REALLY easy question ... CPU question.

[soric23]

I am looking to buy a new CPU and have about 190 to spend, without amd VS intel fights whoch is the best to but at that price range..

thats just for the CPU. I have heard the new intels are alot better than the amd chips though the amd as usual are a better deal ?

I just keep going back and forth here.

 

[Insomniator]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-215-_-Product

 

[jvroig]

How much are you willing to spend on the motherboard?

 

[fffblackmage]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-215-_-Product

I second the Core i5-750.

 

[StrangerGuy]

1st question is:

What are you planning to do with your system? e.g Gaming?

 

[soric23]

Some gaming mainly world of warcraft, would like to run max settings, that being said other than that I dont run many games on the PC, but would like the option though.

As far as MB goes the price I would like to be the same or cheaper.
I am pricing a new system but having a hard time deciding on the CPU to use, I havent done an upgrade in like 4-5 years and have not watched the progress of these cpu's.

 

[betasub]

So under $380 for CPU+motherboard?

i5-750 + solid (Gigabyte P55?) 1156 motherboard should be a good platform for WoW.

 

[Phil1977]

i5 750 + cheapest H55 board + cheapest DDR3 1333

 

[soric23]

So I have looked at all this stuff and still not sure about upgrading,
My current system is as follows.

CPU ...AMD Phenom X3 8650
MB ... Gigabyte M57SLI-S4
Video.. BFG 9600GT


I also have a good PSU cant remember the name but the old one went out so I bought a new one with all the bells and whistles like 4 months ago.
Case is a good one as well good fans and air flow.

OCZ Ram DDR2 4 gigs.

Not worried about HD and stuff as I can get that at my local microcenter.
Now is it time for an upgrade as I stated in my first post or could this thing go for a little while with a new Vid card?

Trying not to think to much about it but not sure where to start, so I came here.

Any and all advice would be helpful,
Also I would like to stick around $800 or so if possible,

 

[Arkaign]

More than likely you can just drop a PhII in your current board. Apparently all revisions of the M57SLI series can run Phenom II's with the latest Bios.

Is the i5 better? Definitely, particularly if you OC the snot out of it. Is it worth jumping platforms for at this point? Hell no, particularly if you're already good on ram with 4GB or so.

PhII 945 BE + 5870 will rock your world. As you already have a new PSU and 4GB of OCZ DDR2 you're all set. Jumping to i5 + new mobo + DDR3 + new video card would be hugely more expensive, and leave less $ in the budget for better video card. The new WD 2GB Black Edition drives are also awesome.

http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Mo...t%20AM2&ChipsetType=NVIDIA nForce 570-SLI

Note : the 945 Denebs are the highest officially supported PhII's for your board, but with the black edition unlocked multi, you should easily see 3.4Ghz with absolutely no effort (stock volts/etc), which is absolutely plenty for now.

 

[fffblackmage]

Whoa, if you can drop in a PhII X4, that's certainly a lot easier and cheaper than going with a whole platform change to get a Core i5.

 

[soric23]

Wow never even thought of being able to do that that sure does look like the way to go.

Are the ATI cards that much better than the Nvidia? I never used an ATI card but would if the performance is that much better.

 

[fffblackmage]

The right questions are 'what resolution will you be playing at,' 'what is your budget,' and maybe 'what games will you will be playing?'

 

[TridenT]

So I have looked at all this stuff and still not sure about upgrading,
My current system is as follows.

CPU ...AMD Phenom X3 8650
MB ... Gigabyte M57SLI-S4
Video.. BFG 9600GT


I also have a good PSU cant remember the name but the old one went out so I bought a new one with all the bells and whistles like 4 months ago.
Case is a good one as well good fans and air flow.

OCZ Ram DDR2 4 gigs.

Not worried about HD and stuff as I can get that at my local microcenter.
Now is it time for an upgrade as I stated in my first post or could this thing go for a little while with a new Vid card?

Trying not to think to much about it but not sure where to start, so I came here.

Any and all advice would be helpful,
Also I would like to stick around $800 or so if possible,

I don't see why you don't just upgrade your graphics card. That's probably your only bottleneck for WoW. WoW isn't a very intensive game at all from what I've seen. Get a new graphics card (you'll be getting a new one anyway right?) and then see how the performance is. If you go, "OMFG 9000FPS+" then I doubt you need to upgrade anything else... especially if you only play WoW.

 

[Arkaign]

I don't see why you don't just upgrade your graphics card. That's probably your only bottleneck for WoW. WoW isn't a very intensive game at all from what I've seen. Get a new graphics card (you'll be getting a new one anyway right?) and then see how the performance is. If you go, "OMFG 9000FPS+" then I doubt you need to upgrade anything else... especially if you only play WoW.

