Upgrade Check/Advice

Jaysquirrel

Jaysquirrel

Jaysquirrel

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Joined
23 Aug 2005
Posts
256
Location
UK
Short Version: Should I upgrade to an i5 from a Phenom II now, or wait several months for something better to come along? Or would upgrading now last me a few years?

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Alright well my system seems to be in need of an upgrade, since I'm not loaded I tend to upgrade a component every other year. I've had this Phenom II since early 2009

I was wondering, would I be better off upgrading now or waiting several months for something new to come out. Currently my system isn't awful, it can run pretty much any game at high settings at 1920x1080, but it can be very sluggish. For the most part I usually spend my time in Adobe software, and playing games like Skyrim/BF3/etc.

I've been an AMD user since the beginning, but from what I keep hearing Intel are better. I do regret buying the Phenom II back when everyone was buying Intel.. But ah well.

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Current spec:
XFX ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Asus M3A78-T AMD 790GX (Socket AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 940 Black Edition 3.00GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail
Akasa PaxPower 500W Ultra Quiet Power Supply
OCZ Gold Edition 6GB (3x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Series (OCZ2G8004GK)
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Here's what I've been looking at:

skXx4.png


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM [BX80623I52500K]
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard [GA-Z68AP-D3]
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)

Unfortunately I haven't really paid much attention to hardware since 2009, so I'm not really sure of what components are the best for value/performance.
 
Last edited:
Would be better yes
And there's nothing really gonna be released any time soon that's gonna replace it
However for a bigger boost in "snappiness" you may want to consider a SSD
 
95thrifles said:
Would be better yes
And there's nothing really gonna be released any time soon that's gonna replace it
However for a bigger boost in "snappiness" you may want to consider a SSD
Click to expand...

I've been eyeballing SSD's for quite a while now, I hope to get one early next year. Every time I see one I keep hoping the price will drop :p

joem1983 said:
I agree. Nothing to really challenge that chip worth waiting for. Have you overclocked the phenom?
Click to expand...

I did something to it ages ago, but it's been like this for years. The settings are probably completely wrong or whatever:

gBQsR.png


I think I tried to get it to 3.8 at the time, but it used to be unstable. Temperature-wise, I haven't seen it go over 60 under load.

9o3Fe.png


I'm pretty sure I haven't touched the RAM... But then again this RAM is from Jan 2008.
 
OEM 2500K is no longer listed on the site, it was earlier. Only option on OcUK atm is the retail chip for £179.99
 
Yeah I just noticed that, I found it elsewhere for £166. I figure I'll just wait and see if the price lowers on OCUK.. Or whatever.

Anyway the only thing I'm uncertain of is the motherboard:

MSI Z68A-G43-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard

Do I just go with the Gigabyte mobo or pay a little bit more for the MSI one which apparently has PCI 3 support or something?

Or do I invest in something better like, Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard?
 
Yeah that's why I was eyeballing that mobo, I can imagine buying another 6950 in a year or two. I figure I'd be better off spending an extra £40 (or whatever it is) on a better mobo that'll last me even longer.

Also my 500W PSU, will it be fine with the new i5?
 
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