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Viable Upgrade?

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs Viable Upgrade?

Hey Everyone, new to the forums. I was just looking for a little advice in my future upgrading plans whilst i have the time and money.

Currently i have a "Gaming" system i have built myself (ie not from dell, hp etc) and i upgrade things here and now as i see fit.

MY Computer Spec:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Asus M2N4-SLI DDR2 Mobo (I have never updated the fireware/bios)
4x 1GB DDR2 800Mhz PC2-6400 Gold XTC CL5 Ram
**Recently upgraded to**
PALIT GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 Graphics Card
Huntkey Titan 650W PSU

Now my question is regarding the CPU, I know the memory and Mobo need upgrading aswell, but 4gb is "Acceptable" for Gaming and the such for me for now, it will be upgraded to 8gb shortly after the CPU

Ive been looking along the lines of either
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ 2.90GHz or
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7550 2.5 GHz

Both of the above are around 40 GBP, but have researched as much as i could and both seem to be the same but would need a little advice onto which is the better of the two, or would pose the better upgrade.

ORRR Do i go for something like this below (If it will be supported by my Mobo) but thats around 80GBP
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9850 2.50GHz Black Edition

The CPU's above all suggest they are AM2 Compatabile.

ALso, if there are any other CPU suggestions which are viable as upgrades then please by all means pass them over.

Anyways thanks for any advice or help, its muchly apprecaited

Reply to Reccy

It will be better if you save your money for a complete upgrade (graphics card put aside) The first Phenom series 9xxx were a true s**t, and those Athlons are old and the GTX470 really need a mighty CPU like Phenom II 955 or Core i5-760, i7-930 to unleash it's full power.

As for the RAM yes 4GB will be enough but you will need to buy new RAM (DDR3) if you do a complete upgrade.

As i said, start saving money for a complete upgrade without the GPU and the PSU.

Message edited by unknown_13 on 08-06-2010 at 04:13:36 PM

Reply to unknown_13

I was hoping to upgrade this Mobo to the max on a cheap state CPU, and then when it is really necessery to upgrade the Mobo and RAM in a years or mores time

Reply to Reccy

and don't go for x2... go for a quad.....

Reply to rohn_avni

I'd agree with uknown_13, you've got a great GPU there but you'd get the most out of it if stick it out for a bit longer, saved your cash and did a full rebuild.
From a quick google it would seem that your motherboard cant take the Phenom's anyway.

New motherboard with a Phenom II / i5 760 / i7 would work wonders, might want to get a new PSU as well, never heard of huntkey.

Reply to flaminggerbil

i7 would be overkill for him....

Reply to rohn_avni

Eh, why?

Reply to flaminggerbil

i don't think he is gonna play heavy games or do any vid editing or rendering or ripping... so with i5/x4 he can save money for other things... (my thought's).....

Message edited by rohn_avni on 08-06-2010 at 04:47:54 PM

Reply to rohn_avni

I play games, and Internet Surf (High end games, you mean the latest games out?) And i try to play all my games with the MAX settings possible.

Been looking at my next upgrade system and its just shy of 600 GBP

:-)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Reccy

Reccy wrote :

I play games, and Internet Surf (High end games, you mean the latest games out?) And i try to play all my games with the MAX settings possible.

Been looking at my next upgrade system and its just shy of 600 GBP

:-)

well but still a phenom x4 or i5 would be enough for u..... and for playing on max u need a highend GPU as well(u already have it).....with minimum 4 gig(DDR 3 1600 Mhz) of ram...

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by rohn_avni on 08-06-2010 at 05:03:20 PM

Reply to rohn_avni

I ment "Possible" meaning the highest my GPU would easily accomplish..

Looking at the:
Asus CROSSHAIR IV FORMULA 890FX Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1090T 3.2GHz 9MB Cache 125W Retail Box Processor
OCZ 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1866MHz/PC3-15000 Reaper HPC Triple Channel Memory Kit CL9 1.65V

:-)

Reply to Reccy

Skip the 6 core AMD's for gaming, you'll not benefit from it.

Either go for a quad core Phenom II, i5 750/760 or i7 920/930.

rohn_avni wrote :

well but still a phenom x4 or i5 would be enough for u..... and for playing on max u need a highend GPU as well(u already have it).....with minimum 4 gig(DDR 3 1600 Mhz) of ram...

Why DDR3 1600Mhz? It has little to no benefit for gaming over 1333Mhz which is slightly cheaper.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to flaminggerbil

I was thinking ahead to the late future.. I will be needed at some point or will come better eventually... Or am i thinking wrong :S

Reply to Reccy

The Hex core Phenom's are not really that great for gaming, also developers are only just starting to properly use 4 cores instead of 2 so there's really very little point in buying one.
As said before, stick with Quad core CPU's such as the i5 760, i7 930 or quad Phenom II's.

