Upgrade from E8400 to i5 2500, worth it ?

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SilverFX

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Hi guys, I'd like to know if I should stick to my current system, upgrade it a little, or completely change it

I'm currently running:

Intel Core2Duo E8400 @ 3,0 GHz with stock clocks (I don't plan to overclock anything)
XFX 750i for the motherboard (PCIe 2.0)
Corsair C4 DHX 4X1GB @ 4-4-4-12 1.5V
XFX Radeon HD 4890 @ 1GB

well anything else around it is totally useless to know as far as performances are concerned

But theses days, I was planning on getting this beauty:

Intel Core i5 2500 Quad Core @ 3,3 GHz (planning on sticking to stock clocks again)
ASUS P8P67 LGA1155
G.Skill Ripjaws X F3 DDR3 2X2GB @ 7-7-7-21
EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked

and maybe a little SSD (like 50GB) for Windows and a WD Caviar Black 1 TB for storage and games folders

With that build, I'm mainly planning on gaming so... would the complete upgrade worth something or I should only upgrade some components to my current build to make it rock solid more than he actually is ?

Thanks for your answers
 
Solution
H
its a worthy upgrade for 1 good reason, in that your moving from a dual to a quad.
even if you wernt going for a sandy core, moving to a quad opens up so much more potential performance. not just gaming wise either...

good luck and have fun.
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SilverFX

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@christop:

Fortunately I've got an actual buyer for my current E8400 system and I also saw that an upgrade like I want would cost like 600$ ... a newer system would cost like 1200$ but considering I'd sell my E8400 at 400$ ... it's like paying 800$...

800$ for a newer system or 600$ for an upgrade... I think I got my answer right away

BTW, thanks for all of you guys, I'm feeling much safer now lol

But, why going into the 2500k if I don't plan on overclocking ?...
 
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Raidur

Raidur

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No reason, he didn't notice you weren't overclocking.

Honestly though these Sandy Bridge CPUs overclock like crazy, even on stock heatsink. I'd definitely look into it before deciding.

I do agree with Psycho however, on waiting until Ivy Bridge and overclocking the E8400. The E8400 is easily overclocked on stock cooling.
 
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ndositwe

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If I were in your shoes, I’d retain the E8400 and continue saving up for a next new build...what you have (E8400 system) is still a good gaming PC. But if you decide to go Sandy Bridge, get the 2500K instead of the 2500...you never know, you may want to overclock.
 
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SilverFX

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Anyways there's just a 5$ margin between the 2500 and 2500K from where I'd get it... but as stated previously there's the Ivy bridge to be released within the next year...

Well, knowing that I'd be tempted to wait until the release of it, since my friend told me yesterday that for now I got a strong computer... So finally I'd probably better updating my current hard drive (a pooly loaded 250Go...) for a SSD (I though about the OCZ Vertex 2 of 50GB (I don't want a big space for my Windows drive...) and a 1TB storage drive (maybe Seagate since performance isn't concerned for storage) and also updating my video card for a GTX 560 Ti...

Could an update to a Q9650 could be a good thing to do? (since I wouldn't have the need to switch my mainboard...)

It's pretty hardcore whether to decide which path to follow:
1- keep the E8400 and upgrade the video card and hard drives to wait until the Ivy bridge
2- upgrade to i5 2500K
 
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Hellhawk

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I was in the same position you were in. I was running an E8400 OC'd to 4.00 Ghz, 4 GB of memory, a Radeon 4870, etc.

When I bought it, it was a step or two down from the best. I always had done that to keep costs down. For once I decided to buy the latest and greatest, and I jumped on an i7-2600k. Let me tell you, I do not regret it in the least. While I could have waited for Ivy Bridge, and it will undoubtedly be faster than Sandy Bridge and my E8400, this was still a HUGE upgrade for me. My E8400 was really starting to lag for me. I tend to keep a lot of programs open at once, so the upgrade from dual to quad core alone was fairly huge for me.

