CPU/MOBO upgrade, worth it?

Plat168

Junior Member
Jun 5, 2012
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Hi all,

here is my current setup.

CPU: i7-950
MOBO: ASUS P6T
RAM: 6GB OCZ ddr 1600
GPU: Radeon 7970 (upgraded from HD 5780)
the CPU is on WC, because I was planning to OC. but I never really have a chance to read up on how to OC, and everything is running fine, and I don't have much complain about it. I built this system in summer 2010, so it is close to 2 years old. I mainly use this system to play PC game and little bit for my programming.

Now, my wife need a new pc. she is still using a old school P4. so now, I am thinking that, should I give her my cpu/mobo and upgrade my rig to i5-3570k IB or should I just stay put with my 950 and build her something that is slightly cheaper.

so, my question is, is it worth upgrade from i7-950 to i5-3570k? I am assuming that a new CPU and MOBO is all I need for it, maybe ram too. I am fully planning to OC this time, what is some good MOBO and ram recommandation? Cheap is better, but quality is important too. my budget is about 500-600, but of course if I can get it done under that, it will be great. but ultimately, I just want to know if it is really worth the jump.

Thanks in advance.
 
May 13, 2009
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Overclock that 950 to 4.4ghz. At that speed it'll be plenty till Haswell

4.4 on x58? Hope he has some liquid nitrogen.

OP a more realistic goal would be to overclock your rig to 3.8GHz.

I just built a second PC with a e4300, 775 motherboard, and 4 GB of ram that I picked up used for $55. A 950 for your wife seems extreme overkill. It not only is an energy hog but way more processing power than she'll ever use.
 

Don Karnage

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2011
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4.4 on x58? Hope he has some liquid nitrogen.

OP a more realistic goal would be to overclock your rig to 3.8GHz.

I just built a second PC with a e4300, 775 motherboard, and 4 GB of ram that I picked up used for $55. A 950 for your wife seems extreme overkill. It not only is an energy hog but way more processing power than she'll ever use.

He's water cooled so 4.4 wouldn't be an issue. Has a 23X multi so he's good on bclk till 4.6
 

borisvodofsky

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2010
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Way to neglect your wife buddy. If I were a chick I'd divorce you for making me sit on p4 while you had your uber-puter

There's really no point in upgrading to ivy. the first gen i7s till now would really be a side-grade. I firmly stand by this.

Look out for the G530 + ECS motherboard combo for 38$ + $15

You can even reuse most of your old parts because this new processor uses like no power. AND it has onboard graphics.

The point is, even though it's celeron, it's sandybridge celeron, and is MILES faster than p4.

Also, there's another deal on Samsung 830 60gb recently for $65.

so your total cost would be something like

38 (G530)
15 (ECS MOBO 1155)
65 (Samsung 830)
50 (Ram) can probably find cheaper.


EVERYTHING else including PSU you can reuse your old parts, you might need the 20 to 24 pin adapter which is $3 on amazon.