Upgrading an old Shuttle

[f2ftech]

I have an old Shuttle XPS 35P2 which houses an equally old Intel Q6600 (stock), 8GB memory, 256GB Samsung SSD and a 1TD drive. All running Windows 8.1. I havnt the funds to buy a new PC currently and was looking at what I could do to "beef up" the speed slightly. The PC is mostly used for video encoding, playback and general web/office duties (no games).

I can get an Intel QX9650 for about £120 - would this help. The stock speed is 3Ghz - slight improvement on the Q6600. I have tried OCing the Q6600 but havnt been able to get much beyond 2.8Ghz (and even then it wasnt stable). Would I have more luck with the QX9650? Or would a Q9650 be better for me (same price)?

 

[Yuriman]

That's a lot to spend on an old machine, you could nearly buy a new SFF barebones + faster (modern) CPU for that. Not worth it.

 

[Arkaign]

That thing uses DDR2, and 8GB of DDR2 is fairly valuable. Part it out, but keep your SSD and 1TB drive.

Get : MicroATX case (super cheap), decent 430W PSU (Antec, et al), AsRock B85 Mobo, 8GB DDR3, and an i5 4570. It will be ludicrously faster than the current setup or the 9650.

Net cost won't be that high after you sell all the stuff you've got. The much newer Sata 6gps will help with that SSD, and the faster USB 3.0/etc will be icing on the cake.

Video encoding on a 4570 vs Q9650 is through the roof. If you have extra cash, then a 4770 non-K is even better.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/49?vs=837