Millicent Bystander
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« on: March 03, 2009, 09:49:41 AM » |
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Looks like I may be getting some money to upgrade my aging PC (probably £150 - £200).
I need to upgrade the Processor, RAM & Motherboard and that will probably be it for 2 years some I'm looking for something that will survive a long time.
Are AMD any good now? I've been using AMD processors since 1998 but it looks like they are well off Intel's pace now.
My current spec is
AMD Athlon 64 3500XP Socket 939
2Gb DDR RAM
256mb Ati Radeon 3850
2 x 80Gb Hard Drives
17" Ilyama Monitor
Windows XP Pro
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« Last Edit: March 03, 2009, 01:23:41 PM by Millicent Bystander »
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I find myself stark naked except for a pair of latex gloves attempting to pull on a pair of red tights on in my parent's spare bedroom.
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mark
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« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2009, 09:55:13 AM » |
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Okay, might just be me but:
Isn't Quad four and Dual two?
I'd assume that Quad is "better" but TF2 still doesn't support anything above one processor.
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Hzza
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« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2009, 10:01:39 AM » |
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I think for future proofing, go quad, but as far as I understand only a very few games/apps use more then 2 cores/processors so it might be worth going for a decent dual. I M A Y be making this up, but I'm pretty sure I read something to this effect somewhere. Give it a couple of hours and Chaos'll be about to shed some light on the matter.
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Millicent Bystander
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« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2009, 10:47:21 AM » |
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O great and wise Guru Chaos I request your infinite knowlege of stuff.
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I find myself stark naked except for a pair of latex gloves attempting to pull on a pair of red tights on in my parent's spare bedroom.
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Junta
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« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2009, 10:57:47 AM » |
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Fast Dual Cores (Intel Core 2 Duo) - excellent performance in Half Life 2 engine and very cheap.
Quad core is obviously better but the support in games specifically isnt as good as it should be yet. This means that in some games a fast Dual Core is no worse than a decent Quad core (obviously I'm not talking about overclocked hardware).
As time passes, games will become more multi-threaded and will use the quad core technology more efficiently than a dual core. I'm just surprised that we're not at the stage just yet!
My vote: get a fast dual core for a real bargain!
Sadly, the AMD triple cores and dual cores are not on a par with most Intel Core 2 Duo chips. Also, the AMD quad core parts are not cheap enough and don't stand up well to Intel dual core or quad core chips. Sorry to say it, but unless AMD cuts prices then I'd avoid and stick with Intel.
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« Last Edit: March 03, 2009, 11:01:06 AM by Junta »
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Magathery
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« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2009, 11:01:31 AM » |
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I went for a fast dual core on the recomendations of the people here. So at the end of last year it was a choise of either a 3.00Ghz Dual core, or a 2.4Ghz Quad. I chose the dual for the speed and faster FSB. As regards the AMD thing. My first ever PC was AMD and I followed the AMD path. But some how Intel are just on top of the game at the moment. The path on Intel is good and awaits you  Come on Chaos - what's keeping you?  |
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Nineblade
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« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2009, 11:05:15 AM » |
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Chaos recommended the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 for my rig
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claws
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« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2009, 11:07:25 AM » |
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I'd probably (just) go quad Intel - there's a few crappy ports around which like more than 2 cores (GTA IV, for example). Either the quad or dual intels will see you right though.
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PapaFade
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« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2009, 11:14:42 AM » |
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The budget is going to be your limitation, for what is essentially a complete rebuild. Look for the best price u can get for an Intel E6600 or E6750, both Core 2 Duo's (ur looking at £150 min for a quad at present tbh) and build up ur system from there with how ever much u have left of ur budget. Ram is inexpensive £20 -£30 for 2GB of DDR2. Mobo's look for P35/P45 chipsets, anything else will be a waste.
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Hzza
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« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2009, 11:20:56 AM » |
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Millicent Bystander
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« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2009, 11:25:32 AM » |
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What about Nvidia m/b chipsets, I've used them since they came out and they seem to of given bloody good performance in the past.
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I find myself stark naked except for a pair of latex gloves attempting to pull on a pair of red tights on in my parent's spare bedroom.
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PapaFade
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« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2009, 11:40:01 AM » |
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I've only had one from experience and had no issues. I only suggested the Intel chipset because they're more prolific, thus u can get a good price and they have native support for crossfire should u choose to go that way withe ur ATI graphics card.
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Ripsaw "That machine gun nest is a bit of a liability" Hex "So are you with a fish" |
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Material
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« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2009, 12:03:43 PM » |
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If the PC is for gaming, get a dual core, granted games are making better use of quad cores these days but i highly doubt something like a E7500 (2.93Ghz @ £121) will become the bottleneck in your system anytime in the next 2 years. Your GFX card is far more important than your CPU when it comes to frame rates.
If however things like video encoding, folding or file compression/decompression are more important to you then the quad core may become justifiable. Having said that you may need to skimp on your mobo to fit a quad core into the budget which could impact performance and reliability to a degree.
As fade said, best to stick with Core 2 chips and Intel chipsets at the mo, especialy if you are on a budget.
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Zarf
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« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2009, 12:23:57 PM » |
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Quad cores ftw.
CPU speeds on the quads arn't going to be the bottleneck in any games. My 2.4GHz quad overclocks nicely but i've not had to use that extra headroom yet.
Noticed quite a few things making use of all the cores.
What is tempting it the new Phenom 2 triple cores - They should be hitting a very interesting price point.
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Millicent Bystander
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« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2009, 12:52:00 PM » |
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« Last Edit: March 03, 2009, 01:11:26 PM by Millicent Bystander »
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I find myself stark naked except for a pair of latex gloves attempting to pull on a pair of red tights on in my parent's spare bedroom.
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