recommendations for new CPU/mobo?

[acordeon]

I'm planning to replace the (micro ATX) motherboard & CPU on my 4-5 yr old win XP box, and move to Win 7. This box is mostly for work (heavy multitasking, programming, generic office stuff, memory intensive but not terribly CPU-intensive). It's not for gaming, and I will not be overclocking.

I'm looking for reliable, high-quality components, but it doesn't need to be bleeding edge speed-wise. In fact, I've had good luck in the past spending a little less on the not-quite-newest stuff.

Another priority is quietness. I have a pretty quiet Antec case w/ some quiet case fans, and a quiet PSU, all of which I'll be keeping if I can. And I'll be switching to an SSD for my main system drive. So I don't want a processor that runs super hot, necessitating more airflow and louder fans.

Next, ease of installation. Never installed a CPU on a mobo before. My last system was built by a local shop. If there are some CPU's that are trickier to install, I'd like an easier one.

So what would you recommend? Looking for any advice, from generalities all the way to particular products and vendors. If you've seen a good deal somewhere, would like to hear about it!

What I have now:
Sempron 3300+
Asus K8S-MX
old Radeon 9550 vid card (for enabling dual monitors, may chuck it if new mobo has better onboard video, or can reuse)

Thanks for the help!

 

[mv2devnull]

Budget?

 

[acordeon]

Oh I don't know. What do you have to spend to get something decent? Would be awesome if under $300 for both.

 

[Markfw]

How much memory, and what type do you have ? is that in the $300 budget ?

 

[sandorski]

You definitely want an aftermarket CPU Heatsink/Fan. The Retail HS/Fan is way too loud. I have ordered one of these:

Silenx IXC-120HA2 LGA1366/LGA775/AM3 i7 Direct Touch Heatpipe Cooler 900-1700RPM 9-24DBA 120MM Fan

to replace my Retail HS/Fan. Some will likely recommend some others, but this HS/Fan is one of the few in the $30(ish) range that orientates in the preferred Front>Back direction on AM3 Motherboards. It is also a very easy Install unlike other HS/Fan setups which require Backplates and what not(although, those are not too bad either)

CPU Install is very simple itself, just follow the directions included with the CPU. You basically just line up one corner marked with an Arrow on both the Socket and the CPU, making sure the pins line up and drop it in, Lock the Lever, and you're done.

 

[acordeon]

How much memory, and what type do you have ? is that in the $300 budget ?

I will end up buying more memory as well, but that's not in the $300 budget - that was just for mobo & CPU. (And that's not a firm limit, I'm willing to spend more than that if nec. to get something good, would also be happy to spend less if that's doable.)

 

[acordeon]

CPU Install is very simple itself, just follow the directions included with the CPU. You basically just line up one corner marked with an Arrow on both the Socket and the CPU, making sure the pins line up and drop it in, Lock the Lever, and you're done.

Yeah, OK. I guess it was more the heatsink/fan install that I was concerned about, what with the thermal paste and all. Sounded like something it was possible to screw up.

 

[sandorski]

Yeah, OK. I guess it was more the heatsink/fan install that I was concerned about, what with the thermal paste and all. Sounded like something it was possible to screw up.

That's quite simple too. Depending on the Heatsink paste, you either just put a little dab(pea sized) in the middle of the CPU Heat Spreader--the metal top of the CPU)or a thin film(should almost be able to see through it) across the top of the CPU Heat Spreader. If the Heatsink you Buy(or on the Retail Heatsink) has a pre-applied Thermal Pad, just use that, but most after market Heatsinks don't have that and include some form of Paste in a packet or syringe. How you apply the particular Heatsink Paste should also be included with Heatsink you buy.

 

[Markfw]

I will end up buying more memory as well, but that's not in the $300 budget - that was just for mobo & CPU. (And that's not a firm limit, I'm willing to spend more than that if nec. to get something good, would also be happy to spend less if that's doable.)

Well, for a real multi-tasking work box, I don't think you can beat a 1055T Thuban and mobo. About $300 total, and it actually runs cool, and you will have 6 cores.

Still get an aftermarket HSF, but only about a $30 one.

 

[acordeon]

Thanks, Mark.

