Looking to upgrade.

Right, so I am beginning to do slightly more CPU intensive processes (video encoding etc...) than I had planned to do when I built this PC a year or so ago, I am looking for a cheap upgrade (probably CPU and mobo) that would speed up the various things I do, would probably need a new heatsink too. I have not kept up with the latest technology since then so I have no idea on what the best bang for my buck is at the moment.

This is my current set up

CPU - Intel E5200 (overclocked to 3.2 ghz)
mobo - GByte EP31-DS3L
GPU - ATI HD4870
Ram - TwinX 4GB TWIN2X4096-6400C5
Heatsink - Akasa AK-965 775 3 PIPES
Case - Cooler Master CM-690
PSU - Enermax PRO82+ 525W

I have about £300 to spend, thanks!

Seeing as you do video encoding, go for a 790X board and a Phenom II X6 1050T or if you don't mind spending more money you could get a better board.

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Originally Posted by Ulti

Seeing as you do video encoding, go for a 790X board and a Phenom II X6 1050T or if you don't mind spending more money you could get a better board.

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He can get an Intel LGA775 quad core and skip having to reformat everything for going to an AMD product. He would also save money.

The GByte EP31-DS3L might be able to support the Q8400 with a BIOS update. He could overclock it with ease on his current Akasa heatsink as well.

Intel socket 775 quad cores are ridiculously overpriced unless you get them second hand, if the OP is willing to get them second hand then fair enough.

E.g. Q8300 = £115, Q9400 = £157, Q9650 = £270 (Scan Today's Only prices)

Phenom II X6 1055T = £156. I saw the Asus M3A78-T for £46.99 and thought BARGAIN! However.. The Asus M3 boards won't support 6 core processors unfortunately. All the decent AM2+ boards that support Phenom II X6 processors seem to have stopped being produced now and getting an AM3 board would unfortunately require DDR3 RAM which would make the upgrade too expensive.

The only problem I see is that if he goes for a brand new Q8200 or something the upgrade will hardly be worth it as it's such a slow processor with limited/slow (I forgot what it was that I read) cache too for encoding.

I'd say get a Q6600 off ebay or somewhere for around £90 and perhaps something like the Corsair H50 if your case has space as it's quite toasty in the UK. That should at least provide a speed bump. However, seeing as it's a P31 chipset, you won't be able to overclock the Q6600 as high as it could be and P35/P45 motherboards are really rare now as most shops seem to have been done with their clearance stock.

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Originally Posted by Ulti

Intel socket 775 quad cores are ridiculously overpriced unless you get them second hand, if the OP is willing to get them second hand then fair enough.

E.g. Q8300 = £115, Q9400 = £157, Q9650 = £270 (Scan Today's Only prices)

Phenom II X6 1055T = £156. I saw the Asus M3A78-T for £46.99 and thought BARGAIN! However.. The Asus M3 boards won't support 6 core processors unfortunately. All the decent AM2+ boards that support Phenom II X6 processors seem to have stopped being produced now and getting an AM3 board would unfortunately require DDR3 RAM which would make the upgrade too expensive.

The only problem I see is that if he goes for a brand new Q8200 or something the upgrade will hardly be worth it as it's such a slow processor with limited/slow (I forgot what it was that I read) cache too for encoding.

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More cache isn't necessary for video encoding. The only thing that really benefits from additional cache is something like creating RAR files. Video encoding is HEAVY on pure processing power. The more cores the better. More cache will make a negligible difference.

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Originally Posted by Ulti

I'd say get a Q6600 off ebay or somewhere for around £90 and perhaps something like the Corsair H50 if your case has space as it's quite toasty in the UK. That should at least provide a speed bump. However, seeing as it's a P31 chipset, you won't be able to overclock the Q6600 as high as it could be and P35/P45 motherboards are really rare now as most shops seem to have been done with their clearance stock.

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He should get a Q8400 as it is 45nm compared to the Q6600 at 65nm, which will run hotter. His motherboard might be P31 but that chipset is quite able to overclock.

Thanks guys, I will look into the things that you have suggested just to get a better understanding of each mobo/cpu.

Any more suggestions are welcome too :)

Well from my personal experience, the P31 board was a lot weaker than the P35/P45 boards (I've owned a P31, P35, P45 board) It could only allow a voltage bump of +100mV (0.1V) at most.

However, it seems you are indeed right with the cache making almost no difference for encoding, it also seems that the Q8400 is about on par with the Q6600 at stock.

I'd advise the OP to get a Q8200 from ebay then as they seem to go for £60-80 the last time I checked which would be a very cheap upgrade.

The Q8000 and Q9000 series don't overclock as well as the Q6600 tho.

So am I right in assuming that both the Q6600 and Q8000 series would work in my current mobo? Or would I be looking to upgrade that as well in order for it to be compatible.

I should have probably mentioned this before but the encoding is more of a side hobby, where the computer is mainly used for gaming.

I am comfortable with both buying second hand and overclocking, just looking for a decent upgrade at a decent price.

They will both work but will require a BIOS update:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/support-d....aspx?pid=2779

EDIT: Seems you won't even need a update, it'll just be a simple drop in as it requires an older or the same BIOS as the E5200.

Q6600 £63.75 including delivery on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-Q...item335e7b55f8

Probs gonna be snapped up quick though..

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Originally Posted by Ulti

Q6600 £63.75 including delivery on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-Q...item335e7b55f8

Probs gonna be snapped up quick though..

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Aye, I won't have the money until mid next week anyway :)

Thanks for all the help though.

Seems it was snapped up 2 mins straight after I posted it haha.

Well there are a lot of choices for you to go with :)

I have ended up going for the Asus M3A78-T with a Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition.

Thanks for all the help guys!