Upgrade from Athlon II x4 640 to Phenom II x6 1090t?

[ohiou_grad_2006]

So guys quick question. Christmas time is here, I'm being asked what I would like.

Here's what I've got now.

Gigabyte 570 sli motherboard, socket am2-about 5 years old
Athlon II x4 640 running in that with bios update at 3.1ghz I think
4 gb ddr2 667 ram
1 tb Seagate HD
Galaxy GTS 450 OC edition 1 gb
Vista Buiness 64 bit
DVD burner(still IDE-needs upgraded but who really uses optical drives?)
Ultra 650 watt LSP PSU(38 amps on single 12v+ rail)

So, kinda thinking, my pc currently runs everything I want, BF BC2 is nearly full settings on my 22 inch monitor(resolution 1680x1050).

But wondering if an upgrade to the Phenom ii x6 1090t would be a good upgrade from what I've got. I can get a bundle from Microcenter for a 1090t and a basic Gigabyte board

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366104

For about 160 plus taxes. Which if I ordered from newegg, I'd still have shipping. I've built systems for others using that board and the Phenom ii x4 840 processors, and they've been solid. I'm thinking if I go with this board, a single 4 gb stick now, and one to match it later for dual channel for 8 gb of ram.

Would there be a noticeable increase in speeds? Keep in mind, right now I'm on an AM2 board, so locked to 1000 mhz HT speed on that board, and ddr2 ram. And with the new board, I should be able to grab a hyper 212 or the like and bump the multiplier correct? Or should I look at a 6870?

Opinions anyone?

 

[crisan_tiberiu]

well, considering your Mobo, you will not feel any difference between your current CPU and the 1090t, @ gaming atleast.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Right, on my current board I'm maxed out, so I would need to go with a new board also. Which is why I looked at the Gigabyte 760 series AM3+ board. As my current board is at the limit of what it can take. With a combo at microcenter.com, I can get a motherboard and the 1090t for 159.99. 4gb of ram is only 20 bucks for ddr3 1333.

But from what I've read, a 6870 is not much less performance than a gtx 560ti, but is 60-70 less. Would that be more worthwhile than a new board and 1090t?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

if your going to upgrade your motherboard, and this system is for gaming, you may aswell swap to intel. their cpu's are better for gaming. and for the same price as a 1090t you can get an i5 2xxx cpu, which will crap all over any amd cpu for gaming.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Not really a big intel fan. Also, I can get the 1090 AND motherboard for about 160 in a bundle. Which is one of the reasons it is interesting.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Sorry btw, been so long since I had posted, signed in wrong when I originally made the thread, I typed my name wrong and it made me a new acct lol.

 

[Mudit Sathe]

In gaming and any normal tasks you will not see much more of an improvement..
But if you are getting a good deal for it then you can get it...

 

[HEXiT]

i would recomend you dump that psu. 38A on a 12 v rail means its a 450w psu max. not a 650w unit. your unlikley to have a working psu if you take that unit over 350w draw.

for the same ish money as you would spend on the amd upgrade, you could jump ship and get a 1155 socket i7. the cpu you get may not be the best 1 in the range but it would out perform anything amd have to offer in its price bracket.

 

[Wisecracker]

...
4.) as for the GPU option, that really should be your first upgrade..! ...

So maybe upgrade the GPU and then spend for a GA-990XA-UD3 motherboard or better and RAM.
then take you current Athlon II X4 over to the new set-up until you can then upgrade the CPU...

Pretty much this!

Your AthlonII x4 640 should easily clock to 15x240MHz with DDR3 1600 (or 15x250MHz with DDR3 1333), decent air & AM3+ mobo, and will push any single card with which you chose to pair it.

In gaming, Rule#1: "It's your video card!"

Rule#2: "See Rule#1!"

For a budget mobo your combo is a great deal, but it will really hold you back with future add-ons and overclocking. I don't really have any issues with starting with a single stick of RAM - dual-channel ain't 'all that' in many cases ...


edit: And, as noted, that PSU could become a hindrance. Download and run OCCT and check out the graphs for any 'ripple' issues. Clean power cures many ills!

 

[jitpublisher]

Ohhh, hate to say it but I was a loyal AMD follower for 12 years. This spring I finally caved in and put together the rig in my signature. I went from a AMD 965BE, 4 gig of memory, and a 560ti on a Gigabyte MA790X UD4P, to a 2600K, 8 gig of memory on a ASUS P8P67 board, and installed the 560ti. Wow, sorry AMD, this rig simply runs over, backs up, and runs over the old AMD build. Added an SSD, and another 560ti, that AMD965 seems like eons of slowness ago.
There you have it. If you do buy a bundle, motherboard, CPU, you will be so much happier with an i5 build, just saying thats all.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Ok, well how about this. Though I know I would not feel the upgrade here really.

MSI 970A-G45 series AMD motherboard

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=743639&sku=M452-6225

Corsair Vegeance ddr3 1600 mhz 29.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=744453


Maybe a new case. I'm thinking with these items, overclock the processor I've got, then I still have an upgrade path, PSU while possible concern, is still holding strong now with the gts 450, and can always be upgraded. I looked and can get an i5 2400 possibly, but the pricing on the intel processors simply push me away from them. I find almost 200 for only the processor to be a bit more than I would like to pay.

Or would my PSU handle a 6870 or GTX 560(non ti)?

This is the current power supply. Does have a lifetime warranty, but if I needed to upgrade, would likely upgrade into this one.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0339039

 

[jitpublisher]

You know, if there is no moving you to Intel, I have do have that 965BE sitting here. Its retail with fan/heatsink.
I would ship it to you in the original box for $100. Only ran it for about 3 months.
I know this technically is not the "for sale" ads. Sorry if I offend anyone.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Hm, ok perhaps this board?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157272

Perhaps this ram?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145334&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Maybe a new case, kinda like this for the price...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147113

Also like this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

Anyone know of any cases relatively inexpensive that are just wild looking? I'm actually a computer tech/network admin, so I've built for others, done a few for me also, used cooler master and thermaltake, but don't want the same thing as everyone else lol.

Also, if I used that ram and board, and added say a cooler master hyper 212 in a month or two, what kind of overclock should I be able to achieve with my athlon quad? And would it be worth the upgrade?

 

[Wisecracker]

~~snip

Anyone know of any cases relatively inexpensive that are just wild looking? I'm actually a computer tech/network admin, so I've built for others, done a few for me also, used cooler master and thermaltake, but don't want the same thing as everyone else lol.

Also, if I used that ram and board, and added say a cooler master hyper 212 in a month or two, what kind of overclock should I be able to achieve with my athlon quad? And would it be worth the upgrade?

Rosewill cases generally work well but I'm not up to speed on the case you selected -- I believe they also have a model similar to the NZXT.

I think your CPU is a 'C3' stepping and it should over-clock quite nicely BUT your success will ultimately be determined by the motherboard you select. The memory you selected may, or may not, be appropriate. Your motherboard supports DDR3 2000 but the sticks you selected are not on the memory QVL list.

There are certain 'sweet spots' with AMD memory dividers and the system clock. At stock, DDR3 2000 runs 10.00x200MHz. In order to run your memory at spec speed, the 'sweet spot' will be 8.00x250MHz. I do not know how stably that AsRock motherboard will run at 250MHz. It might run great -- maybe not.

"Your AthlonII x4 640 should easily clock to 15x240MHz with DDR3 1600 (or 15x250MHz with DDR3 1333), decent air & AM3+ mobo, and will push any single card with which you chose to pair it."

Those are also 'sweet spots' for raising the system clock and keeping your memory at spec speed. For DDR3 1866 the sweet spot is a system clock of 8.00x233MHz.