EggXpert

Hello all, I plan on building a new PC soon but with economy the way it is I have a tight budget. I currently have an AMD 64 X2 5200+ with 4gb ocz ddr2 on ecs 7050m motherboard with ati 3850 video card. The system is fast and im very pleased with it but it chokes up on some of my games, I feel that another 3850 in crossfirex might solve my probs but that requires a new mother board, video card and case. I am looking at barebones kits and wondering if I should get an AMD based system that support my current memory and cpu and buy another 3850 or just go ahead and get an intel based system with a single 4850 or gtx 260? I'm leaning hard towards the intel setup but if I do the fastest quad core in my budget would be the Q8400.

So my real question is should I get a faster dual core like the E8400 instead of the Q8400? Or will the Q8400 outperform the dual core? And i'm also wondering how much of an improvement either of them will be over my 5200+?

I was also looking at the shuttle sx38p2pro, it's a small footprint barebones kit that supports 775 cpus and crossfire. any opinions on these? Altho I'll prob go with a nice mid tower setup so I just need mobo/mem/cpu when I upgrade to I7.

Thanks for any advice.

Personally, I'd drop the idea of CFing the 3850s, they're getting just too dated, and the performance, on say a new 5XXX sries would be a beter value. I just sold a 3870 system and that has a pretty good kick, but even that struggles on some titles. And thats' a major consideration, what your major games are , and if they even benefit from a CF setup, most do, some don't, and sone even ... not very much.

On the upgrade, seriously, I understand the budget thing, but if you look at this as a long term investment, and you're willing to go $170ish for a E/Q8400, why not just go a Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 ?? If you got a combo with a mobo, for like $20 +/- off, there's the difference back already. Throw together an 1156 man, and you're good to go for a few years (though it appears the socket isn't long term like775.) It'll certainly ramp up nicely and kikc some hiney. You would need some DDR3 though, but hey, more combos bro. lol.

If not, the E8400 will do netter in games, both OC fairly well, but if you got any MutThr games, or do any level of multitasking, you should research the Q8400 a bit, it does have its benefits and should hit 3.8-3.9 with relative ease.

Can't speak for the Shuttle, never thought much of them.

Penewah!

 

 

Agreed, even 4 X 3850's in CF won't do as well as a single 5870 card.

 

No matter what I try an I5 is out of reach lol, . The memory is the deal breaker,Thats why I decided to go with the Q/E8400, I already have 4gb ddr2. 

 

While AMD is not the area that I know for mobos and processors, some quick research shows your mobo is an AM2 motherboard.  That gives you the option of replacing the processor instead of replacing processor and mobo.  I would go that route as it would potentially save you money that could be used for another part if needed.  If you choose to get a 5xxx series GPU, your case may not fit the GPU as it is a longer card.  The 58xx series cards are about 11" long.  You may need to upgrade your PSU as well.  Without knowing what PSU you have, we cannot tell you for sure what you can handle before having to upgrade the PSU as well.  Please post what case and PSU you have so that we can tell you for sure if you would need to replace them if you upgrade the video card.

I have a matx mini tower with 380watt power supply. I definatly have to upgrade them both, I have picked out a new mid tower case and 550watt power supply already. My motherboard is on the light side also with only 4 sata connectors, and I have 2 more drives that I want to add when I upgrade but I only have 1 free connector.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058 nzxt m59 case. I really like this case and even if it's the only upgrade I do I'm getting it, lmao.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010 550watt bfg psu. I picked this because the reveiws are good and the price is low.

I've been at this for a week now lol.

 

 

One week is not that long when determining a build.  I tend to plan my builds out so that I can get a good deal and good parts so my builds can take a while to plan.  The only cautionary comments I have for the case and PSU is that if you decide to get a 5800 series GPU, make sure the GPU will fit in the case and also make sure you get a PSU with enough wattage and amps to handle the GPU.

OK, thank you very much for all your input but I have to bother you guys 1 more time. After reading up on multi core cpus, performance specs on many different amd/intel cpus, video card specs, etc... I think I have designed my new system, it's in my price range and I believe I will be very happy with the performance.(actually cheaper than I thought).

 Here it goes:

Phenom II x2 Black 550

Biostar TA790GXE 128m

Gigabyte GV-R577D5 HD5770 1gb juniper xt.

and the case and psu. All of it comes to $437 to my front door before the $35 in rebates.

 I have decided that I don't multitask enough for a quad core and I reviewed quite a few benchmarks on the web about quads vs duals on alot of the games I play, and the quads/tripples didn't make a big enough difference in perfomance to justify the additional cost to me. and the motherboard I've selected supports AMD AOC ACC, so I might get lucky and unluck other cores on the cpu I have selected. I'm not really a big OC'er but I have my 3850 to it's max and that helped alot with my current issues so the HD5770 should more than take care of my needs. The mobo also supports crossfire so I'm hoping to auction off my current systems leftover parts for enough to get another gpu too.( oh ya, I opted for a bigger PSU too.)

So, does anyone see any probs or have suggestions about what items I have selected or my reasons for choosing them. I choose the biostar because it is offered in a combo with the cpu for $25 off and it will support my current memory and the new series of amd cpus.

again, thanks.

Oh, the game that I'm having probs with is ghostbusters, It'll work fine on low-medium settings but on high with 2xAA it's a bit choppy. I'm spending $400 over a $19 game LOL.

 

The only question I have is what PSU did you end up deciding on as not all PSUs are of good quality?