.5GHz, some better. 850W is excessive - 550W is more than enough for the system, a Seasonic, Be Quiet or XFX PSU is a good choice.
 
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