Quad, i3, i5, i7 .. I'm lost!

[MrBiggz]

Greetings ..

I'm contemplating upgrading my box. And some where along the line I lost track of processor naming conventions and which is faster then which. Seriously lost!

I'm not trying to go bleeding edge but staying were it's some how affordable. I game, Call of Duty to be exact. And it seems that since my Nvidia 9800 GT 1gb video card bit it all I could afford was a GT 430 1gb. Now the game doesn't play as smooth. I even understand the my processor was on the low end of the spectrum. But hey!

My confusion lays in the processors .. even the AMD processors are confusing now. Hope somebody can put my train back on the track!

 

[Arvinwebb]

Hello Biggz,

It really all depends on what your looking for and what your budget is. If your looking into getting into serious gaming its best to go with intel processor and a powerful gpu, but if your on a budget id suggest going with an amd processor even though they dont perform as well as intel, youd be able to spend more money on a better gpu since thats usually the limiting factor of a gaming system. But really in the end it all comes down to your personal preferences.

Some other experts can give you a brief knowledge about these.

So wait for them. Thanks

 

[Patonb]

^Thats not really all true.... Gaming is great on both.

Basically intel are the most powerful... amd are 85% as strong but 75% the cost.

Unfortunately you sorta barely updated your gpu.. the 430 is the 9800 replacement, with dx11.

One thing to remember is the cpu and gpu coexist. To low of a gpu, your cpu is slowed and vice versa.

You have a few options right now.... You can overclock, get a free faster cpu..
You have cheap option of getting a 775 intel quad, used markets becoming cheap.

Or get a i3/5/7 1155 socket cpu.

I'd look into used as very inexpensive, and you'd see a huge increase.

 

[MrBiggz]

^Thats not really all true.... Gaming is great on both.

Basically intel are the most powerful... amd are 85% as strong but 75% the cost.

Unfortunately you sorta barely updated your gpu.. the 430 is the 9800 replacement, with dx11.

One thing to remember is the cpu and gpu coexist. To low of a gpu, your cpu is slowed and vice versa.

You have a few options right now.... You can overclock, get a free faster cpu..
You have cheap option of getting a 775 intel quad, used markets becoming cheap.

Or get a i3/5/7 1155 socket cpu.

I'd look into used as very inexpensive, and you'd see a huge increase.

On the gpu I was between a rock and a hard place. I needed a card and I didn't have the cash for a GT 450 or higher =((

Freak'n BMG folded so there went my getting my 9800 replaced! Grrrrr!

I saw on ebay a few LGA 755 quads up for bid. But I'm rather worried about going that route. What if the seller has been over clocking the hell out of that processor and it's just barely clinging to life? I'd hate to sink $80 into it and it fails in 2 months.

Mainly budget constraints holding me back .... =((

 

[MrNeeds]

If you're going to get LGA775 then I'd get a core 2 extreme, they're just as good as i5 but with a slower bus speed, and because it's now an "old" processor, they're going quite cheap right now, considered getting one myself as I can't afford to get a new motherboard and all new hardware to boot.

If you're going to get a GPU to go with your new processor then I would consider AMD/ATI HD6xxx series(maybe an HD6450), most are quite good and pack quite a punch.

MrNeeds

 

[Patonb]

You should look at larger well know forums instead of ebay......

What is your budget anway?

 

[MrBiggz]

You should look at larger well know forums instead of ebay......

What is your budget anway?

$500 might be able to stretch $600.

I wish they never jerked around with the naming conventions of both processors and gpu's it's so confusing now!

 

[Patonb]

$500 is actually okay..... If you can pop open your case and tell me your psu size, Watts and Amps, I'll wyhip something up as a possible setup.

 

[MrBiggz]

$500 is actually okay..... If you can pop open your case and tell me your psu size, Watts and Amps, I'll wyhip something up as a possible setup.

It's a 500W psu. Here's the exact unit itself --> Newegg.com - XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W 500W ATX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Other things in the box are 2 SATA drives, GPU, 2 fans, DVD drive. Pretty standard stuff.

Thx! :D

 

[MrNeeds]

Understanding intel names are quite easy, I made a thread a while back with intel processors guideline but no one would fill out the AMD side of things, I'll try and find it now


Edit: http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/287061-processors.html#post1312848

 

[Patonb]

Amds alot easier...... ALL there chips, er AM2,AM2+and AM3, all fit in the same socket.

Athlon < Phenom < and so to be Bulldozer.

The AMD chips have a semi locked setup, but they make a unlocked, super overclocker named the Black Edition, aka BE.

 

[Patonb]

Here's a banging mobo/cpu/ram setup thats all fairly top end. SB i5 2400, p67 board and 8Gigs Ram.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400

Its 420, before tax and/or shipping. Add 40 to it for a 2500k and your set for a few yrs.

Your gpu isn't horrible, but you could save for a better one, and a better quality psu, and the above parts will still be great, add a better cpu fan/cooler and it'll be DaBomb

I could cheapen the mobo/cpu with an AMD and squeak a better gpu or psu in there, but i think your better of this way.

 

[MrBiggz]

@MrNeeds Thanks for that thread. Makes a lot more sense now!

@Patonb Thanks for throwing that together!

 

[Patonb]

Thats easily done, its a good examnple what you are possible of.

 

[MrNeeds]

no problem MrBiggs, glad it helped

MrNeeds