CPU Upgrade 775 CPU or change to Core i5/i7

Hi all,

I need some advice on my decision to upgrade my rig!?... I wanna upgrade later on this year but I don't know whether just upgrading my CPU, RAM, & maybe HSF would suffice, or would it better for me to change to Socket 1156/1366???...

My rig upgrade is mainly for speeding up Firefox/utorrent for browsing/downloading/streaming video, Media Player Classic/Windows Media Player 10 for loading videos quicker, & a bit of video editing/converting faster.

Also I would like to know which s775 CPU compares well with which s1156 CPU (if it's best to go down the s775 cpu upgrade route)?... I guess the Socket 1366 processors are comparable to most of the high end Socket 775 processors right? Correct if I'm wrong! However, if you can also tell me which s775 processor compares well with a s1366 processor, that would be a bonus! ^_^

Well, that's all I can think of thats needed to be written here, don't hesitate to ask for more info, but please give me advice as much as possible please!

Cheers for reading and replying ^_^

 

First of all, what 775 CPU do you have right now?

Although 1156/1366 are awesome sockets, Intel will soon be releasing Sandy Bridge processors, which I would suggest you wait for instead of upgrading to one of the current sockets.

 

Most of that is purely down to your internet connection.
Sounds like you want to upgrade to faster internet and not faster hardware.

 

First, which socket processors are the sandy bridge processors? Are they the s1155's?
And if u read my siggy, you'll will see that I have an original overclocked E6300 1.8GHz processor...

 

Well, good amount of times, Firefox itself freezes when I am switching from tab to tab and I tend to have multiples of tabs opened and I switch between tabs quite often, would that be down to internet connection? or processor deficiency? or possibly RAM deficiency?

 

My bad.

Yeah Sandy Bridge is the 1155 processors. It probably is just your internet. I think your processor should do fine for the time until Sandy Bridge, its not too far away.

 

Downloading data and surfing the web won't be sped up by upgrading your components unless your system is really, really slow. For Firefox, I'd be looking at deleting your old profile and restarting (save all your bookmarks by exporting via HTML, then making a new profile, and reinstalling add-ons that you want), or switching to a different browser.

Loading videos quicker, well...defrag your hard drive is the best way to do that, otherwise, you aren't really going to get much faster performance without drastic measures (new hard drives and the like).

A good upgrade that would be cost effective would be to find a Q6600 on the cheap, used, and to overclock that. It wouldn't cost too much, would be able to hold you out until you do a large upgrade (2011 will see several new sockets been released on the Intel front). If you use programs that are mutli-core enabled, you can take advantage of the extra cores that it has.

The i5 and i7 are both faster than the older Core 2 lines, however, not necessarily by a justifiable amount to some people (the cost of the motherboard, processor, and memory that you'll have to buy might provide a good performance increase, but if you don't use your PC for really intensive work, it'll probably not be worth the money at all).

 

No worries ^_^ So you think I need not upgrade?... It does freeze up when switching from tab to tab on Firefox or when switching from one video to another on MP Classic.

 

My old PC was similar spec to yours and it seemed to be fast enough to do all the tasks you listed. Still, if you want something better, I'd say there is no need to splash out on a completely new platform unless you really have money to burn.

I'd go for a Q8200 for 100-105 pounds from Scan. There is nothing wrong with your cooler, but you can always upgrade it to something slightly better. I have no idea when it comes to LGA 775 coolers though.

You still have RAM slots available so just drop 2 1GB sticks and it will give you a massive performance increase. These two upgrades will set you back around 140-150 pounds and give a huge boost.

If you want more gaming performance then get a GTX 460 either 1GB or 768MB version depending on the budget and use the 9500 as a secondary card (I'm guessing you are using it for Physx, right?)

