Worth to upgrade?

sybreeder

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
193
Hi there! I'm thinking if it's the right time for upgrade some parts :)Any help ?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, use Virtualization, and regular stuff
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
My max is about 350 USD
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Poland
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
***
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I've got Antec Trupower 500W modular
Gigabyte 6850OC -new
2x4GB Corsair VenganceLP DDR3 -new
couple Sata Drivers(2x500GB, 1x640GB, 1x320GB)
thermaltake contac 29 bp - new
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
IIYAMA 26" 1920x1200 FullHD
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
RAID, USB3, SATA 6gb are the most important to me
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 Ultimate 32/64bit box


I've got Phenom B50 x4@3700Mhz, Asus M4A77D Pro, Fractal Core3000 case.
There is a problem with that mobo. It's not 100% stable, i've noticed problems with sata controller - sometimes all drives aren't recognized properly - i've also got couple bluescreens related to sata controller. I'm thinking that the problem is with mobo. I had previously gigabyte 790x-us3p with that cpu and it worked without any problem.
There are couple ways that i can do.
1. Replace only mobo with something new like 970 or 990x chipset and leave rest stuff.(or maybe buy ssd )
2. Replace mobo and cpu to 1556 and but used i5/i7 with also used mobo - the prices are quite tempting.
3. Replace mobo and cpi to 1366 platform. I've noticed that someone sells gigabyte x58-ud5 for low price - i could buy i7 920 to that mobo.
4. Replace mobo and cpu to amd 970 or 990x chipset and buy phenom II 1055t
The problem is that i don't know for sure if i notice any difference with performance. on the other hand replacing mobo to sth new and leave old cpu that has sometimes problem with forgetting that i've unlocked it make any sense? It will be cheaper for sure but i'm not sure it is worth it when i think long term. I'd don't thing really that 1055t makes any performance difference.
Is it really worth to pay extra and buy i5 2500K and p67z68 mobo ? It is really that big performance gain in compare to my phenom clocket at 3700Mhz ? - i'd love to oc that 2500K to 4-4,2Ghz if i could :)
I realize that i've got so many options thats why please help mi with my decision :)
 
what games are you playing? Do you have a reason to upgrade?

if it were me I'd get a new board and a better video card.

If I didn't play games, I'd just get a new board. Your ram and cpu are perfectly capable for the time being.
 
I mostly play games - like Starcraft 2, C&C and similar, NFS Hot pursuit, run and some other race games, Definitely nothing like BF3, MW3.
To be honest my main reason is based mostly because i have some spare cash and i'd like to spend it for upgrade.
I know that phenom [email protected] is not bad at all. My main concern is that when i buy new mobo - i still have that old cpu and I don't know if that money is well spend.
I'm also thinking to buy 64GB SSD for os but if i buy mobo+cpu i won't have enough money to buy additionally SSD
My radeon 6850 is about week old so...i bought it on rebate-that's why i didn't bought 6870 for example.
 
lol, not sure how I missed that. I just checked your sig and somehow the 6850 in the post left my mind. :facepalm:

in that case. I am running a 64gb os drive and it is plenty for what I need. You can't really put your games on it, but you wouldn't notice too much improvement to really miss out.

SC2 may benefit from a better cpu though. I only play swtor right now, and my Ph2 is more than enough so on that note I'd side with mobo and ssd.
 
Grid ate my cpu alive. lol, so I could see a cpu upgrade being more worthwhile if you feel like it is a bottleneck.
 
Grid ? I can played on it with max details on 1920x1200 - even on 5750. I had however problems with NFS The run on 1920x1200 on my 5750 but after i changed to 6850 problem gone.
I can afford to buy now cpu+mobo and an ssd next month.
that's why my main reason is rather horse power available so i don't need to change sth after couple months.
I changed my case, cpu cooler, gpu(cooler and gpu i've sold already) last month and i also plan to sell parts i don't use.
is change from my phenom to i5 2500k future proof ?
 
Is Asus that motherboard out of warranty or something?

To address some of your concerns/questions:
- At stock speeds, the 3.3Ghz 2500K can outperform the 3.7Ghz Phenom II X4 980 (basically what you have now) at 1920x1200 in games that are particularly CPU heavy like SC2 and BF3:
http://www.sweclockers.com/artikel/14650-prestandaanalys-battlefield-3/5#pagehead

So imagine the performance difference once you OC that Core i5 2500K to 4.4Ghz. With that said, your GPU is a bit lacking for 1920x1200. The fastest CPUs in the world can't make up for a relatively slow card. I recommend grabbing the HD 6950 2GB or GTX 560 Ti 448 Core if they're within budget.

