Is AMD to go for good value quadcores? Also, some build questions.

[lsquare]

I'm currently using an Intel E8400 with Gigabyte P35 chipset. I'm looking to get a quadcore setup to speed up my video encodes and also play games at the same time. I'm looking for good bang for the buck. Originally I wanted an Intel i7 860 or 750 and pair that up with a decent mobo, but it's kind of expensive. I see that there are some decent sub-$200 AMD quadcore processors. So here's my question for you guys, is AMD to go to get a decent sub-$200 quadcore and still get a decent overclock to play games?

I'll be getting a 23" IPS 1920x1080 panel very soon. I'll need something fast enough to drive that resolution. If I do settle for a AMD build, which quad core processor and motherboard should I get? I'm aiming to spend at most $200 to $250 for both the processor and motherboard. The board needs to be able to achieve a decent overclock.

Also, which RAM will give me decent overclocking capability? Is G.skill still the way to go?

 

[ShawnD1]

I'm currently using an Intel E8400 with Gigabyte P35 chipset. I'm looking to get a quadcore setup to speed up my video encodes and also play games at the same time.

Set encoding to low priority and buy more ram. A quad core will not help (much) with this issue.

I'm looking for good bang for the buck. Originally I wanted an Intel i7 860 or 750 and pair that up with a decent mobo, but it's kind of expensive. I see that there are some decent sub-$200 AMD quadcore processors. So here's my question for you guys, is AMD to go to get a decent sub-$200 quadcore and still get a decent overclock to play games?

For gaming, AMD's quads would mostly be a step sideways and in some cases they'll actually run slower. E8600 at stock speed vs Phenom II 965 at stock speed. IMO, the cheapest upgrade would probably be to buy the best cooler possible for maybe $50 then overclock the hell out of your E8400.

If I do settle for a AMD build, which quad core processor and motherboard should I get? I'm aiming to spend at most $200 to $250 for both the processor and motherboard. The board needs to be able to achieve a decent overclock.

Luckily the guys at AMD made overclocking their stuff a lot easier. An AMD processor marked as a "black edition" means you can change the multiplier. Overclocking is as easy as buying a $50 motherboard and turning the multiplier way up.

Also, which RAM will give me decent overclocking capability? Is G.skill still the way to go?

Don't worry about ram. In every test I've ever seen, overclocking the ram does almost nothing. \

 

[lsquare]

Set encoding to low priority and buy more ram. A quad core will not help (much) with this issue.

I'm not sure if I understand you here. A quadcore should encode videos to h.264 much faster than a dual core setup. I already have 2x2GB G.skill PC8500 DDR 2 RAM. I don't think more will necessarily benefit me.

For gaming, AMD's quads would mostly be a step sideways and in some cases they'll actually run slower. E8600 at stock speed vs Phenom II 965 at stock speed. IMO, the cheapest upgrade would probably be to buy the best cooler possible for maybe $50 then overclock the hell out of your E8400.


Luckily the guys at AMD made overclocking their stuff a lot easier. An AMD processor marked as a "black edition" means you can change the multiplier. Overclocking is as easy as buying a $50 motherboard and turning the multiplier way up.


Don't worry about ram. In every test I've ever seen, overclocking the ram does almost nothing. \

If I get something like a X4 945 or 955 BE, can I keep and use my Gskill DDR2 memory? Or should I forget about upgrading altogether? I'm looking for a good value upgrade.

 

[ShawnD1]

A quad will encode faster but being able to multitask has almost nothing to do with the number of cores. A dual core system with encoding set to low priority will run much faster than a quad core trying to run games and encoding at the same priority.

An AMD quad core can use the same DDR2 memory if you buy an AM2+ motherboard. This really isn't a good value upgrade. You'll be paying over $200 for very very small gains. Even just doing a CPU upgrade to an Intel quad with your existing motherboard would be a cost-inefficient upgrade. The E8400 is still one of the fastest processors around.

 

[Rifter]

A quad will encode faster but being able to multitask has almost nothing to do with the number of cores. A dual core system with encoding set to low priority will run much faster than a quad core trying to run games and encoding at the same priority.

You are insane if you believe that, a quad core will handle encoding and gaming at the same time much better than a dual core i dont see how you can think otherwise. Just set the game affinity to the first 2 cores and the encoder to the last 2 cores, this way you will still be able to game and encode at the same time without fighting for CPU cycles.