For me it was a good choice. For you, it may or may not be. Only you can decided really. I can say this...you won't regret it if you do. There's always going to be something better coming around the corner. Once Ivy Bridge hits, people will then be waiting for the next big thing after that. If what you have works, stick with it. If it does not, then upgrade. I don't think you can really go wrong either way though.
 
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shrkbay

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your E8400 @ stock will bottleneck GTX 560 Ti, if i were you i'd upgrade for i5 2500K and GTX 560 Ti SOC, why? Because you get a good deal now on your E8400 and you get a huge boost in performance, when upgrading to i5 2500K, but it's up to you, if money is a bit of an issue i'd wait till Ivy Bridge comes out *and that's what i more likely would do LOL*
 
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SilverFX

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What video card my cpu wouldn't bottleneck then ? In NVIDIA please because the Catalyst drivers for ATI card... DAMN I HATE IT !!!
 
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shrkbay

shrkbay

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^ latest nVidia drivers have a lot of issues, while Ati's are best ever for now and almost nobody has problems with them *ik sounds a bit "fanboy"*, if you OC your E8400 to 3,5 GHz you'd minimize the bottleneck with GTX 560 Ti, but i'm not sure about SOC, why won't you just wait for Ivy Bridge, the card will be a lot cheaper by the time it comes out or upgrade to i5 2500K?
 
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SilverFX

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As mentionned earlier... I don't plan on overclocking anything since I'm not an adept of that...
 
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ndositwe

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With your current situation of already having a good system, the E8400, and your consideration to wait for Ivy Bridge to launch, the only upgrade (addition) I recommend you do is buy the 1TB Hard Disk Drive. And since you don’t want a big drive for your Windows, I would suggest you move and store all your data in the 1TB (secondary) drive and have your Windows + applications in the 250GB. I wouldn't put too much money in the E8400 system if you're considering building a new PC in the next few months.

If you can’t wait for Ivy Bridge and you have the money, build a Sandy Bridge system.

The best approach, in my opinion, is you play the waiting game for Ivy Bridge to launch. Then at that time, you can decide whether to go Sandy or Ivy...I think the wait will be worth it.
 
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SilverFX

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keep the E8400 and then upgrade surrounding hardware.
learn to over-clock your current cpu for practice while waiting for Ivy..
but if not wanting to wait until Ivy then I'd go for the i5-2500K SB but with an over-clocked E8400 I could stand to wait longer..
but right now this very minute, it's hard to say what to do...
to wait or not to wait..?
as stated - so upgrade everything else and take the new hardware with you to the new build..
at least get a 60GB SSD and nothing smaller if running 64-bit windows 7.
DO NOT WASTE MONEY ON A Q9650 unless available for less than $100 (I doubt that)..
spending money AND keeping the LGA775 platform is unwise..

FYI
a E8400 over-clocked paired with GTX560Ti can get you by until ready for new technology,
I just wouldn't want to settle for staying with it long-term.
Click to expand...

What's the OC limit of the E8400 by keeping the stock heatsink ? Because I know nothing about overclocking so OCing could make the wait more easy to do. I'd like to know how to properly overclock it anyways...

And the main reason why I think about changing my comp, it is because Call of Duty Black Ops is a real pain to play... Also, what video card could I take to complete my E8400? I think the best would be a not-so-expensive video card for saving money for the next build (anyways, IMO video card becomes rapidly obsolete so when I'd change for the Ivy bridge I could think about changing video card by the same time...) and since I pretty love XFX's gaming gear I'd probably like to stay with a Radeon again since XFX doesn't make any more GTX for now... :/

Well, it now opens to a new statement:
- How and up to until what value can I overclock the E8400 with a stock heatsink ?
- Which video card could I take that wouldn't cost much just to keep me waiting until " the big build " ... maybe a Radeon HD 6850 (which has one of the greatest performance/price ratio IMO...)
- Last crazy thoughts... switching back to AMD that could be more powerful than my E8400, like a Phenom II X6 or Phenom II X4... but like I said that thing is more crazy thoughts than logical lol
 
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SilverFX

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Sounds odd... but could a i7 on socket 1366 (i7 950) could be a good deal too ? I just found out I could find a X58i motherboard from XFX which is the brand I like the most... As for the graphic card, I'd probably get a Radeon 6850 since it got a good peformance/price ratio...
 
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SilverFX

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It plays ok, but graphics are ugly since I have to play it at near-minimum settings... I prefer a good image quality than performance, and my current system is not entirely making me enjoy Black Ops at max settings....

do you have big money like that going for a LGA1366.?
Click to expand...

From 1200$ to 1400$ budget... 275$ for the i7 950 / 150-160$ for the motherboard... just add a video card to that (probably Radeon 6850 for performance/price ratio (around 190$ at the maximum price I found where I get all my components, haven't checked for triple channel memory, psu is around 120$, 1TB from Seagate is 50$, as SSD would be checked in... well I think I can get it around 1300$ if I'm right... maybe 1400$ as I said...
 
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SilverFX

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Yeah I just saw about the 1366 that is far inferior from SBridge...

Now for the next step, I just don't know what brand to take:

ASUS because I never had problem with their board and a fair performance/price ratio
MSI, my friend a long time ago which lasted something like 7 or 8 years before dying... and I had a video card (geforce 6600 I think) that was a good card.
Gigabyte, had a problem with their customer service not wanting to RMA my faulty 8800GT so do I take the risk to maybe get screwed again ?
EVGA, would probably be my choice... but no sandy bridge motherboard on the market :( and the same problem applies to XFX

As for the ram, maybe looking for the lowest timings possibles like CL7 timings from G.Skill Ripjaws X (didn't see any lower from the site I'm calling my components...)

For the video card, I found interesting to find that a Radeon 6850 had a pretty nice performance/price ratio, maybe getting 2 of them for CrossFireX by the same time to get more firepower (and finally try a dual video card setup for once). I don't really know exactly which brand I'll take for that one, but I'd probably try HIS for once even if Sapphire is the pioneer within theses cards (no XFX that time... while switching, why not switch completely...)

The other things are just plain basics: SSD for Windows 7 X64, HDD for storage, DVD Writer, Tower

As I found that i5 2500 has one of the best price/performance ratio, its clear I'll go with that choice even with the Ivy bridge coming soon (they will probably have awful prices like when the first i7 were released... IMO)
 
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1366 is a no go
You could even check the tom's hardware articles if you want better proof, it makes no sense to buy 1366 when Sandy Bridge is available, the i5 2500k is faster than the the i7 950.

Anyways for a motherboard take a look at the ASRock p67 Extreme4, $150 features are:

long life high quality capacitors,
Contains the new UEFI bios with a GUI and it supports using a mouse, only three manufacturers have started using this new GUI bios and they are Asus, ASRock and MSi,
Nvidia certified this board for Quad-SLI,

It has 3 PCI-E x16 slots, Single at x16, dual @ x8 (not much of a difference)
and the third @ x4, You could use it for dedicated PhysX or a 3rd GPU in three way crossfire since the third GPU wont scale enough to use more than x4 anyways.

Supports 2-way SLI and Quad SLi - 2 dual gpu cards


Supports ATI™ Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™

If you get this board you can save more money to spend on something else like a 2600k instead of the 2500k or 6850s in CF or an H70 or NH-D14
 
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SilverFX

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cpu: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W
cpu cooler: COOLER MASTER HYPER 212 Plus CPU Fan
mobo: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: (start out with 4GB kit) - 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 ECO Series 2 GB (F312800CL7D4GBECO)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
SSD: G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-80GBP2 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
HDD: SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F3 S-ATA/300 1TB
optical: Samsung SH-B083L/BSBP Internal BluRay-Combo
case: COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced - 2 x 140mm + 3 x 120mm fans
FAN control: NZXT Sentry 2 TouchScreen Fan-Controller
card reader: Akasa AK-ICR-01B Internal Card Reader
PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified
Click to expand...

I had a brainfreeze about getting a Phenom II X6 yesterday... lol
 
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