Used i7 930 + Asus P6T Deluxe V2 for ~120€ worth it? Details in thread.

[GrumpyEtha]

Hey there!

I may be upgrading an old AMD X2 240 (or equivalent, I am not sure it is this exact CPU but it's something old and terrible from AMD) system core components for cheap (CPU, MB and RAM if need be for like 200€ max, but the cheaper the better).
The main usage of the build is day to day usage (web, mails, office work, etc) and Photoshop and Lightroom (the user is an amateur photographer). So no gaming.

I found what I think is a pretty good deal (what you read in the title), unless you guys say otherwise ; but, since it is still pretty old hardware, I was wondering how a recent i3 (Haswell or Skylake) would fare against the i7 930 for Photoshop and Lightroom and everyday usage?

Things to consider:
- it is used hardware, and while I am not too worried about the CPU, motherboards tend to be more fragile, and used X58 MBs are kind of hard to come by and still expensive, even used...
- most Photoshop functions are single threaded, so the i7 probably wouldn't have that much of an impact for Photoshop. I am not sure about Lightroom though.
- the deal does not include a CPU cooler, so that would add a bit to the price (wouldn't go above 20€, since no OC is planned if I go that route).
- recent i3s do have decent integrated graphics (for said usage, that is), better than the HD 4xxx series in the system (which is suspected to be defective, btw, so will eventually be replaced, so more cost for the used hardware option).
- the rest of the components will be salvaged (except RAM if I go Skylake).

All things considered, the cost of both routes would be about the same, maybe even higher if I go used.

So, the final question is the following: is it worth it for this usage, or should I just go new to ensure longer lifespan?

Thanks in advance for the help!

[EDIT 1] Clarified some points.

 

[loki1944]

http://www.pcgamer.com/bloomfield-takes-on-skylake/

If it was me I'd take an i7 930 for that cheap, but....there is far more dependability in going with new components.

 

[GrumpyEtha]

http://www.pcgamer.com/bloomfield-takes-on-skylake/

If it was me I'd take an i7 930 for that cheap, but....there is far more dependability in going with new components.

Very interesting reading, thank you!

And yes, that is exactly the dilemma I am facing... ><

 

[loki1944]

http://www.pcgamer.com/bloomfield-takes-on-skylake/

If it was me I'd take an i7 930 for that cheap, but....there is far more dependability in going with new components.

Very interesting reading, thank you!

And yes, that is exactly the dilemma I am facing... ><

Yeah, I love that article. I have an i7 960 @4.1Ghz which performs very well to this day for gaming (and does so @stock too), provided it has a modern GPU. But for what you're doing with lightroom, "exporting images in Lightroom greatly benefits from higher core count CPUs"...."Due to the lower efficiency, the best CPU for converting images to DNG is actually going to be one with between four and eight CPU cores with a relatively high (3.5GHz+) frequency."....

"If you find that the only thing you are ever waiting on is exporting images to a disk, then a CPU with a high core count will likely give you the best performance. However, the more time you spend waiting on almost anything else in Lightroom makes a lower core count, high frequency CPU better and better in terms of performance. If your workflow just consists of importing images, converting them the DNG, creating 1:1 Previews, then exporting half of them to a disk, the overall parallel efficiency (based on our testing) works out to be about .75 or 75%. Based on this, the Intel Xeon E5-1680 V3 3.2GHz Eight Core 20MB 140W CPU would be a great choice being about 6% faster than the Intel Core i7-4790K.

Once you start adding in other tasks like creating panorama or HDR photos, the balance shifts away from a high core count CPUs towards higher frequency CPUs. If you were to import your photos, convert them to DNG, generate Smart previews, create 8 HDR and 2 panoramas photos, then export only a handful of photos (say 10% of the total you imported) the overall parallel efficiency drops to about .57 (57%). At that point, the CPU that would give you the best overall performance would actually be the Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0GHz Quad Core 8MB 88W. This CPU only costs about $400 so in addition to being the fastest CPU for that use-case will also save you quite a bit of money which you could then spend on other aspects of the computer like faster storage or more RAM." https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Lightroom-CC-6-Multi-Core-Performance-649/

Sounds to me like even here it's a tough call, but overall sounds doeable on an i3. Also current i3s are very capable http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/47?vs=1645.

Since $$ is obviously a serious consideration here (otherwise I would say just get an i7 6700) then I think the wiser choice is to go with the i3 rather than take the risk with used components. Keep in mind that you can always upgrade to an i5 Haswell/Skylake CPU down the road.

Also there are Skylake motherbards that support DDR3 so you could port that over for now, save yourself a bit there:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (€118.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DVS/D3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€58.84 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€0.00) (since you already have the DDR3 RAM)
Total: €177.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-03 14:10 CEST+0200

 

[GrumpyEtha]

Yeah, I love that article. I have an i7 960 @4.1Ghz which performs very well to this day for gaming (and does so @stock too), provided it has a modern GPU. But for what you're doing with lightroom, "exporting images in Lightroom greatly benefits from higher core count CPUs"...."Due to the lower efficiency, the best CPU for converting images to DNG is actually going to be one with between four and eight CPU cores with a relatively high (3.5GHz+) frequency."....

