[KoKainE]

Dear all,

I've been thking of changing proc and mobo for quite sometime... However I can't seem to be making my decisions right. First of all, I'm hoping not to spend more den $100 nett (buying price minus selling off my stuff). Depending on situation, but definitely not more den $200.

I'm thking to moving to Quad system coz i am planning to jump to 5850 soon. C2Ds i heard will bottleneck 5850. (Can anyone cfm this? I been trying to google this but all test setups are already at quad)

Of course many have told me change to i5 or i7, but off budget, sucks having low pay.

E8400, still have 2yr+ warranty.
P35 less than a yr, about 10mths. To be cfmed.
More or less bundle shld be $300.

So budget about $400.

Was planning to get a P45 and quad proc. Q6xxx/Q8xxx/Q9xxx
Q66 EOL liao. So quite sian also.
Q8xxx i heard quite jialat in terms of OC. Anyone can tell me if mild o/c ok anot?
But if QX can meet my budget, it will be great.

Can be done? Pls kindly advice and thanks!

Cheers,
KoKainE

[dr_disciple]

Dont change anything. Just stick with what you have. Save up and upgrade when you have more cash. No point to restrict yourself with upgrades when you have limited funds. Your current vga card run most games perfectly fine with your current screen size.

[LiM]

Forget about intel if you are on low budget, AMD is better in cost/performance.

[dr_disciple]

@TS, actually, have you ever thought that your mobo will be a bottleneck to your new parts too? your board ain't that spanking new either. If you are looking at upgrading cpu, how about the mobo?

[KoKainE]

@dr_disciple: yeap, changing as a set. the thing is im planning to get a 22" monitor this coming sitex too, this cfmed. Consider 24" if price is good. But problem with space.

@LiM: AMD har... hmmmm I will give it some thought to it.

[KoKainE]

Any advices from AMD user? Because I'm new to AMD setup.

From wat i understand, most games use 2-cores only. So is it good that i buy a P45 and push my E84 to higher clock rather den get a quad?

[dr_disciple]

Wrong, if i were you, I wont bother upgrading at all cos I wont see a significant difference at all with the current screen size you are using.

Unless you upgrade your screen to resolution with 1920x1200, no matter what you change, you really wont feel the diff in real time. If we are talking purely about games, upgrading vga will be more cost efficient than upgrading CPU/mobo. And of course for maximum enjoyment, upgrade the screen size.

Lastly, your budget is simply too tight to do a system overhaul. You are looking at CPU/Mobo and possibly VGA + new LCD. Save up abit more and then perform the upgrade .

[dr_disciple]

One more thing to add - if you really feel the need to spend on something for your system. My very first recommendation is LCD. .

Good luck!

[KoKainE]

thx dr_disciple, will keep that tot in mind. Upgrade LCD than say bah.
Actually LCD was a separate budget which i have already set aside. haha! But as u said, upgrading now maybe of no point as not much perf improvement with my current monitor. Wait till i get my monitor and camp ard for the moment.

Again thx for the great advice!

[LiM]

For gaming rig, video card more important but if you have a high end video card, most probably your 2 core cpu will bottleneck at lower resolution. If you feel a need to go 4 core and don't want to spend much on it, may be you can get a cheap cheap 2nd hand Q66 from those people who upgrade to i5/i7, I think this is the cheapest way to upgrade to 4 core.

[KoKainE]

Originally Posted by LiM

For gaming rig, video card more important but if you have a high end video card, most probably your 2 core cpu will bottleneck at lower resolution. If you feel a need to go 4 core and don't want to spend much on it, may be you can get a cheap cheap 2nd hand Q66 from those people who upgrade to i5/i7, I think this is the cheapest way to upgrade to 4 core.

Precisely my worry. Q66 i have tot of it, but i am also thking of slightly new generations after Q66. Such as Q8/Q9.

But AMD i am giving some thoughts too.
Holding all thEse thoughts till i get my LCD.

[DoisKoh]

Go for AMD dude.

Anthlon II X4 620/30

Well within your budget.

[LiM]

Athlon II x4 630 is quite good except that you need to overclock it higher to compensate the missing L3 and small L2 in order to get descent performance.

I saw on one forums that A2X4 can clock to 3.7GHz easily for just 1.237 V and performance gain of 35% which is impressive. Below is the picture of it.



My point of view is if you buy A2X4, you must oc like mad to boost the performance, thus BE version of it is preferable and I am waiting for it

[DoisKoh]

Don't forget how much cheaper it is compared to a Q8200 and that its better (630). (620 in between Q6600 and Q8200)

SO CHEAP DOOD. $$$

[Shrek]

i think ur rig still going strong.

however if you really itch to upgrade. i think mobo can keep. it still can run those 45nm cpu and ich9r and ich10r should be very close in terms of performance.