Christmas Upgrade

TissueBox · Dec 23, 2011

Hey everyone! It's that time of year again and I'm looking for opinions on my upgrade.

My current specs are to the left and I'm upgrading for the sake of.. upgrading :rockout:

oh, and gaming.

My budget is around $450 before taxes but I can stretch it a little. With that said, I'm hell-bent on getting the Crosshair V so my options right now are either the Phenom II X6 1090T or the FX-8120 paired up with some Mushkin Blacklines.

Crosshair V
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530BD7718&vpn=CROSSHAIR%20V%20FORMULA&manufacture=ASUS

+

Phenom II 1090T
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10360BD9843&vpn=HDT90ZFBGRBOX&manufacture=AMD

OR

FX-8120
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10360BD5410&vpn=FD8120FRGUBOX&manufacture=AMD

+

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte 8GB 2X4GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 C9-9-9-24
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=54963&vpn=996776&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced

I'm definitely planning to overclock with my Corsair A70. My question is, should I get the FX-8120 or the 1090T? I read quite a few people saying that they'd much rather get the 1090T over the FX-8120. I know that Bulldozer uses more power and performs worse clock-for-clock compared to Thuban, but I'm honestly just looking for the best framerates. The FX-8120 clocks much higher than Thuban, this would result in better framerates right? Or, would they still perform relatively the same when they're overclocked to their limit on air?

Thanks for reading! And Merry Christmas!

Munki · Dec 23, 2011

From those two I'd get the 1090T. Bulldozer was a disappointment

PopcornMachine · Dec 23, 2011

Yeah I would go with the 6 core Phenom II.

MasterInvader · Dec 23, 2011

If you are OC with air cooling stick with the 1090T.

Regarding performance / price per frame, the 1090 it´s also the best option.

Darkleoco · Dec 23, 2011

1090T no reason to waste money on what many consider an inferior product anyway.

JrRacinFan · Dec 23, 2011

Coming from a Q8200, I would go this route:

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD1817&vpn=GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3&manufacture=GIGABYTE

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD1527&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=INTEL

If still going amd, go with the 1090t.

TissueBox · Dec 23, 2011

I wasn't expecting that many votes for the 1090T :laugh:

Alright, the 1090T it is! Hopefully I can get least 4.0GHz. Thanks everyone! Oh, and one final question, would the 1090T at 4.0GHz be a considerable upgrade from the Q8200 at 3.20GHz?

JrRacinFan said:
Coming from a Q8200, I would go this route:

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD1817&vpn=GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3&manufacture=GIGABYTE

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD1527&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=INTEL

If still going amd, go with the 1090t.

I love the look of ASUS' UEFI bios, so I don't think I'll ever be buying Gigabyte, or any other manufacturer's motherboard. With that said, the minimum I was willing to look at was the Sabertooth P67 in the Intel route, which costs around $190. I asked myself, "why would I buy this when I could buy the Crosshair V for only $25 more." Of course, this comes at the cost of a weaker CPU, but I can't stop admiring the Crosshair V Formula and all of its features :banghead:

erocker · Dec 23, 2011

Are you dead set on buying AMD?

TissueBox · Dec 23, 2011

erocker said:
Are you dead set on buying AMD?

I wouldn't say dead set, but quite firm. I know that the 2500K would hold a significant advantage against the 1090T in general, but I'm a sucker for a good (looking and functional) bios and the looks of a premium motherboard. Red and black makes my computer go faster :laugh:

erocker · Dec 23, 2011

TissueBox said:
I wouldn't say dead set, but quite firm. I know that the 2500K would hold a significant advantage against the 1090T in general, but I'm a sucker for a good (looking and functional) bios and the looks of a premium motherboard. Red and black makes my computer go faster

You should be able to find a motherboard that fits your "needs" that goes with a 2500K.

EVGA Z68 FTW 160-SB-E689-KR LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SAT...

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HD... <- good uefi/bios, black and red. Good board!

TissueBox · Dec 23, 2011

erocker said:
You should be able to find a motherboard that fits your "needs" that goes with a 2500K.

EVGA Z68 FTW 160-SB-E689-KR LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SAT...

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HD... <- good uefi/bios, black and red. Good board!

Wish there was more availability and less of a price difference in Canada for the ASRock, it costs over $300 for one and only one place sells it - newegg.ca

Hmm.. I would be willing to give the EVGA one a try, but would you personally recommend it? I've looked at it before several times but it costs quite a bit more than the P67 Sabertooth and Crosshair V. Its bios layout also looks really outdated compared to any other manufacturer.

DirectCanada EVGA Z68 FTW
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD7249&vpn=160-SB-E689-KR&manufacture=EVGA

Thanks again!

PopcornMachine · Dec 23, 2011

If you're going AMD, I said chose the 1090t.

Personally, I just got a 2500K for $180 US for Micro Center and a ASUS Gene-Z matx mobo from NewEgg for $170 US.

Hope you have access to similar deals if you decide to go that route.

The Gene-Z is good looking and has an excellent BIOS.

erocker · Dec 23, 2011

TissueBox said:
Wish there was more availability and less of a price difference in Canada for the ASRock, it costs over $300 for one and only one place sells it - newegg.ca

Hmm.. I would be willing to give the EVGA one a try, but would you personally recommend it? I've looked at it before several times but it costs quite a bit more than the P67 Sabertooth and Crosshair V. Its bios layout also looks really outdated compared to any other manufacturer.

DirectCanada EVGA Z68 FTW
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD7249&vpn=160-SB-E689-KR&manufacture=EVGA

Thanks again!

I have no firsthand experience with the board, but from a hardware standpoint it looks good.

Here's some reviews on it:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-z68-ftw-review/25
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1776/12/

After reading the reviews myself, it's a board I'd love to use and try out.

TissueBox · Dec 23, 2011

Ah, more to think about - now I'm leaning more towards the 2500K and the EVGA Z68 FTW since I know the 2500K is a lot better. It is a bit more expensive but.. hmm, I'll post pictures and benches of whatever I decide to get

Thanks everyone!

TissueBox · Dec 30, 2011

So, I got everything on boxing day and, well, I have no words to say other than "wow" coming from a Q8200

I apologize for some of the lower quality pictures, some were taken with a camera and others with a phone

Maximus IV Extreme

2500K, 8GB (2x4GB) Vengeance DDR3 @ 1600MHz, Force 3 120GB

Assembled:

Benches:

5.0GHz

4.8GHz

Processor	Intel Core i9-13900K
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus Z690 Hero
Cooling	EK EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB
Memory	Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) @ DDR5-6000
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition
Storage	WD Black NVMe 1TB + WD SN750 1TB + Samsung 860 QVO 1TB + Seagate Firecuda 8TB
Display(s)	Alienware AW3420DW
Case	Lian Li LANCOOL 216
Audio Device(s)	Edifier S351DB + Philips X2
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2
Mouse	Steelseries Aerox 5 Wireless
Keyboard	Keychron Q5 with Gazzew Boba U4s
Software	Windows 11

Processor	AMD Ryzen 1700
Motherboard	Gigabyte AB350 GAMING 3
Memory	16GB (2x8) 3200MHz
Display(s)	Acer 24" LCD
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Vulcan
Processor	i6 6600K
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Z170X UD3
Cooling	Thermaltake Frio Silent 14
Memory	16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB)
Video Card(s)	ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage	Mushkin Enhanced Reactor 1TB SSD
Display(s)	QNIX 27 Inch 1440p
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Cooler Master V750
Software	Win 10 64-bit

System Name	GameRig / Server
Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D / Threadripper 2920X
Motherboard	ROG Strix X570-E / ROG Zenith Extreme
Cooling	Dual OCCOOL 360 XT45 / Single EK 360 KIT
Memory	Trident Z 16GB / Trident Z 32GB 3600MHz
Video Card(s)	RTX 3080 / Quadro P2000
Storage	WD Black SN770 2TB / WD Re 12TB SAS
Display(s)	LG 34" UltraWide 34GN850-B / Samsung CF391
Case	Corsair Obsidian 800D / 700
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i / HX850
Software	Win11Pro x64 / Vmware vSphere
Benchmark Scores	420 6969.....

System Name	Red Giant
Processor	Intel Core i7-12700K
Motherboard	MSI Pro Z690
Cooling	Corsair H100i elite
Memory	Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB
Video Card(s)	MSI 4070TI Super
Storage	960 GB Sandisk SSD
Display(s)	27 inch Predator 144 hz 2k
Case	CoolerMaster HAF X
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair AX1200
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Platinum
Software	Windows 11 Pro

Christmas Upgrade

TissueBox

Munki

PopcornMachine

MasterInvader

Darkleoco

JrRacinFan

Served 5k and counting ...

TissueBox

erocker

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TissueBox

erocker

*

TissueBox

PopcornMachine

erocker

*

TissueBox

TissueBox

System Name	Dual Build Streamer
Processor	Ryzen 7900x3d : Ryzen 4600G
Motherboard	AsRock B650E Steel Legend : Giga B450i Aorus
Cooling	Custom Water 1x420 : Stock
Memory	32GB T-Force Deltas : 16GB Dominator Platinums
Video Card(s)	PowerColor 7900 XTX Liquid Devil: iGPU
Storage	20+ TB
Display(s)	Sammy 49" 5k Ultrawide
Case	Custom White Painted Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2
Audio Device(s)	Onboard : Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1200W P2
Mouse	Corsair M65 RGB Elite White
Keyboard	Hyperx Origins 65
Software	Windows 10

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11