Yep. Another "what cpu should I choose?" thread with a twist and a long story.
Here's my situation: I pass down my old computers to my family often. (Let's just say there's 2 down the chain to pass to). This means that I never ever upgrade cpus on existing motherboards, I just buy a new pair of each. I don't need a lot of cpu power, heck, anyone hardly does but my athlon xp 1800+ is too slow for me now. I do software development, multi-tasking in different apps, etc. I play games but usually not the ones that are graphics demanding. And I don't know whether I should:
a) Upgrade more often and buy value components. Like, I was thinking of buying a pentium d 805 (let's say it costs $100) with a cheap motherboard (let's say $60) and overclock the cpu to 3.33 ghz. (Add $20 since it uses more power over its lifetime)
b) Upgrade less often and buy something a little bit more expensive. Let's say athlon x2 3800+ (let's say it costs $155) with a cheap motherboard (dunno how much this costs but i'm hypothesizing it shouldn't be hard to find a cheap approx $50 - $65 AM2 motherboard - if anyone has suggestions on this front, let me know) and overclock the 3800+ as far as i can.
c) Upgrade even less often and pay a little bit more for a conroe e6300 with a cheap motherboard (So not much overclocking here, if any).
d) Pay a lot more and buy e6600 with a good expensive motherboard and overclock it.
e) You suggest something.
If I go with (a), I figure I can upgrade every 1.5 to 2 years and the old system would still be useful. Uber performance is not important for me. As most people probably know, your cpu utilization never goes past 5% about 95% of the time (for the typical case). Visual Studio .NET however is starting to utilize my cpu like crazy (because of add-ins and such) and while I'm using it I probably go past 80% cpu 75% of the time (which is annoying). I was thinking an overclocked d 805 should be enough performance for the next 2 years.
If I go with (b), it's sort of like (a). I'll get a faster setup but I can upgrade less often (every 2 to 2.5 yrs)
And so on and so forth for (c) and (d)...
What do you guys think? I'm looking for the most cost-effective solution that will allow me to pay the least and provide good value. Value is measured here in
1) More cpu/motherboards to pass down = value
2) Latest and greatest each upgrade = smaller value
I was thinking of going for (a). Is (b) really worth the price increase? Should I spend $180 (for choice a) now and upgrade when it sucks (let's say 2 years) or spend $215 (for choice b) now and upgrade when it sucks (let's say in 2.5 yrs)? What's your opinion? Suggestions on which cpu/motherboard combo to buy?
Here's my situation: I pass down my old computers to my family often. (Let's just say there's 2 down the chain to pass to). This means that I never ever upgrade cpus on existing motherboards, I just buy a new pair of each. I don't need a lot of cpu power, heck, anyone hardly does but my athlon xp 1800+ is too slow for me now. I do software development, multi-tasking in different apps, etc. I play games but usually not the ones that are graphics demanding. And I don't know whether I should:
a) Upgrade more often and buy value components. Like, I was thinking of buying a pentium d 805 (let's say it costs $100) with a cheap motherboard (let's say $60) and overclock the cpu to 3.33 ghz. (Add $20 since it uses more power over its lifetime)
b) Upgrade less often and buy something a little bit more expensive. Let's say athlon x2 3800+ (let's say it costs $155) with a cheap motherboard (dunno how much this costs but i'm hypothesizing it shouldn't be hard to find a cheap approx $50 - $65 AM2 motherboard - if anyone has suggestions on this front, let me know) and overclock the 3800+ as far as i can.
c) Upgrade even less often and pay a little bit more for a conroe e6300 with a cheap motherboard (So not much overclocking here, if any).
d) Pay a lot more and buy e6600 with a good expensive motherboard and overclock it.
e) You suggest something.
If I go with (a), I figure I can upgrade every 1.5 to 2 years and the old system would still be useful. Uber performance is not important for me. As most people probably know, your cpu utilization never goes past 5% about 95% of the time (for the typical case). Visual Studio .NET however is starting to utilize my cpu like crazy (because of add-ins and such) and while I'm using it I probably go past 80% cpu 75% of the time (which is annoying). I was thinking an overclocked d 805 should be enough performance for the next 2 years.
If I go with (b), it's sort of like (a). I'll get a faster setup but I can upgrade less often (every 2 to 2.5 yrs)
And so on and so forth for (c) and (d)...
What do you guys think? I'm looking for the most cost-effective solution that will allow me to pay the least and provide good value. Value is measured here in
1) More cpu/motherboards to pass down = value
2) Latest and greatest each upgrade = smaller value
I was thinking of going for (a). Is (b) really worth the price increase? Should I spend $180 (for choice a) now and upgrade when it sucks (let's say 2 years) or spend $215 (for choice b) now and upgrade when it sucks (let's say in 2.5 yrs)? What's your opinion? Suggestions on which cpu/motherboard combo to buy?
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