Cant decide....

[KH85]

Right its upgrade time!

Currently have a AMD 3200+ (2.1Ghz) and 1Gig of DDR..... so anything will be a major improvement!

PC is used for general tasks (No gaming and nothing really intensive!)

Below are the two i cant decide between:

Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £88.99
Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £80.99
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X £86.83

Total £256.81

OR

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) £121.89
sus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £72.99
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X £86.83

Total £281.72

Which will be the 'best bang for buck'?

The i3 looks to be the better option to me but im sure someone knows better than me!

Any input welcomed

Thanks in advance

Karl

 

[Jovec]

If you don't need 4 real cores then go i3, however, p55 motherboards cannot use the onchip video of the i3, so you'll need a discrete card or H55/H57 mobo.

 

[Arkaign]

Nothing really intensive? Skip the X4, slap a PhII X2 or X3 on that bottom setup. The onboard video and superior mobo is worth it.

 

[nonameo]

Nothing really intensive? Skip the X4, slap a PhII X2 or X3 on that bottom setup. The onboard video and superior mobo is worth it.

Not to mention that with the phenom II x2 there is the possibility of unlocking cores.

 

[daveybrat]

Both of those systems are way overkill for you. Go with the AMD system and get one of the following processors to go with it:

AMD Athlon II X3 425 2.7GHz

AMD Athlon II X4 620 or 630 2.6GHz or 2.8GHz


Cheap and extemely fast for you, the onboard graphics on the 785G motherboard are more than sufficient.

 

[SmCaudata]

Right its upgrade time!

Currently have a AMD 3200+ (2.1Ghz) and 1Gig of DDR..... so anything will be a major improvement!

PC is used for general tasks (No gaming and nothing really intensive!)

Below are the two i cant decide between:

Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £88.99
Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £80.99
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X £86.83

Total £256.81

As mentioned you will need an H55/57 board to use the onboard video. I'd go with any microATX board (basically whatever is cheapest.) I'd also go with different RAM. No reason to need 1600 as that is an "overclock" speed anyway. I'd get some 1.35V CL7 1333 stuff personally in your setup. You'd actually see better performance at the stock motherboard settings with the lower CAS latency not to mention decreased voltage means less heat/power.

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) £121.89
sus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £72.99
Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX Twin3X £86.83

Total £281.72

Here I'd go with the Phenom II x2 OR Athlon II x4. Both can be had for the same price. One guarantees you 4 cores (which more programs will likely use going forward) and the other will be faster with 2 cores and may unlock to 4. Again I'd go with cheaper RAM.


As for overall bang for the buck it is very hard to beat the i3 right now if you are just doing general computing, video playback, and light encoding. 2 cores is enough for most desktop use right now and you get a built in "good enough" video card that can bitstream hi-def audio.

EDIT: That said here in the states Microcenter is selling an Athlon II x4 620 with motherboard for $110 AR ($10). You cannot beat a motherboard for $20. It is likely that you will be able to find good enough motherboards for almost nothing for the Athlon's then you could pick up a 56xx AMD video card to get better graphics and still stream the high def audio for about the same price. The other advantage to these motherboards is DDR2 ram which can save you another $10-$20. For reference this is the type of motherboard you can get cheap. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128383

 

[n7]

From those two options, i'd definitely go AMD.

 

[KH85]

Thanks for all your input.... Looks like AMD it is then!

Thanks again

karl