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going for an overhaul
rostheferret:
--- Quote from: keviny1 on September 03, 2010, 02:46:03 PM ---Alright so I'm planning and upgrading my cpu to the I5 3.2 ghz but to do this I will also need a new motherboard and possibly new ram aswell. So I was wondering if this upgrade is going to be worth the 400$. And am I going to be able to tell a big difference of not.
Current specs:
Windows 7 64bit
AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-core 2.2GHz
4 GB DDR2
xfx radeon 5770 1gb
--- End quote ---
Since I pretty much did this exact same overhaul myself:
The i5-750 I have is overkill. Serious overkill. I run half a dozen active processes (utorrent, WMP, VLC on a separate monitor, chrome downloading stuff) whilst Crysis is being played and I barely use a third of its processing power. With the exception of a handful, games out now don't take advantage of multiple cores, they can only use one so you're probably better off with a dual core with a higher clock speed. Quad core is only really utilised by graphics processing, software rendering and encoding programs. Don't forget you'll probably need a new motherboard as well, else the processor won't fit into the current slot. Personally, I'd save the money here and get an i3 with a high end mobo.
DDR3 is awesome. I'm running 4 gig of G.Skill's "Trident" memory at 2500mhz and its leaps and bounds better than DDR2. Clock speed should be more important than memory size - if you have enough RAM memory, then having more won't improve anything, and a couple of 2 gig sticks has done me fine so far.
If you find your framerate limited, you're probably better off getting a second graphics card and running crossfire tbh. Getting a mobo with an LGA 1156 slot could be worthwhile for future upgrades mind. Tomshardware has done a load of benchmarks (link) so you can see its worth upgrading, but not going that far as its not going to improve it as much as a second graphics card, which should improve things ~80% (again, just search for a Radeon 5770 benchmark on that site).
EDIT: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588-9.html
keviny1:
Thanks does sound like a good idea with the grahpics card but my mobo I got now is m-atx and only has one pci express
rostheferret:
--- Quote from: keviny1 on September 05, 2010, 08:42:45 PM ---Thanks does sound like a good idea with the grahpics card but my mobo I got now is m-atx and only has one pci express
--- End quote ---
Well since you need a new mobo for an i3 (that processor is quite old, and an upgrade is worthwhile, but half the price for the same performance is a no brainer), get something like an Asus or Gigabyte P55 which has two slots and spend the $100 you saved on a second graphics card.
keviny1:
--- Quote from: rostheferret on September 05, 2010, 08:56:25 PM ---
--- Quote from: keviny1 on September 05, 2010, 08:42:45 PM ---Thanks does sound like a good idea with the grahpics card but my mobo I got now is m-atx and only has one pci express
--- End quote ---
Well since you need a new mobo for an i3 (that processor is quite old, and an upgrade is worthwhile, but half the price for the same performance is a no brainer), get something like an Asus or Gigabyte P55 which has two slots and spend the $100 you saved on a second graphics card.
--- End quote ---
The mobo that I was looking at going with was http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412 because of the sata 6 and usb 3 with a half decent price. What do you think about this one?
rostheferret:
HAH that's the same one I got :P
Worked like a charm once I upgraded the BIOS. Seriously, upgrade the BIOS as soon as you get it. If it ships with one of the earlier BIOS's then it'll randomly decide your graphics card doesn't need any electricity and cause the system to crash. It's dead simple to upgrade though, even comes with a program for it in the bootup screen.
EDIT: Sorry, I have the UD4 which is slightly different. A slightly better but better audio capacity, which the audiophile in me prefers, and better heat dissipation apparently. Tbh, I wouldn't have said there was much in it either way.
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