Reply to flaminggerbil

Suggestions on Motherboard, CPU and RAM then for a decent build which will run games at high to very high settings? No MAxing out over the 500GBP Mark?

AMD only though

Reply to Reccy

Any particular reason for AMD only?

Reply to flaminggerbil

Becuase i used Intel in my previous professtion and ther Realibility and service was extremtly poor to be polite.

Just always stuck with AMD back to the old K5 Series,,

Reply to Reccy

if u really want a 6 core then leave AMD and go for i7 980x..... far superior than AMD x6....

Reply to rohn_avni

flaminggerbil wrote :

Skip the 6 core AMD's for gaming, you'll not benefit from it.

Either go for a quad core Phenom II, i5 750/760 or i7 920/930.

Why DDR3 1600Mhz? It has little to no benefit for gaming over 1333Mhz which is slightly cheaper.

because there r 2200Mhz DDR3 already on the horizons.... so why not go for atleast 1600 Mhz...

Reply to rohn_avni

Allright then, if you really don't like Intel:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955
MB: Some 890GX, probably ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333/1600MHz
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3

And yeah you don't want to use AMD's 6-core for gaming.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by unknown_13 on 08-06-2010 at 06:42:43 PM

Reply to unknown_13

unknown_13 wrote :

Allright then, if you really don't like Intel:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955
MB: Some 890GX, probably ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333/1600MHz
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3

And yeah you don't want to use AMD's 6-core for gaming.

A WD cavier Blue would be better than Samsung...
and why not x4 965, it's a flagship processor of AMD at mighty 3.4 Ghz.....

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by rohn_avni on 08-06-2010 at 06:47:56 PM

Reply to rohn_avni

rohn_avni wrote :

A WD cavier Blue would be better than Samsung...
and why not x4 965, it's a flagship processor of AMD at mighty 3.4 Ghz.....

LOL

There is soo little difference between 955 and 965. They both OC very well. And no, Caviar Blue would be slower than the spinpoint f3, the f3 it's equal to wd black

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by unknown_13 on 08-06-2010 at 06:52:17 PM

Reply to unknown_13

unknown_13 wrote :

LOL

There is soo little difference between 955 and 965. They both OC very well. And no, Caviar Blue would be slower than the spinpoint f3, the f3 it's equal to wd black

little difference.... :heink: well 965 has reduced TDP and does OP really want to overclock??
i suggest WD to save some of his bucks....

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rohn_avni

rohn_avni wrote :

little difference.... :heink: well 965 has reduced TDP and does OP really want to overclock??
i suggest WD to save some of his bucks....

The difference IS small.

Please post a link of WD Black 1TB to confirm that it's cheaper than the f3.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to unknown_13

unknown_13 wrote :

The difference IS small.

Please post a link of WD Black 1TB to confirm that it's cheaper than the f3.

LOL
i was suggesting cavier blue not black.....

and 965 will be more overclockeble than 955.... plus a native 3.4....if he don't want to overclock..

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rohn_avni

rohn_avni wrote :

LOL
i was suggesting cavier blue not black.....

and 965 will be more overclockeble than 955.... plus a native 3.4....if he don't want to overclock..

rofl ok ok..... i won't discuss with you anymore ok...

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to unknown_13

unknown_13 wrote :

rofl ok ok..... i won't discuss with you anymore ok...

that's better...... anyways i would still suggest a i5/i7......but he don't want to leave AMD.... :lol:

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rohn_avni

rohn_avni wrote :

that's better...... anyways i would still suggest a i5/i7......but he don't want to leave AMD.... :lol:

Yeah i think he should have gone the i5 route, but it's ok... PII X4 are also great budget CPU's

Message edited by unknown_13 on 08-06-2010 at 07:27:04 PM

Reply to unknown_13

I am still here, and please dont insult me in the third person.

If you used a garage and they ruined your car, would you go back to that same garage? Exactly, i have my reasons for not using Intel, which is no problem.

Thank you, much appreciated, i have a cow to punch

Reply to Reccy

Take a look at the support page for your board

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport [...] &product=1

Your board does not support Phenom based CPUs. That means no 7550 since it's a Kuma Core which is a crippled Phenom CPU. The best you can do is the Athlon 6400+. So yeah of the two choices you provided the 5600X2 is your best bet. You may want to get a good CPU cooler for it so that you can overclock it. Even overclocked it will still be the limiting factor in that system. I suggest you save for a CPU/Motherboard/RAM upgrade.

Message quoted 1 times

Update the BIOS first of course.

megamanx00 wrote :

Are u serious? 5600 X2 with a GTX 470?? Even when OC'ed, it will be NO way near to unleash the full power of the beast.

OP: Sorry if i have insulted you.

Reply to unknown_13

as i said before don't go for a dual core now cause it's a waste of money.... go for PII x4........

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rohn_avni

rohn_avni wrote :

as i said before don't go for a dual core now cause it's a waste of money.... go for PII x4........

Reply to unknown_13

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