I looked into the 1055T and it looks great, but I'm actually thinking of going with the intel i5-750. Even though the AMD looks like more raw power, I think the i5 might be better for me. Please let me know if I'm being stupid, y'all. My reasons:

* based on this article http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/12 sounds like the intels might be faster for my kind of work
* lower power draw, which may make a difference as I only have a 3-yr-old 380W PSU, which I'm hoping to keep in service. PSU calculator I tried said I would need 340 or so w/ the AMD, but more wiggle room can't hurt.
* pretty much same price
* runs cooler? think i read that
* unlikely to upgrade in next few yrs (read a few things said AMD's better for that since socket doesn't change as much)

Should I think about going with a i5-650 instead? If the logic is that faster 4-core is better than slower 6-core for the kind of stuff I'm doing, maybe even faster 2-core is even better?

Would you recommend replacing stock HSF on the intels too?

 

[acordeon]

OK, another wrinkle: graphics. I just realized that my old vid card is AGP, and the modern mobos don't have AGP slots. Right?

So what's the better plan:
* look for a board with onboard video (not seeing a lot of that where I'm shopping)
* use the i5-650 on-chip video (even though i5-750 might be better in other ways?)
* get a cheap video card (recommendations welcome, would prefer one w/o a fan)

Again, don't do much graphics-intensive stuff. Watch video occasionally. Main requirement is dual monitor support, but I guess everything does that these days?

Thanks for the help!

 

[RussianSensation]

Considering you can get Corsair 400 Watt PSU for $40 or so, I would not think about reusing your old PSU in the new system. Think about it, you are going to buy a $600 system and protect it with an old PSU?

Also i5-650 is a terrible idea. You kept your last system for 4-5 years. Therefore, go for a quad core at least. 1055T or i5 750. The difference between a $100 processor and a $200 processor would then work out to $20 per year. If you have a MicroCenter near you, then i7 860 or 930 are also good choices, esp. if you care about lower idle power consumption. Since you are going to run dual monitors, you will want a dedicated graphics card (unless you want to run one on VGA and one on DVI).

Assuming you need dual DVIs, I'd get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814162019
$35.

If you go with Intel, you'll want an aftermarket heatsink for sure.

A good budget choice overall would be the Athlon II X4 640 on socket AM3.

 

[acordeon]

Considering you can get Corsair 400 Watt PSU for $40 or so, I would not think about reusing your old PSU in the new system. Think about it, you are going to buy a $600 system and protect it with an old PSU? Also i5-650 is a terrible idea. You kept your last system for 4-5 years. Therefore, go for a quad core at least. 1055T or i5 750. The difference between a $100 processor and a $200 processor would then work out to $20 per year. If you have a MicroCenter near you, then i7 860 or 930 are also good choices, esp. if you care about lower idle power consumption. Since you are going to run dual monitors, you will want a dedicated graphics card (unless you want to run one on VGA and one on DVI).

So my PSU isn't as old as the machine, it's a Seasonic that I bought about 3 yrs ago, the original PSU was much louder. Should I really be worried about a quality PSU like that quitting on me after 3 yrs?

I am actually using 1 DVI and 1 VGA connector right now - one of monitors is older. Would you still recommend avoiding on-chip graphics? And don't the connectors depend on the motherboard, not the chipset? Is there a drawback to using a monitor on VGA?

Thanks for the chip advice.

 

[RussianSensation]

Oh in case of a Seasonic unit, then 380 is a solid PSU as long as you don't plan to add a serious graphics card like 4890/5870/GTX470, etc.

If the monitor supports DVI, then I would use that instead of VGA. DVI tends to produce better image quality for LCD panels. Also, if you go AMD route, you have onboard GPU as well. In my opinion, if you want a good processor on a budget with low power consumption, then you go with Core i3 530 or if you want more cores, the Athlon II X4 630/640. IF you want more processing power, then i5 750, 1055T or i7 860/930 should fit the bill. This is why the i5 650 makes no sense since it costs as much as the quads but is only a dual core. Don't forget that all of the $200 quads have Turbo Modes as well. As a result, you don't really lose much performance in less threaded tasks over the i5 650.

