To AMD or not to AMD (budget upgrade question)

[SpaceBandito]

Hey Anandtech forumites,

Forgive the really crappy name, this is my first post here since high school and I can't change it to something less terrible, so try not to judge me too hard.

Anyway, I have a bit of extra scratch recently and I've been thinking of upgrading my ANCIENT C2D hardware (e6600 & a 975X board under Windows 7) to something a bit more modern.

I'm thinking about buying a new processor, motherboard, and RAM, but I can't decide whether to go Intel or AMD. Specifically, I'm trying to decide between a i3 2100 or a Phenom II 955 BE. I found the sticky with the relevant info for you guys, so here goes:

1. I'll be using the system primarily for gaming and programming.

2. My budget is $300 dollars US, though cheaper is better.

3. I'll buy all my parts American

4. Truth be told, I'm a rather mild AMD fanboy, but if Intel is a better option at my price point I don't have a problem with that.

5. I plan on using my current 750W PSU, case, monitor, 6850, hard drives, and optical drives. If possible, I'd like to upgrade without reinstalling Windows.

6. I've done research, but the 955 v 2100 debate seems really even. I'm looking for helpful suggestions that can help sway me. Namely, whether switching CPU manufacturers make the upgrade more difficult on my OS and how the processors compare on newer games.

7. Overclocking is not important to me. At best, its a bonus.

8. 1680*1050 is my current monitor. I may buy a 1080p monitor/tv some time soon, but that's not really much of a processor issue anyway.

9. Ideally I'll be building within the next few weeks/months.

 

[lehtv]

Why not i5-2400 $190 + H61 board $50-60 + 8GB DDR3 $40?

You'll want to reinstall windows when upgrading the platform

 

[SpaceBandito]

Hi lehtv,

This is probably me being old-school, but I'm used to Micro-ATX boards being lower-quality offerings, even though I'm sure that's changed/never really was the case. I'm also a bit concerned about upgrade potential of an H61-based system. Namely, the lack of SATA 3 and only having 2 RAM slots.

 

[lehtv]

In that case, you might be able to fit a H67 board with SATA 6gb/s and 4 RAM slots in your budget. I'm not gonna fault you though if you want to spend less on the CPU i.e. i3-2100. I would not recommend AMD 955 at the moment, especially for a non-overclocker.

i5-2400 $190
Biostar TH67B $80
G.Skill 2x4GB 1333 $40

= $310 shipped

Here's i5-2400 vs i3-2100, judge for yourself if it's worth it for what you do

BTW do you happen to have a microcenter nearby?

 

[ElFenix]

You'll want to reinstall windows when upgrading the platform

i would only bother if i had issues.

intel to amd in particular requires the removal of an intel specific driver or the computer will bluescreen on boot. other than that hitch i've switched platforms on my server's windows xp install 4 times.

 

[sm625]

Either get a 2500k and overclock it, or get a 830 and overclock it. The i3 and locked i5 are kind of pointless options.

The 830 is $85, right now anyway:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103993
Add a $20 cooler and a $60 motherboard. At 3.8GHz it will beat or meet an i3 at just about everything. For 10% less.

It only makes sense to buy an i3 if you are buying a Z68 mobo and plan on upgrading to a K sometime in the future.

 

[lehtv]

Add a $20 cooler and a $60 motherboard. At 3.8GHz it will beat or meet an i3 at just about everything. For 10% less.

Yeah and twice the power consumption...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Yeah and twice the power consumption...

but he has the PSU for it

 

[pcsavvy]

If you have a Microcenter near you, they are having some great deals on AMD and Intel.
http://www.microcenter.com/index.html
A lot of the specials are instore only.

You can get an AMD 830 for $49.99 or a AMD 840 for $59.99 at your local Microcenter. Or a AMD 970 BE for $139.99. And Microcenter also has some good AMD motherboard/cpu bundles too. For a strict budget AMD has some nice offerings.
It is all dependent upon the amount of money you want to spend on the CPU and motherboard. The more features the m/b has the more money you need to spend.

If a CPU and M/B are all that is needed you can get some good deals on CPU/MB combos for around $200-300 or less.
It also comes down to what you plan to use your computer for, does it require a dual core or a quad core or 6-core?