I upgraded from a AMD 7750(2.7Ghz dual core) to a AMD 940(3Ghz quad) and with the old setup i could not encode while gaming, it just would not happen. With the new system before i setup my home server i had my PC transcoding media on the fly for my PS3 to display and my girlfriend could be watching media no problem while i was gaming, i set the transcoding program to only use the last core and kept the game using the other 3, i also had a seperate HDD for games and one for media which im sure helped, and 8GB of ram. It was seamless, maybe a loss of 3 or 4 FPS vs when not transcoding, on my dual core i would lose 10-15fps or more and most of the time games were not playable, or the media playback would skip alot.

 

[lopri]

If you want to reuse your DDR2 sticks, you may need to act fast. Good 790FX/790X AM2+ boards started to disappear. DDR3-based boards are abundant and you may find a good combo deal with a great board like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131402

I advise against 785G/790G boards since you're going to use a discreet GPU.

Edit: And all this is because you want to multi-task. Frankly, the best gaming experience is achieved without anything else running, and E8400 is faster in single-threaded task than anything AMD has currently (clock-for-clock).

 

[alyarb]

multicore chips do not help multitasking or encoding? this should be a good thread. pathetic, yes there will be pathos, but good.

 

[soccerballtux]

Lopri is right, 790X/FX board with an AMD quad would be the way to go for both gaming and encoding. You would go ahead and set priority of the encoding to below normal, you'd have all the power you need for games, and all the rest would be used on encoding. It would make both go a lot faster than with your dual.

 

[zsdersw]

Lopri is right, 790X/FX board with an AMD quad would be the way to go for both gaming and encoding. You would go ahead and set priority of the encoding to below normal, you'd have all the power you need for games, and all the rest would be used on encoding. It would make both go a lot faster than with your dual.

Perhaps you missed Lopri's edit.

 

[alyarb]

i wouldn't switch platforms. even on P35, a Q9550 is faster clock for clock than Phenom II. i would just get that, or a used Q9450 on ebay. going to AM2+ would ultimately be a slower, less efficient system. not an upgrade by any stretch.

 

[soccerballtux]

Perhaps you missed Lopri's edit.

Games are multi threaded and will soon take advantage of >2 cores. If OP wants to keep his RAM he should pounce now on a cheap AMD motherboard.

 

[zsdersw]

Games are multi threaded and will soon take advantage of >2 cores. If OP wants to keep his RAM he should pounce now on a cheap AMD motherboard.

That's throwing good money after bad. Getting an EOL cheap mobo, whether for Intel or AMD CPUs, is rarely a good idea, especially just to keep the RAM.

It would be an acceptable immediate-need situation (though not in this case, given what he's doing), but not for, as you say, the future of gaming. The future of gaming will make a new mobo/RAM/CPU desirable.

 

[alyarb]

yorkfield on p35. faster and cheaper than a platform swap.

 

[soccerballtux]

That's throwing good money after bad. Getting an EOL cheap mobo, whether for Intel or AMD CPUs, is rarely a good idea, especially just to keep the RAM.

It would be an acceptable immediate-need situation (though not in this case, given what he's doing), but not for, as you say, the future of gaming. The future of gaming will make a new mobo/RAM/CPU desirable.

No, socket AM3 isn't going anywhere, and the mobo would be fine-- the 8 series AMD chipset adds SATA3 and USB3-- hardly worthwhile upgrades. Fact of the matter is Intel simply doesn't have a price competitive quad core. Gotta go AMD for that.

 

[zsdersw]

No, socket AM3 isn't going anywhere, and the mobo would be fine-- the 8 series AMD chipset adds SATA3 and USB3-- hardly worthwhile upgrades. Fact of the matter is Intel simply doesn't have a price competitive quad core. Gotta go AMD for that.

That's not going to be his cheapest route to better performance right now, though.

He also can't reuse his RAM with an AM3 mobo.

 

[Markfw]

yorkfield on p35. faster and cheaper than a platform swap.

+1. Get a Q9550 and overclock it !

 

[nyker96]

depend on what you doing, if you need to play games, then get a used q9xxx will do nicely. but if you need more than 1156 platform is the answer, sell off everything and buy a nice i5 750 which is on sale for 175 at ewiz this week.

 

[ShawnD1]

You are insane if you believe that, a quad core will handle encoding and gaming at the same time much better than a dual core i dont see how you can think otherwise. Just set the game affinity to the first 2 cores and the encoder to the last 2 cores, this way you will still be able to game and encode at the same time without fighting for CPU cycles.

I upgraded from a AMD 7750(2.7Ghz dual core) to a AMD 940(3Ghz quad) and with the old setup i could not encode while gaming, it just would not happen.

