Time for an upgrade. How's this?

[mathiasschnell]

I recently put up my computer specs in the appropriate spot of my profile so hopefully everyone can see it.

Anyways, it's been about a year and a half since I first built my first from-scratch PC and it's starting to chug in some areas. I've already upgraded the video card and power supply once (7600GT --> HD 4850 and 450W --> 650W), but it feels like that's only helped with games and also doesn't feel like as great an upgrade as it should have been. Boot up can be a bit slow, Firefox chugs if I have too much flash content open at once, things are feeling hot and loud sometimes and I occasionally get memory errors in WoW... it's time to upgrade.

So here's the deal. I'm gonna limit myself to $300 for a new CPU, Mobo and possibly 4GB of RAM (the lower the better). I'm not going to bother with a third party HSF because stock speeds will probably be enough for me and even if not then I can lightly OC (emphasis on lightly). Here's what I've come up with.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

While performance is an issue for me, it's stability and reliability I want more than anything at an affordable price. These parts are all under $100 and are highly rated, so I'm hoping my luck is good and these parts will all come to me rock solid.

So, what do you think?

 

[jitpublisher]

Not too bad.
The processor is a LITTLE slow, I personally like to see 2.8ghz this day in age for gaming purposes, but you should be able to hit that, or even 3.0ghz pretty easily with that processor.
It will be night and day difference over your current system, yeah.

 

[aevm]

$17 more buys you a GA-EP45-UD3P instead of the GA-EP45-UD3L. For $17 you get a bunch of extra features, including the ability to add a second HD 4850. Your PSU already supports HD 4850 Crossfire.


Actually, since your budget is $300, you can do a lot better.

$235
Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor - Retail
GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.165024

and that memory you've already found. The total for CPU/MB/RAM is $280.

 

[mathiasschnell]

That $17 extra is after rebates, which I kinda don't want to deal with if I can avoid it. I'm also pretty set on going with Intel this time around. I really want to try the other side of the fence and I've just read and heard a lot of good stories about people's experiences with their stuff (even when compared to the Phenom II's). I know I could get better deals but I really am trying to spend as little cash as I can.

I like to think of it this way. Y'know that chart at the end of each 'Best Video Card For Your Money' Tom's articles every month? I like to upgrade such that there is at least a 3 tier difference between what I had and what I'm upgrading too. As long as I meet that requirement, then I'll be happy. I'm also trying to stick with 'safe' parts. Like I said, stability and reliability are important to me. I guess that's kinda contradictory since I'm buying parts and doing this all myself rather than buying a new PC from a vendor or something, but I'm really trying.

 

[aevm]

Yeah, I hate rebates too... I usually get mine, but it takes months.

There's the P5Q Pro too, BTW, also with Crossfire, only $7 more than the GA-EP45-UD3L, but again after $15 rebate

I don't think the difference between the X2 3800+ and the E5200 is worth upgrading, TBH. Maybe if you overclock that E5200 as far as possible, but then you'd need to invest in a good cooler too. You're better off waiting and saving more until you can afford an E8400. Intel might cut prices again in June, they usually do.

Or at least get an E7400. Something like E7400+P5Q Pro + 4GB RAM costs $120+$120+$45 = $285 before the rebates so I guess it's still in your budget.

 

[mathiasschnell]

Well I've heard stories of Core 2 Duos getting to 3.6 GHz on stock cooling (and I think this was before the 45nm shrink), so theoretically I should be able to take an E5200 to E8400 speeds and the lack of CPU cache shouldn't be too great of a hit to my performance. Maybe if I do that then it'll all be worth it.

Also the processor upgrade won't be as big a difference as the Mobo upgrade (at least I think so), so I think even if I got a CPU on the same level as the X2 3800+ and just had a better Mobo I'd still see a nice difference. I mean, the Mobo I have right now has an integrated Nvidia 6100 (I think) graphics. That's OLD. Like 4 or 5 years old (maybe more). And I think that's what holding back most of my system anyway.

 

[emyyhh]

I have an E5200 in an HTPC and its great. It OC'd to 3.2Ghz with a quiet fan (for htpc use) and it runs cool and quiet. I have used it to play cod5 and dawn of war 2 on and its runs them both flawlessly on high settings @ 1680x1050 with a 9800gt. Bearing in mind i use a micro atx board and only 2Gb of ram.

If the E5200 fits your budget, then it comes highly reccomended. I wouldnt be suprised if it clocked to 3.6 on decent air cooling.

 

[aevm]

Well I've heard stories of Core 2 Duos getting to 3.6 GHz on stock cooling (and I think this was before the 45nm shrink), so theoretically I should be able to take an E5200 to E8400 speeds and the lack of CPU cache shouldn't be too great of a hit to my performance. Maybe if I do that then it'll all be worth it.

Also the processor upgrade won't be as big a difference as the Mobo upgrade (at least I think so), so I think even if I got a CPU on the same level as the X2 3800+ and just had a better Mobo I'd still see a nice difference. I mean, the Mobo I have right now has an integrated Nvidia 6100 (I think) graphics. That's OLD. Like 4 or 5 years old (maybe more). And I think that's what holding back most of my system anyway.

The integrated graphics is not holding back anything, it's disabled. Your HD 4850 does all the graphics work there. Upgrading a MB in itself brings negligible gains, like 3%.

Your #1 problem is not enough RAM. You've got a big bottleneck there.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/08/is-more-memory-better/5

#2 is the CPU. #3, if possible, get a new HDD from the WD Caviar Black series so that the HDD doesn't become the new bottleneck.

 

[Onus]

I've not done a whole lot to OC it, since I got it for a friend's rig, but I've been very unimpressed with the E5200. If you didn't mind spending a lot of time tweaking for stability, and got a decent aftermarket cooler, it might be ok with a high OC. You specifically emphasized "lightly" with regard to any OC, so I don't think you want that chip. In that context, I think you want an E8000-series CPU. If you can stay with AMD, the CPU/mobo linked by aevm would be excellent choices.

 

[mathiasschnell]

The integrated graphics is not holding back anything, it's disabled. Your HD 4850 does all the graphics work there. Upgrading a MB in itself brings negligible gains, like 3%.

Your #1 problem is not enough RAM. You've got a big bottleneck there.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/07/08/is-more-memory-better/5

#2 is the CPU. #3, if possible, get a new HDD from the WD Caviar Black series so that the HDD doesn't become the new bottleneck.

I was just trying to say that the 6100 graphics on my current mobo make it old, not that the graphics themselves are hurting my performance. Also I've seen some benchmarks, probably from X-bit or Guru or Bit-tech or something, where the chipset made a difference in performance because it has better connections to all the different busses. I.E. X48 > P45 > P43 in terms of performance, and not just by 3%.

Also, 2GB is a big bottleneck? Or are you saying the VRAM on my card isn't enough? Because my Monitor is working at 1920x1200.

Edit - Wow, didn't realize the difference between 2GB and 4GB was that big. I mean, it's not astronomical, but it would definitely be noticeable.