New Intel/AMD Now?

[teddyv]

Hi Folks,

I have been happily using my c. 2005 AMD64 3000 (939) but it is really now showing its age and I have set aside about $500 to upgrade. I would be keeping my current case, 450w power supply, video card and opticals, buying a new 1g HD and using current twin 640 WD's for backup drives. I do not game and use the comp mainly for simple video and photo work (with my old but familiar MS moviemaker and photoshop 6.0), playing CIV II, and a ton of office work with long docs and complex spreadsheets. I would like to have the new USB and SATA and have no use for two video cards or overclocking - I'd rather spend the money on the CPU and mobo, and at least 4g of RAM. I also have a copy of Win7Ult from the release party waiting to be used.

I was thinking either an i7 (either footprint) or the 6-core AMD. I am leaning towards the i7 for the superior performance and ability to upgrade going forward, but see that both Intel and AMD are apparently releasing new chips in a month or two.

Any thoughts on going now or waiting? I have a MicroCenter 30 minutes away

Thanks,

Ted

 

[aigomorla]

new PSU.

get at least a bronze standard.. psu's have evolved a lot since u probably bought that.
Get around the Power Range of 600+

Reason why i say this, is, 600W is a good number for 2 low end gpu's + a full system. Or
1 ultra high end gpu + full system.

i7's are great systems, they will last you a while being 4 core 8 threaded, and most of them have a good 20-30% overclock out of the box.

AMD hexcore is also great, they offer a lot of power for the price point.

The ultimate decider tho should be if your going to require all those physical cores... or if u can get away with HT on virtual cores.

Rendering the Intel machine will spank the AMD.
Gaming, your performance will be close, all down to the GPU card u selected.

 

[Martimus]

Neither chip has a real upgrade path at the moment. the i7 will be faster and more expensive. The X6 will have a more feature rich MB at a lower price, but will be slower in programs the use less than 5 cores.

I wish I knew how each processor does in Photoshop, or Movie Maker, but alas I do not. They should be about the same in Office Software however.

 

[Vette73]

If you have a MC near you get a AMD chip (4 core for $99) and the $40 credit for a 880g board(Make sure it says USB3.0 on it). Use the onboard video and get 4gig or more ram.

 

[grimpr]

AMD hexcore is also great, they offer a lot of power for the price point.
Rendering the Intel machine will spank the AMD.

They are not THAT bad in Max 2010.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/desktop-cpu-charts-2010/Image-Rendering-3DS-Max-2010,2420.html

 

[veri745]

I was thinking either an i7 (either footprint) or the 6-core AMD. I am leaning towards the i7 for the superior performance and ability to upgrade going forward, but see that both Intel and AMD are apparently releasing new chips in a month or two.

You can forget about upgrading anything you buy now to the next generation. LGA1156, LGA1366, and AM3 are all dead; Both Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer require a new socket.

Either way you go (Intel or AMD) you can build a solid system that should perform to your needs for quite some time.

 

[Markfw]

Based on your usage and budget, here is my take (prices are close)

X6 $230
Motherboard (decent one) $140
8 gig memory $120 PC 1600 gskill 4 x 2 gig
PSU HX8750 Corsair $140

Total $630

If that too much, do 4 gig for $60 less

 

[MustangSVT]

would 8gb of ram be better than 4gb of ram + 60gb ssd?

Used in Adobe suite and 3d rendering and also gaming.

Thinking about a plunge as well but waiting until sandyb for now.

 

[khon]

There's no real reason to get a new PSU if he's not going to game at all, meaning he can make do with either the onboard graphics or a low end single GPU. Sure the efficiency is going to be lower given the age of the PSU, but I don't think that's enough to warrant the upgrade.

Given the budget I'd say:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0334812
+
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0335518

if you want to do it now.

Or you can wait a month and get the i5-2400 + H67 mobo. It will probably cost around ~$50 more, but it'll also be faster, and it will have the ability to upgrade going forwards.

 

[perdomot]

I like this combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.548077
The cpu OCs to 4Ghz easily and the SSD gives amazing performance. Fits perfectly into your budget and performance will rock.

 

[teddyv]

Thanks for the replies folks -

On the PSU - I currently have a Sapphire 3850 vid card that seems to do everything I need, would I still need an upgrade from my current PS?
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

On options - I am looking for USB3/SATA6 as I plan to keep the system for another 4 or 5 years - from reading it looks like the new Intel versions will have a much cleaner implementation of these? Looks like the AMD 8xxx and 9xxx have already done this?

 

[Vette73]

^

Intel does not offer native SATA6gb or USB3.0 yet.

AMDs 8XX series north bridge with 8XX series southbridge does offer native SATA6gb but only offers aftermarket USB3.0.

Yea that power supply should be ok for what you are running. Should handle a the 125watt 6core from AMD and the low/mid level video card. An 56XX amd video card will offer HD decoding and use less power and are pretty cheap right now. Same with a GT240 with DDR5 card ($35 after rebate).