I just upgraded... should I upgrade again?

[brikis98]

Tomorrow, through work connections, I should be getting a brand new (never opened) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz for VERY cheap (well under $200).

just recently, i finished upgrading my system to:

MSI Neo4-f
AMD x2 3800+
2x1GB Mushkin DDR500
ATI x1900xtx

so, i'll have two options:

1. Sell the E6600, make $100+ profit
2. Buy a 775 mobo and DDR2 RAM and sell my s939 mobo/RAM/CPU

any suggestions on which route to take? i use my computer for a bit of everything - games, movies, programming, graphics, web browsing, etc...

 

[jackschmittusa]

I'd say, if you can easily afford it, upgrade again.

 

[pkme2]

Newegg selling them today for $317 apiece. Sell it and make the $100+ profit.

 

[brikis98]

given i'd want a decent amount of OCing headroom, what price do you think i'd be looking at for a reasonable 775 mobo and 2x1GB of DDR2 RAM?

 

[dreamx]

i think u've already decided b4 u make this thread
anyway i will also go for option 2

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: dreamx
i think u've already decided b4 u make this thread
anyway i will also go for option 2

no, i really haven't. after dumping a good chunk of money into the latest upgrade, i'm not in the mood to do another. however, i also have trouble passing up such a good deal on the CPU. but since i haven't kept up with intel mobo/RAM prices, i'm not sure how cost efficient this deal really is... so, any advice is appreciated

am i going to see much of an improvement in games and general use? or would it be better to wait for quad core and the like? how much more am i going to have to dish out for the mobo/RAM than i'll be able to sell mine for?

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

how about buy the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA mobo ($56) and the E6600 and sell your old cpu and mobo. Should come out about even

 

[So]

Why not sell your Athlon, RAM, and current board, use the proceeds to buy a new board and keep the difference as profit?

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: So
Why not sell your Athlon, RAM, and current board, use the proceeds to buy a new board and keep the difference as profit?

ok, i need to think rationally about this... please correct my math (with better deals ) if i'm wrong:

x2 3800+ is worth ~$130
2x1GB Mushkin DDR500 is worth ~$180
MSI Neo4-F is worth ~$40 (?)

so if i sold my current stuff... i'd get... around $350 at most...

the hot deal gets me the intel E6600: ~$170
decent 775 mobo: ~$100
2x1GB DDR2 RAM: ~$200

so the new stuff would cost $470 or so, meaning i'd lose ~$120... so the choices are:

1. sell the CPU and make ~$120 profit
2. upgrade now at the cost of ~$120

is this upgrade worth $120 (+ hassle of buying/selling/building/etc)?

Edit --> technically, this upgrade would cost $240, since i'd also lose the ability to profit from the hot CPU deal...

 

[The Green Bean]

profit

 

[drewdogg808]

the intel route would probably allow you to go longer before you upgrade. i've been using a x2 3800+ for about 7-8 months and already itching to go core 2 duo.

 

[xgsound]

One other item to consider. How are you fixed with SATA and IDE optical drives? Do the newest 775 mobos have IDE at all? That may make the difference.

Your skt 939 mobo is still very servicable, but approaching EOL (AM2 and DDR2) for the skt and ram. As EOL gets closer, there will probably be great deals for a short period of time, followed by constrained supply and higher prices. If you keep the current rig keep your eyes open for the deals to come on skt 939 and DDR1 as good prices will dwindle after that.

You'll have a good machine either way, IMO worth the $ involved if you want the 6600, so it's just a matter of choice.


Jim

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: xgsound
One other item to consider. How are you fixed with SATA and IDE optical drives? Do the newest 775 mobos have IDE at all? That may make the difference.

Your skt 939 mobo is still very servicable, but approaching EOL (AM2 and DDR2) for the skt and ram. As EOL gets closer, there will probably be great deals for a short period of time, followed by constrained supply and higher prices. If you keep the current rig keep your eyes open for the deals to come on skt 939 and DDR1 as good prices will dwindle after that.

You'll have a good machine either way, IMO worth the $ involved if you want the 6600, so it's just a matter of choice.


Jim

thanks for the suggestions... right now, i have one IDE HD and one IDE (i think) DVD-RW... so, if that's tough to use on a 775 mobo, i'll have to keep it in mind as well..

i think right now, given i've already spent a bunch of money, i'm leaning towards selling the CPU and keeping the profit as a way to offset the costs for my system...

