Motherboard (Asus M4A87TD Evo) died today

[g-unit1111]

After several weeks of frustration, many attempts at rebuilding and reformatting it finally kicked the bucket today. I replaced it with a Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3, 16GB of Corsair XMS 1333 RAM (already have), and an Intel Core i3-2120. The main use for this PC is business applications, and I debated between spending the extra money for the i5-2500 and the i3-2120 but in the end decided to go with the i3-2120 since I will not be overclocking or installing any crazy cooling solutions on this board. Is this a good choice?

 

[jaquith]

The i3-2120 is perfectly fine for general business. IMO I feel the i5-2400 is worth the investment for 2 added cores.

See -> http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/363?vs=289
See -> http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
Intel Core i5-2400 @ 3.10GHz 6,092
Intel Core i3-2120 @ 3.30GHz 4,062

 

[g-unit1111]

I felt I really didn't need it since I mainly use my business system for internet, printing, light CAD, and MS Excel and Powerpoint presentations. I don't think the extra two cores will make that much of a difference.

 

[jaquith]

I'm not on commission, it's your money and your rig. As blot gets bigger things get slower.

I hope I answered your questions.

Good Luck!

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm not on commission, it's your money and your rig. As blot gets bigger things get slower.

I hope I answered your questions.

Good Luck!

That is true. I'm planning a total reformat of my hard drive once I get my stuff, but the nice thing about the Z68 is that there's such a wide range of CPUs and if the i3 doesn't meet my needs, I can always upgrade to the i5 or i7.

 

[jaquith]

If or when you upgrade the new Ivy Bridge CPU's coming out Q2 2012 is what to get. Excuse my typo, I meant 'bloat' not 'blot'.

The best piece of H/W for your PC to significantly improve performance is the addition of an SSD, the Z68 allows for 'SSD Caching' {Intel RST} and supports an SSD + HDD and is relatively easy to setup. See -> http://www.anandtech.com/show/4329/intel-z68-chipset-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching-review/1 Both your OS and frequently used applications and data will b accelerated after a few uses.

In any case, Good Luck!

 

[g-unit1111]

Unfortunately I couldn't wait that long for Ivy Bridge - I had to get a new mobo/CPU today, and it couldn't wait - I wound up going with a Gigabyte Z68-board and the i3-2120, if I need it I'll get the i7-2600k at some point.

Although now I managed to salvage the CPU from the failed build - I'm thinking I might buy a new AMD 990FX-based motherboard and RAM and use that in my home system, then I have a logical upgrade path for Bulldozer!

 

[jaquith]

... if the i3 doesn't meet my needs, I can always upgrade to the i5 or i7.

My point was/is that the forthcoming Ivy Bridge can work on your P67/Z68 MOBO, and IF you upgraded {future} the Ivy Bridge would be the logical choice.

I'm not a fan of AMD and the last leaked data I saw the Bulldozer is slower in many cases to the current i7/i5 Intel Sandy Bridge CPU. In the past AMD and Intel use to leapfrog but lately, years now, the AMD is always lagging behind - like an inchworm.

In November the Intel SB-E is coming out, ~45% faster than the current Sandy Bridge but IF you're concerned about the cost/performance of any i3 vs i5 then forget it. The lowest price SB-E is $300 and the MOBO's guessing $50~$100+ over the Z68. See -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_processors

I'me replacing our gaming PC core components with LGA 2011, etc.

 

[g-unit1111]

$100 over the z68 for the motherboard alone? Ouch. I don't think I'll be upgrading to those CPUs any time soon.

 

[jaquith]

The Ivy Bridge will be ~20% faster and similarly priced to the current SB, and compatible with an LGA 1155 MOBO. So buy cheapo SB now and replace if needed later. I do business applications all day, and any waiting is my or my staff's time lost.

--- Cost & Time ---

If that doesn't factor in then people aren't busy enough or they own the company but still don't want $30~$40+ hour labor lost.

Just of kicks, 10 seconds x 30 times a day = 300 seconds / 60 = 5 minutes; reality it's closer to 15 minutes in typical day. 5 / 60 = 0.083 hours per day.

0.08 hour x 5 days x $30 / hour = $12 / week
$12 / week x 50 weeks = $600 / year
$600 / year x 3.5 years (typical upgrade) = $2,100 loss during the life of the PC

The i5 will save you say the 10 seconds and the cost difference was $45. So unless there's some Russian math where $45 = $2,100 maybe you need to reevaluate your time. The best single upgrade that's the most cost effective to time is the addition of an SSD to any system: Servers {IOPS}, Workstation {typically Rendering}, PC in business, etc - time is money. I get people screw around and waste time all day, but since there's pattern or limit this evaluation simply adds needless wasted time. In fact as the speed and response, lag, diminishes I've found reduced waiting time actually increases attentiveness and further reduces wasted time.

Example, you place a request - if you have to wait during that time your mind wonders around {attention span}, but if the request and response time is minimized so does the mind wondering - productivity goes up. 10% of the population is in some form ADHD. Google and most businesses already know this...

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Bottom-line, it makes no difference to me what you get I'm sure it'll be an improvement.