Upade my CPU suggestions

Zerkei

December 24, 2009 5:45:16 AM

Hi there.
I currently have a computer i bought in 2008, it's pretty old.
It's a Dell Optiplex GX 280 tower. I use it for bussiness, but I would like to upgrade the CPU to an intel i7 quad core.
Though the max my motherboard can support is a Intel Pentium 4 single core 2.8GHZ (which is what i have, 1 physical core with hyper threading enabled = 2 logical cores, quite nice).

I'm not a gamer.. at all. But it would be nice from time to time to watch some HD movies and presentations, though my 32MB integrated video memory makes it lag a lot.

So should I buy a barebone kit that support all of my current stuff:
500GB Sata Hard drive, CD - DRIVE, 1 GB x 4 DDR2 Ram, (also bought a ATI Readon X 1550 3D 64 bit card, which doesn't work on my computer.. cause it's 32bit).

Or should I just leave it as is, or maybe buy a new computer overall?

What do you suggest?

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gkay09

December 24, 2009 5:48:37 AM

^ New PC overall...

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Zerkei

December 24, 2009 5:51:07 AM

gkay09 said:

^ New PC overall...

Thanks for your speedy reply, but all of the current parts I have will go to waste.
I've got a 500 GB sata hard drive,4GB DDR2 RAM which I would like to keep.

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gkay09

December 24, 2009 5:56:04 AM

^ Yes you can reuse the HDD and RAM...
But if you want an i7, then you can cant use DDR2 RAM with it...i7s support DDR3...
And for your usage, I really dont see the need for an i7 CPU...
You can take look at the AMD CPUs, that come with very powerful onboard video cards, that can playback 1080p with ease...So you would be saving money there too by not buying a separate graphics card...

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obsidian86

December 24, 2009 7:06:45 AM

the am3 amd's can work in older ddr2 boards

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idoop

December 24, 2009 7:43:59 AM

the only way to keep your ram is to not go with the i7/i5 versions.
if you are and your not a gamer here is a pretty good i7-9** mobo(not to pricey):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and this is a good one for the i7-8** and the i5 series:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and if you really wanna keep your ram you could always go for the intel core 2 quad series/duo series.
good mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and yes u can use your hdd again.

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hardwaretechy

December 24, 2009 1:03:42 PM

Look at some of the AMD options, they have excellent integrated graphics on their mobos and as obsidian said, some support both DDR3 and DDR2, so you could reuse both your RAM and HDD in the same box.

None of the reasons you stated require the power of the i7 --- Not that AMD is shabby, it'll be a huge leap for you from Pentium 4. AMD has a $99 quad-core, so you can accomplish everything for probably under $300. Not a bad upgrade.

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Zerkei

December 24, 2009 6:41:56 PM

hardwaretechy said:

Look at some of the AMD options, they have excellent integrated graphics on their mobos and as obsidian said, some support both DDR3 and DDR2, so you could reuse both your RAM and HDD in the same box.

None of the reasons you stated require the power of the i7 --- Not that AMD is shabby, it'll be a huge leap for you from Pentium 4. AMD has a $99 quad-core, so you can accomplish everything for probably under $300. Not a bad upgrade.

I'll probably end up buying an AMD motherboard, but I'm not so good with what I need exactly.

I've got a fully working computer and I just want to buy a new motherboard that supports everything I currently use including a 64bit PCIe x 16 low-profile ATI readon graphics card as well as a quad core 3.0GHZ cpu.

thanks, im not that great with computers

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obsidian86

December 24, 2009 9:06:02 PM

do you want to splurge on ddr3?

get this

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

you gonna need a new case with that

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

or just switch to this board and use the ddr2 you got

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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Zerkei

December 24, 2009 9:46:17 PM

obsidian86 said:

do you want to splurge on ddr3?

get this

ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

you gonna need a new case with that

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

or just switch to this board and use the ddr2 you got

ASUS M4A785-M AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Thanks, i looked at the last link.
I've got a ATI Readon X 1550 3D PCIe x 16 card, it won't fit with that motherboard since it only supports 2.0 x16.
What do you recommend i do? Also which CPU should i get

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obsidian86

December 25, 2009 12:56:55 AM

the onboard graphics is an ati 4200 wich will be better then the x1550

the amd 620 is a great budget option if you wanna go cheaper the amd 425 is good but its kinda hard without knowing your budget

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Zerkei

December 25, 2009 7:14:40 PM

obsidian86 said:

the onboard graphics is an ati 4200 wich will be better then the x1550

the amd 620 is a great budget option if you wanna go cheaper the amd 425 is good but its kinda hard without knowing your budget

Around 370 USD.
Though i wouldn't like to spend that much on an upgrade.

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gkay09

December 28, 2009 2:34:14 AM

@Zerkei, you graphic card will be compatible with PCIe 2.0(these are backwards compatible)

And I doubt that the 4200 would be more powerful than the X1550...

And if you dont want to spend a lot on just the upgrade, then this alone would give a good performance improvement...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Item...

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Zerkei

December 28, 2009 2:46:57 AM

gkay09 said:

@Zerkei, you graphic card will be compatible with PCIe 2.0(these are backwards compatible)

And I doubt that the 4200 would be more powerful than the X1550...

And if you dont want to spend a lot on just the upgrade, then this alone would give a good performance improvement...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Item...

what do you mean 2.0?
The graphcis card i bought is for PCIe x 16.

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gkay09

December 28, 2009 2:50:40 AM

^ Yes...PCIe 2.0 slot supports PCIe X16 cards...They are physically the same...
You cant use a AGP card on a PCIe slot...but can use a PCIe x4, PCIe x16, PCIe x16 2.0 cards in that slot...

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obsidian86

December 28, 2009 2:50:51 PM

the x1550 and 4200 is bout the same according to this

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/best-graphics-card,review...

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