• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Upgrade Advice

M

mr.erik

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Messages
102
Current system
Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H, Processor Phenom 2 710 2.6ghz x3, 4gigs of ram, Radeon HD 4850, no SSD drives. Monitor Acer H233H 1920x1080.

Main uses are some photo editing, occasional 3d modeling/rendering, and most importantly gaming. I have a budget of $400-500.
 
Phenom IIx4 955BE(easily overclocked) ~$115
hyper 212+ cooler with extra 76.2cfm blademaster fan cooler is ~$26 fan ~$8
(keep motherboard but up it to 8gb memory or)
ASUS M5A97 ~$95 or ASUS M5A97 EVO $110 or ASUS M5A99X $125 or M5A99X EVO ~$145 motherboard
Radeon 6850/6870/6950 or Radeon 7870 when they release, or GTX560/GTX560Ti $135-$250
8gb 2x4gb Gskill 1600 speed 9,9,9,24 1.5v Ripjaw or Ripjaw X model GBRL or GBXL or 8gb 2x4gb Corsair Vengeance 1600 9,9,9,24 1.5v speed ram(they have LP heatspreaders or taller ones, I would go with the shorter ones) $45-$65

chip around $115
cooler with extra fan is ~$40
motherboard $95-$150
Video card $150-$260
8gb of ram can be had for $40+ 1600 speed is the best bet for performance/price, just make sure to set the cpu-nb to 2400Mhz for 1600 class to make sure there is no bottlenecking
------------------------
around $500, if you go with 6850 it can keep the price around the $450 mark or so, 6850 is easily double+ the performance of your 4850, also the 955BE on average will hit 4.0Ghz+ with a decent cooler, around 3.6+ with the stock cooler(very easily done, just up the cpu multiplier a few notches)

Jut make sure your power supply can handle it 550-750w 35a+ on the 12v rail you should be fine
 
Last edited:
mr.erik said:
Current system
Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H, Processor Phenom 2 710 2.6ghz x3, 4gigs of ram, Radeon HD 4850, no SSD drives. Monitor Acer H233H 1920x1080.

Main uses are some photo editing, occasional 3d modeling/rendering, and most importantly gaming. I have a budget of $400-500.
Click to expand...

It will help us if you fill out the Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST. It will also help to know the exact model PSU you currently have.

Here is a perlim build assuming all you wanna upgrade is the CPU.
$229.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$117.99 - ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68
$39.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB)

$387.97 shipped

This will be significantly faster than your current setup. Depending on what games you do, I'd recommend going with an upgraded video card as well. Something like a 6770. Really hard to give advice not knowing what PSU you have, what games you play, etc...

Fill us in with some more details so we can give you better advice.
 
Sry but running a Antec True Power 750watts. Like to play games like BF3, Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Witcher 2, ect.... Not planning on a full system overhaul yet but will probably in a year move to an intel build, just wanting to upgrade so i can play games with better fps until then and save on some rendering time.
 
Last edited:
Then just buy a new GPU and be done with it until you are ready to build. You'll save some money too. I've seen a few 560ti for just over 200 lately that would be a great upgrade for a 4850 while remaining a nice match for the rest of your gear. You'll also gain CUDA for rendering apps.

Buying AMD now is just kinda dumb.
 
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.
 
I will be nice in my responce :) going AMD is anything but dumb, its a choice, and one should try and show both sides.

CUDA is one thing, and generally Intel has more encoding/decoding stuff, though AMD does have valid options to this as well(except for CUDA) there are plenty of programs that work fine with AMD no matter what you are attempting to do, bitcoin, folding, encoding/decoding/ripping, photo shop it just take time to look, and you may find, for what you want to use, AMD could surprise you in regards to how it can help you along.

If chip A can rip a movie in say 2 mins, and chip B takes 2.20 mins is that 20 secs worth an extra $80+ to you? depends on the individual, take the blinders off, and look at all options, afterall, no one choosing side B makes side B stop making parts, and side A will stop making the best they can, we have seen this happen before many many times.

CPU price difference is +/- $100 difference, for most tasks you are most certainly not gaining that amount of extra performance, faster, yes, for most tasks, both are very much plenty fast, overclocking also can gain ALOT of extra thump no matter which one you go with, same goes for CPU.