"If you find that the only thing you are ever waiting on is exporting images to a disk, then a CPU with a high core count will likely give you the best performance. However, the more time you spend waiting on almost anything else in Lightroom makes a lower core count, high frequency CPU better and better in terms of performance. If your workflow just consists of importing images, converting them the DNG, creating 1:1 Previews, then exporting half of them to a disk, the overall parallel efficiency (based on our testing) works out to be about .75 or 75%. Based on this, the Intel Xeon E5-1680 V3 3.2GHz Eight Core 20MB 140W CPU would be a great choice being about 6% faster than the Intel Core i7-4790K.

Once you start adding in other tasks like creating panorama or HDR photos, the balance shifts away from a high core count CPUs towards higher frequency CPUs. If you were to import your photos, convert them to DNG, generate Smart previews, create 8 HDR and 2 panoramas photos, then export only a handful of photos (say 10% of the total you imported) the overall parallel efficiency drops to about .57 (57%). At that point, the CPU that would give you the best overall performance would actually be the Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0GHz Quad Core 8MB 88W. This CPU only costs about $400 so in addition to being the fastest CPU for that use-case will also save you quite a bit of money which you could then spend on other aspects of the computer like faster storage or more RAM." https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Lightroom-CC-6-Multi-Core-Performance-649/

Sounds to me like even here it's a tough call, but overall sounds doeable on an i3. Also current i3s are very capable http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/47?vs=1645.

Since $$ is obviously a serious consideration here (otherwise I would say just get an i7 6700) then I think the wiser choice is to go with the i3 rather than take the risk with used components. Keep in mind that you can always upgrade to an i5 Haswell/Skylake CPU down the road.

Also there are Skylake motherbards that support DDR3 so you could port that over for now, save yourself a bit there:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (€118.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DVS/D3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€58.84 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€0.00) (since you already have the DDR3 RAM)
Total: €177.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-03 14:10 CEST+0200

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I lean towards a new i3.

Now Haswell or Skylake depends on whether or not the current DDR3 is low voltage, but if it is, Skylake will be the way to go.

Thanks for your help!

 

[loki1944]

Yeah, I love that article. I have an i7 960 @4.1Ghz which performs very well to this day for gaming (and does so @stock too), provided it has a modern GPU. But for what you're doing with lightroom, "exporting images in Lightroom greatly benefits from higher core count CPUs"...."Due to the lower efficiency, the best CPU for converting images to DNG is actually going to be one with between four and eight CPU cores with a relatively high (3.5GHz+) frequency."....

"If you find that the only thing you are ever waiting on is exporting images to a disk, then a CPU with a high core count will likely give you the best performance. However, the more time you spend waiting on almost anything else in Lightroom makes a lower core count, high frequency CPU better and better in terms of performance. If your workflow just consists of importing images, converting them the DNG, creating 1:1 Previews, then exporting half of them to a disk, the overall parallel efficiency (based on our testing) works out to be about .75 or 75%. Based on this, the Intel Xeon E5-1680 V3 3.2GHz Eight Core 20MB 140W CPU would be a great choice being about 6% faster than the Intel Core i7-4790K.

Once you start adding in other tasks like creating panorama or HDR photos, the balance shifts away from a high core count CPUs towards higher frequency CPUs. If you were to import your photos, convert them to DNG, generate Smart previews, create 8 HDR and 2 panoramas photos, then export only a handful of photos (say 10% of the total you imported) the overall parallel efficiency drops to about .57 (57%). At that point, the CPU that would give you the best overall performance would actually be the Intel Core i7 4790K 4.0GHz Quad Core 8MB 88W. This CPU only costs about $400 so in addition to being the fastest CPU for that use-case will also save you quite a bit of money which you could then spend on other aspects of the computer like faster storage or more RAM." https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Lightroom-CC-6-Multi-Core-Performance-649/

Sounds to me like even here it's a tough call, but overall sounds doeable on an i3. Also current i3s are very capable http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/47?vs=1645.

Since $$ is obviously a serious consideration here (otherwise I would say just get an i7 6700) then I think the wiser choice is to go with the i3 rather than take the risk with used components. Keep in mind that you can always upgrade to an i5 Haswell/Skylake CPU down the road.

Also there are Skylake motherbards that support DDR3 so you could port that over for now, save yourself a bit there:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor (€118.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-DVS/D3 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€58.84 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€0.00) (since you already have the DDR3 RAM)
Total: €177.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-03 14:10 CEST+0200

Yes, the more I think about it, the more I lean towards a new i3.

Now Haswell or Skylake depends on whether or not the current DDR3 is low voltage, but if it is, Skylake will be the way to go.

Thanks for your help!

No problem. I love me some Bloomfield, but hard earned cash (i.e. where cash involved is a serious amount to me) on used components that are that old would definitely make me leery. Much more security in something newer with some RMA support.