CPU upgrade question

[CarlTR6]

I appreciate this thread and the information. When I get my tax refund back, I'm going to start building my first computer, new case and all. That should be an adventure!

 

[nekkidtruth]

I appreciate this thread and the information. When I get my tax refund back, I'm going to start building my first computer, new case and all. That should be an adventure!

Good luck! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'll give you a hand

 

[bobkn]

The link to the mainboard that I gave shows a 24 pin ATX power connector and a 4 pin 12V connector for the CPU. I think burtie's PSU should be fine with the Gigabyte board. (Some 24 pin boards are happy with a 20 pin power connector, if the CPU isn't too power-mad.)

The GA-G31M-ES2L is even smaller than your existing microATX board: it's 24.2 X 19.4 cm. It has only two DIMM slots, but they'll handle two 2 GB DIMMs, or 4GB total. That's fine.

Be sure to budget for new RAM. Your old DDR won't work in the new board - you'll need DDR2. Looks like you'd be out around £40 for a pair of 1 GB DDR2 800 sticks (2GB dual channel kit) at ebuyer. Add that to nekkidtruth's recommendations, and you're a little over £200.

If that's too dear for you, you could go to a Core2 Duo rather than the quad. The E7500 (Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz Socket 775 1066FSB 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer ) is about £88, and is clocked at 2.93GHz. The E7500 may be faster than the Q8400 for software that doesn't exploit multithreading. It also has more L2 cache per core.

I'm still unconvinced that any of these upgrades will be life-altering, but as the expense probably won't drive you to bankruptcy, they may be worth a try. Have fun.

 

[Frostmourne]

The link to the mainboard that I gave shows a 24 pin ATX power connector and a 4 pin 12V connector for the CPU. I think burtie's PSU should be fine with the Gigabyte board. (Some 24 pin boards are happy with a 20 pin power connector, if the CPU isn't too power-mad.)

The GA-G31M-ES2L is even smaller than your existing microATX board: it's 24.2 X 19.4 cm. It has only two DIMM slots, but they'll handle two 2 GB DIMMs, or 4GB total. That's fine.

Be sure to budget for new RAM. Your old DDR won't work in the new board - you'll need DDR2. Looks like you'd be out around £40 for a pair of 1 GB DDR2 800 sticks (2GB dual channel kit) at ebuyer. Add that to nekkidtruth's recommendations, and you're a little over £200.

If that's too dear for you, you could go to a Core2 Duo rather than the quad. The E7500 (Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz Socket 775 1066FSB 3MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer ) is about £88, and is clocked at 2.93GHz. The E7500 may be faster than the Q8400 for software that doesn't exploit multithreading. It also has more L2 cache per core.

I'm still unconvinced that any of these upgrades will be life-altering, but as the expense probably won't drive you to bankruptcy, they may be worth a try. Have fun.

That board is crap. 4GB of RAM? I'd build a new system around an AMD Athlon 250 with a 785G board that can support 16GB of DDR2 RAM.

 

[nekkidtruth]

That board is crap. 4GB of RAM? I'd build a new system around an AMD Athlon 250 with a 785G board that can support 16GB of DDR2 RAM.

I would agree if he came in here and said he edited video or produced music or something equally RAM intensive. The reality is, nothing over 4GB is necessary at this point in time. Even over the next 5 years we won't see anything that requires any more than that. For basic computer use and even over average gaming, this is more than sufficient.

 

[Frostmourne]

That board is crap. 4GB of RAM? I'd build a new system around an AMD Athlon 250 with a 785G board that can support 16GB of DDR2 RAM.

I would agree if he came in here and said he edited video or produced music or something equally RAM intensive. The reality is, nothing over 4GB is necessary at this point in time. Even over the next 5 years we won't see anything that requires any more than that. For basic computer use and even over average gaming, this is more than sufficient.

Not here, RAM is cheap and 8GB is enough. 4GB isn't much.

 

[nekkidtruth]

Not here, RAM is cheap and 8GB is enough. 4GB isn't much.

Not here? I'm not sure what you mean.

4GB is plenty unless you edit video, produce music are work large graphics. With a quad core and 4GB of RAM I'm fully capable of playing graphics intensive games while browsing, listening to music/watching a video and have Photoshop open without so much as even a hiccup. Anything above 4GB is just icing right now and totally unnecessary.

 

[Frostmourne]

Not here, RAM is cheap and 8GB is enough. 4GB isn't much.

Not here? I'm not sure what you mean.

4GB is plenty unless you edit video, produce music are work large graphics. With a quad core and 4GB of RAM I'm fully capable of playing graphics intensive games while browsing, listening to music/watching a video and have Photoshop open without so much as even a hiccup. Anything above 4GB is just icing right now and totally unnecessary.