 

[SpaceBandito]

You all have given me a lot to think about. A 2500k is really WAY out of my price range, especially since it'd be pretty substantial overkill. I mean, I'm not that huge of a power user and pretty much anything is going to outperform my current C2D setup. And I was erring towards an intel build because I don't want to have tons of driver headaches after upgrading, but it doesn't seem like it'll be that bad.

That said, I didn't know about the 830 and that seems like a really decent deal, especially if I can pick one up at my local(ish) Microcenter for 50 bucks. I'm not really an overclocker, but if I can spend half the price on the same amount of performance, I'm totally down for that, especially if I'm sinking that little money into the processor itself.

 

[Zap]

This is probably me being old-school, but I'm used to Micro-ATX boards being lower-quality offerings, even though I'm sure that's changed/never really was the case.

Quality has nothing to do with physical size and everything to do with cost. Well, not necessarily that a $400 motherboard being twice the quality of a $200 motherboard because at the high end it is all about marketing and features useless to 99% of the buyers. I'm talking about at the low end of the price spectrum, where penny pinching is required for lower price points.

Just as you can have "lower quality" mATX boards, you can have lower quality ATX boards as well. Same with higher quality. The micro ATX Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z is considered one of the better motherboards on the market even when compared to its ATX brethren.

Since you indicated you live near a Micro Center and you like AMD, check out these bundles. With a $300 budget you can get quite the AMD kit. For instance, the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition with MSI 880G-E45 ATX motherboard goes for $195 after a $10 rebate. Add a $20 4GB DDR3 RAM kit and you're good to go for way below budget.

Heck, you just missed out on some killer Intel deals which ended yesterday (unless sale gets renewed). For instance you could have gotten a Core i5-2500K with a GA-Z68AP-D3 LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 ATX motherboard for $220 after $10 rebate and before the same $20 RAM kit. That would also have been well within your $300 budget even after tax and before rebate.

 

[SpaceBandito]

Yeah, I know that mATX isn't inherently worse than the ATX form factor, but it's sort of a gut reaction.

As for Microcenter, yeah they've got some really intense deals. I wish I'd have known about that 2500k one. I'm actually at my university right now (which doesn't have a Microcenter anywhere nearby), but I'll be home for break at the end of the week and I'll definitely be stalking their ads then.

 

[mfenn]

Either get a 2500k and overclock it, or get a 830 and overclock it. The i3 and locked i5 are kind of pointless options.

How so? Not everybody overclocks you know. The OP specifically stated that he probably wouldn't do it.

 

[mfenn]

In that case, you might be able to fit a H67 board with SATA 6gb/s and 4 RAM slots in your budget. I'm not gonna fault you though if you want to spend less on the CPU i.e. i3-2100. I would not recommend AMD 955 at the moment, especially for a non-overclocker.

i5-2400 $190
Biostar TH67B $80
G.Skill 2x4GB 1333 $40

= $310 shipped

Here's i5-2400 vs i3-2100, judge for yourself if it's worth it for what you do

BTW do you happen to have a microcenter nearby?

This looks pretty decent to me.

 

[SpaceBandito]

Well, I've been thinking about it and I'm pretty sure I'll let Microcenter decide for me. When I get back home for break, I'll hit them up and see which deals look good. I've come to the realization that anything within my price range will do whatever I need, so I'll just see what microcenter has to offer.

Do you know if they usually do black Friday stuff or no?

 

[mfenn]

Usually, but a lot of the good deals are more "consumer-friendly" items like laptops and monitors.

 

[SpaceBandito]

Hey all,

Just figured I'd update you all regarding how everything went (in case anyone is interested). I hit up Microcenter today and found a bundle: I ended up getting this and a 2500k for around $250. Thanks to all of you that suggested Microcenter. That worked really well and I'm definitely going to be looking there for all my future upgrades.

 

[biostud]

That's a great price

 

[mfenn]

Hey all,

Just figured I'd update you all regarding how everything went (in case anyone is interested). I hit up Microcenter today and found a bundle: I ended up getting this and a 2500k for around $250. Thanks to all of you that suggested Microcenter. That worked really well and I'm definitely going to be looking there for all my future upgrades.

:thumbsup: Looks good!

 

[Skott]

Good deal.