Is it time to upgrade?

[eshiku]

Hey everyone. i have a e6420 o/c to 3.35Ghz with Asus p5b deluxe that i am thinking about upgrading from. my budget is $300, need just cpu, mobo, and ram.

I don't play game, and the only cpu hog program i use is VMware. Is it worth it to upgrade with that budget? what's the best parts that i can get with $300?

 

[ilkhan]

If you can sell the current stuff first (try to net at least $125), and be without it for long enough for new parts, $425 is plenty for a decent upgrade. i5-760 + GA-P55M-USB3 + 2x2GB G.skill DDR3 (DDR31600/7/1.3v) would be within budget.

But waiting for sandy bridge with the same budget gets you 32nm, an extra 500Mhz stock (i5-2500), etc.

 

[G-Prime]

i grabbed a combo at frys on a hot deal for 109 that was an i3 530 and an h55 mobo. I was running an
e8400 and p35 mobo previously. the i3 clocked to 4.01ghz without an issue and i couldn't be happier with my 100$ investment. (also had an 10$mail in rebate at the time) Point being, with the hardware available now, you can get a pretty good upgrade in your 300$ price range. the i5 760 that GLSauron mentioned looks like a good chip, the price has come down just a bit and its producing pretty solid numbers. (i had some bad experience with the gskill ddr3 though, my h55 chipset hated it even on the smallest overclock, i switched to some crucial ballistx tracers and have never looked back.

 

[eshiku]

part of the $300 will come from the selling of the e6420/mobo/ram so it's just $300.

will i see much an upgrade with the i3 530?

* Thanks for the help

 

[DarkStryke]

If you`re just going from dual to another dual, I`d say don`t bother.

 

[dikky]

i grabbed a combo at frys on a hot deal for 109 that was an i3 530 and an h55 mobo. I was running an
e8400 and p35 mobo previously. the i3 clocked to 4.01ghz without an issue and i couldn't be happier with my 100$ investment. (also had an 10$mail in rebate at the time) Point being, with the hardware available now, you can get a pretty good upgrade in your 300$ price range. the i5 760 that GLSauron mentioned looks like a good chip, the price has come down just a bit and its producing pretty solid numbers. (i had some bad experience with the gskill ddr3 though, my h55 chipset hated it even on the smallest overclock, i switched to some crucial ballistx tracers and have never looked back.

that seems like a pretty worthless upgrade. Especially if you had a feature rich mobo with the e8400.

 

[SeaFoam]

Why not try to find a used quad core 775 and OC that?

 

[eshiku]

Why not try to find a used quad core 775 and OC that?

Was thinking about going with this option, until i looked up the prices on the 775 quad. they are about price of i5 or even more than some of the new amd quad.

 

[pbcustom98]

i sent you a PM for some socket 775 stuff I have for sale..

 

[vict0r]

i sent you a PM for some socket 775 stuff I have for sale..

send me a pm also

 

[MrAgmoore]

If you don't play games, why would you upgrade? It's just an internet box, right?

 

[amenx]

He said he uses VMWare. I agree with what was said about going from dual to dual, then dont bother.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah for VMWare, don't waste your money on any dual-core CPU. Spring for a quad-core. For $300, you can get an AMD setup:
$225 - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU + Asus M4A87TD/USB3 AM3 AMD 870 Motherboard combo
$75 - G.Skill F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT 2 x 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM
---
Total: $305 plus tax and shipping.

 

[MacLeod]

I agree with just buying a Core 2 Quad and going with that. Yeah theyre the same price as an i5 but you wont have to buy a new motherboard AND new DDR3 RAM. So for $200 you can have a proc that would be overkill for your application. Doesnt matter if its the latest and greatest or not. If you dont game or use CPU heavy applications, a Core 2 Q8400 will be plenty.