Yes you will need a new mobo. So basically Option 1 + new GPU would be your best bet. Keep the cost of the mobo as low as possible.

- Option 4 is not a good option at all considering that the price of the 1055T is not low enough to make it a viable purchase. Using U.S pricing, the 1055T is $150 whereas the significantly faster Core i5 2400 is only $40 more. For the 1055T to be a viable choice IMO, the price difference should be around $70 IMO.

- Option 3 isn't a good choice either due to the massive power use and heat generation of the 1366 CPUs. Going with this option would stress your PSU if you decide on a better GPU.

- Option 2 might be a good option depending on cheap the parts are. The Core i5 750 should be around $150 at most IMO.
 
That asus is uout of warranty - i got it for free as a dead mobo - i fixed it thanks to my hot air station and it work. My only problem is sata controller - raid 0 is not stable, and i have problems with properly recognize 2 drivers when all 5 drivers are connected - on ahci and raid mode 2 last drivers aren't recognized - when i switch 2 last drives to ide taht drives are working fine. apart of that i'd love to have sata 6gbit because i want to buy ocz 60gb agility 3 ssd :)
replace my gpu is not an option - as i said earlier i just bought that video card week ago. i don't play games that could be a problem to 6850 even on fullhd resolution.
My main concern apart from lacking sata 3 and usb3 on my current mobo is that if i buy only mobo for my current cpu and for example ssd - my phenom 2 will be still sufficient after couple months ?
Or maybe better to wait when Ivy bridge wil be avaible and for now i could buy only ssd :)
My asus mobo apart of some sata controller problems is stable now - i had to reinstall my os and is fine now.
In case of 1156 platform i see that i can now buy Asrock P55 Extreme4 with INTEL i5-750@4,2Ghz for about 235$ US so it's definately cheaper than 1155platform:) that asrock has everything i'd like to have so maybe that would be the best option ? of course that asrock and i5-750 are used.
 
Well simple 2xsata3+usb3 controller cost about the price os motherboard so in my opinion it's not worth.
I also don't want to have extra card.
 
apart of that i'd love to have sata 6gbit because i want to buy ocz 60gb agility 3 ssd :)
Not a good choice at all for a SSD due to three issues:
1) OCZ's relatively poor track record when it comes to SSDs
2) The fact that SSD is Sandforce based which means you might run into that random BSOD issue
3) It's actually one of the slower Sandforce based SSD models. As such, it's not that good of a buy from a price to performance standpoint

If you want a reliable and fast SSD, go for the Crucial M4 series SSDs. If you don't mind the chance of instability and want to save about $20 to $30 USD, then go for the Corsair Force GT. So in other words, just avoid OCZ in general.
My main concern apart from lacking sata 3 and usb3 on my current mobo is that if i buy only mobo for my current cpu and for example ssd - my phenom 2 will be still sufficient after couple months ?
Read the link I provided. Note the performance differences between the CPUs. Judge for yourself if the performance from the Phenom II is good enough for you.

In case of 1156 platform i see that i can now buy Asrock P55 Extreme4 with INTEL i5-750@4,2Ghz for about 235$ US so it's definately cheaper than 1155platform:) that asrock has everything i'd like to have so maybe that would be the best option ? of course that asrock and i5-750 are used.
Can't recommend that route due to the mobo being AsRock. If you're fine with AsRock, go for it but they appear to be too low of quality for me to recommend them.
 
I've read that those bsod problem is related to firmware and that was fixed in latest version of firmware. The same situation is with Patriot SSD afaik. People say that after firmware upgrade problem with bsod gone forever :) I'll check however if there is anything else worth to buy.
The cpu performance is in fact very noticable on SC2 and i'm curious if 2500k would make any real difference to me.The other thing is fact that i'd like to have different cpu than my phenom b50 so i don't need to bother if 4 cores are unlocked or not - sometimes mobo had problems with that and cpu boot as dual core.It also would be nice to have something more fresh :)
FX-6100 is in my price range - is even cheaper than i5 but afaik it's not worth to buy am i right ?
Another option - FX-8120 used for 145USD plus proper board
About Asrock - i used to work in a computer store and we sold many asrock boards. i've built many pc's based on asrock and we haven't any troubles with them, The only difference is that asrock have 2year warranty and msi,asus, gigabyte have 3 year warranty.There is a big difference in term of build quality.Indeed Asrock was known as just cheap boards but that has changed :) I can definitely recommend asrock board to anyone.
Either way i'm still confused. I think that i think too much ^^
Another option would be just to buy ssd now and wait till ivy bridge will be available - those should be priced exactly like sandy bridge so that would be interesting...but am i really need it ? probably not. So far my phenom is handling everything without a problem and i don't play games like crysis or bf3(i tried crysis 2 but was lagging on my previous gpu so i deleted it)
I don't know however how it will be with C&C Generals 2 which is based on bf3 engine. That's why also i'm considering upgrade now.But There is so many options that it's too hard too decide.
In term of price 1156 would be the best option.
In term of performance 1155 with SB or IB but am i really make use of those platform having 6850 as a graphic card is unknown to me. For sure however 1155 would be more "future proof" option.
 
