[Solved] CPU upgrade worth it?

Hey guys, I need to pick your brains.

I'm thinking about upgrading my main rig. I don't do any gaming anymore, the main area I'd like to upgrade performance is video encoding/compressing for Blu-Ray rips.

I currently have the Core 2 Quad Q9400 and am considering either the Core-i3 2120 or the Core-i5 2300 (or something similar, haven't really locked down the exact model but trying to keep the price down as much as possible).

My question is what kind of performance increase can I expect with the new Mobo I'll obviously need and these processors? The RAM and HDD (SSD) will remain the same. I'll recoup some of my costs by ebaying my current processor and Mobo so would it be worth it?

Thanks everyone!

Reply to teddykgb

It's worth it, but ivy bridge is coming out soon. Might as well wait for it. http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/6 [...] -2500.html

Reply to o1die

How are the prices going to compare? Can anyone give me some sort of percentage decrease in time for an encode? Say for example that my current setup takes about 6 hours to encode a BR rip to MP4?

Reply to teddykgb

Don't get the 2120, its not too much faster over the Q9400 (we are talking about two to four second difference here on times). However, at least with a i5 2400 (as I can't find any comparison benches with the 2300), you are looking at some impressive gains. Check it out: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/76?vs=363

Reply to phyco126

the i3 won't be giving you much performance over a q9400 especially in multitasking.

get at least an i5 for any significant gains. If you want performance gain in encoding and ripping, try to look at the phenom II x6 which rival the i7 for a lot cheaper which only really sacrifices gaming performance.

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Reply to esrever

The Q9400 is a decent chip if you overclock it past 3ghz.

If your going to upgrade it, go big, like a 2600K or Ivy Bridge in a couple months. You don't game, so you don't need an expensive mobo, $75 would get you a nice mobo and you can get 8GB of DDR3 for about $25 right now.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/76?vs=289

Message edited by geekapproved on 01-31-2012 at 12:26:19 AM

------------------------------ Core i3-2100/Asrock H61/8GB1333/XFX HD5850oc/WD Black 500/Antec 300/Antec EA380w bronze
Currently playing Deus Ex:HR a second time on Hardcore
Reply to geekapproved

I say get the i5, but if it's stretching your budget then sticking with the i3 is fine.

Get an i5 2500k

Reply to seumas_beathan

I have the P2 x6 I did a conversion of a blue ray to Iphone in about 42 min. I was using xilisoft HD Vidio Converter. Sooo not to bad.. This is just to compair. The i5 is a good way to go but I would go 2500k at the lowest or get software that supports cuda (your video card) to do the conversion.

Thent

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Reply to thently

thently wrote :

I have the P2 x6 I did a conversion of a blue ray to Iphone in about 42 min. I was using xilisoft HD Vidio Converter. Sooo not to bad.. This is just to compair. The i5 is a good way to go but I would go 2500k at the lowest or get software that supports cuda (your video card) to do the conversion.

Thent

Was that with Cuda? I currently have an ATI card so wouldn't have cuda, and from what I've read the quality isn't great using that. I'm interested in maintaining the highest quality possible while minimizing size as these rips are played on my HD projector set up.

Which x6 do you have?

Reply to teddykgb

It was only a 260GTX though. I watched the output file was 1.2 gigs and full screened it it still looked very good. I know this is subjective but I would get a converter that uses Cuda or Open CL or your conversion times will neve be what you want.

Thent

Open CL converters are out there

http://www.mainconcept.com/product [...] 64avc.html

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Message edited by thently on 01-31-2012 at 12:54:39 AM

Reply to thently

thently wrote :

It was only a 260GTX though. I watched the output file was 1.2 gigs and full screened it it still looked very good. I know this is subjective but I would get a converter that uses Cuda or Open CL or your conversion times will neve be what you want.

Thent

Open CL converters are out there

http://www.mainconcept.com/product [...] 64avc.html

Understood and thanks for the feedback I appreciate it. I guess I don't need it that screaming fast, would just like to improve substantially on the current times with my rig now.

Reply to teddykgb

Guys which P2 X6 is the best or are they close enough that it doesn't matter? I don't know much about AMD stuff.

Reply to teddykgb

p2 x6 1100t is the best but you may find the 1090t to be a better deal.

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Reply to esrever

And we're saying that they're comparable to the Core-i7's for encoding?

Reply to teddykgb

they are ahead of the i5 and behind the i7.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core [...] -review/15

the i7 is slightly faster but generally costs almost 2x as much.

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Reply to esrever

The i7 costs 2x as much as a i5? Really?

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------------------------------ Core i3-2100/Asrock H61/8GB1333/XFX HD5850oc/WD Black 500/Antec 300/Antec EA380w bronze
Currently playing Deus Ex:HR a second time on Hardcore
Reply to geekapproved

geekapproved wrote :

The i7 costs 2x as much as a i5? Really?

Pretty sure he meant 2x the 1100...

Thanks!

Reply to teddykgb

geekapproved wrote :

Slightly? I'd say 55 seconds vs 72 seconds is pretty significant don't you think?

i7-2600K costs 2x as much as a i5-2500K? Reallly?

huh? wtf is with you? I said the i7 is almost 2x as expensive as the phenom II x6. i7 2600k- $325, 1090t - $180. is that incorrect? As for the results, check the other results using AC3 5.1 its pretty close. As for the mediashow espresso, the p2x6 is slower than the i7 but slightly faster than the i5.

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Reply to esrever

Thank you all for the help guys. No need to get testy. Looks like the Microcenter by my house has the i5 for the same price as the 1100 ($179.99). Opinions due to the close benchmarks?

Also, I will need to get new RAM with the new Mobo correct?

Reply to teddykgb

Best answer

the i5 will be better if you want performance in single threaded applications but generally you won't notice it unless you are trying to do gaming or transcoding with things like itunes. Generally the 1100t will be better at transcoding.

If you have ddr3 ram then it will work but I think you should get new ram if you want to add more as you can get a set of 8-16 gb ram for the videos which will be great. Mixing old ram with new often just make the new ram slower.

if you only want to do video transcoding and want more performance gain, the FX8150 might give you some more performance but will cost more. Its probably not worth it over the 1100t or the i5 but here is the benchmarks if you want to consider. The FX is just ahead of the i7 in the video benchmarks, the cpu isn't the best for anything else as you can clearly see.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/for [...] ew-11.html

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Reply to esrever

Thank you very much, may have to run to MC tonight. ;-)

Reply to teddykgb

Hey guys,

well I ended up picking up the 2500k and a Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Mobo. It looks like the mobo has some pretty cool features, but I'm fairly clueless on them. Anyone know of any guides or anything out there for maximizing my use of the Mobo?

Reply to teddykgb

the manual should explain some of the options but for unlocked sandy bridge chips most people just set the multiplier up and OC.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] king-guide
heres a guide for OC.

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Reply to esrever

esrever wrote :

the manual should explain some of the options but for unlocked sandy bridge chips most people just set the multiplier up and OC.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] king-guide
heres a guide for OC.

Thank you I appreciate the link and I'll check it out.

I didn't ask my question very well, but are you aware of any guides around the Intel quicksync functions of these mobos? Seems like exactly the tool to really help what I'm trying to do but it's new to me.

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Reply to teddykgb

You have a quad core now, wait for IvyBridge then decide, thats the prudent decision right now.

Reply to sarinaide

teddykgb wrote :

Thank you I appreciate the link and I'll check it out.

I didn't ask my question very well, but are you aware of any guides around the Intel quicksync functions of these mobos? Seems like exactly the tool to really help what I'm trying to do but it's new to me.

quick sync only works in very few programs. It says only 2 programs are supported.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083 [...] 0-tested/9

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Reply to esrever

esrever wrote :

quick sync only works in very few programs. It says only 2 programs are supported.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083 [...] 0-tested/9

I knew only a few programs were supported, but I did not realize that they each are targeted at mobile uses of the video and therefore will not encode multi-channel audio. Guess I'll stick to the standard programs I use now which are much faster with the 2500k

Reply to teddykgb

also I think quicksync gets disabled if you put in a dedicated gpu.

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Reply to esrever

Unless you have a board with Hydra which will allow you to switch between the IGP in Sandy Bridge and your dedicated GPU.

LucidLogix Virtu software (which this board does have) will enable switching from the IGP (Integrated Graphics on Processors) and a dedicated video card. This will allow you to take advantage of Intel® Quick Sync without have to change the cable back and forth.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

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