It's possible your computer had some kind of hardware failure.

Here's me playing World of Warcraft at 60fps on a dual core E6600 while running Prime95 and OCCT stress tests:

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8254/prime95wow.jpg

 

[cbn]

the 8 series AMD chipset adds SATA3 and USB3-- hardly worthwhile upgrades.

I think it just adds SATA 3 (not USB 3)

However, In 1-3 years he will probably be glad he has that feature.

Some of these new SSD device ideas look pretty useful.

 

[lopri]

I don't know what motherboard the OP has, but I wouldn't drop a Yorkfield on a P35 and expect a good lasting overclock. I used to advocate drop-in upgrades for LGA775, but things have changed from a year ago. LGA775 quads are way too overpriced now. Only one that's worth under $200 is Q9400, and realistic OC of that chip on P35 will be around 3.2 GHz. And hope everything will be OK in the future on an already aged board (I suppose the OP has had the board for at least a year?). 955 BE @3.6 GHz will run circles around that chip and will do so comfortably (i.e. without stressing the board). You can buy a brand new board + 955 BE for the price of Q9550, and frankly I've had much better multitasking experience with PII's than C2Q's.

Of course if the OP can afford an i7-750 build, no question that it'll be the best performing platform once overclocked. But I suspect that'll cost close to double the amount of dough.

 

[Markfw]

I don't know what motherboard the OP has, but I wouldn't drop a Yorkfield on a P35 and expect a good lasting overclock. I used to advocate drop-in upgrades for LGA775, but things have changed from a year ago. LGA775 quads are way too overpriced now. Only one that's worth under $200 is Q9400, and realistic OC of that chip on P35 will be around 3.2 GHz. And hope everything will be OK in the future on an already aged board (I suppose the OP has had the board for at least a year?). 955 BE @3.6 GHz will run circles around that chip and will do so comfortably (i.e. without stressing the board). You can buy a brand new board + 955 BE for the price of Q9550, and frankly I've had much better multitasking experience with PII's than C2Q's.

Of course if the OP can afford an i7-750 build, no question that it'll be the best performing platform once overclocked. But I suspect that'll cost close to double the amount of dough.

I have a Q9450 on a P35 chipset motherboard (DQ6) and its my highest OC 775 chip right now.

 

[soccerballtux]

I have a Q9450 on a P35 chipset motherboard (DQ6) and its my highest OC 775 chip right now.

It's a nice motherboard.
I really am not a fan of vdroop though, and it only got worse on my P35.

 

[Markfw]

It's a nice motherboard.
I really am not a fan of vdroop though, and it only got worse on my P35.

I have no vdroop on my motherboard, NONE....

 

[lsquare]

I don't know what motherboard the OP has, but I wouldn't drop a Yorkfield on a P35 and expect a good lasting overclock. I used to advocate drop-in upgrades for LGA775, but things have changed from a year ago. LGA775 quads are way too overpriced now. Only one that's worth under $200 is Q9400, and realistic OC of that chip on P35 will be around 3.2 GHz. And hope everything will be OK in the future on an already aged board (I suppose the OP has had the board for at least a year?). 955 BE @3.6 GHz will run circles around that chip and will do so comfortably (i.e. without stressing the board). You can buy a brand new board + 955 BE for the price of Q9550, and frankly I've had much better multitasking experience with PII's than C2Q's.

Of course if the OP can afford an i7-750 build, no question that it'll be the best performing platform once overclocked. But I suspect that'll cost close to double the amount of dough.

It's a Gigabyte P35 UD4. I don't remember the exact model name off the top of my head. I just returned from vacation and I'm looking for an upgrade. I don't play games as much anymore and instead I'm travelling a lot more. Having said that, I still want a machine capable of gaming.

I suppose an i750 ain't out of the question at the moment. I'm not convinced an i750 is a good value at the moment. Maybe I'm wrong. I think the Anandtech article on Lynnfield mentioned the i860 being a better value, but I'm guessing things have changed since the article's publication. Should I really aim for the i750? It's nothing something that I can't afford. I just need to be able to justify the purchase.

 

[alyarb]

i'm with mark. p35 = p45 except the MCH is 45nm with PCIe 2.0. tons of 500+ FSB P35 boards still out there running strong quads. P35 set the standard and P45 merely met that standard. just get a used Q9450 on ebay. 3.4 ghz would be the minimum i would expect from that chip. You would need a 3.7 GHz Phenom II to compete with that and it just isn't worth the money to switch.