 

[Pabster]

You have a nice rig, but that E6600 will (literally) walk all over your 3800+ in the performance department.

 

[brikis98]

yeah... i just looked at the benchmarks comparing the E6600 and the x2 3800+... it's a 15-40% difference, depending on the application/game, which is pretty hefty... granted, the x2 3800+ is the entry level x2 CPU, while the E6600 is not the entry level core 2 duo. still, i don't remember the last time CPU's made such a HUGE jump in performance from one generation to the next (esp. if you compare the core 2 duo to the pentium D), and this looks like a jump across the board, including games, apps, graphics, audio, etc...

damn it, i wish i had waited to upgrade originally...

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: xgsound
One other item to consider. How are you fixed with SATA and IDE optical drives? Do the newest 775 mobos have IDE at all? That may make the difference.

Your skt 939 mobo is still very servicable, but approaching EOL (AM2 and DDR2) for the skt and ram. As EOL gets closer, there will probably be great deals for a short period of time, followed by constrained supply and higher prices. If you keep the current rig keep your eyes open for the deals to come on skt 939 and DDR1 as good prices will dwindle after that.

You'll have a good machine either way, IMO worth the $ involved if you want the 6600, so it's just a matter of choice.


Jim

thanks for the suggestions... right now, i have one IDE HD and one IDE (i think) DVD-RW... so, if that's tough to use on a 775 mobo, i'll have to keep it in mind as well..

i think right now, given i've already spent a bunch of money, i'm leaning towards selling the CPU and keeping the profit as a way to offset the costs for my system...

I have the Asus P5w DH Deluxe ($250 aprox) it has 1 ide channel that's easy to use, and 1 that's way too far from the drives to be practical.

If it were me I think I'd go for the e6600. You'll have a nice upgrade path, and from what I've been reading Intel's going to hold the performance lead for the foreseeable future.

 

[Snakexor]

i would hold onto the x2 rig. ddr2 ram is much more expensive than what you are quoting if you wanna o/c 1:1. also keep in mind the hassle of "unbuilding" your current rig and rebuilding it/reinstalling windows/troubleshooting any problems and finally the time dedicated to o/cing.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
i would hold onto the x2 rig. ddr2 ram is much more expensive than what you are quoting if you wanna o/c 1:1. also keep in mind the hassle of "unbuilding" your current rig and rebuilding it/reinstalling windows/troubleshooting any problems and finally the time dedicated to o/cing.

well, what would you recommend and estimate in terms of price for a decent 775 mobo (hopefully one that has hookups for IDE) and RAM (prob DDR800)?

 

[Snakexor]

~150 for a board and 250-300 for ram?

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: Snakexor
~150 for a board and 250-300 for ram?

yikes. i def. don't have that kind of money to spend. looks like an E6600 will be going on sale in my thread tonight

 

[JEDIYoda]

If you did wait for the quad to come out - what advantages over the core 2 would there be for simple apps like say gaming and a home computer?

I see no advantages waiting for the quad core to come out for the average everyday person...

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
If you did wait for the quad to come out - what advantages over the core 2 would there be for simple apps like say gaming and a home computer?

I see no advantages waiting for the quad core to come out for the average everyday person...

actually, there's many apps now that are beginning to take advantage of multithreading, such as winRAR, audio and video encoding and even games like HL 2 and Oblivion have tweaks for multiple core CPU's. the game alan wake also boasts that it'll use mutliple cores when it comes out.

the quad core CPU's do show an advantage over dual and single core CPU's even today. granted, they also make good use of their higher clock speeds, but 4 cores just might be the sweet spot in the future... in theory, a game could have AI on one core, physics on a second, and graphics on the 3rd and whatever is left over on the 4th. similarly, my work computer would run much more smoothly too, with the antivirus on one core, eclipse on a 2nd core, the executing code on a 3rd and so on.

of course, i'm sure i won't be able to afford quad core when it first comes out, but eventually, with more software support, i think it'll be well worth it.

 

[xgsound]

According to Tech report http://www.techreport.com/ newegg has a skt 939 FX-55 (2.6 Ghz / 1 Meg cache)for $189 minus a $50 AMD rock discount. That's $139. I know it's NOT dual core, but I had to tell you just in case. This chip was $900 a week or two ago.


Jim

 

[dBTelos]

Sell it, IMO.

 

[alimoalem]

sell the processor...i don't think you fully push the x2 3800 as it is so why add more unneeded power?