Upgrading desktop: Whats best from these 4 choices?

[ruthless29]

Hello folks,

Last time everyone here really helped me build the ideal computer. Need an upgrade that will last me for 3-4 years.

I have also listed 4 options; so please vote if you can. I’m not an expert so I really appreciate it! :-)

4 Options:
(1) If ATX Intel: ASUS P6X58D Premium + Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz + Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D Dominator 6 GB
(2) If ATX AMD: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2 GHz + ASUS Crosshair IV Formula - AM3 - AMD 890FX
(3) If mATX Intel: Gigabyte Core 2 Quad/Intel G31/FSB1333/DDR2-800/A&V&GbE/Micro ATX + Intel Pentium E5300 2.6GHz 2M L2 Cache 800MHz
(4) If mATX AMD: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2 GHz + mATX mobo

Overall considerations/requirements:

• Budget is around $700
• Most components can be retained. I guess motherboard, processor and possibly memory needs to be new
• Strongly preferred to keep current Windows XP installation, although not absolutely necessary
• Can shop from the USA if significantly cheaper
• mATX if possible because I am a space saver. My room is tiny; but not if this compromises on quality of the mobo
• I am a super heavy multi-tasker ; experiment with lots of software; video editing; burning DVDs + lots of movies and music on the computer
• USB 3.0 ; Bluetooth, etc would be good

Current computer specifications:
Motherboard: ASUS M2NPV-VM mATX AM2 GE6150-NF430 1PCI-E16 1PCI-E1 2PCI SATA2 Video Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard
Processor: Athlon 64 X2 AM2 6400+
Memory: OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel
HDD: 4 hard drives; 1 TB SATA2, 500GB SATA, 250GB IDE, 250GB IDE
Power: Corsair TX750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan
Speakers: Harmon Kardon Soundsticks
Wireless: PCI Wireless card

Thanks a million.

[stevelam]

what kind of stuff do you do on your computer? "heavy multi-tasker" doesn't say anything, especially since you only have 2 gigs of ram and seem to plan to keep that same amount.

[xuemike]

if your spending $700 on a motherboard, CPU and RAM, why not just get sandy bridge platform. It's much faster and right around your price range.

The reason being, if you were to buy an older platform but brand new retail, it will cost almost the same as buying brand new platform. Why not just opt out for a new platform.

If you want older platform but for cheap, look at some buy sell forum, you can get the stuff you listed there for a decent discount.

[xuemike]

This might be good for you
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=57990&...Bundle%20Deals

Then just add RAM.

[willy]

Upgrade the CPU (Phenom II X4) and 1GB (or 2GB ... XP won't see all) RAM ... done.

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/c...roduct=1&os=24

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11230BD2357

No need to buy a new mobo .... Wait a bit longer for Sandy Beach to mature or see what Bulldozer can offer ....

[attonbitusira]

if your spending $700 on a motherboard, CPU and RAM, why not just get sandy bridge platform. It's much faster and right around your price range.

The reason being, if you were to buy an older platform but brand new retail, it will cost almost the same as buying brand new platform. Why not just opt out for a new platform.

If you want older platform but for cheap, look at some buy sell forum, you can get the stuff you listed there for a decent discount.

January 9th, you'll want to add a 5th option:

Intel Core i5 2500K + Asus P8P67-M PRO + 8GB GSKILL DDR3 1333 memory = ~$600 before tax and shipping
Seems like the motherboard has integrated bluetooth as well.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1500/1/

[xuemike]

January 9th, you'll want to add a 5th option:

Intel Core i5 2500K + Asus P8P67-M PRO + 8GB GSKILL DDR3 1333 memory = ~$600 before tax and shipping
Seems like the motherboard has integrated bluetooth as well.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1500/1/

That is a good mATX motherboard, a lot of options to upgrade from too. They been making boards with very high end stuff in mATX form these days, I remember back then having 4 sata port and optical out was premium. Now they things like 2x pciE on with usb 3.0 and esata are like standard.

[ruthless29]

I looked through the Passmark CPU Mark and for the layman it seems that my current upgrade options are better than Sandy Bridge (of course, I could be reading this incorrectly):
611 ------------ Original config: Athlon 64 X2 3800
1781 ------------ Current config: Athlon 64 X2 AM2 6400+
3601 ------------ Max possible config: Phenom IIX4 945
6339 ------------ Best possible upgrade: Intel i7 950
5889 ------------ Future possible upgrade: *Intel i5 25 Sandy Bridge

willy, thanks for the option of Phenom IIX4. I did not know this was possible but it seems with a quick BIOS upgrade, it is quite easy.

attonbitusira, the motherboard is stellar!

Overall, I am weighing the Intel i7 950 versus waiting for Sandy Bridge.

Thoughts?

[ruthless29]

Decided to go ahead with Sandy Bridge! Thanks for the suggestions folks!!!! I really apppreciate it

For the processor, I am getting: Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor (Model:BX80623I72600)

For motherboard, going for the mATX or the ATX; can't decide which one is better:

ASUS LGA 1155 Intel H67 Motherboard (Model:P8H67-M EVO)
ASUS P8P67 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Will I need to replace these components?

Memory: 4096 MBytes in TOTAL: OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 4X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel

HDD:

1. Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823A 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5" Hard Drive
2. SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
3. Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
4. Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Power: Corsair TX750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan

Wireless: D-Link DWA-556 Xtreme N PCI Express Desktop Adapter

[brn80]

I'm inclined to steer anyone doing a platform upgrade now to not think of Socket 1366 unless you're getting a good deal new or used. Most of the benchmarks in the reviews have the Sandy Bridge K variants, especially when overclocked, keeping pace with the pricier 1366 Gulftown processors that are in the $800+ range. Moreover 1366 is a dead platform with no possible future releases. Intel will most likely release cheaper variants, possible Pentium branding, on the 1156 platform if at all. Also, with DDR3 being so cheap these days, it wouldn't surprise me if you would be able to sell your DDR2 and put a small investment and get DDR3 due to the deals floating around. 1366 is to be superseded by LGA 2011 in the coming months--but that would a ways off and will likely be pricey.

I would look at a cross section of benches pertaining to what you use the most.

Edit: Didn't see the recent post. Good choice ! Yes, Intel socket 1155, 1366 and 1156 (Sandy Bridge) are all DDR3, unless you find some transition boards (I know Asrock did this with DDR/DDR2). But since DDR3 is so cheap, I would go ahead and upgrade that too.

re: motherboards, I would go with the first one if you're choosing between the two. The first one uses the H67 chipset (let's you use onboard video of the SB processor). The 2nd one uses the P67 chipset, which is mostly geared to enthusiasts, and people picking up the K variants of the CPUs. Moreover, the P8P67 'Deluxe' version is probably overkill for what you're going to use it for. Even the normal non-Deluxe version of it will be fine if you prefer to have a P67 chipset.