But to say it, I wouldnt go with a 6770, the 6850 from my knowledge is much faster and ~$45 more which is well worth the extra cost, better FPS, better in-game settings, better ability for the GPU to do work tasks etc, obviously it depends on the resolution you are using and such, if one wanted to go this route, you could also find one of the GTX460s for maybe $40 more then a 6770 and it would be so much faster, all of them being a hell of a performance boost over a 4850.

560Ti are very awesome for their price, they really are, currently the best price/performance card, for lower cost cards, the 6850/GTX460 wins here, at least $60 cheaper(depending on card obviously)

So if you wanted a quick, cheaper cost upgrade, the GPU would be stop one, a better cooler and overclocking would also be a step, and more ram(8gb total) would also help alot.

For amd, you want the cpu/nb to be 3x the base speed of ram when possible, example, ddr2 800 has a base ram speed of 400, 400x3=1600 you want the cpu/nb or IMC to be minimum of 1600 to best take advantage of the ram operating speed, HT is best left at default, it has almost no gain to have it running faster then its default speed.

AMD for GPU and CPU is anything but slow, for anyone to say otherwise, well they are BS you.
 
dragonstongue said:
AMD for GPU and CPU is anything but slow, for anyone to say otherwise, well they are BS you.
Click to expand...
That last part doesn't make sense. Did you miss a few words?

Also, you really should keep in mind that the AMD Phenom II 955 isn't being sold in many major U.S stores (i.e Amazon, Tigerdirect, Newegg, etc). The few stores that do have it in stock are overcharging like crazy for them. The current AMD CPU around that price point is the $125 AMD Phenom II X4 960T 3Ghz CPU. Also in the future, you should really wait until the OP answers the question about overclocking before trying to setup an overclocking setup for them. Not everyone plans on overclocking you know.
 
Last edited:
my bad, and I hear you there, but no I did not miss any words :) and to me it makes sence, maybe my commas are to much or not in the right place? O, I missed a "their" after for and before GPU :p

I was also just stating, they are very overclockable, not that it should be, in that regard, to save a few $ instead of the i5 2500k the 2500 is a few $ cheaper if overclocking is not taken into account if Intel is chosen instead of AMD.

Amazon it seems charge $119 for the 955 which is $10 more then what I paid for mine ~4mths ago(right as BF3 came out in Beta) which isnt to bad I suppose, still is rough 1/2 price of 2500k so my point still stands, though the 960T which I decided against when I got mine seems to be around $115.
 
dragonstongue said:
my bad, and I hear you there, but no I did not miss any words :) and to me it makes sence, maybe my commas are to much or not in the right place? O, I missed a "their" after for and before GPU :p
Click to expand...
Still not making sense to me. Did you mean to say "well they are bullshitting you?" Usually when people say "BS", it means "bullshit", not "bullshitting"

dragonstongue said:
Amazon it seems charge $119 for the 955 which is $10 more then what I paid for mine ~4mths ago(right as BF3 came out in Beta) which isnt to bad I suppose, still is rough 1/2 price of 2500k so my point still stands, though the 960T which I decided against when I got mine seems to be around $115.
Click to expand...
Where are you seeing new Phenom II 955 for $120? on Amazon.com (U.S):
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-HDZ955FBG...YUAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328152622&sr=8-1
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I swear not a few hours ago it was $119 plus shipping etc :( (new $144, used $125, refurb $119) ok so price difference cheapest I can see, is around $150=$40 more then I paid, so in this regard, the 960T is the better cost =$114 which is resonable, from my understanding, they overclock very well and also have a chance to unlock, yes I know not everyone overclocks.

Anyways, yes for the first line the BS part, if you are looking for 100% perfect english then yes it would have stood for BS as in bullshit, so if you want to be poking that out, you are correct, though, it seems you understood, even though you said it makes no sence :)

Although, take it as you will, but I do 100% stand behind the GBXL kit that one other person linked up, they overclock very well, are very fast, and very low cost for 8gb, cant beat them, I use them for my AMD kit, and a buddy of mine uses these another buddy uses the GBRL kit, love em, we all do.

