Upgrading...

Deliverance XXV

Hey peeps.

I seem to be in the same boat as a lot of people in that it has been a while since
I've upgraded my computer so I'm completely in the dark at what's hot at the moment.

Reasons for upgrade:

PC needs a new lease of life.
Starting a computer-related course and using that as an excuse to justify a computer upgrade!

Current Build:

Case: Antec 900
CPU: C2Duo E6400 OC'd to 3.0ghz
Mobo: MSI P6n
GPU: Evga 8800GTS 320MB
RAM: 4GB DDRII 667MHZ
HSF: Scythe Ninja
PSU: 600W Seasonic
HDD: Various
OS: 32 Bit Vista
Monitor: 22" WS LG

I am willing to buy off of Harwareversand. They still require a bank transfer, yeah?
Would a second monitor be of much benefit? Part of my course would be programming
so if a second monitor would make my life easy... Gaming-wise, the computer would only be used very
lightly so maybe the current GPU would be grand. The computer would be used for RAW image editing, college work,
light gaming, surfing etc.

Proposed Build:
Case: Antec 900 -Willing to keep...
CPU: ??? Quad-Core?
Mobo: ??? Cheap, decent and good for OC'ing
GPU: Evga 8800GTS 320MB --Willing to keep...
RAM: ??? Would 8gigs with 64bit Vista be much more effective or completely OTT?
HSF: Scythe Ninja --Willing to keep...
PSU: 600W Seasonic --Willing to keep...
HDD: Various --Willing to keep... & would add a 1TB HDD
OS: 32 Bit Vista --Willing to keep... & would dual boot with Ubuntu
Monitor: 22" WS LG --Willing to keep... and maybe add second monitor.

Budget would prob be at the €600 mark.

Any ideas, suggestions, help? Much appreciated folks

Solitaire

What program are you using for RAW image editing? Is it very CPU-intensive stuff? If you needed a bigger boost and were using Adobe CS4 it could justify a GPU upgrade to get CUDA, but its most certainly not a priority and only applicable to CS4.

The other question is whether you have a predilection to one brand of CPU. At the moment an X4-955BE is only fractionally more than a Q9400 (the Q9300 being more expensive for some reason) which limits the reason for going with LGA775 unless you're adamant about punching through the 4GHz barrier, and even with a Q9550 that would require a rather pricey mobo and lots of cooling... Some Phenom2s can hit 4GHz anyway, and the bulk of them are quite happy with staying at 3.6-3.7GHz as a day-to-day operating speed anyway.

The X4-940BE is under €150, but it can only be run on AM2 and its a fairly hot-running CPU even at stock (up to 125W). The X4-945EE is cooler-running (<95W) and can be used on AM2 and AM3 mobos, but with a locked multiplier it can only be OCd the "old-fashioned way". At €148 both are a steal for a 3GHz quad. The top-of-the-range X4-955BE is also hot'n'hungry, also capable of being run on either platform, and boasts a 3.2GHz stock speed with an unlocked multi. But it costs over €15 more. Still over €20 cheaper than the Q9550 though!

I know a good budget AM3 mobo for OCing, but it neccessitates the purchase of shiny new DDR3 memory. Not so sure of such cheap yet OC-friendly AM2 mobos. Even then PC5300 memory is getting pretty long in the tooth at this point.

Everything else should be a keeper at this point in time - you can always upgrade the graphics card later if the need (urge) arises

High-ish end random sample build (<€550 delivered)

Deliverance XXV

Solitaire wrote: »

What program are you using for RAW image editing? Is it very CPU-intensive stuff? If you needed a bigger boost and were using Adobe CS4 it could justify a GPU upgrade to get CUDA, but its most certainly not a priority and only applicable to CS4.

The other question is whether you have a predilection to one brand of CPU. At the moment an X4-955BE is only fractionally more than a Q9400 (the Q9300 being more expensive for some reason) which limits the reason for going with LGA775 unless you're adamant about punching through the 4GHz barrier, and even with a Q9550 that would require a rather pricey mobo and lots of cooling... Some Phenom2s can hit 4GHz anyway, and the bulk of them are quite happy with staying at 3.6-3.7GHz as a day-to-day operating speed anyway.

The X4-940BE is under €150, but it can only be run on AM2 and its a fairly hot-running CPU even at stock (up to 125W). The X4-945EE is cooler-running (<95W) and can be used on AM2 and AM3 mobos, but with a locked multiplier it can only be OCd the "old-fashioned way". At €148 both are a steal for a 3GHz quad. The top-of-the-range X4-955BE is also hot'n'hungry, also capable of being run on either platform, and boasts a 3.2GHz stock speed with an unlocked multi. But it costs over €15 more. Still over €20 cheaper than the Q9550 though!

I know a good budget AM3 mobo for OCing, but it neccessitates the purchase of shiny new DDR3 memory. Not so sure of such cheap yet OC-friendly AM2 mobos. Even then PC5300 memory is getting pretty long in the tooth at this point.

Everything else should be a keeper at this point in time - you can always upgrade the graphics card later if the need (urge) arises

High-ish end random sample build (<€550 delivered)

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii180/ResignedAxis/HWVS070809.png

Thanks for taking the time Solitaire.

I use Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Lightroom.

Is there much of a benefit of going Phenom over a Intel Quad? I would only overclock to get extra juice/more bang
for the buck rather than to try break personal records. I have always been a supporter of Intel CPU's but I'm
seriously thinking about switching to AMD for this build...
Will there be a noticeable difference going from DDR2 667 to DDR3 10666?
Is the Scythe Ninja compatible with the board and CPU you mentioned?

