New CPU vs New Build

[srock77]

I currently use my computer for photoshop and lightroom and its a bit slow- I built it approx 3 years ago and am looking for a bit more performance

The crucial specs are:
Win XP
Asus p5b deluxe
2megs RAM
E6600 core duo
radeon 8800gt

I have 2 in college and am not looking to rebuild on an i5/i7 platform (approx $1000) unless I have to

reasonable bang for the buck:

New CPU (Q9300 or 9550)($275)

video (even today 8800GT is pretty fast)

Time to rebuild? (Hope not)

Thanks

Steve

 

[rwpritchett]

I think if you want to keep your system for another year or two it would be worth it to upgrade the CPU. Do you live near a Microcenter? If so, they have some cheap Core 2 Quads.

Also, you could do with another 2GB RAM.

P.S. My P5B Deluxe is still great... I expect it will last me another 2-3 years (built in 2006). Good board for overclocking, maybe you should experiment with that?

 

[sp12]

I would not be spending more than ~130 on a C2Q, much past that and you can full out switch to an AMD platform for the price.

 

[geofelt]

Photoshop likes ram. Perhaps you can get another 2gb.

Check out e-bay for better used cpu's that your motherboard supports.
Your E6600 is worth about $50-$60 to sell there.

 

[wielander]

New CPU (Q9300 or 9550)($275)

The Core 2 Quad processors are a very bad value now. For $275 you could practically put together a new, faster Phenom II X4 955 or Core i5-750 system (CPU, Motherboard, RAM).

 

[Twoboxer]

CPU and more memory will help most. The graphics card is not an issue. Need to know make/model of your psu, and whether you have an original Windows disk or not. If no disk (or a "recovery disk"), you can't change mobo and cpu without buying a new copy of Windows.

The Q9550 should provide results like this (find Photoshop):

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/61?vs=50

An i5 750 platform should provide even better results, like this:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/61?vs=109

So for $275, if that's your cost for a Q9550, you get substantial speed improvement in your app, and elsewhere, but no more memory. Add a little more for memory, or not.

For a little over $100 more (including 4GB of DDR3 memory), you get even better performance. Comparing Q9550 and i5 750:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/61?vs=109

About 10% improvement vs the Q9550, without factoring in any improvement for additional memory which on its own could be substantial. Plus you get a modern platform. You can evaluate whether the extra money is available and worth it to you. Will provide specific parts if you wish to take a closer look.

 

[srock77]

eventually I will invest in a new platform

It might be best to go to q9300 for 139 at microcenter-

I have 2 megs ram for winxp - increasing to 4 only gives me 3 only addressable - ? value there

Steve

 

[Twoboxer]

Sounds reasonable. Think again about the memory - even losing nearly a gig due to OS, your concern should be how much speed does a LARGE percentage increase in available memory (2GB - OS use vs 3GB - OS use) generate?

Sorry I can't answer it for you. You might recerve more memory for a second step if needed.

 

[Shadow703793]

I would not be spending more than ~130 on a C2Q, much past that and you can full out switch to an AMD platform for the price.

+1.

For $250, you can get a new AM3 CPU (probably a Athlon II X4), DDR3 RAM, and a new AM3 board.

If you DO plan to get a fully new system wait until at least Sandy Bridge comes out.

 

[apache_lives]

i had a similar rig back in the day (E6600 // ASUS P5B Deluxe -Wifi // 2gb) - overclocked it to 3200/1600 since day one was a monster

on the other hand my board revision *supported* quads (NOTE: Q6xxx only), it would not run solid on cold starts - not sure if its my board or the series with that fault so i just replaced it etc

 

[rwpritchett]

I have 2 megs ram for winxp - increasing to 4 only gives me 3 only addressable - ? value there

A valid point. You could just get another 2x512GB RAM for a total of 3GB rather than spend double for a 2x1GB kit that would give you ~3.3-3.5GB usable RAM on 32-bit. If you plan to stay 32-bit that is.

on the other hand my board revision *supported* quads (NOTE: Q6xxx only), it would not run solid on cold starts - not sure if its my board or the series with that fault so i just replaced it etc

Running a Q9xxx on my P5B. Solid as can be.

 

[srock77]

For now xp 32 bit - New platform in a year or two 64 bit . Just too much pain to reinstall OS and all of the software. I fondly remember when an OS install did not force reinstallation of everything. I sort of hate the registry (end of rant). I'll look into a 9300 and a meg of additonal ram and wait a year or so for the next platform. I think for now that may well be my sweet spot.

Steve

 

[Shadow703793]

Please, get the MB vs GB thing right. You should get 1GB additional RAM.