Upgrade for about £200

the editor

the editor

the editor

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Hi guys,

I've got £200 to spend so what would you recommend upgrading? I can push the budget to say £250, but only if it would really benefit me. My primary use for the PC is video editing in After Effects, so I was thinking either CPU or GPU, but I don't know which one would give me better results. Spec as follows:

Intel Core i3 2120
Intel HD 2000 Graphics
8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Motherboard
60GB Agility 3 SSD (+ 320GB HDD)
OCZ ZS 550W PSU

Many thanks,
James :)
 
Doesn't adobe after effects utilise cuda?

Myself i would probably look at the i5K and a 460 GPU (£100ish cheaper if second hand), the EVGA SOC 460 is my personal favourite but slightly more expensive (the nvidia GPUs give you cuda).

I know people are going to say that the i7s hyperthreading makes more sense. However, the i5K can be overclocked to 4ghz on the retail heatsink anyway (an aftermarket heatsink is prefered for OC'ing), it's an obvious improvement over the i3 you have. Plus your mobo should have lucid virtu to make clever use of the IGP once a dedicated GPU (the 460) is added.

I don't know if you do play games at all but that 460 SOC is a very good and capable budget GPU. So you are getting a CPU boost, the GPUs cuda should assist adobe and you can play some games to boot. Win win in my eyes but the decision is yours entirely. Obviously this option is pushing to the limit of your max budget £250
 
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honosuseri said:
Doesn't adobe after effects utilise cuda?

Myself i would probably look at the i5K and a 460 GPU (£100ish cheaper if second hand), the EVGA SOC 460 is my personal favourite but slightly more expensive (the nvidia GPUs give you cuda).

I know people are going to say that the i7s hyperthreading makes more sense. However, the i5K can be overclocked to 4ghz on the retail heatsink anyway (an aftermarket heatsink is prefered for OC'ing), it's an obvious improvement over the i3 you have. Plus your mobo should have lucid virtu to make clever use of the IGP once a dedicated GPU (the 460) is added.

I don't know if you do play games at all but that 460 SOC is a very good and capable budget GPU. So you are getting a CPU boost, the GPUs cuda should assist adobe and you can play some games to boot. Win win in my eyes but the decision is yours entirely. Obviously this option is pushing to the limit of your max budget £250
Click to expand...

This seems like a sensible option if you can use CUDA! Check my link above :)
 
beejjacobs said:
This seems like a sensible option if you can use CUDA! Check my link above :)
Click to expand...

That's why i asked the question first lol

If gaming did tickle his fancy, i would opt for the SOC as it can be overclocked even further. I don't know if the £200-250 budget included selling on the i3 to recover some funds. The i3 is a very popular budget CPU and selling it on shouldnt be an issue at all!

Look forward to seeing what the OP settles on :)

*EDIT*

I've done a lil research. Apparently the 460 isnt officially supported i.e certified but many people have used them through a simple and free software "mod".
 
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Good idea! As honosuseri said, the i5 is very capable and can be overclocked well too! And from what I've seen CUDA support may massively help encoding times etc...
 
the editor said:
thanks honosuseri, I think that is what I might do :)

I won't be gaming on it and I will probably sell the i3
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Your welcome, that's why we flock here to help others out :)

It just seemed to me the most logical all round upgrade. I must confess I do very little gaming on my rig but it's nice to know I have the option to play Shogun 2 or play one of my flight simulators if i feel the need for speed.....try it you never know you might like it lol
 
honosuseri said:
Your welcome, that's why we flock here to help others out :)

It just seemed to me the most logical all round upgrade. I must confess I do very little gaming on my rig but it's nice to know I have the option to play Shogun 2 or play one of my flight simulators if i feel the need for speed.....try it you never know you might like it lol
Click to expand...

You've got a 460 I assume?
 
beejjacobs said:
You've got a 460 I assume?
Click to expand...

I did have your card but sold it on. I've used the 460 SOC in plenty of builds/upgrades, i used to be able to get them for £110. As you well know they overclock well, i just set them at 850mhz although i suspect they could have all been pushed much further.

With the added overclock they have to be giving a 6870 a bloody nose and that's a £150ish GPU! I think it really is the best budget GPU available today. The cuda and physx support ontop are added bonuses and just make it an even better all round card than say the 6850.

But i'm preaching to the converted aren't I? lol

If the OP isn't going to game EVER full stop. Then the SOC edition 460 is overkill i suppose. He could double check what cards are certified and see if he can opt for a cheaper card which still gives the cuda support, even if it is just the standard 1GB 460GTX. The £20 difference between the SOC and a standard 460 could pay for an aftermarket heatsink. God I love upgrade threads, the possibilities are endless ;)
 
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