• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Time to go Intel, But so many options!

groovesection

groovesection

groovesection

Associate
Joined
18 Jan 2011
Posts
241
Location
A remote car park
It is time for an upgrade, but really struggling with the path to choose, tempted to go Intel but so many options

Current rig is embarrassingly thus: (ignore my sig, outdated)
X4 955BE oc'd to 3.6 via multiplier & -0.050 undervolt (cool, quiet and stable 24-7/365)
GA-MA78LMT-US2H
8GB (4X2GB XMS3)
GTX650
TBS6220-Dual DVB-T2
BeQuiet 530w
100GB Vetex SSD + 2 sata for storage

Currently used as an all purpose machine (Internet,PVR via TBS and some video editing/encoding)
Can handle Premiere CS5 easily with 1080p and newblue fx at full rez during preview :)

Anyway, looking for a cheap upgrade and I should only need a MB and CPU.
Bear in mind the TBS card is a limiting factor, I have seen a few boards already and due to my dual slot gtx650 and the location of the pci-xx1 slot means they wont fit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/popup_image.php?prodid=MB-379-GI&imgID=3&pID=9667&cat=c435433

As you can see, this board is no good as the gfx card will stop me slotting in the TBS card

I was considering putting a phenom x6 1100t (that was always my plan) but they are hard to come by new and still go for about £100.
I could buy an FX6300 and a cheap board for another £30.

So any suggestions on a good cheap intel chip and mb that will **** over my current set up, is it even worth upgrading (considering what i use my system for?)
And as cheap as possible would be nice :)
 
Last edited:
Hey James, thanks for the reply and recommendation :)
The TBS card is PCIe-x1 (the tiny slot)
I have seen many boards with problematic layouts, some have large NB heat sinks which will impede the TBS card as it is quite long, others with minimal expansion slots usually have the PCIe-x1 slot next to the PCIe-x16 and as my GTX650 takes up 2 slots there is no way I can get both cards in.
Looks like I will have to go with a full ATX board rather than a cheaper micro-ATX :(

Will that i54670 blow away an FX8320?
The reviews I have seen say the i5 is better but only in single thread mode (as such)
overall there is not much between them in real world everyday use and it is £60 cheaper :)
I have always used AMD since socket A lol
But intel offers the best upgrade path imo, I can toss in an i7 in a years time when they come down in price
 
You can still use a PCIex1 card in a normal PCIex16 slot, i've done it in the past.

I have a 8320 at the moment and although its a great processor for the price, the fact is it nothing really uses the modular spec to its full potential and as such even a 4670k would beat it in most cases where stuff isn't coded to make use of the AMD multi threading.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/698?vs=837

That gives you a rough idea of non overclocked performance.

You could wait a bit for Z97 motherboards and the haswell refresh.
 
Well bugger me :) I never knew you could get away with it in the 16x slot, thanks James.
Think it is decided then, i5 4670 and that GB board you linked too..Now to get the Missus to accept this is a "essential" upgrade
 
Personally i would wait just a little longer for the Z97 and Haswell refresh cpu's. The cpu's are only 100mhz faster but the k series will have better tim so should run cooler and maybe clock better.
 
pastymuncher said:
Personally i would wait just a little longer for the Z97 and Haswell refresh cpu's. The cpu's are only 100mhz faster but the k series will have better tim so should run cooler and maybe clock better.
Click to expand...

^^ This.

Z97 motherboard plus refresh CPU would be a nice upgrade. Future CPU upgrade options as well.

No point buying into anything older as Z97 is literally days away from launch..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom