Significant upgrade on a budget?

[entropism2]

I know I'm asking for a lot here, but lets see what we can do:

I'm currently running an e7300 c2d at 3.2Ghz, and a P45 Gigabyte board (UD3H), along with 8GB of DDR2 800mhz (4 sticks) and a GT570. I don't do much gaming at ALL, just WOW, and that's at 1920x1200. I try to get the settings are high as possible. Other than that, we're talking mainly web, office and movies.

That being said, my motherboard is starting to go, and it's WAY past time for an upgrade. I've been debating a few options:

A: Pick up a better 775 chip, either an E8400, 8500 or a Q6600, and OC the crap out of it, along with a new sound card to replace the on-board that seems to be dying on my MB. Figure $100 when all is said & done, and upgrade later, maybe much later.

Stick with what I have for now, and do one of the two options in a few months:

B: Go AMD, and pick up an FX6300 and a board from microcenter, new ram, new HSF. With tax I put it around $315

C: Go i5, get a 3570k, new MB, ram, HSF, and spend around $395. Because of the extra cash, this will have to be delayed even longer than B.

Anyone have any opinions? WOW is literally all I do as far as games go, and I just want it as smooth as possible.

my MB problem: For some reason the sound on my computer kind of stutters, the whole system seems to kind of jerk for a second or two, every few minutes. This could be during a game, a youtube video, whatever. It's beyond annoying, honestly.

 

[Shephard]

ok so you only play WoW and that's it? I am guessing basic stuff and web browsing.

I see no reason to get a 3570k unless you want a quad core or got money. i3 would be good.

you could also get an SSD which would greatly improve load times. I love mine!

Don't upgrade old system with a new cpu or ddr2. waste of money.

No to AMD.

 

[Vectronic]

A: the problem I see here is length of use, you won't get that much more out of 775... it will improve WoW now, no WoW later.

B. Decent choice, except you can get an FX8150, with your choice of:
ASRock 990FX Extreme4
MSI 990XA-GD55
Biostar TA990FXE

At the same price... well, maybe $10 more ($290 - $310... so, $310 to $332 after tax? assuming 7%)

C: Best choice... *right now*... however:
1. By the time you can save up for that, Haswell might be here (?).
2. It's way more than you need, which is good... longer time before upgrade, but more than WoW needs. i3 would work. (and be about the same as your B.)

So... I would highly advise C. but you are probably better off which B.

 

[entropism2]

Even though there's no OC options on the i3, it will handle everything fine? I've been OCing since the original Slot A athlons, it's going to be a big difference not being able to...

The reason I brought up the AMD option over the i3 was that the 6300 and the 3225 compare against each other BEFORE OCing, so I figured the 6300 with another 25% behind it would pull away far enough to warrant the "lesser" chip company.

 

[Vectronic]

(Disclaimer: Semi-Educated Guess): i3 (3220) would be almost twice as fast at everything (compared to your existing CPU)... how much of a difference that makes with WoW I'm not really sure, is the bottleneck CPU, or GPU?

However, you will also be upgrading RAM at the same time, which *will* make WoW run better, regardless of which is the bottneck.

6300 > 3220/3225... but not by much, also the same price (flip a coin on any given day)... but then again, the 8150 is about that much better than the 6300... and it's another coin toss in price.

So like I said, you're probably better off with B. Unless you want to step it up to the i5 (which basically means 2500K, or 3570K... no OC is pointless)... or, you want to root for the underdog.

 

[MustangSVT]

forget upgrade. just take all the parts out, clean it, reseat & connect.
reinstall OS and start fresh, it'll be as good as new.

or u can go with an i3 i guess.

 

[Shephard]

if you go Intel you can always upgrade to an i5 or i7 later on. AMD you are stuck.

i3 is better than the AMD chips and is a good price. Also has hyperthreading.

WoW is cpu intensive not gpu. i3 can handle it no problem!

 

[ShadowVVL]

I would check the performance/power consumption of the 6300 vs an i3 3220 or i3 2100 before you make a purchase!

here is a link

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested


edit: Sorry, Some of the bench marks such as WoW do not have i3 listed as it should!

Not sure why anand decided not to include it.

 

[Bman123]

Since you have a local microcenter I would get a I3 3225 for $119 and pick what board suits you best since you get another $50 off the board when purchased with that cpu. I ended up getting a $10 gigabyte H61 board with the cpu. I have no desire to overclock and was on a tight budget. The I3 3225 is a really good cpu, sure it is a dual core with hyper threading but I have absolutely no complaints from this cpu at all

 

[Soulkeeper]

I tell anyone that wants to build/upgrade a computer that it starts with a budget.
Then we can actually start working the numbers and choosing parts.

What is your budget exactly ?

EDIT: I see you mention $100, $315, and $395
You mention the $395 option would have to be put off longer. Come June intel will bring a new socket. Is that too long for your current system to last while you save ?

 

[Leico]

I think that better C+: 3570K + Asus Maximus V (R.O.G) + 2*4 DDR1333 (Hynix or samsung).

P.S. SSD provides faster download game locations

 

[AtenRa]

Since you can buy from MC, you get the FX6300 + ASUS M5A97 R2.0 for $174,98.
You can OC to 4GHz with stock cooler, you will not need to upgrade for a longgggg time.

 

[NTMBK]

forget upgrade. just take all the parts out, clean it, reseat & connect.
reinstall OS and start fresh, it'll be as good as new.

or u can go with an i3 i guess.

This. And get an SSD, too, since you're reinstalling your OS. It will be slightly bottlenecked by your SATA 3GB/s on your current motherboard, but it will still be a vast improvement over a HDD- and you can reuse it when you do decide to upgrade in a few years' time.

 

[inf64]

Guys you are recommending the dual core i3(with SMT) in 2013... Not only he could upgrade to i5 ,he would have to since that thing won't be able to handle many modern games properly. Not to mention having DC CPUs(again SMT is not substitute for a real dedicated core) would not be as good in multitasking as having i5 QC or FX6xxx+. Also pure application performance would stil suck compared to i5 or FX6xxx since the trend is that workloads get MT support and poorly threaded ones are going into retirement.
When recommending a build always look for longevity factor , value of the hardware and how much will it be relevant in the future(ie. how long the user could get by without investing another cent in his "new" PC again).

 

[entropism2]

Actually just redid the OS when I installed Windows 8. Wiped the HD and did a clean install... Never trusted OS "upgrades" (yeah, I'm old). I'll also be getting an SSD within a few weeks as a gift from the girlfriend. I'll hop on a $150 for 250gb deal, probably a Samsung 840.

forget upgrade. just take all the parts out, clean it, reseat & connect.
reinstall OS and start fresh, it'll be as good as new.

Soulkeeper, budget obviously needs to be quantified, so here was my thinking: I can do the $100 immediately. Realistically I could put away $100/week, and get even the i5 within a month or so, but the cheap bastard in me wants to wait until Haswell, to see how much IB prices drop. No, I have no intention of buying Haswell, and honestly I'm not sure my current system can last until June/July.

Inf64, I agree completely with the longevity factor. Honestly, this is one of my main concerns with my system. I could care less about adding $75 or $100 every 18 months or so, but dropping $500 every 2 years isn't worth it to me anymore. The last thing I upgraded on this thing was going 8800GT -> 570, because the 8800 flat out died on me about 2 months ago. Went older, traded a tablet I had laying around, got the job done.

The 570 SHOULD be able to do what I want for WOW with every setting at max, but the CPU is definitely holding me back. There are some times (ie: raids) where FPS drop into single digits, and I'm looking to eliminate that.

My issue with getting the i3 is this: I can get the 3225 and an h61 board on the cheap, but there's no upgrade path that keeps the board. If I get a Z77, I can always upgrade to an i5 or i7 down the road but at that point, it's only $50 or so difference between the i3 and 3570k.

 

[cytg111]

forget upgrade. just take all the parts out, clean it, reseat & connect.
reinstall OS and start fresh, it'll be as good as new....

This. Your sys should be able to handle wow, no need to shell out the cash!! (actually, sell the 570, get something cheaper?).
So really, define this "motherboard is about to go" .. wassup withit?

 

[cytg111]

I'll also be getting an SSD within a few weeks as a gift from the girlfriend.

- Kickass girlfriend..
Not "Spa & welness for 2" or "Romantic dinner at ..." something obv. for herself.
Keep her around .

 

[entropism2]

lol, for sure. However trying to get her a gift results in "But that's not ROMANTIC!". I truly suck at this, but she's marrying me anyways!

 

[cytg111]

Guys you are recommending the dual core i3(with SMT) in 2013... Not only he could upgrade to i5 ,he would have to since that thing won't be able to handle many modern games properly. Not to mention having DC CPUs(again SMT is not substitute for a real dedicated core) would not be as good in multitasking as having i5 QC or FX6xxx+. Also pure application performance would stil suck compared to i5 or FX6xxx since the trend is that workloads get MT support and poorly threaded ones are going into retirement.
When recommending a build always look for longevity factor , value of the hardware and how much will it be relevant in the future(ie. how long the user could get by without investing another cent in his "new" PC again).

I'd like to see some benches that prooves that the world is indeed so very multithreaded and dual cores, specifically the i3, so very inadequate even in 2013 .

Here is an i3 running BF3

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4100-core-i3-2100-gaming-benchmark,3136-3.html

+ the board will be upgradeable to an i7 down the road, descrete as well, memory too .. could last a long time, surpass broadwell and whatnot.

And does so quite well IMO (of course i am no longer a clan or leaque player, so 60+ fps min does nothing for me .. shouldnt to most ppl either).

 

[cytg111]

lol, for sure. However trying to get her a gift results in "But that's not ROMANTIC!". I truly suck at this, but she's marrying me anyways!

Congrats!

(and just go with the spa & massage rutine, or something else she's into that involves you 2 doing something together(coop quake2 was not in that category, as I experienced way back))

 

[Yuriman]

The i3 will walk all over any FX chip in WoW because the aging game engine heavily favors Intel CPUs (for whatever reason). I feel the FX-6300 is overall a stronger chip and the better buy, but you will have better framerates with the i3 in Blizzard games.

 

[AtenRa]

The i3 will walk all over any FX chip in WoW because the aging game engine heavily favors Intel CPUs (for whatever reason). I feel the FX-6300 is overall a stronger chip and the better buy, but you will have better framerates with the i3 in Blizzard games.

Up to WoW Cataclysm, yes it is true the Intel is the Better choice but.
In the newer WoW Mists of Pandaria, the AMD CPUs are doing fine, not to mention AGAIN that you can OC the FX and not the Core i3.

 

[sm625]

A celeron G1610 kit would give you about a 20% increase in framerates. And it would give you a decent upgrade path for next year. The problem is you have 8GB of DDR2. I would pull 4GB out and hawk it on ebay. Then I would hawk the rest of that old machine to a friend/family member. Keep the GT570 (GTX570??) and get the celeron kit for ~$170. I would just get 4GB.

Given the difficulty of updating the bios on a budget board, I would probably just go with a sandy bridge celeron. The G1610 is the best value, but if you cant update the bios it does you no good. There is a H61 board on newegg for $40 AR that has good reviews. Pair that with the cheapest G8x0 processor you can find. Just make sure the bios will support it, because someof those sandy bridge pentiums/celerons are newish as well.

 

[Denithor]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...1186308898?pt=CPUs&hash=item337fbb3b22&_uhb=1

This is an example - pick up a used i5 2400 on eBay/Amazon for around $130-140. Grab a Z68 or Z77 motherboard and then OC to 3.8GHz. Your choice of stock hsf for like $10 off eBay or a better one for ~$20. At 3.8GHz (max for i5 2400 on Z motherboard) either hsf will be fine. Total cost likely to be ~$250 and performance will knock your socks off in WoW.

Since you're also going to be getting an SSD, I suggest you go with a Z77 board so you get the full SATA 6Gbs connection. Something like this ASRock for $97: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157325.

EDIT: Oh, forgot - you're going to need DDR3 with this setup. Try something like this 2x4GB DDR3-1600 kit for $42: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313266.

 

[Danimal1209]

Even though there's no OC options on the i3, it will handle everything fine? I've been OCing since the original Slot A athlons, it's going to be a big difference not being able to...

The reason I brought up the AMD option over the i3 was that the 6300 and the 3225 compare against each other BEFORE OCing, so I figured the 6300 with another 25% behind it would pull away far enough to warrant the "lesser" chip company.

I have an i3-2100 paired with 8 gigs of ram and a 6790 all with an old 5400rpm 250gig HD.

I play movies out to my tv at 1080p and game on my monitor at the same time on high graphics without any studder or freezing. The i3 is a monster chip for its cheap price.

I think an i5 would be overkill for what you're doing now, but if you want something to future proof yourself, the i5 would be the answer.