Going back to my earlier point about processor selection, it's often easy to compare a $100 processor to a $200 processor...but lose sight of the overall picture. Remember, you are doing an overall system build, not a parts upgrade. Therefore, you have to compare value from an overall system point of view: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/18448/17

I definately would not recommend anything above core i5 750 or 1055T for your purposes. This is why the i3 530 or XII 640 are perfect budget builds for office work. If you do heavy multi-tasking (but you didn't mention what it is), there is a strong case for the i5 750 and 1055T over the budget processors. For idle power consumption, Intel i5 750 walks away a winner over the 1055/1090T processors http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/10

 

[acordeon]

In my opinion, if you want a good processor on a budget with low power consumption, then you go with Core i3 530 or if you want more cores, the Athlon II X4 630/640. IF you want more processing power, then i5 750, 1055T or i7 860/930 should fit the bill. This is why the i5 650 makes no sense since it costs as much as the quads but is only a dual core. Don't forget that all of the $200 quads have Turbo Modes as well. As a result, you don't really lose much performance in less threaded tasks over the i5 650.

You know, I was thinking along these lines myself, have been looking at the i3 530/540. Does "turbo" make a big difference for non-graphics-intensive tasks?

This is why the i3 530 or XII 640 are perfect budget builds for office work. If you do heavy multi-tasking (but you didn't mention what it is), there is a strong case for the i5 750 and 1055T over the budget processors.

It's mostly standard web-based programming and office stuff. I often have Eclipse running in Java (which is a dog on my current system), about 20 firefox windows (often including Firebug) and 10 chrome windows open, plus Excel and Word, sometimes Access, a text editor, Outlook. Frequent switching between all of the above.

Can you say more about why you think more cores would help with this? From what I've read, I thought more cores were important for CPU-intensive multi-threaded apps like graphical rendering. I would expect that for my scenario, what would help more would be a lot of RAM, win 7, and the SSD (esp if I can manage to make do without a swap file on the conventional HDD I'll use for storage).

 

[RussianSensation]

acordeon, right now on Newegg, the i3 530 is $115 and i5 750 is $195. It just comes down to how long you plan to keep your system. Say in 2 years you decide to upgrade to a quad core processor, those quads may be $80-100 for socket 1156. But if you buy that now, you get to enjoy the same speed for 2 years. The cash outlay will be the same though.

Even the most basic tasks such as WinRAR extraction, Monte Carlo simulation in Excel should work faster on a quad core.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/phenom-ii-x6-1090t_8.html

The Turbo modes on the i5 750 let it overclock to 2.8ghz from 2.66ghz when 3-4 threads are engaged, and up to 3.2ghz when running 1-2 threads: http://www.anandtech.com/show/2832/5

The Turbo modes on the 1055T allow 3 cores to run at 3.3ghz (or 500mhz speed increase from stock of 2.8ghz) when only running 3 threads: http://www.guru3d.com/article/phenom-ii-x6-1055t-1090t-review/3

The base frequency of the i3 530 is 2.93ghz and it has no turbo modes.

There is also a deal on 1055T at Microcenter where you get the processor for $199 and a Gigabyte mobo for $50. This way, you get both VGA and DVi on the same board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-439-_-Product

I am not 100% sure though if you can run them both simulatenously. I would google it. The problem with Intel is that you cannot run DVi/VGA off the H55/57 boards with the quads since they do not have onboard videocards. If you can get this deal, then the AMD setup will cost only $50 more than the i3 530 and you may even save on the videocard, while getting a way faster system that won't need aftermarket cooler.

 

[jchu14]

you have a Fry's near you?

You can get a Thuban 1055t and MSI motherboard with onboard graphics, SATA3, USB3 for $210 AR. link

 

[SanDiegoPC]

Last week, I built two systems for offices that were being used in similar circumstances. I chose to use the i5 processor and Asus boards in both of 'em.

Both clients are very happy with the systems...and both of them came from old Pentium 4 machines and already had large hard drives.

But the diff in performance (with the DDR3 RAM and the fast processor, and WD 640G Black hard drives) made a huge difference in the 'seat of the pants' feel of the new computers. I predict both of them will be having me build machines for them in the future too.

I just hope I can still make money doing so....it's been pretty tough to really make much building computers. If it weren't for service before & after, I'd be broker than I am now ....

 

[acordeon]

I don't live near either of those stores, unfortunately. But if anyone knows of any good deals I could get online, I'm all ears.

For comparison's sake, anyone know of a good mobo w/ onboard graphics I could use w/ the i5-750?

SanDiegoPC, did you use the i5-750 in your clients' machines? If so, what did you do for video?