I've got a pretty decent spec P.C as it is but I'm upgrading my case as the coolermaster 330 case I've got is a little too small for my liking (I just hadn't bothered thinking about upgrading it until now) anyway I have a budget of £300 for a new motherboard, a quad core CPU (AMD not INTEL) and a new case. If people can recommend some components I'd appreciate it, the Core 2 Duo has never provided me with any problems whatsoever I just want to go back to AMD as I always found those processors to be more responsive, but that's just my opinion. Thanks all.
Are you looking to go AM3? If so you are going to need to include some DDR3 ram into your budget as well.
No I wasn't looking at going the AM3 route anymore, the processor I was looking at was the one here http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155714 originally it was going to be this one http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164047 but that jumped over the weekend from £146 to £172, bit too much just for the CPU I thought, and the fact that's an AM3 processor so I thought I'd stick to AM2 so I can still use my existing ram. Will check back later on see what anyone thinks. Thanks for replying.
AM3 is do-able on your budget. All prices from Novatech but you may be able to find it cheaper.... Motherboard- - - MSI 770 C45 £52.89 CPU 955BE (the AM3 one you listed) £149.49 Crucial 1333mhz DDR3 ram 6,6,6,20 £52.89 Case Antec 300 (slightly larger than the CM 330) £47.22 All this comes to £302.48 just over budget. The MSI board maybe be a budget board but it recently got Custom Pc's approval and a recommended award.
Wouldn't a move to i5 be more advisable at this stage? Just saying. The AMD chip is not "more responsive" (not sure what you mean by that) Not that it's a bad move to switch to AMD it's not, it's just that it's not really the greatest choice of upgrade you could make right now from what you already have. You might find yourself wondering where your money has gone. Edit: thinking more about this it really does scream out as being a big waste of cash.
Slizza, Your saying that the AMD's aren't more responsive? Or are you asking me what I mean when I say they are "more responsive", if so I mean when running applications and games, I've alway's found AMD CPU's to be more responsive aka faster in doing things, but like I said that's just my opinion and the experience I've had with AMD CPU's. You saying it would be a big waste of cash, why so? And how long would I be looking at to wait for i5 CPU's and would I really get any i5 CPU and motherboard with a new case and new RAM that would be needed if I got an i5 CPU because the i5 motherboards won't suport my existing DDR 2 800 ram would they? So would I really get all that for the budget I have of £300. Thanks
I was saying both those things about the cpu. You were mistaken to think they were more responsive. If you are talking about loading times that will be your hdd and not the cpu btw. I think it will be a waste as you wont see much of a performance increase over what you are using already so you may feel like you wasted all your money with only a small gain if any. I5 is due out this week if i'm not mistaken. I read on hexus there will be a 55% off deal for the launch of the MSI motherboards too!! You can score one for like £70 You would not want to miss that if you can get hold of one. THis frees up enough cash to get some nice DDR3 and a i5 chip right within your budget.
Aah, Okay I might as well wait then, if you can link on here about the launch of those motherboards I'd appreciate it then I can have a read, might be worth waiting after all then. Thanks for the info
You are welcome. Seems the launch and deal is tomorrow so you best move fast they are going to sell out in hours i recon. Read about it right here at bit-tech http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/09/07/55-off-msi-p55-boards-on-tuesday-2pm/1
Couple of other questions if your still around Slizza, which of the 2 boards would you go for? I'm thinking of the cheaper one for me, and also the I5 is clocked lower in MHZ than my Core 2Duo E8400 but presumably the I5 will be a lot faster than the E8400 won't it? Thanks
It should overclock like a beast from what has been seen so far and be a good jump from the c2d. At those prices i'd say get the top model! All the p55 boards look fantastic to me. Bit-tech have done a first look writeup on one, but what would they know http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/motherboards/2009/08/18/first-look-msi-p55-gd80/1
I'll try and go for the top model tomorrow, see if I manage to get one at that price!, hopefully will have enough left out the £300 for the RAM and CPU . Thanks again Slizza
Looking @ ebuyer.. i5 -2.66 ghz -£150 with free delivery. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755 4gb 1600mhz DDR3 £60 with free delivery. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166463 Leaves just enough for the cheaper MSI board and should blow away both your current system and the planned AMD system. Booyah! I'm almost jealous, i want one of these badboys too.
Only almost jealous (that's because you've got an I7 lol ). Oh and I'm assuming my PSU will be good enough then because according to that Extreme Power Supply Calculator it reckons if I had a Core i7 920/DDR3 Ram/GTX 275 it would only need 399 watts, that doesn't sound right does it? Especially if I was getting a i7 instead of i5 which I won't be. The spec I'd have if I manage to get one of those mobos would be. Core i5 750 2.66 ghz Corsair 4gb DDR3 1600 mhz ram Palit GTX 275 896 MB Gfx card 1 Sata 150 hard drive 7200 rpm 2 Sata 300 hard drives both @ 7200 rpm 1 ide DVD-Writer 1 Sata DVD-Drive 1 standard 120 mm fan 1 LED 120 mm fan Doesn't sound right that if the i5 was an i7 that it would only need 399 watts though does it!? I mean the PSU I've got is good it's a ThermalTake Toughpower 600 Watt model, the one here http://uk.thermaltake.eu/product_info.aspx?PARENT_CID=C_00000899&id=C_00000973&name=Toughpower+600W&ovid=n and I've had it about a year, it quotes it as having high reliability and a MTBF of 120,000 hours , I've no idea how many years that is but it's a fair few right based on the below? I calculated 24 hours in a day x 365 (based on if P.C was on 24/7 which it isn't) makes 8760 hours a year x 10 years = 87600 so it should be nowhere near it's end of life yet, I'm just wondering if it really will be enough to power that lot? Thanks for all the replies.