I've read that those bsod problem is related to firmware and that was fixed in latest version of firmware. The same situation is with Patriot SSD afaik. People say that after firmware upgrade problem with bsod gone forever :) I'll check however if there is anything else worth to buy.
Some people are still reporting issues even after the firmware update.
FX-6100 is in my price range - is even cheaper than i5 but afaik it's not worth to buy am i right ?
Another option - FX-8120 used for 145USD plus proper board
Neither CPUs are worth it. Unless that FX-8120 was $100 USD, a lot of the AMD FX CPUs are overpriced for the performance they offer.
About Asrock - i used to work in a computer store and we sold many asrock boards. i've built many pc's based on asrock and we haven't any troubles with them, The only difference is that asrock have 2year warranty and msi,asus, gigabyte have 3 year warranty.There is a big difference in term of build quality.Indeed Asrock was known as just cheap boards but that has changed :) I can definitely recommend asrock board to anyone.
Unfortunately, two recent reviews have shown that AsRock's Z68 mobos aren't that great:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/07/asrock_z68_pro3_lga_1155_motherboard_review/
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/11/09/asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3_motherboard_review/

Hence why I can't recommend AsRock. With that said, it's your money.

Either way i'm still confused. I think that i think too much ^^
That you do.

Another option would be just to buy ssd now and wait till ivy bridge will be available - those should be priced exactly like sandy bridge so that would be interesting...but am i really need it ? probably not.
The problem is that you're reporting stability issues with your motherboard. So let me put it simply for you: If you can deal with the stability issues for now, then yes buy a SSD and wait for Ivy Bridge. If you can't deal with the stability issues, then go the Core i5 2500K route. Only go for the i5 7xx route if you cannot afford the Core i5 2500K route. Simple as that.
 
I have an asrock with dead from the manufacturer usb headers. sucks, but it's too much work to take apart and rebuild just for front panel usb so I would also not recommend asrock.
 
I refresh this thread because i have some new stuff since yesterday :)
I got myself i5-2500K with Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 and despite bad reviews on Hardforum i think that is's very nice board;) I've OC'd it to 4.8Ghz without any problem - just click a thing in bios and boom^^
So far i'm amazed how power efficient it is :) On onboard gfx system draw 50-60W idle. With my 6850 it bumps up to 95W on idle.
I also have new parts for my server - i used to use Gigabyte E350N-USB3 as my esxi5 server - now i have Intel Q67 matx board with Intel i3-2100 :) It draw the same amount of power from the wall on idle 36-38W :)
 
I'm sorry you made that mistake.

In any case, good luck with the setup.
 
Why do you think that i made mistake ?
About mobo ? Well i was aware that opinion wasn't great. However it's not need to be everyone board to be bad.
 
Why do you think that i made mistake ?
About mobo ? Well i was aware that opinion wasn't great. However it's not need to be everyone board to be bad.

I'm sorry but I don't understand that last sentence.

As for the mistake, yes the mobo was a mistake IMO. The HardOCP review showed that it was a poor motherboard and that it only has a one to two year warranty. At least here in the U.S, that motherboard is fairly expensive at around $195 considering that there are better quality, longer warrantied, and better features having motherboards out there for around the same price such as the $185 Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 and $200 Asus P8Z68-V Pro/GEN3 motherboards. As such, I see no reason to get that AsRock mobo if there are better options available for that price range.

With that said, as I said earlier, it is your money. And I do wish you good luck with that board.
 
To be completely honest i forgot about this topic and i remind it just after i got everything :)
Either way i dont regret it - it looks nice - nicer that asus imo, has usb3 front panel - yes it has 2y warranty but it works. So far i'm satisfied.
Bottom line...i got those parts for free :) So how can i complain ;)
 
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