CPU/Mobo Should I upgrade from Phenom II X4 955 BE

M

mk76

Adept
I was trying to render a 3D text in Photoshop and it showed 1 hr (despite Asus 960) . So I thought is it time to upgrade CPU ?

Need advice.

My setup is
- Phenom II X4 955 (with CM Hyper 212 - No OC)
- Gigabyte 880GMA-USB3
- Asus Strix 960
- 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance
- CM V750
- Samsung Evo 250GB
- 3 HDD (2 x 1TB, 1 x 500GB ) WD Greens.

Uses
- Occasional gaming - GTAV, AOE2HD, BLUR, NES/SNES emulators for kids
- VM (Ubuntu for cross compiling armhf)
- Occasional Lightroom, PS, Slideshow maker for photography

  • Should I go for CPU upgrade ?
  • If yes do I need to upgrade my mobo as well ?
  • What CPU/Pair would you recommend for low / medium budget?
  • Will it bring considerable performance improvement?
  • I'm open for stuff FS. Do you recommend any?
 
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My brother had a similar combo and it just wasn't cutting it for his programming needs as well. He shifted to Intel and got himself a 4790k and his needs are more than being met for now. You need to see for yourself how much time you spend on programs which will use CPU intensively and how much money you are willing to spend accordingly.
 
Frankly I've been out of loop. So if I can get an idea of how much a decent upgrade would cost, then I could plan for that instead of buying immediately.
 
mk76 said:
  • Should I go for CPU upgrade ?
  • If yes do I need to upgrade my mobo as well ?
  • What CPU/Pair would you recommend for low / medium budget?
  • Will it bring considerable performance improvement?
  • I'm open for stuff FS. Do you recommend any?
Click to expand...

1) Yes
2) Yes as Intel is much ahead in this race. Though AMD is launching Zen by year end, there will be new socket.
3) What is your budget ?
4) Yes
5) same as 3)
 
Thx

vyral_143 said:
2) Yes as Intel is much ahead in this race. Though AMD is launching Zen by year end, there will be new socket.
Click to expand...

If its going to be new socket, means mobo change. So that open Intel's door for me. (Though I hate to reinstall everything from scratch)

vyral_143 said:
3) What is your budget ?
Click to expand...
20 - 25k for CPU + Mobo.
I can stretch to some extent if there is a better combo with better value for money. Any suggestions what should I be looking for?
 
You would need to upgrade RAMs too as Skylake (latest from Intel) supports DDR4.

Processor: i5-6500 ~15,000
Motherboard: Asus B150-PLUS DDR4 version ~8700
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz DDR4 ~6000
 
Thx. Understand you and Vyral suggested I5 due to budget. However for my knowledge, what is the lowest (good) combo for I7 ? .. with apprx prices
 
mk76 said:
Thx. Understand you and Vyral suggested I5 due to budget. However for my knowledge, what is the lowest (good) combo for I7 ? .. with apprx prices
Click to expand...

i7-6700 ~24,500

For motherboard, I would suggest stick to Asus. Model: Asus Z170-P ~12,000
 
Thank you all for your suggestions.
I realize that going for I5 may end up asking for another upgrade soon. Therefore I plan to go for i7 combo.

I will try to source CPU + from US as there looks to be a substantial difference. Most likely towards end of this year.
I7-5820K - ~26,000
I7-6700K - ~ 23,400


Between above 2, which one would you recommend
 
mk76 said:
Thank you all for your suggestions.
I realize that going for I5 may end up asking for another upgrade soon. Therefore I plan to go for i7 combo.

I will try to source CPU + from US as there looks to be a substantial difference. Most likely towards end of this year.
I7-5820K - ~26,000
I7-6700K - ~ 23,400


Between above 2, which one would you recommend
Click to expand...

For your usage #1 and 3, I doubt there will be much difference. For #2, I am not sure. May be @vivek.krishnan can chip in.
 
Just buy it from ebay.com and use SNS. Just ensure the seller does not ship the heatsink, it would make the entire package more expensive for volume and weight as well. Plus free dents, maybe.
 
One query.

Could I consider getting a used AM3+ 8+++ series for now and go for best of I7 or Zen in an year and half? Will jump to (say) 8370/8350 etc bring some improvement for time being?
 
Well i didn't get you. I still got an amd 730x3 phenom and it renders not just photoshop but even max, maya and cad smoothly. I got 16gb ram though. And my whole setup is 6yrs old.

In fact your 955 is a pretty beast of that time.
 
It all started from here .. :)

@vivek.krishnan @bssunilreddy @rdst_1 @nRiTeCh Many thanks to all of you for your valuable suggestions.
Spl thanks to @vyral_143 for helping out with my numerous queries

I have finally upgraded to Skylake. - 6700K + Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1.
Boot up with a temporary Gskill V 8GB dimm. Will be pulling in 16x2 dual Gskill later
My CM Elite 430 is just like .. a tight fit jeans for the mobo :D but it's in a good condition so no upgrade for now.
Hyper 212 is set up as push/pull ( 2nd fan is a Jugaad using rubber bands) till I find a more clean way. CPU stays at 35+ for idle and 60 for intense (ambient temp is humid 30 deg)

.. And the trigger point of this debate and purchase -> photoshop 3d render time was reduced to 2 min :D . It has been a great learning experience. Thanks once again.
 
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