Need to upgrade ancient rig

[anikahead2010]

I have and old Pentium D 3.0 Ghz with intel 946gz board lying around in dirt.Wanna Revive it and use it for movies,browsing and download.
Things i wanna replace are:
1>CPU
2>MOBO
3>RAM(4gb)
4>PSU(Was thinking of GS 600)

Hdd(500 GB) and case(some cheapo case) will be same and would try to sell old junk too.
Kindly suggest appropriate replacement.
Budget:16k(including psu,strict).
Thank you in advance.

 

[ajaymailed]

if its only for movies, browsing then any entry level dual core processor will do the job.

Pentium G620 @ 3.2K
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H @ 3.4K.
Corsair 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
FSP Saga II 350W @ 1.6K.
Total 9400.

if you want more powerful processor then go for Core i3 2100 for 6.3K. Thats perfect for all the tasks other than gaming.

 

[RiGOD]

Component Make Price
CPU AMD A6 3650 6344
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-A55M-S2V 3536
RAM Corsair DDR3 4 GB 1200
PSU Seasonic S12II-620 4619
TOTAL 15699

OR

Component Make Price
CPU AMD II 960T 6957
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P 2600
RAM Corsair DDR3 4 GB 1200
PSU Seasonic S12II-620 4619
TOTAL 15376

The PSU is a serious overkill for this configuration but I'm assuming that it'll help you in future upgrades.

 

[Siddharth_1]

Check this 6 core config-

CPU - AMD FX6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz @ 8.2k
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P/4.0 @ 2.6k
RAM - Corsair/RipjawsX 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
PSU - FSP Saga II 500W @ 2k
TOTAL - 14k

(OPTIONAL)
GPU - Asus HD6450 Silent @ 2.8k
RAM - RipjawsX/Corsair 8 GB 1333Mhz @ 2k
Better Mobo

 

[Cilus]

Buddy, FX6100 is a very poor performer and gets beaten by old 1090T all the time. Gaming performance is worse as it is below the older Phenom II 955.

Here is my suggestion:-
Pentium G620 @ 3.2K
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H @ 3.4K.
Corsair 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
Corsair CX 500V2 @ 3K
MSI HD 6770 Cyclone/OC @ 6.4K

Total 17.2K

 

[RiGOD]

^^OP wants to use it for movies, browsing and downloading. So why waste money on a GPU? And AMD A6 will get the job done right?

 

[Siddharth_1]

^^GPU is optional if he wants. More-over the PC is to be used only for browsing and multimedia, and not for gaming. In that case FX6100 might be a good option because performance is should not be an issue and the 6 cores in FX6100 makes it quite futureproof if no gaming has to be done on the pc.

Buddy, FX6100 is a very poor performer and gets beaten by old 1090T all the time. Gaming performance is worse as it is below the older Phenom II 955.

Here is my suggestion:-
Pentium G620 @ 3.2K
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H @ 3.4K.
Corsair 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
Corsair CX 500V2 @ 3K
MSI HD 6770 Cyclone/OC @ 6.4K

Total 17.2K

If performance is an issue, then i3 2100 should be used with a suitable mobo instead of Pentium G620 because GPU i not required.

Another config could be-

PROCESSOR - AMD A8-3870K with Radeon HD 6550D Graphics @ 7.5k
MOBO - Asus F1A55-MLX Plus @ 3.9k
RAM - Corsair 8 GB 1333 Mhz @ 2k
PSU - Corsair CX 500V2 @ 3k / FSP Saga II 500W @ 2k
TOTAL - 16.4k / 15.4k

This will have enough performance and will provide good graphics if needed.

 

[Sujeet]

^^lol check out. benchmark scores of fx4100 vs old phenom ii x4 lineup.You will know what cilus meant.

anyway spending extra cash for gpu for HTPC setup is. justified since it will boost HD Movie playback and other media decoding tasks.

Stick with G620 for cpu.

 

[anikahead2010]

if its only for movies, browsing then any entry level dual core processor will do the job.

Pentium G620 @ 3.2K
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H @ 3.4K.
Corsair 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
FSP Saga II 350W @ 1.6K.
Total 9400.

if you want more powerful processor then go for Core i3 2100 for 6.3K. Thats perfect for all the tasks other than gaming.

For Now yes,but after a year or so will add a GTX 560Ti to it when i upgrade my other rig.So will G620 hold? i3 is good but still has only 2 cores.

Component Make Price
CPU AMD A6 3650 6344
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-A55M-S2V 3536
RAM Corsair DDR3 4 GB 1200
PSU Seasonic S12II-620 4619
TOTAL 15699

OR

Component Make Price
CPU AMD II 960T 6957
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P 2600
RAM Corsair DDR3 4 GB 1200
PSU Seasonic S12II-620 4619
TOTAL 15376

The PSU is a serious overkill for this configuration but I'm assuming that it'll help you in future upgrades.

Buddy i opted for GS 600 so that it can support GTX 560Ti in future.Seasonic is good but corsair is a little easier to get.

Check this 6 core config-

CPU - AMD FX6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz @ 8.2k
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P/4.0 @ 2.6k
RAM - Corsair/RipjawsX 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
PSU - FSP Saga II 500W @ 2k
TOTAL - 14k

(OPTIONAL)
GPU - Asus HD6450 Silent @ 2.8k
RAM - RipjawsX/Corsair 8 GB 1333Mhz @ 2k
Better Mobo

Was thinking of FX 4100 and a little better mobo since there is no need for GPU now.

Buddy, FX6100 is a very poor performer and gets beaten by old 1090T all the time. Gaming performance is worse as it is below the older Phenom II 955.

Here is my suggestion:-
Pentium G620 @ 3.2K
Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H @ 3.4K.
Corsair 4 GB 1333 Mhz @ 1.2K
Corsair CX 500V2 @ 3K
MSI HD 6770 Cyclone/OC @ 6.4K

Total 17.2K

Don't need a GPU.Rest of rig seems good for just now not future.

^^OP wants to use it for movies, browsing and downloading. So why waste money on a GPU? And AMD A6 will get the job done right?

Yeah don't want a GPU now.Guess A6 will work.

^^GPU is optional if he wants. More-over the PC is to be used only for browsing and multimedia, and not for gaming. In that case FX6100 might be a good option because performance is should not be an issue and the 6 cores in FX6100 makes it quite futureproof if no gaming has to be done on the pc.


If performance is an issue, then i3 2100 should be used with a suitable mobo instead of Pentium G620 because GPU i not required.

Another config could be-

PROCESSOR - AMD A8-3870K with Radeon HD 6550D Graphics @ 7.5k
MOBO - Asus F1A55-MLX Plus @ 3.9k
RAM - Corsair 8 GB 1333 Mhz @ 2k
PSU - Corsair CX 500V2 @ 3k / FSP Saga II 500W @ 2k
TOTAL - 16.4k / 15.4k

This will have enough performance and will provide good graphics if needed.

FX6100 is an overkill...given config will serve but i need at least 600W power.

^^lol check out. benchmark scores of fx4100 vs old phenom ii x4 lineup.You will know what cilus meant.

anyway spending extra cash for gpu for HTPC setup is. justified since it will boost HD Movie playback and other media decoding tasks.

Stick with G620 for cpu.

G620 won't do,need something that supports a GPU like GTX 560Ti without much bottleneck.

 

[whitestar_999]

at full HD resolution even a 6950 will not be bottlenecked by G620.& btw after a year 560Ti will most probably be a mid range card.only point against G620 as of now is if you need more cores for other usages besides gaming.

 

[Cilus]

One thing isn't clear to me... Is this system for Movie, Browsing etc or you wanna upgrade it to a gaming system step by step? however, in both the cases FX 6100 is a big No from me because of its poor performance and Windows 7 problems with all the Bulldozer processors.

Here is my suggestion if you want a powerful rig:-

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 @ 4.8K
G-skill RipjawX 1600 MHz DDR3 4GB @ 1.5K
Seasonic 520W Bronze @ 3.6K

Total: 16.3K. This config is more than enough for your current requirements and you can throw a high end GPU later without getting bottle-necked by the CPU. But if you wanna go with Phenom II X4, make it very quick as they are disappearing from the market.

 

[ajaymailed]

For Now yes,but after a year or so will add a GTX 560Ti to it when i upgrade my other rig.So will G620 hold?

You didn't tell in your first post that gaming was the requirement. Phenom II X4 955 to 980 or X6 will do good for gaming. Despite having two cores, Core i3 can easily match any Phenom quad core or even six core processors in many of the old games. Its only multithreaded games these 4/6 cores have some advantage.

One thing isn't clear to me... Is this system for Movie, Browsing etc or you wanna upgrade it to a gaming system step by step? however, in both the cases FX 6100 is a big No from me because of its poor performance and Windows 7 problems with all the Bulldozer processors.

Here is my suggestion if you want a powerful rig:-

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 @ 4.8K
G-skill RipjawX 1600 MHz DDR3 4GB @ 1.5K
Seasonic 520W Bronze @ 3.6K

Total: 16.3K. This config is more than enough for your current requirements and you can throw a high end GPU later without getting bottle-necked by the CPU. But if you wanna go with Phenom II X4, make it very quick as they are disappearing from the market.

Cilus what would be the best budget CPU (for 5 - 6K) for gaming with high end discrete card if entire phenom series disappears from the market.

 

[Sujeet]

^^perhaps i3 will be the next option then.

 

[Siddharth_1]

+1 to Cilus. But if you can wait for 2-3 months, you might get a dual core i5 (Ivy Bridge) processor which would be quite future proof.

 

[Minion]

Better go for this as suggested by siddarth modified littlebit
PROCESSOR - AMD A8-3870K with Radeon HD 6550D Graphics @ 7.5k
MOBO - Asus F1A55-MLX Plus @ 3.9k
RAM - Gskill ripjaw 1600 MHz 4gb @ 1.5k
PSU - Seasonic 520W Bronze @ 3.6K

 

[anikahead2010]

at full HD resolution even a 6950 will not be bottlenecked by G620.& btw after a year 560Ti will most probably be a mid range card.only point against G620 as of now is if you need more cores for other usages besides gaming.

Buddy G620 is good.I think its still Better to have four cores for future.

One thing isn't clear to me... Is this system for Movie, Browsing etc or you wanna upgrade it to a gaming system step by step? however, in both the cases FX 6100 is a big No from me because of its poor performance and Windows 7 problems with all the Bulldozer processors.

Here is my suggestion if you want a powerful rig:-

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-880GM-USB3 @ 4.8K
G-skill RipjawX 1600 MHz DDR3 4GB @ 1.5K
Seasonic 520W Bronze @ 3.6K

Total: 16.3K. This config is more than enough for your current requirements and you can throw a high end GPU later without getting bottle-necked by the CPU. But if you wanna go with Phenom II X4, make it very quick as they are disappearing from the market.

This rig will be for movies and browsing for a year or so.Later when i change my graphic card i would simply add old one to it.
Phenom II 960T + ASUS M5A78L-M LX good?No need for USB3.0 now.

You didn't tell in your first post that gaming was the requirement. Phenom II X4 955 to 980 or X6 will do good for gaming. Despite having two cores, Core i3 can easily match any Phenom quad core or even six core processors in many of the old games. Its only multithreaded games these 4/6 cores have some advantage.


Cilus what would be the best budget CPU (for 5 - 6K) for gaming with high end discrete card if entire phenom series disappears from the market.

Sorry i thought it was not relevant.To my knowledge most budget cpu bottleneck gpu but not greatly.i3 has great architecture.

+1 to Cilus. But if you can wait for 2-3 months, you might get a dual core i5 (Ivy Bridge) processor which would be quite future proof.

Need this rig up and running by sunday....

Better go for this as suggested by siddarth modified littlebit
PROCESSOR - AMD A8-3870K with Radeon HD 6550D Graphics @ 7.5k
MOBO - Asus F1A55-MLX Plus @ 3.9k
RAM - Gskill ripjaw 1600 MHz 4gb @ 1.5k
PSU - Seasonic 520W Bronze @ 3.6K

Thinking of going with Phenom II 960T + ASUS M5A78L-M LX now.

 

[Tech_Wiz]

Go with Cilus Config. I am using exact same config with Cosair PSU.

Its very fast for any day to day work and also for Gaming (Provided you got a good GFX).
and it wont bottleneck any GFX even the Mighty GTX 580 + Black Edition = 4 Ghz OC for free

 

[whitestar_999]

ASUS M5A78L-M LX is just a budget board(supporting upto 95W TDP processors) so do not try unlocking 960T to 6 cores or overclocking it unless you want to take the chance of frying your cpu/mobo.for unlocking a 960T & overclocking minimum recommended is asus M5A97(~6100).for mild overclocking without unlocking at least get a mobo which supports 125W TDP processors(gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P rev3.1 for ~2600 or GA-880GM-D2H rev3.1 for ~3600).

 

[Siddharth_1]

Intel's Pentium G620 and AMD's Radeon HD 6670 achieve roughly 17% slower application performance than a stock A8-3870K. However, they offer roughly the same margin of advantage over AMD's APU when it comes to minimum frame rates in games. The A8 might be not be matchable to G620 for gaming, but no gaming has to be done on the computer.

Dont believe me, then take a look at this-
Click here.

Go for the A8-3870K APU.

 

[ajaymailed]

Intel's Pentium G620 and AMD's Radeon HD 6670 achieve roughly 17% slower application performance than a stock A8-3870K. However, they offer roughly the same margin of advantage over AMD's APU when it comes to minimum frame rates in games. The A8 might be not be matchable to G620 for gaming, but no gaming has to be done on the computer.

Dont believe me, then take a look at this-
Click here.

Go for the A8 APU.

AMD APU won for the first time.

Pentium G620 two Cores is creating a bottleneck in multithreaded apps, games limiting 6670 performance compared to the four core AMD A6 APU.

BF3, Dirt 3 doesn't seem to favour multicore CPUs, hence G620 is able outperform the APU.

A budget quadcore from Intel disabling advance features like HT, Turbo Core, lower frequency like it did with G620, would be gr8 against AMD APU line.