Upgrading/Re-building PC - Dual core, triple core, or quad core?

[360bhp]

Hello all, I'll keep the thread simple to get the best answers.

Currently have:

• Windows XP
• Gigabyte socket 754 mobo
• AMD Sempron 2800+ (1684mhz - OC'd to 1805mhz)
• 2GB DDR
• Nvidia 7600GS (Running at core 490mhz / mem 480mhz)
• Xpower 400w PSU (atx 400td)
• DVD-RW (IDE)
• 2 x 120GB HDD (IDE)

Mainly use the computer for:

• Pc is on for about 14 hours a day, so something quite easy on the electricity bills would be good
• Internet browsing (switching between alot of tabs)
• Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver etc (mostly always running, sometimes 2 together)
• Playing some games (Pro evo 2008, battlefield.. nothing too demanding for now)
• Once in a while, converting & encoding videos

Would prefer to stick with XP, not really into Vista. Would like something noticably quite faster than my old system. Will be upgrading grfx card in future, once prices of the 8800gt come down a bit more.

What do you recommend upgrading? Should I go for a new build, or can a few things be used from the old build to save costs? Don't really want to spend much as a bit skint, but looking at around £200 to £300. Was thinking of a new mobo and cpu and hopefully this might work with all the old stuff? Though i'm pretty sure its not that simple!

Thanks

[Zhaoman]

if you're running on an AM2 mobo then the fastest way to get better performance now is to get any of the new phenoms. then wait for the 9800gtx to come down to £125 and you've got a massively more powerful pc for around £250.

But for a bit more hassle i'd opt for a new mobo: and get the intel e7200 along with new ddr2 ram. prices are so cheap a £40 mobo will be more than enough and the e7200 costs £80, along with 2gb ddr2 at £30. then you could go for a 4850 for £125. thats £275.

Or you could keep ur 7600 since you seem to be happy with it, and go for a p45 mobo which will future proof you for a bit more. then you could save up for a bit and get a 9800GTX or 4850 when you're ready!

Hope that helps a bit

[staffsMike]

I'm assuming that CPU isn't an AM2 given the DDR ram.

For intel you could get, Intel Q6600 ~ £120
2GB DDR2 ~£30
Asus P5Q PRO at about £80, but there are cheaper P35 alternatives.

640GB Western digital AAKS £60, takes you to your highest budget.

I'd go with a lesser hard drive and stick a decent HSF on that Q6600. That will give you the potential for around 3.6GHz if you really wanted it, something the phenoms can't touchh unfortunatly.

Also it's worth nothing that your PSU is not doubt quite old and thus far unbranded, could be quite tricky with high end graphics and any quad core + overclocking.

[Noxvayl]

Your kit is pretty old... be best to go with a new setup all together tbh and leave this one as a second PC maybe.

For £300 you could get:
Asus TA-591 with 350W PSU £38
Gigabyte GA-MA78G-DS3H £58
AMD Athlon X2 4850e £50
2Gb Corsair XMS2 PC6400 800Mhz £30
160Gb Seagate Barracuda SATAII £29
Pioneer SATA DVD-RW £18
Logitech G5 Gaming mouse £30
Logitech media keyboard 600 £14

And you still have money to spare to get yourself a heatsink if you want to overclock or maybe a bigger HDD if you prefer.

[staffsMike]

The above is a good idea but I would probably keep whatever case you have and spend the money on a decent PSU. If you are sticking high end grpahics cards in you will want something a little more.. substancial.

The 780G board mention (I would have the abit/asus, sorry exhail ) is very good though, decent onboard graphics anyway but you 7600GS (assuming it's PCI-e) will be good to.

Since you probably won't be using the onboard graphics though the intel G33 and Pentium dual core make a better overclocking combination.

Probably forget the mouse and keyboard as well lol

[360bhp]

Sorry mobo is not AM2. Socket 754 which basically leaves no space whatsoever to upgrade just the cpu. Is there a 754 to am2 conversion adaptor out there anywhere? lol

Staffsmike.. q6600 sounds good, seems a very popular cpu on the boards.
Exhail... thanks alot for putting that lot together! Are those prices with scan?

As for the HDD issue, i really dont need 240 gigs. I have all the software I need, and all the crap junk files still from my last build, and xp files it all only comes to 112gb!

Also, im not too happy with the 7600gs as I cant play pro evo on max settings at 1024 x 768. Have to stick to medium to get decent fps. Case I have is ok, one of those spider ones from scan. No screws so can swap stuff and clean it pretty easily.

How much more would I notice the difference from a dual core to a quad?

[staffsMike]

It depends. If you want stuff running in the background while you game there is a big difference. If you don't then not much really.

They are great for any multitasking though, the duals are good and you will see a massive improvement even with them but if you want to multi-task the quad is a great chip now and with more and more programs using all the cores it will get better with age

[Noxvayl]

The above is a good idea but I would probably keep whatever case you have and spend the money on a decent PSU. If you are sticking high end graphics cards in you will want something a little more.. substantial.

The 780G board mention (I would have the abit/asus, sorry exhail ) is very good though, decent onboard graphics anyway but you 7600GS (assuming it's PCI-e) will be good to.

Since you probably won't be using the onboard graphics though the intel G33 and Pentium dual core make a better overclocking combination.