Disclaimer : I don't play WOW.

Okay, here's the deal, from what I've heard, the patches and expansions to WoW over the years have resulted in a game that taxes the CPU quite a lot more than it did when it was originally released. Expanding upon that, the graphics themselves haven't modernized a great deal during the time of release. So, WoW is surprisingly CPU-intensive considering the age.

I do agree that there's no reason that the OP can't just buy a 5870 or so and report back on performance from there, but the PhI's were pretty bad even at the best of times, and at worst even a degradation from the ~2.6-3+ghz overclocked X2's that preceded them. A user who doesn't even game would likely see a gain going from the Phenom I disaster gen to a full Phenom II. And from there, I don't think anyone can argue that even if a mid 3ghz Phenom II isn't the uncorked bottle of whoop-ass that the i7s are, it's more than up to the task of any current gaming needs, and then some.

So, OP, that 9600GT is definitely the weakest gaming link, even for WoW. Swap that, and if things haven't picked up enough, drop a 945 Black Edition in. If a 945BE @ 3.4ghz with a 5870 doesn't make WoW run for the hills, something is broken in the matrix, and we're all going to die in a few moments.

 

[betasub]

The right questions are 'what resolution will you be playing at,' 'what is your budget,' and maybe 'what games will you will be playing?'

Would've been nice to learn about OP's current system earlier in the thread. And also the answers to blackmage's questions. (Is ~$380 part of your total upgrade budget? Is there anything apart from WOW that you play seriously? Resolution!?)

 

[Phil1977]

Here is a list of CPUs supported on your mainboard:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2287

In your case I would just buy a Phenom II 955 or 965! No need to swap anything else...

 

[soric23]

Would've been nice to learn about OP's current system earlier in the thread. And also the answers to blackmage's questions. (Is ~$380 part of your total upgrade budget? Is there anything apart from WOW that you play seriously? Resolution!?)

Sorry about not posting my specs earlier, I just didnt kow where to start you guys have pointed me i the right direction.
I think I will try the Vid card first and go from there.

As far as the CPU goes I would imagine any PHII X4 would be better than my current CPU?

Obviously for the price though I would aim for the top one I can fit in the system.

 

[jvroig]

As far as the CPU goes I would imagine any PHII X4 would be better than my current CPU?

Yes. Getting a Phenom II X4 955 or 965 will give you the most for your planned upgrade. If your budget is $190, you can probably get a 965 easily, or you can settle for a 955 if you plan to OC since they are both black edition parts.

 

[Arkaign]

Yes. Getting a Phenom II X4 955 or 965 will give you the most for your planned upgrade. If your budget is $190, you can probably get a 965 easily, or you can settle for a 955 if you plan to OC since they are both black edition parts.

955 and 965 aren't on the supported CPU list (well, they are listed as N/A). I don't know why this would be, as the board supports the 125w 945BE, but there's no guarantee the board will pass POST with the 955 or 965. Given that all 3 will easily do 3.5-3.6ghz with no problem, I don't think it's an issue, but if the OP is ordering online with no way to exchange, the 945BE would be the safe bet.

 

[soric23]

there is a microcenter near me thats most likely where I would buy the CPU as they are close to newegg prices and sometimes better.
Plus I can return if no good.

 

[Arkaign]

Sorry about not posting my specs earlier, I just didnt kow where to start you guys have pointed me i the right direction.
I think I will try the Vid card first and go from there.

As far as the CPU goes I would imagine any PHII X4 would be better than my current CPU?

Obviously for the price though I would aim for the top one I can fit in the system.

Yes, the Phenom II X4 BE is a huge improvement over the Phenom I series. You'll be getting :

1 Extra Core
~1ghz+ clock speed increase
Increase in IPC (each core clock vs clock is faster with PHII over PHI)
3x larger L3 cache

 

[Arkaign]

Be sure to update to the latest bios before you change CPU.

 

[soric23]

I have that done a few months back.

 

[jvroig]

Wouldn't hurt if you went to the website and verified if your latest bios is in fact the latest bios as of today, or at least verify if the bios version you already have supports the CPU you wish to buy.

955 and 965 aren't on the supported CPU list (well, they are listed as N/A). I don't know why this would be, as the board supports the 125w 945BE, but there's no guarantee the board will pass POST with the 955 or 965. Given that all 3 will easily do 3.5-3.6ghz with no problem, I don't think it's an issue, but if the OP is ordering online with no way to exchange, the 945BE would be the safe bet.

Oh, I was under the impression that it supported all Phenom II processors. My mistake. In that case, I guess 945 BE is the best option.