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Axlegear
05-17-2007, 11:58 AM
Okay, been a long time gone and i'm falling behind on hardware knowledge.

So, here's my current rig:
CPU: 1.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 Venice 3000+
Mobo: ASRock 939DualSATAII
RAM: 2 GB PC3200 Dual-Channel 2.0-3-2-6 timings
Video: 128 MB ATI Radeon X550
HDD0/1: (2) RAID0 Raptor 36.7GB
HDD2: 40 GB 7k Maxtor
DVD: DVD-RW/DVD-RAM DD+DL, 8x DVD-ROM, 52x CD-ROM Plextor

Now, your mission, should you choose to accept, is to help me upgrade.
My primary bottleneck is my CPU currently. It could stand to be a lot faster, for what I do and play.

So, what I need is a new CPU (Or CPU+Mobo, since 939 is a bit antiquated now) with the following objectives. Primary is requires, secondary is mostly requires, tertiary isn't but highly preferred, and TOOPs are just nice things that'd make me choose one over the other.

FOR CPU
PRIMARY: Dual Core, and each core must be individually faster than my current CPU.
SECONDARY: Produces less heat output.
TERTIARY: Equal or less wattage consumption.
TOOPS: AMD
Budget: $400 (MB+CPU+RAM)

FOR VIDEO
PRIMARY: Must put out equal or less heat.
SECONDARY: Equal or less wattage consumption.
TOOPS: Faster than current.
TOOPS2: Cheap!
Budget: $100

FOR HARDDRIVE
PRIMARY: Must be 200 GB+
SECONDARY: Must be comparable to a raptor in STR
TERTIARY: Must be 8.9ms or better seek time.
TOOPS: SATA-2
Budget: $150

ADDITIONAL STORAGE
PRIMARY: Solid-State Drive (SSD)
SECONDARY: Extreme reliability, no moving parts, longer life than hard-drive
TERTIARY: Faster access time than 15k Atlas drive (<3.3ms)
TOOPS: Affordable (<$500)
TOOPS2: 1+ GB, anything past 32 GB is overkill.
TOOPS3: High STR
Budget: $500



Anyone want to give it a shot for me? My biggest concern is the CPU. it can't cut it anymore. Dwarf Fortress, which is 100% CPU reliant, is cutting at ~30 DPS when i'm up to ~100 dwarves.

Istasi
05-17-2007, 05:10 PM
CPU, Mobo, RAM
CPU: Core 2 Duo E4300 - $114 (http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA1938417)
Mobo: Gigabyte DS3 Rev 3.3 - $115 (http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830994)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 667 - $101 (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23796)
Total - ~$340 Shipped

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s - $80 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140)

That leaves you with over $100 extra to allocate however you see fit. Could use that extra HDD money to get an E6600 or E6420, or use it on a better vid card, etc. Up to you.

Axlegear
05-17-2007, 06:46 PM
Can you give me details on the wattage and thermal output of the E4300?
I was under the impression they ran like toasters.

TouGe
05-17-2007, 08:46 PM
e4300 (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e4300_2.html)

Axlegear
05-18-2007, 01:46 PM
Well, my CPU has a TDP of 67. So it seems the e4300 is pretty comparable in heat output and electrical consumption. And benches show it to be vastly faster. And, of course, dual core.

Sold.
Sorry, AMD. I'll miss ya.

1badhabit
05-18-2007, 01:49 PM
CPU, Mobo, RAM
CPU: Core 2 Duo E4300 - $114 (http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA1938417)
Mobo: Gigabyte DS3 Rev 3.3 - $115 (http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=CA4830994)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 667 - $101 (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23796)
Total - ~$340 Shipped

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s - $80 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140)

That leaves you with over $100 extra to allocate however you see fit. Could use that extra HDD money to get an E6600 or E6420, or use it on a better vid card, etc. Up to you.

Couldn't agree more!!

Axlegear
05-19-2007, 02:02 PM
I have a question.

Someone reccomended an AMD X2 3800+ Windsor Energy Efficient. It's 35w TDP, almost half the E4300.

Anyone have any benches of this CPU?

TouGe
05-20-2007, 05:04 AM
Google is your friend

http://www.hardwarelogic.com/news/128/ARTICLE/1222/2006-07-06.html

Axlegear
05-20-2007, 08:44 PM
Yes, but I /trust/ what people here say. I've gotten some REALLY bad advice from random google searches before. Noone here has ever led me astray, tho.


Also, seeing the benches compared to core2duo...

I doubt the EE Windsor will perform any better, and since i'm on a 3000+ Venice now..

I think i'm going Intel. It just seems better for a speed upgrade.