Upgrade or New Box

[jdwright]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for advice on my current box. I've got a fresh copy of Vue 11 Infinite to download and I want my box to handle it well. I'll also be doing some video editing/photoshop. I do play games here and there, but they are not my priority. Also, I'm Windows 7 Home Premium.

Here is my current rig (main components):


Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VXL Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Western Digital WD Green WD6400AACS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Desktop Memory Model

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor (no 4th core =()

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard


My question - should I start from scratch? or would an SSD and new processor make enough difference to get me up to speed. I don't know the most capable processor that will fit into my mobo, or even if it would be wise to buy something that might not be the latest tech.

Any advice would be dandy =)

jwright

 

[Termie]

You have a similar system to this forum poster, but a totally different usage scenario: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2284071

While I'd be tempted to try an X6 processor for your needs, honestly, you need more RAM as well, and DDR2 is expensive. You could upgrade to an X6 plus another 4GB of RAM by going used for maybe $150, or spend $300 and get a brand-new 3570k, z77 board, and 8GB of DDR3 (see that thread for details). Obviously, it all depends on your budget, but the latter will perform at least as well in your apps and much better in games.

 

[jdwright]

Thanks for the input Termie =)

I don't mind spending the extra money if I know I'm getting a significant improvement. So, you think a processor, board, and ram would be my best upgrade path? I think my video card is adequate (5770 1gb).

Probably new SSD would be minimal benefit outside of startup time, yes?

Thoughts?

 

[Termie]

Thanks for the input Termie =)

I don't mind spending the extra money if I know I'm getting a significant improvement. So, you think a processor, board, and ram would be my best upgrade path? I think my video card is adequate (5770 1gb).

Probably new SSD would be minimal benefit outside of startup time, yes?

Thoughts?

The graphics card is fine for your uses - no need to upgrade that.

An SSD is a big benefit, but one large enough to truly make a difference in video and image processing will probably double your costs. I'd probably start with a 64-128GB SSD for the OS and your applications. You'll still have your data files on a hard drive, but at least start up and app-switching will be much improved.

And yes, the difference between an X6 and a 3570k in computation-heavy apps will be very signficant: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/701?vs=147

That's why I'd hesitate to go down the path of fishing for a good deal on a used X6/RAM. Only worth it if you're really budget-limited.

 

[jdwright]

What do you think of the 8 gb of ram included with the mobo you linked in the other thread? Should I consider 16gb for another $50? Will that be a big benefit?

I'm thinking I'll surf the BF deals at newegg tomorrow and see how cheap I can upgrade =).

Thanks for the help on this!

 

[Termie]

What do you think of the 8 gb of ram included with the mobo you linked in the other thread? Should I consider 16gb for another $50? Will that be a big benefit?

I'm thinking I'll surf the BF deals at newegg tomorrow and see how cheap I can upgrade =).

Thanks for the help on this!

The 8GB of G.Skill RAM included with the Newegg motherboard bundle is very high quality. If you need more, you can always get another set for $40. Might just want to see if 8GB is enough for you. I find that I use over 8GB when working with RAW image files in a 64-bit application. You'll need to look into the memory usage of your applications to be sure.

My bet is that you won't find anything better on BF in regard to motherboard/memory deals. You will, however, see better prices on SSDs, and potentially CPUs as well (though only by $10-20). Motherboards in particular just aren't going to be big movers on Black Friday, which is why I don't think you'll beat a z77 plus 8GB for $100.