Upgrade Suggestions

Forums › Desktop computing › Upgrade Suggestions

bLuNt

19 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#38530 31-Jul-2009 08:17

So I'm looking at upgrading my CPU, motherboard and RAM. I have decided on AMD and I have about $500 to spend.
My question is should I go:

1. AMD Phenom II X3 720 Triple Core 2.8GHz AM3 + AM3 Mohterboard + 2Gb DDR3 RAM; or
2. AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core 3.0GHz AM2+ + AM2 Motherboard + 4gb DDR2 RAM

Suggestions please?

Adamal

544 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240826 31-Jul-2009 08:21

At this point in time, I'd be leaning towards the second option. I don't think you'd really notice the difference in performance gain from having DDR3, but you'd get a performance boost from having an extra core and double the memory.

garvani

1873 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 83

Trusted

#240845 31-Jul-2009 09:08

I have a quadcore 940, gigabyte 780g motherboard and 8gb of ddr2, is awesome! it can do anything i throw at it, video encoding etc is done at 8x realtime speed, which makes things hella fast compared to my core2duo which did it at less than half the pace.. Gaming is superb, but alot of that comes down to your grahics card..
Go for the 940.. the x3's are just x4s with a core disabled due to manufacturing faults on the x4 line (so ive heard :)

hellonearthisman

1819 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 52

Trusted

#240873 31-Jul-2009 10:38

Option 2 +

bLuNt

19 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#240911 31-Jul-2009 12:01

Thnaks for the feedback.

Next question?
How important is the RAM brand?
Assuming I go for the DDR3 option.
I can get some cheap 4GB Generic DDR3 RAM or for the same price I can get something better like Corsair but only get about 2GB.

Adamal

544 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240925 31-Jul-2009 12:25

Having branded RAM makes it easier to have a look round the net for some reviews on it so you can tell if its good stuff or not.
But the better brand names usually have a better quality build.