It's true that an i7 with 6GB triple channel memory would give you even more performance, but when you add up the costs of CPU+RAM+ mobo then I don't think it is worth it. Either stick with what you have and do a full system change once Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer are out and go for whichever one is best, or make a smaller upgrade now. I guess an alternative is to go for LGA1156 due to lower CPU ram and mobo costs. Just check the benchmarks in here and see for yourself http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/52?vs=109

 

I read the new posts. For general web browsing your PC should be lightning fast. There has to be a problem either with your internet connection or the software on your computer. You could try and reinstal Firefox, limit the number of plugins since one of them might be bugged/unstable, finally make sure what you experience is not caused by malware. Video converting is the only thing that is hardware dependent out of all the things you listed in the first post. You either want to have a better ISP or check your software. If you still feel the need to upgrade then I'd deffinately go for the q8200 and 2gb of RAM. Not everyone needs an i7.

 

You're completely right on the reinstall thing, and I think I need to completely reinstall Windows XP as my rig does feel a bit choppy at times... However, I will need to get my finger out and start on the backing up of precious data and setting files from my C: drive in order for to start reinstalling Windows XP

Upgrading to Core 2 Quad sounds like a gr8 idea as it helps to boost my rigs performance and also gives me the time needed to patiently wait for the new s1155 tech to become fully established... However, how overclockerable is the Q8200?

But, with my RAM, does it have to be an exact match to my current pair of "Matched Pair of RAM" as I can't find them anywhere for sale anymore!?... I can only find a similar type from the same brand with a different type of heat spreader plating... Or is possible to just buy similar performing "matched pair" from any brand of sticks with my current ones? I'm guessing it would be safer to go same brand with similar performance and settings?

 

format an start again

 

Any DDR2 800 Mhz RAM should work. Though safer if you buy same brand and model if possible. Still, before you buy anything, just work on the OS. My old PC had a stock E6300 and I noticed no difference in Firefox compared to the new i7 rig. Also remember that under XP you will only use 3GB of RAM max. From what you wrote I think the perfect upgrade would be 2GB of RAM and a Windows 7 upgrade disk. The student discount offer is valid for students AND families, so if you know anyone with a valid ac.uk email then you're good to go. They can order it for you. Whatever money you've left over will be better off in a savings account for a full system update in the future.

PS First time i see someone on bitech with a RO sprite. Brings back memories.

 

Try Goggle Chrome, and see if you get the same performance issues.

Getting a SSD will net you better performance then going i7 for the above that is listed.

 

Unfortunately my days as a student are long over, so can't really buy Windows 7 yet, LOL... I guess I might just buy the same brand of RAM with same specs but different appearance to start off with (and I do realise that 3GB is only recognised by XP - isn't it a little more than 3GB?)

I won't be buying anything until probably December time, haven't got the funds for upgrading yet, so I probably will get XP reinstalled by then... Well, thanks for all the advice, I've got more of an idea now than before I posted on here ^_^

Cheers...
PS yes RO was a gr8 time waster during those days LOL

 

I got it installed and it has similar performance as Firefox, and I can't afford for an SSD just yet, plus I have no idea which are good and which will be a waste of money, they all seem the same with similar read/write performance!

 

I just wanna say thanks u all for giving me such reassuring advice... I probably was thinking about this out of proportion in the first place LOL...

Well, Cheers! ^_^

 

You don't need to be a student yourself. Just ask a friend or someone from your family to buy a copy for you for 40 pounds and just give them the money. As long as they have a valid ac.uk email it will got through. And that's the only verification.

 

Hey, here's a related question to upgrading my CPU (however, not sure whether I'm going for a fast Dual Core or a Quad Core at a similar price)... would I be better off upgrading my HSF or will my Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro be still good??? I've been reading about the ThermalTake Frio and was wondering if that is compatible and if so whether that would be good HSF to replace my Freezer 7 Pro if I need a new HSF???

Thanks for the reply!

 

My system isnt toooo far of what you have. In my opinion, you need to do some housekeeping first.

Backup data
format
Re-install
build up to SP3
run regular 'Disk Cleanup' and de-frag
Run msconfig and tailor the amount of programs that start on boot
Keep your temp internet files cleared out
etc etc

Then perhaps hardware wise get some nice 4gb DDR2 memory (2x 2gb Corsair XMS 2 for example)

Not sure what HDD you have, but having a fairly decent one will help with windows boot times and program loading times. (Samsung Spinpoint F3 or similar)

And IF you game, perhaps a 2nd hand GTX 260 or similar.

But your current rig should perform reasonably well if kept clean and looked after. Give it some TLC