Discussion Forums > Technology
going for an overhaul
keviny1:
I mostly use my pc for gaming and anime with a bit of video editing for friends skate videos. Also i was hoping to not go much over 400 because of the budget as that is the reason for going with I5 instead of I7 like you mentioned. I find my games run fine for most part but when anything big happens such as a battle in starcraft2 it becomes very choppy and i was told doing this upgrade would fix this as well as make my pc more upgrade friendly with the new mobo.
datora:
.
Your old mobo + RAM + CPU is a fair, basic core for a system; would be useful to someone if you can find the right someone. Definitely ask around and see if you can get some cash for it; that might help budget. Should be worth $100, but check around. How fast is the RAM and and model of mobo ... does it overclock easy? Probably an AM2+ socket? These'll affect used price.
Have you looked at overclocking your current CPU/ or are already? Does it have high-end cooling capacity?
Since you're not doing rendering/encoding for video, games are really what you're trying to fix here. SCII is leading edge, but well-written so it's not insane on the resources.
Probably try to swing that true x4 core i5, look for the highest GHz you can afford. Make sure your RAM also runs at the fastest GHz possible. You really shouldn't need more than 4 GB, so you don't have to try and buy 8. If you're running out of RAM, look into how you've got your OS & apps running and learn how to tweak & lean 'em down.
Since you're getting new mobo, try to grab one with SATA 6 GB/s on it and try to get a drive that takes advantage of it. You might be able to swap in an SSD in a couple of months and that'll really jump things up a bit ... recently saw a 60 or 64GB SSD on a newegg shellshocker for $99 ... keep an eye open for that sort of deal. Your OS/system disk doesn't need more than 64GB; install your intense apps/games on it and put everything else on your other drives
Might have been this one; I think it was OCZ & the read/write numbers are what grabbed my attention:
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550
Pay attention to the read & write numbers. These are very excellent: read up to 285MB/s / write up to 275MB/s. No need to defrag an SSD, BTW, so performance stays pretty top as long as you keep your registry maintained.
You're bottleneck here is probably/mostly at the CPU, so look for specs that emphasize CPU performance and a mobo that has top communication w/ your video card. But, if you were able to throw an SSD on the system at some point, you will notice the difference.
keviny1:
Yes I have thought about selling the old parts I have no use for I also have an old psu, case and video card so I was think about putting that together for another build and sell it that way.
So by upgrading the cpu this will fix the lag in games a bit and make the system run faster?
Thanks for the help BTW
mgz:
--- Quote from: keviny1 on September 03, 2010, 06:51:01 PM ---Yes I have thought about selling the old parts I have no use for I also have an old psu, case and video card so I was think about putting that together for another build and sell it that way.
So by upgrading the cpu this will fix the lag in games a bit and make the system run faster?
Thanks for the help BTW
--- End quote ---
curious when you say gaming what kinds of games do you play and for what periods of time. cuz playing wow doesnt need nearly the cpu specs that playing say crysis or farcry with gfx up does.
In general playing shooters or games like oblivion with gfx up will use a bit of juice in comparison to the likes of wow so what you are playing makes a difference
datora:
.
Yah. Given what I've got to work with in this thread, I'd say I'm ~85%+ confident your issue is processing capability.
There's an i5-760 Lynnfield @2.8GHz for about $15 more than the i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz; about +$30 from an i5-650:
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067
I'd shoot for that if I could swing it. Shop around. Don't know what websites you check, but clearly I rely on newegg as a place to start, then google about & look for others that seem reputable and can compete. http://www.tigerdirect.com/ and http://www.geeks.com/ area couple more; hopefull other suggestions will show up here ... I'd like a few more to bookmark for myself.
There's always the possibility that you're configured wrong with your OS. Look for excessive processes running or high CPU/mem use when you think you've got everything shut down to idle. However, the CPU you listed is a bit aged, so it just seems like a solid bet. Sorry I can't issue you a guarantee ... ;)
But, it's more than processor because you're also jumping up to a more modern mobo and DDR 3 RAM, probably running at 1600 or 2000 MHz, so that should liven things up nicely. G.Skill, BTW, and its Ripjaws Series, is getting very solid props. I've used it for a couple of upgrades & it works solid.
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303 ($98)
Has outstanding timing numbers for the price: 7-8-7-24-2N, for example. $3 more and it's even a bit better:
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276 ($100 / 7-7-7-21)
Your video card seems pretty solid for what you're doing, but I'm no gamer, so you need advice from someone else on that.
The mobo I listed earlier is only one possibility. Use it to compare specifications. I like that one for its many connectors and lots of expansion room. You could go to a smaller board with that 890FXA chipset & AM3 socket and you'll still be state-of-the-art, maybe find one on special for ~$125-$145 or so.
The one I listed above was $179 yesterday w/ rebate. MSI is not necessarily the best, but that board reviewed well and was on the lower end of cost. There's always Gigabyte & Asus. If you're in no hurry, select several boards that look good for your needs and check once a day on these sites; one of them'll go on special and that's when you grab it and save $20 or $50.
I'm not trying to be AMD evangelical, but that Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition @3.4GHz can be taken up to 4.0 and 4.2 GHz. In that range, it compares very favorably against the i5 760. You can shave down costs a bit by getting a board that overclocks solidly ... of course you'll want to google about & do it with a clue.
- http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2368074,00.asp (Overclocking Guide for n00bs)
Extremetech or tomshardware.com also recently had a solid rundown on AMD mobos; pretty much listed the top five this summer (one of which is the MSI above). Both good sites to start at; I'm sure they also have something on i5/i7 boards if you search around.
You can learn a lot just reading the comments sections on these products at newegg. Lots of those geeks post what they did, problems they ran into, gear and workarounds needed, for Intel & AMD. Saved me from several mistakes, so, one another recommended resource.
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