Motherboards are also alot of choices no matter if you go AMD or Intel, I would look at all the specs on it, and of course the reviews to see how they do for all thier performance things, the bios and all that, I suppose it depends on you.
 
dragonstongue said:
I swear not a few hours ago it was $119 plus shipping etc :( (new $144, used $125, refurb $119) ok so price difference cheapest I can see, is around $150=$40 more then I paid, so in this regard, the 960T is the better cost =$114 which is resonable, from my understanding, they overclock very well and also have a chance to unlock, yes I know not everyone overclocks.
Click to expand...
Must've been the quickest sale ever. ;). I checked the prices right when I made post #8. Never saw it for $119.
dragonstongue said:
Anyways, yes for the first line the BS part, if you are looking for 100% perfect english then yes it would have stood for BS as in bullshit, so if you want to be poking that out, you are correct, though, it seems you understood, even though you said it makes no sence :)
Click to expand...
I tend to take people's posts at face value. I don't try to read their minds as the way I think is usually different from the way they think ;).
 
:p dont speak dragon, this might be fact, and would be far from the first time :O

Anyways, glad to hear you got it sorted out, hopefully through all my rambling, I helped some :)
 
dragonstongue said:
I will be nice in my responce :) going AMD is anything but dumb, its a choice, and one should try and show both sides.

CUDA is one thing, and generally Intel has more encoding/decoding stuff, though AMD does have valid options to this as well(except for CUDA) there are plenty of programs that work fine with AMD no matter what you are attempting to do, bitcoin, folding, encoding/decoding/ripping, photo shop it just take time to look, and you may find, for what you want to use, AMD could surprise you in regards to how it can help you along.

If chip A can rip a movie in say 2 mins, and chip B takes 2.20 mins is that 20 secs worth an extra $80+ to you? depends on the individual, take the blinders off, and look at all options, afterall, no one choosing side B makes side B stop making parts, and side A will stop making the best they can, we have seen this happen before many many times.

CPU price difference is +/- $100 difference, for most tasks you are most certainly not gaining that amount of extra performance, faster, yes, for most tasks, both are very much plenty fast, overclocking also can gain ALOT of extra thump no matter which one you go with, same goes for CPU.

But to say it, I wouldnt go with a 6770, the 6850 from my knowledge is much faster and ~$45 more which is well worth the extra cost, better FPS, better in-game settings, better ability for the GPU to do work tasks etc, obviously it depends on the resolution you are using and such, if one wanted to go this route, you could also find one of the GTX460s for maybe $40 more then a 6770 and it would be so much faster, all of them being a hell of a performance boost over a 4850.

560Ti are very awesome for their price, they really are, currently the best price/performance card, for lower cost cards, the 6850/GTX460 wins here, at least $60 cheaper(depending on card obviously)

So if you wanted a quick, cheaper cost upgrade, the GPU would be stop one, a better cooler and overclocking would also be a step, and more ram(8gb total) would also help alot.

For amd, you want the cpu/nb to be 3x the base speed of ram when possible, example, ddr2 800 has a base ram speed of 400, 400x3=1600 you want the cpu/nb or IMC to be minimum of 1600 to best take advantage of the ram operating speed, HT is best left at default, it has almost no gain to have it running faster then its default speed.

AMD for GPU and CPU is anything but slow, for anyone to say otherwise, well they are BS you.
Click to expand...

That's nice. At any given price point right now the Intel product is superior. This is just simple fact.

CUDA encoding with a 560ti will smoke OPs current gear. This is also just simple fact.

When OP decides to move to Intel he will likely gain quicksync which will again upgrade his encoding power by an order of magnitude. Another simple fact.

Buying a retail cost AMD CPU is simply not a smart purchase right now.

Everything else is noise.
 
Superior doesnt always mean, should get, sometimes cost needs to be taken into account, as does the exact work it will be doing.

Intel is not 100% superior in every regard, I honestly have read far more reviews and such then most folks I know, the difference are subtle for the most part. It really depends on the intended usage.

I will agree the Intel chip is faster, it should be, its more $, but it also isnt like greased lightning fast vs some of the lower cost chips out there.

As far as the Cuda encoding thing, that is a specific function and a buying point, I will just state as I did, if the price range is a bit to high, there are other cards as well, that are still plenty fast and a very large upgrade from OP current setup.

Either way, not here to argu with anyone, just point things out the best I can, I seriously hope, the mindset of Intel Nvidia or your getting shafted doesnt progress into everyones mind, or we will all be getting shafted.

The way it sounds, as you put it "noise" is, the opinion almost seems to be, if you go AMD it will be slow, you will not be getting your moneys worth etc, I do not agree with that, and most reviews for just about everything out there, including the vast majority of games do show that AMD is a valid option, period.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top