Upgrade MB for 1090T or start over

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
I

i6pwr

Distinguished
Jul 12, 2010
244
4
18,685
I'm currently using an Asus M49AGTD Pro USB 3 motherboard and my stock 1090T Thuban, Corsair Dominator 4x2gb 1600, GTX670.

I do alot of rendering, pic editing and I know this CPU is decent, I'm thinking maybe a Crosshair V could utilize more of the RAM and CPU but that part I don't know.

Could a newer CPU be used in this board or am I just basically at my physical limit? Could I use a 8320
On this board or would I need a more modern board?

Main reason is speed is always better and with prices being reasonable I'm researching options.

I believe the 1090T is AM3 or at least compatible...been awhile.

Feel free to help out. Would like to keep the MB and CPU budget under $300 but a little over could be worked.

Thanks.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
You can still get at least $150 if you ebay your 1090T. They are good CPUs. Your board is ok but it doesn't support any Vishera CPUs. I'd just sell both. You can get a 4 core 8 thread Xeon and motherboard for ~$300 and render render render.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $317.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-21 18:48 EST-0500
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
How would the xeon compare to the i5 4690 or 4670? I didn't want to switch to the dark side but Intel seems to have the edge right now.

Also, if I switch to Intel, would I need new RAM, is the Dominator intel or AMD specific?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The Haswell Xeon is basically an i7, which is an i5 with the added benefit of hyperthreading. So the Xeon is superior to an i5, especially for rendering.

The RAM that you have is fine. All RAM runs better on Haswell. It has the best memory controller we have ever seen. Most non-generic RAM like Dominator's have X.M.P. profiles to instantly tune your timings by enabling it in the BIOS. Dominators, in my opinion are very overpriced. When you expand your RAM I would just get a mid-range kit and focus on getting more GBs instead of frequency/timings (of course high frequency and tight timings will help though).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


For the reason to not overclock correct? I don't plan on overclocking and I believe the Xeon isn't meant for that anyway.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes. The H97s still have most of the other premium features found on the Z97 boards. Really Z97 only offers CFX/SLI options. There are still a lot of people with locked CPUs on Z97 though. Those boards are really nice. Just whatever you do don't get an H81 board, lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I see, so if I go with the Xeon which cannot be OC'd, then the Z97 is money wasted correct? I don't plan to SLI or OC so I will rethink the MB.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well I was going over my options and this is what I have narrowed it down to. I like the Xeon and the price is more attractive than the 4790K, but say we throw in the i7 4790 (non-K) and compare that to the xeon 1231.

Is there something about the architecture of the i7 4790 that would allow it to be more effective at rendering over the Xeon? Granted the (K) version has a higher clock but lets compare the Xeon to the non-K i7 4790. Too close to call or is the i7 more efficient at rendering?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Well I have a couple days to figure this out, seems prices on the i7 4790 & 4790K are down a little so it looks like it's boiling down to these 2 i7's and the Xeon 1231. So if we take the 4790K out of the equation, does the Xeon 1231 outperform the i7 4790 (non-K) in terms of HD rendering? I'm trying to understand how the Xeon works well in regards to video editing. I'm not doubting anyone, but for the sake of the thread it's just good info...I'm learning as well.

Between Newegg and my local store, I can get the i7 4790 for about the same price as the E3 1231 with a MB combo so it's a tough call.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Seeing they are all quad core, you can look at Cinebench single core Benchmarks -

i7 4790 vs i7 4790k - http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790 - the k version is better (because of higher clocks)

i7 4790k vs E 1231v3 - http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E3-1231V3-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K - again the k version is better

Also - compare the i7 4790k against other CPUs -

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8426/the-intel-haswell-e-cpu-review-core-i7-5960x-i7-5930k-i7-5820k-tested/5 - Cinebench R15 multi threaded

i7 4790k (4 core, $350) 894
i7 5820k (6 core, $500) 1025
i7 5960x (8 core, $1000) 1097

You can also see how AMD CPU fair on the same chart


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The Xeon e3-1231v3 would be perfect for what you are wanting, but it's biggest selling point is how much cheaper it usually is over the regular i7s. If you can get the 4790 for the same price, this seems like the obvious choice considering the 1231v3 and the 4790 are the same chip but the 4790 runs 200mhz faster and has an igpu. The performance difference between the two would be negligible.

I also recommend a H97 motherboard. There is no reason to spend extra for a Z97 unless you want to run SLI in the future.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah I think damric had it right with recommending the Xeon 1231 and since my local Micro Center has it for $209 it's definitely a great deal. Of course they also have the i7 at good prices, and with a bundle price with a MB with the K chip the i7 looks like the better option now. The Xeon is out of stock as of now but NE still has them but at the same price of the i7 at MC.

I appreciate all the input and will figure out what I need here hopefully before the weekend.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Yes, I did look at the 5820K and MC has it $20 more than the 4790K but then you add DDR4 and it's going out of budget.....good call though.

I did pull the trigger tonight and I ended up with the i7 4790K and an Asus H97 plus ATX board for $360, including the $20 tax....grrr, but still not a bad deal. I will pick it up Saturday, many thanks to all the help.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Seems Asus allows OC on the H97 boards as of last year but not full control on OC. What is the difference in terms of over clock ability between the H and Z boards with the Haswell?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom