Computer Upgrade Ideas

[ZONK]

So my current computer is running: (built over 4 years ago)

Motherboard: ASUS A8n-E
CPU: Athlon 64 3700+ single core 2.4
Ram: 2 sets of dual channel DDR 400 (512MB x 4 = 2GB total)
Video Card: GeForce 9800 GT(original build had 6800GS but the card burned out and had to replace it with the current card)


So there is a lot of old technology here. The motherboard is DDR. CPU is single core. PCI-e never was sure if it was 2.0 or not. No 64bit support. My goal when I build is to get the mid-level products that are discounted because the new hottness is out, but they are not the economy stripped hardware. I also want to be a little more future proof, something I failed at this last build (however DDR2 did exist when I built my last computer was very new and still slower then top end DDR)

So my first question is the motherboard. But I can't decide that without "picking my side" - Intel or AMD. I really like the look of the features on the i5 and i7 cores. But my AMD knowledge is limited (this is where I could use some help in suggestions from you guys).

Current ideas:

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131620
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115213
CPU cooling (intel heatsinks suck): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220431

Overall idea: I like all the features on the i7. 4 cores gives me a lot of future growth with the system as multicore is more supported. The clock runs at 2.93 but can spike up to 3.6 if needed. (I use to screw around with overclocking but as I get older I don't care to waste time messing as much; the CPU handling it is a great trade off for me) The i7 also has hyper-threading which can be a huge boost in speed. The motherboard has USB 3.0, so that is nice and might be useful in the future. To continue this plan I would eventually get new hard-drives to run on SATA 3.0 GB/s or the SATA 6GB/s line. I would also buy another of that RAM pack to finish with 8GB. I already have a Windows 7 Pro 32/64 key sitting in limbo from school, so that is what OS I would use.


So if you guys got any ideas or just relaxed talk about what you thinking about computer hardware wise. I started browsing this stuff because I was getting that "man I want to build a new desktop" feeling. Feel free to bring up your current rig or thoughts/questions to upgrade your stuff. This is more of a open discussion for hypothetical "want you want to do" than "what you can do right now".

[ZONK]

GPU:
The reason I didn't put a Video card is because right now games are not as important. My current bottleneck is more CPU and RAM. If I built a new system I would put my current video card in, and down the line after a year or two shop for a new GPU. In the case of my idea motherboard it supports ATI crossfire, so I would probably switch to a single ATI card in the middle, that in return a few years after that I could get another cheap to again increase the life of the system.

Also I wouldn't probably build this system this year. The soonest it would be purchased is Spring next year. GPUs are the fastest progressing hardware these days. You can buy a new card and in 2 months be 20% slower then new cards. So I wouldn't shop those until much later heh.

[Redbear8]

If you're not building till next year you may want to wait a bit longer to even shop these parts. Who knows what will be out then, you know?

[RedDawn]

all seems pretty good...this is the board I was thinking of getting in a few months

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131482

[RedDawn]

also heard good stuff about this cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

[gr0n]

If I were to do a whole system right now (probably not.... just the video card for now) I think I'd go with this (without doing a lot of mobo research):

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12302791

[JesterDTM]

You could get a Samsung Vibrant, an HTC HD2, or an iPhone4. I think those would be faster then your PC.

Just playin'

check out my specs, i need to upgrade too.. Going to go with the new 6 core phenomII

 Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.100618-1621)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
       System Model: System Product Name
               BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ (2 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
             Memory: 3072MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3070MB RAM
          Page File: 1815MB used, 4323MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 64bit Unicode

[thrun]

http://www.frozencpu.com/cig-01.html

[JesterDTM]

That is a sweet Upgrade

[ZONK]

Jester, I did get an iPhone4 heh. Love it too. Epic Citadel looks amazing running the Unreal Engine on iOS.

These two AMDs seem to be the most popular:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Anyone have any experience with any similar CPUs?

I also had a question about the integrated memory controller in all of these CPUs these days. They all list 1333 as the speed for the controller, but I seed a lot running 1600, 2000, etc. If you go for faster RAM speeds does the integrated memory controller keep up, or does it balance out because the RAM is running faster?