What to upgrade with $400

[poopboypat]

Ok, I am going to have about $400 to put into my computer, I am wondering what would make the better upgrade. Ok one would be to upgrade the GPU to a much better one, or upgrade to a quad core?


Current rig:

Processor-- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 OC'ed to 3.2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004

Mother Board—ABIT AB9 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813127004

Power Supply-- Silverstone Zeus ST65ZF (650 Watt)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817163108

Case-- COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119047

Hard Drive—2x Western Digital 160GB 16MB Cache In RAID 0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136062

Memory 4GB-- G.SKILL 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 1000Mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145

Graphics Card—Temp-Radeon X1900GT 256MB Later a DX10 ATI card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102022

Optical Drive-- Pioneer 16X DVD±R Dual Layer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827129001

CPU Cooler-- Tuniq Tower 120 cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835154001


Now for a GPU I would get the ATI 5850 when the prices came down hopefully next month, I would also get another HDD for my media server. For a quad core, for 400 I would probably have to get an AMD or possibly the i5 and this would involve me getting new ddr3 memory and a new mobo. Now I can’t do both and budget wise I would probably have to get an AMD quad.

Now the only reason I’m thinking of a quad is because I use VMware to run 2x virtual machines running eve online, while i play eve online on the main screen (so yes 3 diffrent accounts on playing the same time on one computer). I don’t really have any complaints with my current setup, I just have some money that I would like to spend on the computer. When i made this computer, i was expecting to replace it with an octo core build lol.... That’s all.

 

[fusion509]

I think with the setup you have now you would get a better gain in performance and notice more of a difference with a new mobo, cpu and ram. I poked around on newegg and found this....

Mobo- ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
cpu- Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz
ram- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
You will have around $30 left over

This option also allows you to do crossfire if you want in the future and if you wanted to upgrade to a core i7, the asus board supports both i7 and i5. The only negative is you would have to buy a new cpu cooler.

 

[poopboypat]

ok not a bad option, thats why im asking what would be better. One thing is I will NEED 4GB of ram or my set up will not work. Running everything im doing im at 3.2-3.4GB of usage.

 

[thaclassikz]

I see no point in upgrading to i5 or i7 for the things you do. In fact, upgrading to i5 would be future-proof, but a big waste of money atm.

If i were you, i would get Intel q8400, oc to 3ghz+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...A=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=q8300&x=0&y=0

And new video card of your choice.

 

[poopboypat]

I see no point in upgrading to i5 or i7 for the things you do. In fact, upgrading to i5 would be future-proof, but a big waste of money atm.

If i were you, i would get Intel q8400, oc to 3ghz+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...A=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=q8300&x=0&y=0

And new video card of your choice.

Wow for some reson I didnt even think of that. Looking at things with my current mobo it runs at 1066 FSB and the quads all are at 1333, so my mobo is somewhat of the bottle neck now. Also the Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 is $20 more but has 6M L2 vs 4M L2. That worth the $20? Looking at all this, makes it somewhat exciting since I can probibly get the GPU I wanted when the prices come down. I think that with me running 2 VM's running games the 4x cores would help.. Or am I mistaken? I keep trying to find benches of the 2 chips compared and I cant find any.. Thanks for all the responces!

 

[Neuromancer]

Quad core 775 if you can find them cheap enough and still get a 5850. OR go AMD quad, you can get a new mobo and CPU for the price of a 775 quad. Sell you existing 775 stuff and make it a much smaller investment

Next most notable improvement would be upgrading the hard drives. Maybe go with a 64GB or so SSD.

 

[Automiketic]

one thing to note is i dont see any quad core support. might want to check that out first otherwise you will have to upgrade the motherboard. could upgrade the motherboard get a quad and go with a cheaper but better video card something like a gtx260

 

[EarthDog]

Would any 45nm quads work with 965 chipset? He would be limited to 65nm stuff like Q6600 right? OP should confirm this at the mobo manuf. website.

 

[poopboypat]

The board will work with the quad cores. There was a Firmware update a while ago. I checked today as well, looks like i would need to find the Beta drivers for the AB9 Pro for the q8400 to work.



http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=AB9+Pro&fMTYPE=LGA775

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=544934

 

[White_Pawn]

get a 5850 and save the rest until westmere arrives.

 

[Automiketic]

i personally dont see the need in buying the 58xx series card at this point. if an x1900gt is doing ok already i 58xx will be way overpowered for your needs. thats why i recommned the gtx260. still plays modern games at high to max settings, and is half the price of a 58xx series card.

 

[Marshmallow64]

SSD.

 

[EarthDog]

The board will work with the quad cores. There was a Firmware update a while ago. I checked today as well, looks like i would need to find the Beta drivers for the AB9 Pro for the q8400 to work.



http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=AB9+Pro&fMTYPE=LGA775

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=544934

Look here...65nm quads only and with BIOS 22. 45n quads will not work with that board.

http://www.abit.com.tw/cpu-support-list/mb/intel_p965_ab9_series.htm

 

[Neuromancer]

As far as upgrading to p55, if you are paying new prices on that socket 775 stuff, than definitely look at a differnet architecture.

However, if you are getting CPU/Mobo for under $100 (which I have not looked, but performance wise, seems about right maybe as low as $75), that there realy is not a comparison.