Best upgrade for $500?

[imported_LoKe]

Alright, well, I've got $500 burning a hole in my pocket. I'm looking to spend it on upgrades for what I currently have, this is what's in the rig so far:

Processor: E6300
Mobo: Gigabyte 965P-S3
Video: eVGA 7900GS

The rest isn't really a concern as it'll do just fine (1GB of ram, I never hit 100% usage. 620w Corsair PSU. Lian Li v1200B Plus II, etc)

Remember, I'm not a gamer. So, what do I actually do with this computer? A fair amount of compiling, a lot of video encoding (avi -> mpg -> iso, pretty much the only thing that kicks my CPU usage up to 100%), and I watch a lot of movies/listen to music. As is, I can only start encoding while I sleep because it bogs down the computer.

All I can really think of that could offer a gain would be to swap the E6300 with a Q6600. I assume my motherboard would handle it just fine?

EDIT: Parts must be shipped to CANADA. I'd prefer to order from NCIX unless there's an alternative.

EDIT2: This is what I have picked out so far.

Q6600 - $279.99
Seagate Barracude 250GB Sata2 - $72.99
Coolermaster GeminII Heatsink - $36.18
15" Sound Sensitive CCFL, Red - $7.93
--
Total: $454.73 shipped.

 

[hclarkjr]

well seeing you have only 1gb of ram i would up that to at least 2gb seeing that you do a lot of video editing and so forth. that way your computer would not bog down for you. that is what dual core cpu's are for. you might also consider vista 64 bit and get 4gb of ram. just my 2cents worth for you

 

[Cogman]

Why not spend a few more bucks and get a thermal right ultra extreme? Video encoding will definitely benefit from a quad core (if you are using the latest x264 build) and overclocking it just gives you that much more umf.

umm. looks like you made some pretty good choices all around so there is not much more to comment on. More ram would help, but if the only thing you are doing is encoding (not using the computer in the background, or not heavily using it) then you should be good with that.

The only reason you would upgrade the video card you have is if you wanted to us an advanced noise filter like fft3dgpu. so that should be good. And yes, your motherboard should be fine as long as you make sure you have a current bios.

 

[Jeff7181]

Don't bother with anything less than a 500 GB drive now days. That seems to be the sweet spot in terms of performance and size per dollar spent. With the way prices are now, you could upgrade to a quad core processor, get a 500 gig hard drive, AND pick up 2 GB of memory for under $500.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: LoKe
As is, I can only start encoding while I sleep because it bogs down the computer.

Go to Task Manager, right click the process, set priority to "below normal" (if you set it to low, it starts competing against F@H or SETI, and the process will take much longer).
I regularly play games while doing heavy processes; processor priority makes a world of difference.

Seagate Barracude 250GB Sata2 - $72.99

Right now Tiger Direct (canada) has overstock 500gb hard drives
500gb hard drive - $109.97



Do you really need to upgrade this stuff? Is this video encoding time-critical, or just something you do at night? Are you currently running out of hard drive space? If not, just save your money. There are way too many people on this forum who jump at the chance to be poor; don't be one of those people.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: hclarkjr
well seeing you have only 1gb of ram i would up that to at least 2gb seeing that you do a lot of video editing and so forth. that way your computer would not bog down for you. that is what dual core cpu's are for. you might also consider vista 64 bit and get 4gb of ram. just my 2cents worth for you

The rest isn't really a concern as it'll do just fine (1GB of ram, I never hit 100% usage. 620w Corsair PSU. Lian Li v1200B Plus II, etc)

Originally posted by: Cogman
Why not spend a few more bucks and get a thermal right ultra extreme? Video encoding will definitely benefit from a quad core (if you are using the latest x264 build) and overclocking it just gives you that much more umf.

I'm really stuck on the heat sink. That's one area of the market I haven't been following.

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Don't bother with anything less than a 500 GB drive now days. That seems to be the sweet spot in terms of performance and size per dollar spent. With the way prices are now, you could upgrade to a quad core processor, get a 500 gig hard drive, AND pick up 2 GB of memory for under $500.

I've got a 250GB hard drive as is, but I'm down to about 40GB unused and I don't really want to run out all too soon. A 500GB is reasonable, but I'm wondering if I'll even be able to make use of it before the next big jump in tech comes.

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Go to Task Manager, right click the process, set priority to "below normal" (if you set it to low, it starts competing against F@H or SETI, and the process will take much longer).
I regularly play games while doing heavy processes; processor priority makes a world of difference.

Hm...I could tolerate. Easy enough to set up, and I wouldn't have to wait until I hit the sack to get some conversions done.

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Do you really need to upgrade this stuff? Is this video encoding time-critical, or just something you do at night? Are you currently running out of hard drive space? If not, just save your money. There are way too many people on this forum who jump at the chance to be poor; don't be one of those people.

Well, my hard drive is just about full-up, and I figure if I'm going to place an order, I might as well make it worth it if I'm paying shipping and all anyways. I've broken up too many orders in the past and paid a jack-load for shipping.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Q6600 - $279.99
500GB Barracuda - $115.99
Thermalright Ultra 120 - $48.42
Red 15' CCFL - $7.93

Better?

