Need Advice: Upgrade CPU or MOBO or BOTH

warlord1609

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:hello: I currently own a Q6600 Go at stock clocks. Unfortunately i have a low end motherboar that dosent allow me to oc. So i want advice on whether i should upgrade to a better mobo and cpu combination or just buy a new motherboard and oc.
1> i do cpu intensive tasks such as encoding, ripping, graphics design and heavy gaming (atleast 3 hrs per day).
2> i can spend a maximum of 400 - 450 $ for cpu, mobo and ram( planning to go ddr3).
3> i have a seasonic 620w psu and ati 5850 gfx.
4> also advice on a good mobo and ram that can let me oc to atleast 4ghz on air (using cooler master hyper 212+).

based on cpu reviews i have shortlisted some products but am confused :??: :
a) core i7 930. :D
b) core i5 750.
c) phenom 2 1055T
d) core i7 860.

please advice 2 sets of configurations as availibility might be an issue. any help is much appreciated. :)
 
Solution


If you need something to stay puerto for some years to come then AM3 is your best bet (unless of course you go out all guns blazing on an X58 rig).. A hexa core is not going to create any day to night difference with gaming.. But i agree with you on going straight away for a hexa core if you intent on doing other strenuous activities on your PC (3D modelling type stuffs)..

4745454b

Titan
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If you have the $$$, you might as well get a new system. Its pointless to spend $100 or so on a new board and be stuck on a dead system if you have the money for something new. If you do encoding/transcoding then the 1055T is for you. The 750 and 930 will be better at the other tasks however. (and that includes gaming) Up to you as to which is more important.
 

jimishtar

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why dont u just get some nice cheap p45 mobo , OC that q6600 and save your money for later. that cpu can be OC-ed to nice speeds.
if u do upgrade, get 6core cpu. it seems dull to change quad for a quad, right?
 

+1 Dull and almost pointless IMO to trade quad for quad especially a quad that is only slightly faster then the Q6600, you would have to upgrade to a higher end quad like an I7 to make it worth it. With CPUs breaking into 6 and 8 core range its the only smart upgrade to do is a 6 core processor so either an x6 1055 or 1090 or if you have money to born a 980x or wait like I am til next year for AMD and Intel's new architecture is released.
 

4745454b

Titan
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I do disagree. He has a Q6600 at stock. This is slower then the any of the Q9xxx AFAIK, and the i5 750 is faster then just about all of those. Yes they might both be quads, and yes they might both be around 2.5GHz, but the IPC on the i5 is much better.

Transcoding video with handbrake will still be faster on the 1055. But for everything else the 750 can't be beat. As a good all around chip I'd go with that.
 

warlord1609

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okay guys thank you very much for your inputs.
so based on what i have read people prefer the i5 or 1055t.
the actual situation is that i am building a PC for my bro and so i decided to give my mobo and cpu to him. so now the question is what should i buy?
i love gaming but want performance in other things. so one last time please advice between these two. please look 3-5 years down the line.
@emperus: dude i like your first suggestion but i dont prefer going amd for a quad core.
not that i have anything against it, but i have to go amd then i would buy the hexa core.
 

popatim

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I'll go woth the 1055t or the i5-750 recommendations also. They are both good processors and are about equals in most tasks. I had to make the same choice and went with the 1055T hoping future software would take better advantage of the extra cores.

But before you make a purchase make sure you cannot OC your current board. I know my Asus boards require a keystrok combo like ALT-F1 to get to 'those' menus.
If you can OC then I suggest you OC and just wait for the new architectures to arrive.
 


If you need something to stay puerto for some years to come then AM3 is your best bet (unless of course you go out all guns blazing on an X58 rig).. A hexa core is not going to create any day to night difference with gaming.. But i agree with you on going straight away for a hexa core if you intent on doing other strenuous activities on your PC (3D modelling type stuffs)..
 
Solution

4745454b

Titan
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Thats because you only looked at the one? Try looking at the second pass numbers on the other tests, and the WMV tests and see the 1055 on top. Not wildly on top but it is faster.

The thing for me is if you look around the other tests you'll see the 750 on top. Gaming, photoshop, etc. Look at the PS test. The 750 is faster then even the 1090. Are you sure its a mistake to trade a quad for a quad?
 

warlord1609

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okay guys thanks for the replies. i have finally made my choice. i have chosen to buy the i7 860 as its available for only 219$ and also i am planning to buy the evga p55 motherboard retailing for about 175$ and corsair ddr3 1600mhz 2x2gb ram kit for 94$ (newegg). so any comments.... ill wait for another day for any further comments and then ill select the best answer...(always a tough choice.. lots of good advices... but i thank all of you).
 

rohn_avni

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good choice......but if u can spend more then get a EE Processor like i7 975x..... :D
 


I think that is a reasonable choice.

Your old Q6600 is worth something like $100-$120 on e-bay.
DDR2 ram still sells.
The mobo probably not worth much.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
You listed gaming as a priority, whats your video card? If you need an upgrade there you might want to buy something. Geo has a good idea with that however. Sell your old CPU, RAM, GPU and Mobo if you can and you should have enough for a new card.

Do any of your programs support CUDA?
 


OP has chosen the LGA 1156 platform.. The EE processor for this platform is the i7 875k.. The i7 975X is on the LGA 1366 or the X58 platform..
 

rohn_avni

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i know that but i said if he has money then go for that, means mobo and other requirement's r obvious....