Bioshock 2 takes 3GB if not more, and I'm using 1.8GB now with 6GB in this ultraportable. All of my systems have 6GB+, except one which will be upgraded ASAP.

 

[nekkidtruth]

Bioshock 2 takes 3GB if not more, and I'm using 1.8GB now with 6GB in this ultraportable. All of my systems have 6GB+, except one which will be upgraded ASAP.

Ahh I got ya now You meant "Not here" as in, your systems. Sorry I thought you meant locale and I was like Huh? Lol.

Anyway, I'm sure that works for you just fine. If the OP needs 6GB I'm sure he'd have mentioned it by now. If not, can always find a different motherboard

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 6GB isn't nice or good for futureproofing yourself. I guess this is a decision the OP will have to make for himself. Personally, I've not had any issues with my 4GB of RAM and I more than multi-task with high memory software.

 

[Frostmourne]

Bioshock 2 takes 3GB if not more, and I'm using 1.8GB now with 6GB in this ultraportable. All of my systems have 6GB+, except one which will be upgraded ASAP.

Ahh I got ya now You meant "Not here" as in, your systems. Sorry I thought you meant locale and I was like Huh? Lol.

Anyway, I'm sure that works for you just fine. If the OP needs 6GB I'm sure he'd have mentioned it by now. If not, can always find a different motherboard

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying 6GB isn't nice or good for futureproofing yourself. I guess this is a decision the OP will have to make for himself. Personally, I've not had any issues with my 4GB of RAM and I more than multi-task with high memory software.

No problem. I must say 8GB feels "liquid" - its hard to explain unless you can see it for yourself. Everything just slides into place. I'd also recommend a good dedicated card, onboard graphics are poor or very poor (Intel). Basically there are 2 types of cards I'd choose. One for games 400+, one for general work 120 or so. So I chose a 5570 for my work system. 7 is definitely smoother with a dedicated GPU.

 

[burtie]

Thanks for all your advice everyone, its been a real help. I don't do anything that's very CPU intensive so I think I can get away with 4gb of ram for now...considering I am only on 2gb at present its a step in the right direction anyway

I would love to splash out and go for even more but I know its going to add more cost, the £150-£200 should be enough for now

Just out of curiosity what would the price difference be on a board that would support more RAM?

 

[Frostmourne]

Thanks for all your advice everyone, its been a real help. I don't do anything that's very CPU intensive so I think I can get away with 4gb of ram for now...considering I am only on 2gb at present its a step in the right direction anyway

I would love to splash out and go for even more but I know its going to add more cost, the £150-£200 should be enough for now

Just out of curiosity what would the price difference be on a board that would support more RAM?

If I were you get a:

CPU:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

MOTHERBOARD:

Choose one from here, depending on what memory you have/want - DDR2 or DDR3

Newegg.com - gigabyte AM3 motheboard

I got the cpu and a Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H motherboard (DDR2) as I had the memory.

 

[nekkidtruth]

Thanks for all your advice everyone, its been a real help. I don't do anything that's very CPU intensive so I think I can get away with 4gb of ram for now...considering I am only on 2gb at present its a step in the right direction anyway

I would love to splash out and go for even more but I know its going to add more cost, the £150-£200 should be enough for now

Just out of curiosity what would the price difference be on a board that would support more RAM?

If I were you get a:

CPU:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

MOTHERBOARD:

Choose one from here, depending on what memory you have/want - DDR2 or DDR3

Newegg.com - gigabyte AM3 motheboard

I got the cpu and a Gigabyte MA785GM-US2H motherboard (DDR2) as I had the memory.

Just to clarify he is in the UK and Newegg does not ship there.

 

[Frostmourne]

Examples, same motherboard in any random parts store, just different prices.

 

[Zepher]

That board is crap. 4GB of RAM? I'd build a new system around an AMD Athlon 250 with a 785G board that can support 16GB of DDR2 RAM.

I would agree if he came in here and said he edited video or produced music or something equally RAM intensive. The reality is, nothing over 4GB is necessary at this point in time. Even over the next 5 years we won't see anything that requires any more than that. For basic computer use and even over average gaming, this is more than sufficient.

Not here, RAM is cheap and 8GB is enough. 4GB isn't much.

Ram isn't cheap anymore. 4GB starts at $80. It was cheap a year ago when I bought 4GB for $35 and some 4GB kits were as low as $15 after rebates.

4GB is fine for 99% of users and gamers.

 

[burtie]

I doubled checked my RAM and currently I have DDR so it looks like I will have to splah out on some DDR2 as well