cheapo upgrade

[zCypher]

Just ordered a Biostar motherboard that has sata3, usb3, ddr3, and RAID (current MSI MB doesn't have any of that). It's coming with an X3 455 that I hope to unlock the 4th core like I did on another X3. Also with it is a reasonably nice deal on 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 for $35.99. Total for the 3 parts shipped is less than an i5-2500k. Nowhere near its performance, but it will still be a good step up.

I currently have the OCZ 60GB Vertex2 which only supports sata2.

I'm really tempted to try two 120GB Vertex3 or other sata3 SSD in RAID-0. I keep bootable backups so if I do happen to need RMA again, I'm not too worried.

Do you think my 1GB EVGA GTX460SE will still be sufficient with the new parts? I know they are relatively low end by today's standards, so I'm thinking I'll probably be able to keep the 460 until my next upgrade in a couple years.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Just ordered a Biostar motherboard that has sata3, usb3, ddr3, and RAID (current MSI MB doesn't have any of that). It's coming with an X3 455 that I hope to unlock the 4th core like I did on another X3. Also with it is a reasonably nice deal on 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 for $35.99. Total for the 3 parts shipped is less than an i5-2500k. Nowhere near its performance, but it will still be a good step up.

I currently have the OCZ 60GB Vertex2 which only supports sata2.

I'm really tempted to try two 120GB Vertex3 or other sata3 SSD in RAID-0. I keep bootable backups so if I do happen to need RMA again, I'm not too worried.

Do you think my 1GB EVGA GTX460SE will still be sufficient with the new parts? I know they are relatively low end by today's standards, so I'm thinking I'll probably be able to keep the 460 until my next upgrade in a couple years.

um...if youre going to buy two SSDs, might as well go i5 -_-

 

[zCypher]

um...if youre going to buy two SSDs, might as well go i5 -_-

why?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

not worth it.

well about 200 dollars a pop.

two of those.... 400

plus what you spent on the parts. you could get a decent i3 build actually.

its better than an x3

 

[lehtv]

Indeed. For the price of two 120GB SSD's you could buy a 2500K, a new Z68 motherboard and 8GB of RAM. Combined with your existing 60GB SSD, it'd be far superior setup compared to 2x120GB SSD RAID on an Athlon X3.

 

[mfenn]

What is it that you want to do that you think will be limited by your current SSD? Also, what kind of games do you play or want to play? That will determine how long your GTX 460 SE lasts.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Indeed. For the price of two 120GB SSD's you could buy a 2500K, a new Z68 motherboard and 8GB of RAM. Combined with your existing 60GB SSD, it'd be far superior setup compared to 2x120GB SSD RAID on an Athlon X3.

see....:biggrin:

 

[zCypher]

Sigh, I see. That does make lots of sense, damn you for your good advice!

Maybe I should have been more clear about that, I was not prepared to spend $400+ at this time. Cheapest 2500k I can find here is $219 for the processor alone.

If later on, I come across a deal that can't be passed up for a 120GB SSD, I'd sell the 60GB to offset some of the cost. Having the possibility of tinkering with RAID is just a bonus that sounds like fun, it's really not a necessity for me.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

The CPU/GPU combo you will have is a good match. Should play most of the current crop of games on medium resolutions and settings.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Sigh, I see. That does make lots of sense, damn you for your good advice!

Maybe I should have been more clear about that, I was not prepared to spend $400+ at this time. Cheapest 2500k I can find here is $219 for the processor alone.

If later on, I come across a deal that can't be passed up for a 120GB SSD, I'd sell the 60GB to offset some of the cost. Having the possibility of tinkering with RAID is just a bonus that sounds like fun, it's really not a necessity for me.

Then why are you willing to spend money on a SSD! -_-

just saying, having a POS cpu and attaching a nice RAID set up is like having a 6990 with a Pentium D

 

[Spikesoldier]

i personally would have stepped up to a Phenom II X3.

but all in all, that system you have is pretty well rounded now. the only X3 i played around with, the board didnt have the unlock feature, but would OC to 3.7 on stock heatsink. should be a good kick in the pants for the money.

 

[zCypher]

Then why are you willing to spend money on a SSD! -_-

just saying, having a POS cpu and attaching a nice RAID set up is like having a 6990 with a Pentium D

I agree, if I were purchasing everything right now then it wouldn't make sense. The reason why I'm willing to spend on SSD is because it's a purchase I intend to make later on, when prices have dropped more and there's a good deal.

Anand's review of the X3 shows that it should overclock pretty easily to 3.8. I know there's never any guarantee when unlocking cores, but in his test he was able to OC even with 4th core unlocked.

i personally would have stepped up to a Phenom II X3.

but all in all, that system you have is pretty well rounded now. the only X3 i played around with, the board didnt have the unlock feature, but would OC to 3.7 on stock heatsink. should be a good kick in the pants for the money.

What's the difference between the regular and phenom, just the L3 cache?

 

[Spikesoldier]

What's the difference between the regular and phenom, just the L3 cache?

Yes, 6MB of it. It helps immensely in games.

 

[mfenn]

Sigh, I see. That does make lots of sense, damn you for your good advice!

Maybe I should have been more clear about that, I was not prepared to spend $400+ at this time. Cheapest 2500k I can find here is $219 for the processor alone.

If later on, I come across a deal that can't be passed up for a 120GB SSD, I'd sell the 60GB to offset some of the cost. Having the possibility of tinkering with RAID is just a bonus that sounds like fun, it's really not a necessity for me.

Well then, I'd say to leave well enough alone for now. You got a pretty decent upgrade for a good price.

 

[zCypher]

Thanks for all the good comments and critique. I received everything and put it all together. Went without a hitch, except for the slight scare of one of my case fans starting to make an awful noise after powering the system on (thought it was CPU fan at first). Tapped that mother a few times and it seems fine for now.

Unlocked the 4th core, seems to work fine. Very hot though (prime95 max of 91c at stock speeds), so I have a 212 evo on the way. Can't wait to see how it will do with a reasonable cooler. It did OC from stock 3.3 to 3.6 using a tool that came with the motherboard driver CD, but it rebooted moments later (hence why I checked prime95 and hwmonitor right after).

I've heard that these chips are prone to less overclock-ability with unlocked core, any merit to that? Anand's review seemed positive enough though. I do realize it's hit or miss with unlocking a core, but the fact that it unlocked successfully and doesn't crash when prime95'd for a full day is encouraging.

The computer seems noticeably faster even with the same 60GB OCZ Vertex2, I'm happy about that. Seems to take about 5 seconds from pressing power button until the Windows startup begins, and just under another 15 seconds until ready to use. With the E5200 + MSI setup, it was closer to a 30 second startup time so that's pretty good!

I ran ATTO, maximum attained speed there was 289MB/s whereas it used to be about 250MB/s on my old system (again with the same drive). I guess this board makes more efficient use of SATA2.

 

[mfenn]

Glad you got everything working! Unlocking a core is 33% more heat output, so that will limit your max OC somewhat. The locked core could also be marginal enough such that it runs fine at stock speeds but is holding back the maximum overclock that you could get on 3 cores.