Upgrade dilemma: X2 7750BE or the Phenom 8450 ?

[agathodaimon]

So, this is for my sister's computer, replacing an old XP1700 thoroughbred processor.

My sister... Well... She's one of those kinds who doesn't know much about her computer, unless it is running too slow.
On average, she will have about half a dozen things going on at the same time, which pretty much cripples the processor she has now.

So anyway, here's my situation.

Since she loves having several applications running at any given time. (listening to music, running Firefox, torrent, instant messaging & more). I was definitely going multi-core with her upgrade.

Since she's on an uber budget, my processor budget falls into the 8450 and 7750 range.
I'm trying to decide which would be the better buy?
It will be paired with a 780G chipset and 2GB of ram, along with Windows XP professional. (no money for Vista).
There will be ZERO GAMING involved... Just heavy multitasking.

What would you choose?

 

[zerogear]

She seems she would benefit from an X3 Phenom II (119$), but since you are on a budget, I think the extra core on 8450 would benefit her more.

 

[agathodaimon]

Yeah, I'm trying to keep the total price under $200 shipped...
2GB ram, 780G board, DVD/RW and processor.

This setup I have here comes in right at $200 shipped from newegg:
Phenom 8450 Toliman - $79.99
ASRock A780GMH/128M - $69.99
Kingston DDR2 800 2GB - $20.99
Sony DVD/RW - $23.99

 

[fourdegrees11]

1. AMD Phenom X4 9600 Agena 2.3GHz

2. GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

combo for $145

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.182234

Transcend 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $34

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820208353

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R $21

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827151175

it will be a few bucks over $200 with shipping, but you get massive performance gains going with a quad core and 4gb of ram.

 

[F1shF4t]

Ain't the X4 9600, the early B2 stepping with the TBL issues? Won't be a worry for her just the workaround (which should be enabled in bios of new mainboards and vista i assume) will apparently drop its performance.

Either way multicore is the way to go (X3 or X4). However, if you could go a bit over for the P2 X3 720, it would be by far better than both the older X3 or the X4 9600.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Dark Cupcake
Ain't the X4 9600, the early B2 stepping with the TBL issues? Won't be a worry for her just the workaround (which should be enabled in bios of new mainboards and vista i assume) will apparently drop its performance.

Either way multicore is the way to go (X3 or X4). However, if you could go a bit over for the P2 X3 720, it would be by be better than both the older X3 or the X4 9600.

I think the TLB is less of an issue than 'unganging' the 128-bit (technically: 2 64-bit) memory controller(s). I've had no problems at 2.6GHz w/ 100% cpu utilization doing Vegas ....

Temps haven't reached beyond the mid 40's - which was a nice surprise.

 

[swanysto]

Before you go with a quad core, realize that what your sister is doing does not take a lot of processor power. A dual core would more than handle those tasks. Most of the things you have listed are more taxing on your internet connection than your actual computer. You can get an E5200 or AMD equivalent for around 70 bucks, and a very good mother board and ram to go along with that. Unless your sister takes up something that really takes up CPU power, I would not worry about triple/quad core. My sister does the same stuff as well as homework, and she can't even make the T6400 in her laptop break a sweat.

 

[agathodaimon]

Originally posted by: swanysto
Before you go with a quad core, realize that what your sister is doing does not take a lot of processor power. A dual core would more than handle those tasks. Most of the things you have listed are more taxing on your internet connection than your actual computer. You can get an E5200 or AMD equivalent for around 70 bucks, and a very good mother board and ram to go along with that. Unless your sister takes up something that really takes up CPU power, I would not worry about triple/quad core. My sister does the same stuff as well as homework, and she can't even make the T6400 in her laptop break a sweat.

No, nothing serious. Maybe some Photoshop dabbling, but I would hardly call it intensive.

I'll toy with all the ideas mentioned here... Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

[swanysto]

What did you decide on?

 

[agathodaimon]

Well, she decided to go with what I had initially picked out for her.
She seemed to like the price, parts & everything.

Either way, It'll be a massive improvement upon the XP1700 she has now.