 

[Jeff7181]

Just because you don't hit 100% memory usage now doesn't mean you won't benefit from more RAM. Windows will keep swapping stuff out so you never hit 100% usage. One of the cool things about having a lot of RAM is not having to close programs. When I log on my computer, I open programs as I use them and don't close them till I log off or start playing a game. Why? Because I can, and it doesn't change performance because I have plenty of RAM for those programs to sit idle in waiting for me to need them again, and when I do, I can switch to them instantly.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Just because you don't hit 100% memory usage now doesn't mean you won't benefit from more RAM. Windows will keep swapping stuff out so you never hit 100% usage. One of the cool things about having a lot of RAM is not having to close programs. When I log on my computer, I open programs as I use them and don't close them till I log off or start playing a game. Why? Because I can, and it doesn't change performance because I have plenty of RAM for those programs to sit idle in waiting for me to need them again, and when I do, I can switch to them instantly.

Given the prices of ram lately, I don't see why I can't pick up another GB or so.

Dual channel ram always confused me. If I buy another GB, I'll have 4x512 of DDR2 ram. That will still operate correctly, even with 4 sticks, yes? Maybe I should just spring for 2x1GB sticks.

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: LoKe

The rest isn't really a concern as it'll do just fine (1GB of ram, I never hit 100% usage. 620w Corsair PSU. Lian Li v1200B Plus II, etc)

An app can query available ram and use just a percentage - most try to play nice and not use all available ram. That usage hasn't hit 100% doesn't necessarily mean that the app wouldn't put more ram to good use. If not convinced of this, borrow some and check it out. Assuming there are two 512mb sticks, I would get another two 1gb sticks with ram being so cheap. This would make moving to Vista smoother if that day ever comes.

IMO, select the 500gb wd or samsung over the hot and noisier seagate. Full capacity should be considered 70 - 80% since more than that results in thrashing.

2nd the ThermalRight - maybe the new smaller version - Q6600 runs hot.

With these changes, this pc should be viable for years.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: seemingly random
An app can query available ram and use just a percentage - most try to play nice and not use all available ram. That usage hasn't hit 100% doesn't necessarily mean that the app wouldn't put more ram to good use. If not convinced of this, borrow some and check it out. Assuming there are two 512mb sticks, I would get another two 1gb sticks with ram being so cheap. This would make moving to Vista smoother if that day ever comes..

This is very true. The computer I'm using right now had 512mb just a few weeks ago, and it was brutally slow. I upgraded it to 1gb, and the difference is like night and day, yet the Task Manager says I'm only using 460mb ram. Why couldn't it use 460 when it had 512? Who knows.

 

[Cogman]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Q6600 - $279.99
500GB Barracuda - $115.99
Thermalright Ultra 120 - $48.42
Red 15' CCFL - $7.93

Better?

Yes, just don't forget to get a fan with it, I know it sucks but these don't come with fans (unless you want to passively cool) Check out silentpcreview.com for the latest on the fan situation (im not sure about it) or just get a freakin big fan and ramp it down.

 

[jeffw2767602]

q6600 - $280
thermalright ultra 120 extreme $55
samsung 500gb spinpoint = $110

spend the rest of the money to max out your RAM. RAM is the most cost efficient performance upgrade, especially at these crazy low ddr2 prices. you can easily get 4gb of crucial ballistix (great ram modules btw) for $100 if you work the rebates right.

 

[seemingly random]

+ YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SL-12 $3.50 at jab-tech.com
or Scythe S-Flex Fan - SFF21E $14
or Nexus 120mm Real Silent case fan - D12SL $16 - might not be fast enough

 

[imported_LoKe]

I've decided on 2GB of 800MHz ram, the Q6600, the Ultra 120 heat sink as well at the 15 Red CCFL. No hard drive this time around, it looks like I won't be needing it for a while now. It's on its way.

 

[seemingly random]

Looks like a good choice.

It would be interesting to do some benchmarks now while waiting for the new parts and again with the new parts without changing any s/w or defragging, etc.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Unfortunately I'm not yet familiar with all the benchmarking tools for linux. SuperPi is pretty much the only one I know of.

 

[seemingly random]

Benchmarks are not necessarily representative of usage but are sometimes useful.

But I can think of a couple of useful ones close to home:

- A fair amount of compiling
- a lot of video encoding (avi -> mpg -> iso)

And anything else you do that takes longer than a few seconds and can be consistently timed. With the quad core coming, multiple instances of some app's could be tested before and after - I would guess that this is where you're going to see the biggest improvement - multitasking.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: seemingly random
- A fair amount of compiling
- a lot of video encoding (avi -> mpg -> iso)

I do these often. I'll time my video encoding. =]

 

[seemingly random]

Finally caught on to the fact that you use linux. Compiling a kernel seems like an excellent candidate - I would do it three times - to take caching into account.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Well, the stuff is all here.

Q6600, 2GB of ram (I now have 3GB), Ultra 120, and the cold cathode.

The processor...damn it's powerful. I'm converting some movies right now and they're getting done fast! I just set the priority of the application to the highest possible and it's still only using about 50% on 2-3 cores.

The ram is nice, but so far I'm still only using ~500MB, like before. Maybe I'll find something resource intensive to fix this.

The Ultra 120 was a PITA to install, and man is it ever huge! But the design is fantastic, it fits perfectly and it's keeping this sucker nice and cool.

The cathode is pretty near. I stuck it to the bottom of my case, between the wheels, and it's got a nice red flash going with the bass from my music. I like it.