Probably forget the mouse and keyboard as well lol

Could always change the Asus case for the Antec Sonata + 500W Earthwatts PSU which would be £78 instead of £36 which would still probably stay within £300. That should enable a high end card to be fitted without problems later on

Reason I put peripherals was because its an entire PC option rather than upgrade. Simply build it and replace the boxes and the old box could be stored for back up should a problem occur

The 780G chipset graphics should be just as good as the 7600GS and easily be able to play Battlefield and PES2008 until he can get an HD4850

EDIT: Yes the prices are with scan... can put it together with links and everything if you like

[360bhp]

Mobo
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, AMD 780G, Socket AM2+
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz, 1MB Cache
RAM
4GB in total (4x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18
HDD
160 GB Seagate ST3160815AS Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.0 ms
DVD-RW (May not need this atm)
Pioneer SATA DVD-RW
Case, Mouse, Keyboard.. Current ones should be ok.

All this comes to £222.51 (£205.04 without the DVD-RW)

As for the gfx card, was thinking
256MB Leadtek 8800GT PCI-E 2.0, Mem 1800MHz, GDDR3, GPU 600MHz, 112 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I

Which makes the total to £314.17

What do you think guys, would I be safe for another 2-3 years?

[staffsMike]

256mb GT's suck.

It will be fine at 1024 x 768 but the HD4850 will last you longer

if you get 4-4-4-12 latencies you would be better off if you are set on the X2 as well. Pentum dual cores run nicely up to around 3.0Ghz and only cost about £40. Probably the better way to go but I run a similar AMD machine to your build and it's a nice enough setup

[Noxvayl]

Mobo
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, AMD 780G, Socket AM2+
CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz, 1MB Cache
RAM
4GB in total (4x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18
HDD
160 GB Seagate ST3160815AS Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.0 ms
DVD-RW (May not need this atm)
Pioneer SATA DVD-RW
Case, Mouse, Keyboard.. Current ones should be ok.

All this comes to £222.51 (£205.04 without the DVD-RW)

As for the gfx card, was thinking
256MB Leadtek 8800GT PCI-E 2.0, Mem 1800MHz, GDDR3, GPU 600MHz, 112 Cores, 2x DL DVI-I

Which makes the total to £314.17

What do you think guys, would I be safe for another 2-3 years?

If you get a new PSU, say the Corsair HX520 or Enermax MODU82+ 525W, with what you listed above and then wait for a few months to get an HD4850/HD4650 it would last a fair bit longer. Not sure what PSU you have at the moment but you'd need a new one for sure as your system sounds old.

Never really liked the 256Mb version of that GFX tbh. At the moment the HD4850 is top dog for £125 but in a few months newer variants will be out for cheaper then that you can get which would be my choice. Even if you don't like the ATI card the 8800GT and 9800GTX are coming down in price and it looks like a price war might ensue for a few months

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I came up with this spec off Ebuyer with the free Supersaver postage:

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2 Onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard 132272 £36.12

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.5GHz Energy Efficient Socket AM2 L2 1MB (2x512KB) Cache Retail Boxed Processor 134571 £39.25

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty 130429 £55.15

OCZ Stealth Xtream 500W PSU - 1x PCI-E 6/8pin, 2x SATA 12cm Fan 135159 £34.77

Western Digital WD2500AAKS Caviar SE 250GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 16MB Cache - OEM 124733 £33.19

PowerColor HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card 146428 £117.49

Total: £315.97

If you subsititute the HD4850 with the £90 8800GT on Ebuyer(made by Zotac) the total will be £288.47

[staffsMike]

I came up with this spec off Ebuyer with the free Supersaver postage:

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 690V Socket AM2 Onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard 132272 £36.12

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.5GHz Energy Efficient Socket AM2 L2 1MB (2x512KB) Cache Retail Boxed Processor 134571 £39.25

Corsair 4GB Kit (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5(5-5-5-18) Heat Spreader Lifetime Warranty 130429 £55.15

OCZ Stealth Xtream 500W PSU - 1x PCI-E 6/8pin, 2x SATA 12cm Fan 135159 £34.77

Western Digital WD2500AAKS Caviar SE 250GB 7200RPM SATAII/300 16MB Cache - OEM 124733 £33.19

PowerColor HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card 146428 £117.49

Total: £315.97

If you subsititute the HD4850 with the £90 8800GT on Ebuyer(made by Zotac) the total will be £288.47

Not sure about the mobo but I approve

That's a nice build. There again though if you are willing to overclock Intel are the better choice and also leave the option for a Q6600 later

I don't think the phenoms will come to much for some time and the good one's will not work on that motherboard or the 780G for that matter.

[aidanjt]

Phenoms will work on that no bother.

[staffsMike]

Whats the point in that graphics card when the integrated is basically an HD3450 as it is..

Also out of interest does the abit board not fall into this category, a warning from scan

The vast majority of the 780G boards have a three-phase or four-phase PWM circuitry design. These designs are completely acceptable for the 45W, 65W, 89W, and 95W TDP rated processors; however, drop in a 125W TDP processor such as the Phenom 9850e or 6400+ X2 and you are asking for trouble

[aidanjt]

Which should be read as "dropping in a 125W TDP processor with a ****e powersupply and overclock the balls of it is asking for trouble", the warning only effects the 'high-end' X4's, when AMD drop to a 45nm wafer process it'll be irrelevant. And the point of the HD3470 is Hybrid X-Fire, the OP did say he wanted to do a spot of gaming, didn't he? Maybe he'd manage without for extra savings *shrug*