Next step?

[Rich H]

So what should I upgrade next?
Current specs:
P5N-MX motherboard
Core 2 Duo@2.53ghz
Geforce GTS 250
4gb ram.
Maybe motherboard next, or processor?

[Capt.Propwash]

how about that nice 5TB HDD that you had your eye on??

but then again, i dont know much about anything that you listed off... so.. lol  [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

[Mazza]

What CPU model is that?

[Rich H]

What CPU model is that?

Intel Core 2 E7200 duo@2.53ghz.

[hhomebrewer]

Is a Core2 duo a four-core? Intel has such crazy ways of naming its chips. I like the AMD method. But that's just me..

[Slotback]

A Core 2 Duo is a Duo.

A Core 2 Quad is a Quad.

Anything with E at the front is a Duo.

Anything with Q at the front is a Quad.

Anything with X at the front is an extreme edition Duo.

Anything with QX is an extreme edition quad.

All Core i7 are quad cores with hyper threading.

All Core i5 are quad cores without hyper threading.

[Mazza]

No, the i7 is a quad core without hyperthreading, put hyperthreading on and YOU HAVE 8 CORES

[Mazza]

And, I reckon you could upgrade CPU to quad or a 8XXX dual core, and a new GPU 

[Wingo]

Dump the Core 2 and motherboard and move onto core i5. There isn't much of a point upgrading to anything else. The i5s are out performing the most expensive Core 2 Quads right now. It is a fair priced upgrade for the increase in performance, you will need a new MB and memory but i5 compatible stuff is quite cheap. Any CPU purchase from the higher end Core 2 range will be a waste of money in the long run. After your wallet has recovered from the CPU upgrade the next one should be your video card.

[Slotback]

No, the i7 is a quad core without hyperthreading, put hyperthreading on and YOU HAVE 8 CORES

No, all Core i7 have hyperthreading. With hyperthreading on it does not mean that it has 8 cores either - it means that there is 8 logical cores which are something far different.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... id=2333650

The performance benefit is typically very small.


If you don't believe me then compare a Pentium 4 with hyperthreading ON (2 logical cores, 1 physical), with a Pentium D (2 logical cores, 2 physical), in any multi-threaded benchmark.

I recommend the OP to get a new LGA1156 (Core i5 & Core i7 8xx series processors), 4gig of fast dual channel low voltage DDR3 RAM, and a nice motherboard. Oh, and a nice cooler to OC it. Then upgrade videocard to something like a Radeon 5850 / 5870.

If you have some more cash to burn get a X58 board and Core i7 950 series. I don't seem much of a point to getting the i7 920, it's about the same as the 860 but more expensive. and over clocks slightly better...

[Rich H]

No, the i7 is a quad core without hyperthreading, put hyperthreading on and YOU HAVE 8 CORES

No, all Core i7 have hyperthreading. With hyperthreading on it does not mean that it has 8 cores either - it means that there is 8 logical cores which are something far different.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... id=2333650

The performance benefit is typically very small.


If you don't believe me then compare a Pentium 4 with hyperthreading ON (2 logical cores, 1 physical), with a Pentium D (2 logical cores, 2 physical), in any multi-threaded benchmark.

I recommend the OP to get a new LGA1156 (Core i5 & Core i7 8xx series processors), 4gig of fast dual channel low voltage DDR3 RAM, and a nice motherboard. Oh, and a nice cooler to OC it. Then upgrade videocard to something like a Radeon 5850 / 5870.

If you have some more cash to burn get a X58 board and Core i7 950 series. I don't seem much of a point to getting the i7 920, it's about the same as the 860 but more expensive. and over clocks slightly better...

Oh right, understanding the hyperthreading  :-/
But thanks all for views, I'll probably upgrade my motherboard and get an i7. What motherboard would be good?

[Slotback]

MSI, eVGA, Gigabyte, and ASUS make excellent boards.

Make sure to look at reviews and features of them.

A new computer I am building will have a Gigabyte P55-UD3R. It's what the store closest sells, and I am extremely impressed by with current Gigabyte P35 board.

Also, are you planning to get a P55 board, or a X58 board?

The best X58 is the ASUS P6T DELUXE V2, but that's rather expensive.



EDIT:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3661

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bud ... 36-15.html

If you plan to overclock with a P55 I urge you to read that. It might not effect mild overclocking, but it does extreme on some motherboards.

Looks like SOME P55 boards may be bad at overclocking.

Go X58 & COre i7 920 IMO.