upgrading my spare computer

[nanaki333]

i've got an intel e8400 and an athlon x3 2.6 in my 2 guest computers. i've got a radeon 5830 and a gtx 280 OC for my 2 card choices. without overclocking, which cpu should i upgrade to pair with the gtx 280 oc? my buddy is giving me a choice between an intel q9550 and an amd 1055T 6 core, can't have both. i was leaning toward the amd just because of the future proofness, but what the hell actually uses 6 threads? the amd would be paired with DDR2 by the way.

 

[superccs]

I just got the 1055 from a fry's deal and its pretty quick, would have upgraded my e8400 to a quad if my mobo didnt start giving me voltage irregularities..
I am just going to ebay my ram and cpu to help pay for the upgrade.

The turbo mechanism on the AMD chip is pretty good, and customizable through AMD overdrive. With it you can send 3 cores above 3.3Ghz during gaming.

 

[nanaki333]

so is it better to just upgrade it to a quad core intel as far as gaming performance goes?

 

[yh125d]

Both of your computers are plenty fine for guests. Each could play any game plenty satisfactorily. If you're buying those processors, I'd say save the money. If your friend is offering them for free, I'd say have him sell them instead

 

[veri745]

Both of your computers are plenty fine for guests. Each could play any game plenty satisfactorily. If you're buying those processors, I'd say save the money. If your friend is offering them for free, I'd say have him sell them instead

I would have to agree here. Pair the Athlon II X3 with the GTX280 and be done with it.

Except if it's free, then I'd take it and sell it myself

 

[nanaki333]

i get free hardware all the time

i'm getting the freebies from a vendor and i got first pick for the freebie cause i spent more! my main machine is an i7 950, 12GB DDR3 1600, 2x intel 160GB SSD, 2x samsung 1TB, radeon 5970, blah blah blah, so there's nothing to save for

 

[InfoTiger]

Man, lucky you.
What line of work do you do?
Any vacancy?

 

[LoneNinja]

I think I would take the C2Q, I get the feeling the Athlon II X3 will out live the Core 2 E8400 as far as gaming in the future is concerned. Also, AM3 will be easier to upgrade later while it'll remain more expensive to upgrade the Core2 if you ever choose to.

 

[RussianSensation]

I think I would take the C2Q, I get the feeling the Athlon II X3 will out live the Core 2 E8400 as far as gaming in the future is concerned. Also, AM3 will be easier to upgrade later while it'll remain more expensive to upgrade the Core2 if you ever choose to.

Why not take the 1055T, sell the E8400 and the X3 and buy a $180 Q9550. This way both systems are upgraded

 

[LoneNinja]

Why not take the 1055T, sell the E8400 and the X3 and buy a $180 Q9550. This way both systems are upgraded

And if he doesn't have microcenter access like many, he can sell the E8400 and X3 to buy a 1055T as a Q9550 is likely to cost him over $250.

Either way, I'm sold on the idea of him upgrading both processors this way, lol.

 

[nanaki333]

i live 6 miles from microcenter in fairfax. <3

i don't like to sell my used stuff. i usually just pass it on to friends. i have a few buddies salivating over which option i choose because they get my hand me downs.

 

[Face2Face]

AMD 1055T. Why take a step back to the Q9550?