Solitaire

Still looking but how much CS4 are you going to be doing with this rig? For some weird reason Phenoms utterly suck at Photoshop...

Deliverance XXV

Solitaire wrote: »

Still looking but how much CS4 are you going to be doing with this rig? For some weird reason Phenoms utterly suck at Photoshop...

I use Lightroom far more than PS CS4 so whilst it isn't on continuously it does get a bit of use. If this helps

Deliverance XXV

Okay had some thought about this.

I'm using Komplett.ie links as examples. Prices below are Komplett.ie for comparative purposes except for RAM which is from Memoryc.ie
which seem to have good bargains. All linked listings are what I'm going to buy, preferably off HWV but considering a Irish company.

Is there any benefit to a second monitor? How are the compatibility of products below? Is the Scythe Ninja HS okay for the Phenom? Does the Intel mobo support 45nm? I went heavy on RAM as I'm considering a move to 64bit Windows and will be using ubuntu and seeing as RAM is so cheap these days...

How do the below builds look?

Proposed Build #1 INTEL: Total: €390 ish
Case: Antec 900
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 €209
Mobo: MSI P43 NEO-F, P43, Socket-775, DDR2 €62
GPU: Evga 8800GTS 320MB
RAM: 4GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 X2 (8GB Total) €58 X2
HSF: Scythe Ninja
PSU: 600W Seasonic
HDD: Various
OS: Vista & dual boot with Ubuntu
Monitor: 22" WS LG

Proposed Build #2 AMD: Total: €350 ish
Case: Antec 900
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 945 €199
Mobo: MSI 770-C45 €67
GPU: Evga 8800GTS 320MB
RAM: 6GB Geil DDR3 1333mhz €79
HSF: Scythe Ninja
PSU: 600W Seasonic
HDD: Various
OS: Vista & dual boot with Ubuntu
Monitor: 22" WS LG

Thanks, much appreciated

uberpixie

GPU: 8800 GTS 320mb.
This card is fine for playing games @ 1280 x 1024 on a 17" or a 19".

Once you start hitting 1680 x 1050 it will start to drag so I would consider changing it if you feel your pc is dragging in game. This is by far the weakest part in your PC gaming wise.

a radeon 4890 for under €200 won't break the bank too much!
or a radeon 4870 1gig for around €150 would be another nice choice.

Deliverance XXV

uberpixie wrote: »

GPU: 8800 GTS 320mb.
This card is fine for playing games @ 1280 x 1024 on a 17" or a 19".

Once you start hitting 1680 x 1050 it will start to drag so I would consider changing it if you feel your pc is dragging in game. This is by far the weakest part in your PC gaming wise.

a radeon 4890 for under €200 won't break the bank too much!
or a radeon 4870 1gig for around €150 would be another nice choice.

On my current rig I can play Crysis at medium settings with some of the lighter graphical options turned on to high with no lag at all.
I will upgrade the graphics card down the line and would definitely consider the ATI range.

Cheers for the heads up.

Deliverance XXV

Any suggestions on the initial questions, guys?

mercury127

You've gone for triple channel memory in your AMD build and I'm pretty sure only i7's support that.

Unregistered.

mercury127 wrote: »

You've gone for triple channel memory in your AMD build and I'm pretty sure only i7's support that.

It will still work mind! You just won't be able to benefit from triple channel, or dual channel for that matter.

leninbenjamin

Solitaire wrote: »

What program are you using for RAW image editing? Is it very CPU-intensive stuff? If you needed a bigger boost and were using Adobe CS4 it could justify a GPU upgrade to get CUDA, but its most certainly not a priority and only applicable to CS4.

CS4 doesn't use CUDA. There's a plug-in released recently enough, but that you have to buy.

Deliverance XXV

Okay after several days thoughts and research here is what I think my final purchases will be.
Let me know if you see something amiss, incompatible or something that could be better...

___________________________________________________________

CPU:
Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
I choose this as it's supposed to be better when it comes to the likes of Photoshop,
it appears to be fairly flexible in overclocking and I have always been a Intel fan.


MOBO:
MSI P43 NEO-F, P43, Socket-775, DDR2
A good all round, cheap board and reviews say it's a decent overclocker.


RAM:
OCZ DDR2 PC8500 4GB KIT, Reaper HPC
Went for DDR2 as no-one seems to be recommending much benefits with DDR3 just yet?


HDD:
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA2
Seems decent and I remember hearing the Spinpoints being a very fast 7200RPM HDD.

MONITOR:
LG 22" Wide W2253V-PF, Full HD
This would be my main monitor.

___________________________________________________________

I would consider a blu-ray drive to go with the HD monitor. Worth it?

I have no problem paying a small few extra quid if it means more performance/value etc.

Thanks for any help peeps

Unregistered.

Deliverance XXV wrote: »

HDD:
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA2
Seems decent and I remember hearing the Spinpoints being a very fast 7200RPM HDD.

Good thing about these bad boys (the 1TB/750GB models) was that they only had 3 platters, compared to 4/5 that other manufacturers had to use. The two obvious benefits to this are 1) less moving parts should mean increased reliability. Adn 2) because each platter has a higher density, i.e. more data stored closer together, it's faster to access.

Having said that, WD (and I think seagate) new HDDs usee 500GB platters, so there 1TB drives only have 2! not sure on price/availabilty though.