Upgrade Time...

tomw92

tomw92

tomw92

Associate
Joined
14 Sep 2008
Posts
202
Location
Keeping 'er Country!
Hi,

I know this probably comes up quite a lot but I'm in a bit of a kerfuffle.

I'm after an upgrade because I have finally decided that my Pentium D is absolutely terrible (please don't laugh, I just don't have cash!)

My Budget - ~£200

My Needs: Quad core?
Mobo
2gb ram (I already have 2gb DDR2)


I was going to get an AMD quad black edition, but I'm torn between that and one of the new Intel I5's I think.

Anyway Im just after a little bit of advice on what to get, this being the best bang for buck, I know my budget is low but I guess I could go up slightly if the performance was there.

Thanks in advance, Tomw92

ps - the only other problem I have is that if i go for the i5 option, will I need to get DDR3?
 
Last edited:
You've not said what memory ou have so I'm assuming PC2-6400:

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 620 2.60GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £81.99
(£69.78) £81.99
(£69.78)
Asus M4A77D AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £59.98
(£51.05) £59.98
(£51.05)
Corsair XMS2 DHX 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX) £58.99
(£50.20) £58.99
(£50.20)
Sub Total : £171.03
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £31.59
Total : £212.12


With free shipping that comes in at a few pence over your £200.


moving up the ladder a bit:

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £99.99
(£85.10) £99.99
(£85.10)
Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (GV34GB1333C9DC) £81.99
(£69.78) £81.99
(£69.78)
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £74.98
(£63.81) £74.98
(£63.81)
Sub Total : £218.69
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £39.93
Total : £268.12
 
Last edited:
Thanks, Admiral Huddy, yes I do have 6400 and live in UK Mainland.

When did ram prices shoot up? I got 2gb on play.com for £20 last year!

on the first option, is that pretty future proof? And the main thing, will it handle games and photoshop?

Would that be the best bang for buck?

Thanks
 
There's really no such thing as future proof. Buy a system that suits your needs today, not tommorow. As for gaming, then you'll know this largely depends on the GPU you have.
 
I have a radeon 4600, thats my next move.

As for DDR3 (Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel)

would that and the tri core be a pretty good system?

I heard that the performance of DDR3 wasnt too much better over ddr2, I could well be wrong since my 6400 is at 800mhz and this is 1333mhz
 
I'd rather get x3 435 or the new x2 555BE.

Both 620 and 720 in here are overpriced like crazy and old ...
If not then stretch a tenner and get 925.

Got 555 myself and more than happy with it, if you're lucky with unlock you get 965BE out of it for under 80quid.

And 435 is just pure performance for the price, for 56quid it's just as fast as x3 720 and with x4 620 will only loose by few % in some multi threaded benchs but costs almost half the price, will last you a good while and the cash saved will allow you to buy other stuff ( better gpu, better mobo, more ram ) or upgrade CPU later on when you feel like needing more power : ).
 
right, I have no idea about them numbers, sorry, I guess they are CPUs. Could you post some links to them so I could have a butchers?

bit more than I was expecting to pay but specs look decent, would rather not buy off ebay, for obvious reasons
 
Last edited:
tomw92 said:
I have a radeon 4600, thats my next move.

As for DDR3 (Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel)

would that and the tri core be a pretty good system?

I heard that the performance of DDR3 wasnt too much better over ddr2, I could well be wrong since my 6400 is at 800mhz and this is 1333mhz
Click to expand...

or you could forget about the DDR3 option and put the tri core in here:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-180-GI

You can then use your exsisting DDR2 for now and buy an additional 2Gb later. You can then put the saving towards a better graphics card. That's the beauty of this flatform over Intel, you can mix them a bit.


I just found these. A little over your budget but a decent buys :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-007-OB
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-002-OB
 
Last edited:
Well thanks very much for the comments, theres lots to think about, reckon I will extend my budget to £250.

Therefore could you please post a mobo/cpu & (possibly ram if theres money left)

that would give me the best possible speeds overall?

that would be greatly appreciated
 
tomw92 said:
Well thanks very much for the comments, theres lots to think about, reckon I will extend my budget to £250.

Therefore could you please post a mobo/cpu & (possibly ram if theres money left)

that would give me the best possible speeds overall?

that would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

I've already done this :)

I'd personally go for the first option i posted less the memory. Use the money for a decent graphics card.:)
 
Last edited:
lol sorry, It's just me

so you would deffo go for the tri core over this
 
Last edited:
right thanks, thats sorted the cpu issue for me :-) next problem was the ram, would you go for the drr3 option, is it that much more speed for the price?
 
Right, I'm ive decided to splash the cash a bit more

would all of these deffo work together?

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM3)

Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK)

Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
 
Don't buy the 720, especially here, waste of money.

I'd say get the 555BE and splash the extra cash on cooling instead : ).
This will clock higher than the 720 and give you similar performance and if you manage to unlock to 3 or 4 cores it will beat the crap out of it. Either unlock or not, it's better choice tbh.

-----
or the x3 435 if you want to save cash which is great cpu as well.
 
but the 555 is only dual core, don't really like the idea of unlocking cores?

plus can you deffo unlock to 4 cores? if so how?

any ideas mate?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom