Upgrading after 7 years.

[Renny]

So I'm a bit out of touch with the latest CPU's and Chipsets available,

My budget is between Rs.30,000-Rs.40,000,

I would like a Quad core CPU that supports DDR3,

Main use of this computer will be for Casual Gaming, LOTS of Audio and Video Encodeing(x264, Xvid, Divx etc.) , and Computer Aided Design(Xilinx, MATLAB, Solid Edge etc.),

I won't be able to upgrade for 2-3 years, so suggest a bit of a future-proof system.

OR

Should I wait for Hex Core CPU's or would that take a long time to arrive?

 

[vickybat]

Hi buddy

At your budget, an AMD based system offers more bang for buck and can be upgraded down the line.

Though intel's core i7 or i5 based configurations are more powerful and futureproof, they are expensive.

Anyway have a look:

Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz @ 5.1k
MSI 785GM-E51 @ 4.6k
Transcend 4GB DDR3 1333MHz C9 @ 4.4k
Cooler Master Elite 310 @ 1.5k
logitech keyboard mouse combo @ 0.7k
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB @ 2.4k
LG 22x DVD @ 1.1k
BenQ 22" G2220 FULL HD LCD Monitor @ 8k
Gigabyte 80 Plus Active PFC 460W @ 2.2k
MSI HD5750 1GB GDDR5 @ 8.2K

Total = 38k

This is the best for your budget and down the line you can upgrade amd's hexacore thuban cpu's when they are launched & will be compatible with am3 socket.

 

[Cool G5]

Get a good PSU over that Gigabyte. I suggest Seasonic s18 bronze 380W or Corsair VX450W.

 

[Renny]

Thanks for the feed backs,

How about AMD Phenom II x4 955 or instead of AMD Athlon X4, is the perfomence difference between them huge?

And how much is the MSI NF750-G55? Is it good? Plus since hexcores are supported on AM3 I don't mind spending on a high end motherboard,

And is 1600MHz RAM supported by the mainboard I've mentioned?

And a GPU at around 6K would be better.

 

[coderunknown]

Get a good PSU over that Gigabyte. I suggest Seasonic s18 bronze 380W or Corsair VX450W.

+1. a good PSU wil make a future upgrade to better graphics or higher rated system easy.

also get a better mobo like Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. its much better than the MSI E51 or other mobos priced at or around 6.5k.

---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ----------

Thanks for the feed backs,

How about AMD Phenom II x4 955 or instead of AMD Athlon X4, is the perfomence difference between them huge?

And how much is the MSI NF750-G55? Is it good? Plus since hexcores are supported on AM3 I don't mind spending on a high end motherboard,

And is 1600MHz RAM supported by the mainboard I've mentioned?

And a GPU at around 6K would be better.

performance difference is good but at that price u'll get close to getting Core i5's which is much more powerful than X4 955.

if down the line you think of increasing the graphics power of your system by adding 1 more card in CrossFire X, u better look at something based on the 790GX or 790FX (costly).

1600Mhz ram is supported by few motherboards but need you to OC the processor. but not all mobo successfully can accomplish it. many may say it support even 1800Mhz but in realty can't go beyond 1333Mhz even when OC'd.

@ ~6k, Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 @ 5.6k. but won't allow u turn much of eye candy on games at 22" monitor.

 

[Renny]

+1. a good PSU wil make a future upgrade to better graphics or higher rated system easy.

also get a better mobo like Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. its much better than the MSI E51 or other mobos priced at or around 6.5k.

---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 PM ----------



performance difference is good but at that price u'll get close to getting Core i5's which is much more powerful than X4 955.

if down the line you think of increasing the graphics power of your system by adding 1 more card in CrossFire X, u better look at something based on the 790GX or 790FX (costly).

1600Mhz ram is supported by few motherboards but need you to OC the processor. but not all mobo successfully can accomplish it. many may say it support even 1800Mhz but in realty can't go beyond 1333Mhz even when OC'd.

@ ~6k, Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 @ 5.6k. but won't allow u turn much of eye candy on games at 22" monitor.

This is getting a bit confusing,

On one hand if I go for a AM3 based mobo it will be future proof due to the fact that AMD's Hex Core CPU's are going to be AM3,

On the other hand Core i5 beats the Phenom II X4 but since Core i5 is not Socket 1366, I will not be able to use Intel's Hex core CPU's on LGA 1156 based mainboards,

I'm correct right?

Is the performance difference between Phenom II X4 955 BE and Core i5 negligible?

I'll be playing games like only Counter Strike, not games like GTA IV,

But is the GPU good for viewing HD content? And will this GPU make things look brilliant on this 22" monitor(except for latest games at high settings of course)?

And is MSI 790GX-G65 [HDMI] better than MSI NF750-G55?

 

[vickybat]

The difference is significant and the i5 750 even draws less power so consider it over 955 or 965be.

The processor received best buy award from tomshardware which is a testament of the level of performance it offers and draws even less power.

Go for it eyes closed and if you want more performance then look at i7 920 for the x58 platform.

 

[Cool G5]

Stick with AMD for a better future upgradability. You won't get that if you go for an i5 rig.

 

[vickybat]

Stick with AMD for a better future upgradability. You won't get that if you go for an i5 rig.

Sure amd has upgradability but at a pricepoint.You're reffering to those hexcores but who knows what intel has in store. They might dish out some lynnfield based hexacores as well so you can't say about futureproofing this early.

But presently i5 delivers more performance clock per clock than any amd phenom 2.

 

[coderunknown]

This is getting a bit confusing,

On one hand if I go for a AM3 based mobo it will be future proof due to the fact that AMD's Hex Core CPU's are going to be AM3,

On the other hand Core i5 beats the Phenom II X4 but since Core i5 is not Socket 1366, I will not be able to use Intel's Hex core CPU's on LGA 1156 based mainboards,

I'm correct right?

Is the performance difference between Phenom II X4 955 BE and Core i5 negligible?

I'll be playing games like only Counter Strike, not games like GTA IV,

But is the GPU good for viewing HD content? And will this GPU make things look brilliant on this 22" monitor(except for latest games at high settings of course)?

And is MSI 790GX-G65 [HDMI] better than MSI NF750-G55?

get AMD Phenom 955 coupled with Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. or something based on 790GX. get 4Gb DDR3 ram & a good PSU like Corsair VX450. then u can game very well on a 20" monitor. & also your future upgrade path is clear. u get i5, u'll end up paying more. future upgrade path bad (after all its Intel).


if you want gaming at 22" u'll have to OC the onboard graphics on the motherboard, which is a breeze on Asus boards. still gaming at 22" using IGP, its a bit tough.

wat u have to say now?

 

[vickybat]

get AMD Phenom 955 coupled with Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. or something based on 790GX. get 4Gb DDR3 ram & a good PSU like Corsair VX450. then u can game very well on a 20" monitor. & also your future upgrade path is clear. u get i5, u'll end up paying more. future upgrade path bad (after all its Intel).


if you want gaming at 22" u'll have to OC the onboard graphics on the motherboard, which is a breeze on Asus boards. still gaming at 22" using IGP, its a bit tough.

wat u have to say now?

No matter how much dough you add no rig can last for seven years without getting its arse whooped by its competitors.

Who told you that intel path of upgrading is questionable?

I know you're refering to thuban hexcores but amd got desperate by seeing the mighty performance of the i7's and i5's so it had to unveil them.
When time comes intel too will unveil something but its not desperate as its competitor.

@ Xccentricity

Buddy ditch the idea of going for a phenom 2 x4.The reviews speak for themselves so invest your money on a i5 or i7 based rig if you can go for it.

They simply offer more performance than any current AMD.

 

[coderunknown]

No matter how much dough you add no rig can last for seven years without getting its arse whooped by its competitors.

Who told you that intel path of upgrading is questionable?

I know you're refering to thuban hexcores but amd got desperate by seeing the mighty performance of the i7's and i5's so it had to unveil them.
When time comes intel too will unveil something but its not desperate as its competitor.

@ Xccentricity

Buddy ditch the idea of going for a phenom 2 x4.The reviews speak for themselves so invest your money on a i5 or i7 based rig if you can go for it.

They simply offer more performance than any current AMD.

true, no rig can last 7yrs. hack, 5yrs looks impossible. but also intel always have brought out new platform for every new product release & with almost none been backward compatible. X58 is 1 platform which i sure wil be futureproof. bt P55, lots of doubt.

well let OP decide which way he decides to go AMD or Intel.

 

[Renny]

Ok,

I'll mostly go in for the AMD counterpart mainly because Core i5 is a bit expensive and the upgradability factor of Socket 1156,

One last thing, how good is this mainboard, MSI 790GX-G65 [HDMI], I need bit of a future proof board mainly, Which would be the best one for around 8-9K,

Whats the difference between 790GX and 790FX?

And would a Nvidia 750i or 980i chipset be better than AMD's 790 Chipset?

 

[coderunknown]

Ok,

I'll mostly go in for the AMD counterpart mainly because Core i5 is a bit expensive and the upgradability factor of Socket 1156,

One last thing, how good is this mainboard, MSI 790GX-G65 [HDMI], I need bit of a future proof board mainly, Which would be the best one for around 8-9K,

Whats the difference between 790GX and 790FX?

And would a Nvidia 750i or 980i chipset be better than AMD's 790 Chipset?

its full ATX with crossfire compatibility.

790GX have onboard graphics. i wil call best onboard graphics. & its dual Pcie X 16 runs at X8+X8 when both are filled. 790FX have no onboard graphics. & its Pcie X 16 slots run at X16+X16 or X8+X8+X8+X8 i.e. 4 graphics card same time if enough slots available.

750i is old. too old. & not AM3. not sure about 980i though.

 

[asingh]

^^
Sam, first things first. Really nice post. One of the best I have read in many years.

Stuff you have suggested is really good with sound logic. But I think it will be difficult to fit within the budget of 40K. Just the i7 is like 14K. I think the cheapest motherboard would be 12K. Also since he will use CAD software he might need a discrete GPU.

Xcentricy: Possible for you to raise the budget.

 

[asingh]

Well here is the line up of the existent Bloomfields.
*img7.imageshack.us/img7/7035/bloomfield.jpg

And the cheapest one there is the i7 920 / 2.66 Ghz @ 14145. Mother board would not be less than 12K.

 

[Cool G5]

Nothing is going to last even for 5 years. If OP needs future-proofing, go for an i7 rig with eyes closed. Intel has made a big mess with their socket types. AMD on other hand is doing great in terms of value for money. Not to mention, the Black Edition proccies overclock very good. The money saved can be invested in faster RAM alongwith a good graphic card.

 

[Renny]

Thanks everyone for your help,

Unfortunately I cannot increase my budget as I'm a bit short of money now, even spending this 40K is tough for me at this stage ,

So I have no choice but to go for AMD, at least hoping their future AM3 hex cores performs pretty well,

And looking at this page I found the performance difference in Encoding between Core i5 and Phenom II a little negligible,

Check it out:-
*www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=12

*www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=13

*www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=16

But the CPU bench-marked here Phenom II X4 965, Is there any performance difference at all between the 965 and 955 models?

And the 955 model is also Black Edition?

 

[asingh]

Go for AMD. You cannot go wrong, for the money. By the way..guys...will the new CPU dock to the existent AM3+ socket..?

 

[Renny]

I've zeroed in on this configuration, should purchase it by next Sunday,

Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (AM3 Socket)
MSI 790GX-G65 (With ATI 3300 IGP)
Transcend 4GB DDR3 1333MHz C9
Western Digital 500GB HDD
LG 22x DVD Writer
BenQ 22" G2220 FULL HD LCD Monitor
MSI HD5750 1GB GDDR5

Lastly:-

1. I'll need a good SMPS as I will be adding an additional HDD, DVD Writer, Fans later in addition to the above configuration,
How about Tagan Stone Rock TG500-U37 500 Watt?

2. As this system will be on for 5-6 hours at a stretch suggest a roomy and airy Cabinet within 2.5K,

3. Finally is the Mainboard I've suggested good, does it have any issues, and does it suffer from overheating of N.Bridge or S.Bridge as the PC will be on for 5-6 hours,

4. Is the performance difference between X4 955 and X4 965 huge?