Moving from an Athlon II X2 to an I3-2100

[bystander]

Hey guys -

I have a general purpose machine that has served me well (specs below) for the past couple of years. I've since managed to piece together all the parts I need for a new build (specs further down). What differences can I expect moving from the Athlon II X2 to the I3-2100? Also upped the RAM and added an SSD. Again, general purpose machine to another general purpose machine - Netflix, iTunes/MediaMonkey, Skype, dual monitors, media streamed from NAS, flash gaming, etc. Anything else I should add/move around? Comments/suggestions welcome! 🙂

Athlon II X2:
Case: Antec 300
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-MA78LM-S2
CPU: Athlon II X2 250
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 4650
RAM: Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
HDD : Seagate 320 (OS) / Hitachi 1TB (Storage)
PSU: Antec SP-500
ODD : Toshiba SATA DVD/CDRW
Display: Dell E207WFP X2
KB/M: Logitech MX3200
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

I3-2100:
Case: Lian Li PC-V351B
Mobo: MSI H61M-E33
CPU: Intel Core I3-2100 LGA1155
GPU: Onboard
RAM: G.SKILL 2 x 4GB DDR3-1333
SSD : G.SKILL Phoenix Pro 120GB
HDD : 1TB Seagate Barracuda
PSU: Antec NeoPower 500w Modular
ODD : LiteOn SATA DVD/CDRW
Card Reader: Rosewill RCR-AK-IM5002
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Thanks!

 

[lehtv]

You can't reuse anything? In particular the case and drives.

Please answer all the questions in the sticky.

What differences can I expect moving from the Athlon II X2 to the I3-2100?

Lots more performance, that's about it

 

[bystander]

I intend to keep the machine as is so I can hand it down, and I slowly collected the rest of the components. I already have them... do I still need to answer the sticky questions? Mainly looking for input/analysis on the actual build...

 

[lehtv]

Mainly looking for input/analysis on the actual build...

That's exactly what the sticky is for. We need to know where you're buying from, what your budget is, etc. in order to 1) judge whether the components you listed are good choices and 2) offer alternatives if not.

 

[Ketchup]

Most of the performance difference you will 'feel' will be coming from the SSD, but I think the Flash performance might improve with the faster CPU as well.

 

[mfenn]

That's exactly what the sticky is for. We need to know where you're buying from, what your budget is, etc. in order to 1) judge whether the components you listed are good choices and 2) offer alternatives if not.

I think that he means that he already bought (past tense) the parts. I really wish people wouldn't do that because at this point, what are we gonna say?

OP, the new build will be faster than the old one, mostly due to the SSD and i3. Is it a cost effective upgrade over your old system? Who knows.

 

[bystander]

I think that he means that he already bought (past tense) the parts. I really wish people wouldn't do that because at this point, what are we gonna say?

OP, the new build will be faster than the old one, mostly due to the SSD and i3. Is it a cost effective upgrade over your old system? Who knows.

Thanks mfenn. Yes, I did buy the parts already... I thought I'd be doing you guys a favor doing it this way, turns out I'm mistaken. I'll keep that in mind before I build the next one. 🙂

 

[Hubb1e]

It will be faster because of the SSD. While the i3 is about 2X as fast as the Athlon II X2, I doubt you will notice any difference from that in your applications. You're also taking a hit on the GPU as the 4650 is faster than the onboard video but since you only play flash games, that shouldn't matter. You could always drop the 4650 in the new box anyways.

 

[lehtv]

Thanks mfenn. Yes, I did buy the parts already... I thought I'd be doing you guys a favor doing it this way, turns out I'm mistaken. I'll keep that in mind before I build the next one. 🙂

Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. Well, overall it looks like a decent build. What I'd change: different SSD (Crucial m4, Samsung 830, anything from Intel), and a motherboard from Asus, Asrock or Gigabyte. Preferably Asrock H61M/U3S3 since it has USB3.0 and SATA 6gb/s, unlike most H61 boards. (I don't have a personal gripe against MSI but I get told often that it's unreliable... well, better safe than sorry IMO. Hope it works out for you)

 

[bystander]

Thanks, lehtv - sorry about the earlier confusion. 🙂

One last thing - what's the rationale for the different SSD recoommendation? G.Skill SSD is no good?

 

[lehtv]

The rationale is that G.Skill (like plenty of other brands) uses a Sandforce controller, while Crucial, Samsung and Intel use other controllers that have a track record of reliability. Sandforce has a bit of a reputation, largely thanks to the popular OCZ's infamous stability issues. I personally have an OCZ Vertex 2 and haven't had any problems with it so far - not sure if I should count myself lucky.

As far as speed is concerned, the G.Skill is fine. Really, any SSD is miles ahead of HDD's in terms of responsiveness, it's very hard to notice differences between SSD's in every day use.

 

[mfenn]

The rationale is that G.Skill (like plenty of other brands) uses a Sandforce controller, while Crucial, Samsung and Intel use other controllers that have a track record of reliability. Sandforce has a bit of a reputation, largely thanks to the popular OCZ's infamous stability issues. I personally have an OCZ Vertex 2 and haven't had any problems with it so far - not sure if I should count myself lucky.

As far as speed is concerned, the G.Skill is fine. Really, any SSD is miles ahead of HDD's in terms of responsiveness, it's very hard to notice differences between SSD's in every day use.

Agree. People get really worked up about performance differences between SSDs, but the truth is that it really doesn't matter for normal uses. You won't notice a difference between an M4 and a nominally faster Sandforce SF-2281 drive, but you will notice whether or not your machine is bluescreening!