Is this upgrade worth it

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ultra619

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Aug 13, 2011
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Hi!

right now i have a Core 2 Quad Q6400 (pretty old) and i thought an upgrade at the right price would be worth it. I was thinking of an AMD Athlon X4 II 640 ($75) and a basic motherboard at $50. Is that upgrade worth it or should i spend more for an upgrade.

my other specs
mobo: P5g41-m le
PSU: antec 650 Watt
Video Card: radeon 4870 512 mb
cpu fan:coolermaster hyper 212
Case: HAF 912
 
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S


get Nvidia GTX 760 . and if you don't have 8G of Ram , get them.

that's all what you need really.
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gopher1369

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I'm not sure about the Athlon, but perhaps also consider a second hand Core 2 Quad Q9450, or similar? A newer design, higher clock speed and more cache should be a nice speed boost. I'm sure you'd be able to get 2nd hand ones on Ebay for a reasonable price. Would also mean that you don't need to reinstall Windows.

A better upgrade might be be to something like an H77 chipset motherboard and a Pentium G2120.

But what are you using it for?
 
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ultra619

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I use it for everything; gaming, browsing, hw, etc.
But i just found out about bitcoin mining and i am really interested in just using it for that but for now im not sure. I would like to get a new motherboard because my current one only supports ddr2 :(
 
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game junky

game junky

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You're not getting much improvement in terms of performance for that X4. With bitcoin, your GPU is going to be the bottleneck in the event you upgrade your proc so you'll want to test what your budget is first. Dollars to performance, I would purchase:

An AM3+ capable board (low-end of sustainable platforms is around $90): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

Low end, you could get a 965 ($95) - would be a boost, but not substantial: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

High end, you could get a bulldozer or piledriver proc - least expensive is the 8120 ($160):http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961

For GPU, you can pretty up step into anything newer than what you're using. I think a 7000 series card w/ plenty of video memory is the best way to have no regrets. Here's a 7770 that would work nicely for most current gen games except some of the most demanding ($150): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121642

If it were me, I would get the AM3+ board, the 8120 proc and the 7770 card ($400) and sell off the old parts or build a secondary work station if I could scrounge up a case, power supply, ram and drive. You'll have to get RAM for the new rig, 8GB is more than enough - here's what I use: ($63) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315

Not cheap, but it will be a substantial upgrade from your current setup and you'll be very happy with your computer's performance for the next couple of years without regret.
 
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game junky

game junky

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7850 would be a step up, what are the specs on that combo (we can't see the contents). I have an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX combined with an FX-8150 and I have been fairly happy with my setup. That being said, Intel's processors are definitely higher performance so if you have room in your budget I would look at either an i5-3570 or i5-4670 and their corresponding motherboard series.
 
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game junky

game junky

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It's your money but I don't think you're going to get that much of a performance increase - the FX-6000 series excels in being a quality CPU/GPU combination but that Intel Core 2 Quad isn't that far behind in terms of processing power. Yes, you will be able to upgrade your RAM and Video card to modern platforms because you'll have the support on that new motherboard but I honestly would save your money and wait until you can step up to a better CPU. I have a 8150 and it gets the job done efficiently - I am able to play BF3 (thanks to my 660) on high without stutters or glitching.

It's your money and it is good to step up to a newer platform, just think you're going to be disappointed with the performance. Regardless, good luck with your build and enjoy
 
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sna

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get Nvidia GTX 760 . and if you don't have 8G of Ram , get them.

that's all what you need really.
 
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