Upgrade Advice - to help with Photoshop

mikeym

mikeym

mikeym

Associate
Joined
15 Apr 2009
Posts
1,253
Built a system with the below specs (main items listed only) a couple of years ago for my sister at a sub £500 budget. I've been asked to spec an upgrade to help with photo editing and my brother in law also wants me to overclock the processor, add a windowed case and some LEDs.

Thinking so far that SSD and more RAM is the way to go. CPU cooler also required.

Is it worth upgrading the processor? Think I'm limited to AM3 only.

Presume PSU is sufficient too, particularly when there is no GPU.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 AM3
Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced
Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H (AM3)
Antec 430w EarthWatts PSU
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic (TW3X4G1333C9A)

Thanks for any help :D
 
TBH, you'd get a lot more bang for buck going to an Intel solution (i5 plus new mobo). If you're stuck on the AMD route you'll only get a little boost by going to a Phenom.

SSD will help. More memory will help (assuming a 64 bit OS and that you are swapping to disk), but stepping up to a current gen i5 will be a significant leap.
 
Thanks arad85.

I think they're hoping to do it on minimal budget but will probably give them a few options - intel route being one...

I know the minimal budget thing doesn't quite ring true with the request for LEDs and windowed side panel but there you go!
 
Also toying with RAM. Currently 2x2GB installed. If OC'ing, will filling the four slots compromise OC'ing too much? Only experienced minor issues with 775 socket before. Also, any issue in having 2x2GB + 2x4GB for example?

Also not sure if the 16GB limit means that I can't exceed 4GB per slot? For value for money, I probably wouldn't recommend 2x8GB sticks regardless.

Mobo guidance:

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 1800(OC)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules
 
The current CPU isnt a black edition which makes life more difficult. As you can't adjust the multiplier you have to up the CPU FSB, as you increase this it starts to overclock the RAM, being 1333mhz not sure how much higher it will go.

If you transfer over what you need from the old rig, maybe this which would be a massive step forwards......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £89.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £77.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £44.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £43.19
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £26.39
Total : £505.51 (includes shipping : FREE).



Either sell the old mobo bundle or look to reuse it as a HTPC maybe at some point seeing as they would still have a PSU and case spare aswell.

Any questions feel free to ask
 
honosuseri said:
The current CPU isnt a black edition which makes life more difficult. As you can't adjust the multiplier you have to up the CPU FSB, as you increase this it starts to overclock the RAM, being 1333mhz not sure how much higher it will go.
Click to expand...

Hadn't realised that limitation - I've been firmly in Intel land since my B3 Q6600. Quickly googled and seemed to find that 3.8GHz may be the max limit but voltage and RAM speed, as you say, will determine how high I can go.

I'll check out prices for higher rated RAM and thanks for the basket spec.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom