Spec me an upgrade

nicholas_yiu · 12 Jan 2013 at 17:27

I haven't been into computers for years now. I still have a very good water cooling system but my missus is complaining about the size of it and I think it's time to get rid.

I have a E6750 running at 3Ghz with 4Gb RAM, HD5700 graphics card running a Agility 3 SSD.

The speed of it is not much of an issue, but quicker performance in Lightroom would be better.

I hardly play any games nowadays so I think the graphics card is good enough for now.

Therefore, I am after a Mobo+RAM+CPU combo that will match/exceed my computer's current performance with air cooling. I am not fuss about overclocking at the moment so I will use the stock fan for now. However, future overclockablility is a must to extend its life.

Budget is £100-£200 preferably closer to the £100 mark.

Please let me know if this is achievable and if so, what options do I have.

Thanks for your help.

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 17:34

A little over but give rooms for improvement:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £89.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K2/8X) £35.99
Total : £206.76 (includes shipping : £9.00).

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G2120 3.10GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £73.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K2/8X) £35.99
Total : £190.76 (includes shipping : £9.00).

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 17:37

Cheaper option:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G860 3.00GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Asus P8H61-MX USB 3.0 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - OEM ** £37.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K2/8X) £35.99
Total : £144.47 (includes shipping : £8.75).

nicholas_yiu · 12 Jan 2013 at 17:54

Just wondering what is the difference between the performance of these systems? Also would any of the existing OcUK bundle any good for my needs?

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 17:57

Link shows a rough performance differences, I have used the G850 instead of the G860 which Andantech has not tested.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=404

nicholas_yiu · 12 Jan 2013 at 18:18

Out of those, after doing some research of my own, I think I will stick with Ivybridge/i3 as I think the performance difference is significant enough especially in lightroom.

How about AMD then? Lightroom speed is the main consideration here.

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 18:21

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/677?vs=699

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £53.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K2/8X) £35.99
Total : £201.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

or

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-4 Quad Core 4300 3.80GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AMD 970A (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £53.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K2/8X) £35.99
Total : £191.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

The intel does a respectable job against the AMD in some of benchmarks.

nicholas_yiu · 12 Jan 2013 at 18:37

Both AMD and Intel seems to be similar performance wise. How about overclockability?

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 18:55

Intel will be very limited as only the K series's have a unlocked multiplier.

AMD I am not sure.

nicholas_yiu · 12 Jan 2013 at 19:08

Just done a bit of research, seem like the AMD is a lot more overclockable. I am going to go for the 6300 package.

Thanks very much for all your help.

RJC · 12 Jan 2013 at 19:10

No probs

With AMD stick with Piledriver.