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Thread: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

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    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    OH's PC has gone up the spout and he needs it for business, have got HDD and other bits and pieces (PCI-E Graphics etc) but need a barebones upgrade to bring it into the 21st Century...

    Can you guys Sanity Check this for me please? ANy recommendations greatfully recieved, but trying to keep it around the £200 mark.

    Intel CPU Q8400 Core 2 Quad Processor (£122.21)
    BX80580Q8400 - Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400, S775, Yorkfield Core, 2.66 GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB Cache, 8x Ratio, 95W, Retail

    Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L Intel G41 775 Motherboard (£38.86)
    Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L, Intel G41, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR3 1066/1333(OC), SATA 3Gb/s, VGA, ATX

    Corsair Memory XMS3 4GB DDR3 1333 Mhz CAS 9 Dual Channel Desktop (£37.55)
    CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 - 4GB Corsair XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V

    or

    AMD CPU Phenom II 965 Black Quad Core Processor (£119.95)
    HDZ965FBGMBOX - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, S AM3, 3.4GHz, 8MB Cache, 125W, Retail

    Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3 AMD 770 AM3 Motherboard (£57.32)
    Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3, AMD 770, AM3, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1666/1333, SATA 3Gb/s RAID, ATX

    Corsair Memory XMS3 4GB DDR3 1333 Mhz CAS 9 Dual Channel Desktop (£37.55)
    CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 - 4GB Corsair XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.50V

    Thanks awfully.

    Tigz.

  2. #2
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Do you need so much CPU?

    I'd be tempted for a business machine than to look no further than the AMD X3 stuff, much cheaper and its not going to make any difference running outlook/word.

    With the money saved a small OS and Office sized SSD could be bought which really would make a difference.
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    Senior Member Blackmage's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    The AMD setup is better, maybe you could go for a 955?

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    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Quote Originally Posted by TheAnimus View Post
    Do you need so much CPU?

    I'd be tempted for a business machine than to look no further than the AMD X3 stuff, much cheaper and its not going to make any difference running outlook/word.

    With the money saved a small OS and Office sized SSD could be bought which really would make a difference.
    Yes he does... as it's a "Small Business Machine" that is also my "Business web dev and graphics machine" and it's also faster than mine... which pleases the man. He does the odd bit of stuff in Photoshop and Illustrator so it needs to be relitively grunty. Already got the OS etc anyway as this is an upgrade...

    (This is technically a personal rig, that is also used for business things... so basically needs to be stable and last a couple of years...)

    Thanks for the suggestion though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Blackmage View Post
    The AMD setup is better, maybe you could go for a 955?
    Any difference really? Apart from a few pounds and a few GHz? (I've got the 955BE and I like it...)

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    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    All of the above seem fine to me, although i'd also ask if you really need quad-core.
    If potential future upgrading seems a possibility, go the AMD route every time, and the get Quad (or more) core when prices drop further; but X3's are good for here and now.

    Edit: just read the second post, make sure that your OS isnt an OEM copy only (ie tied to the previous motherboard).
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    All good points guys, thanks... I'll keep reading.

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    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Quote Originally Posted by tiggerai View Post
    Already got the OS etc anyway as this is an upgrade...
    I figured! Did you skim read my comment wrong, i was meaning:

    But for all those tasks, a small SSD just big enough for the OS and Apps would make a real difference.

    I find photoshop is increadibly inept (as I think I was complaing to beanfro on the other night) at actually using the my CPU or GPU in a way that is remotely efficent.

    It does like to fill RAM and having a bit of extra fast SWAP will help.
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    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    No I didn't read it... Sowwy...

    (headache, busy, under the weather... etc etc)

    Yeah there is a bit of a budget for a new HDD of some sort so we'll be looking at those seperately... I haven't done an upgrade for 18 months or so, wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

    Good idea that, will float it with the OH.

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    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Quote Originally Posted by tiggerai View Post
    Any difference really? Apart from a few pounds and a few GHz? (I've got the 955BE and I like it...)
    No other difference for business use.

    A friend who recently got a 955BE was sent the cooler running C3 stepping chip which would make it the same silicon as the 965BE chips I have heard of. Perhaps an overclocker would have a preference but I'm guessing you won't be doing that.

  10. #10
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    I might have given it a go... but he won't be, no.

    I'll go for the 955 then as it saves £10 or so... and brings it in nearer to £200 (and makes it exactly the same rig that I've got... so no competing there!)

    Thanks all... will report back tonight.

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    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Quote Originally Posted by MSIC View Post
    Edit: just read the second post, make sure that your OS isnt an OEM copy only (ie tied to the previous motherboard).
    Shouldn't be, as the Mobo was my old one and the W7 was bought on pre-order - I'm guessing there wouldn't be any issues there... we're planning on re-installing anyway.

  12. #12
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Ah if your considering it as a second upgrade when you re-do his storage then its probably best to leave it.

    Amazing what you get now adays for £200.
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  13. #13
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    We're getting a new SATA for the Storage - most apps/docs etc are already on a second drive. Small SATA HDD for the OS install and that's all we need.

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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Have you consider getting an Athlon II X4 640 for around £76??

    It will save you around £30 over a Phenom II X4 955BE:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/amd-a...mhz-95w-retail

    You could also get an 880G based motherboard which has an IGP,SATA3.0 and USB3.0 for around £76:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...sata-raid-matx

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-8...sata-raid-uatx

  15. #15
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    Ahh... He's a savvy one my OH... been reading up on Benchmarks (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html), so is looking for something a bit more along the lines of the 955BE...

    Good suggestions also CAT - I'll put those to him too. (What's IGP? Acronymn for something I'm not aware of?!)

  16. #16
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Quad Core Upgrade - Barebones £200(ish)

    IGP = integrated graphics proc.

    probably not whats wanted at a guess.
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