Computer Upgrade Advice - To replace mobo or not replace mobo, that is the question.

[Nehkara]

Hey folks!

I currently have the following rig:

M3A79-T Deluxe ASUS Motherboard
4 GB DDR2 RAM
AMD Phenom X4 9850 BE
Radeon HD 6950 2 GB (BIOS unlocked to 6970)
Corsair Force series 120 GB SSD
Western Digital Black 1 TB HDD
780W PS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I am considering a few options for upgrading.

OPTION A: Replace CPU with AMD Phenom II X4 975 and add 4 GB (to total 8 GB) of DDR2 RAM. Cost $225

OPTION B: Replace CPU with AMD Phenom II X4 975, replace RAM with 8 GB DDR3, replace mobo with ASUS Sabertooth 990FX. Cost $425


My question is, for those of you out there more experienced than I am, what is likely to be the difference in performance in these two options?

Will they be fairly similar or is the difference between the mobos and DDR2 to DDR3 enough to make the extra $200 worthwhile?

Thanks CP!

[Hack&Lube]

For $225-$425 in cost, none of the above options are optimal.

Buy an Intel 2500K and motherboard (Asus P67 or Z68 based) for $299 (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day prices). Buy 8GB of DDR3 for $20-$50. Unlock multipliers in bios for the easiest overclock to at least 4.3GHz you've ever had.

You will destroy any Phenom II X4 975 based option. Sell all the old stuff.

[Nehkara]

Thanks Hack&Lube, I will watch for deals on a setup like that!

It will be pretty hard for me to switch back to Intel. Haven't had a home computer with an Intel core since 1998. However, I am currently quite disappointed in AMD and freely admit that Intel has a lot of better options.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know what the performance difference between the two setups in my post would be?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

Thanks Hack&Lube, I will watch for deals on a setup like that!

It will be pretty hard for me to switch back to Intel. Haven't had a home computer with an Intel core since 1998. However, I am currently quite disappointed in AMD and freely admit that Intel has a lot of better options.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know what the performance difference between the two setups in my post would be?

It depends what you are using your computer for. Amount of ram is more important than speed of ram. I'd say the first option is the better bang for your buck and you waste less money (you don't need a new mobo). Ram speed and motherboard quality is only important if overclocking is important to you.

You can still get an i5 2500K if you shop around and price match for about $200. Find a good socket 1155 motherboard that will allow unlocked multipliers for $100 and you are totally set.

[Traditional_Ale]

Hey Hack&Lube! What would you suggest for a power Cubase user? As in, I want to have tonnes and tonnes upon tonnes of plugins and softsynths going in full-fidelity without having to freeze or bounce any channels? No gaming, no internet.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Hey Hack&Lube! What would you suggest for a power Cubase user? As in, I want to have tonnes and tonnes upon tonnes of plugins and softsynths going in full-fidelity without having to freeze or bounce any channels? No gaming, no internet.

I'll have to look into that because for an audio processing computer, you will want a very powerful sampling rate and a very high quality ASIO system. In the past, I've just made do with the hardware I have when playing with Reason 5 or guitar modelling and I have never been satisfied with the extra noise and lag.

I would be interested in this too, but I might have to check out some audiophile and sound engineer forums rather than the usual computer hardware forums.