Advice regarding upgrade of PC

[kakemann]

Hey sober!

Thanks for your quick answer.
Looks like the 5850 is about 4 times the price, but if it's necessary I'll go for it. Anyone running with a HD5550?


What about 2 core - quad core?

[THE_MASK]

I just bought the core i5 750 . Its about the same price as the amd i think , it has speed step and idles on half the power when not used .

[Feuer Frei!]

@kakemann:
why 'limit' yourself to Silent Hunter 5 only?
What i mean to say is, sure, you may only be playing this game on your upgraded rig but what about the future?
I say with that in mind, build/upgrade to something that will be future-proof.
The Mobo is theee most important part of a upgrade that you should be prioritising.
Everything else then will fall into place or take suit.
There are games out there that push a system a lot more than Sh 5 ever will and if i was you i would take it a step up and future-proof yourself, at the very least.
Just a tip, is all.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by kakemann

What about 2 core - quad core?

I just have rebuild a new system. I was thinking about something like a dual core since I thought I do not need more, an i5 661 2x3.33 was my target mark.

But in the shop I learned that meanwhile the latest quad cores are out and for the same price (well, 10 bucks more) like the above I could get an i5 2500 4x3.33 for boards with the new socket. If there is software demand, the cores overclock automatically to up to 4x 4.8 GHz at max, they said in the shop.

4 superior cores for the price of 2 inferior cores - that's a no-brainer, isn't it!?

Check CPU reviews. The i5 2500 is new and gets extremely good reviews, it can compete with higher cores from the i7 range in many regards, for many purposes and titles it is almost as fast, but costs much less. Many tag the price-tip label onto it, and declare it the current bang-for-a-buck winner.

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by Skybird

If there is software demand, the cores overclock automatically to up to 4x 4.8 GHz at max, they said in the shop.

Not exactly; the i5 can shut down unused cores and boost others untill it reaches its TDP again. It will not overclock all cores at once.

Very nice feature though, and indeed considering the price you really should go for quads now.


*4GB RAM is fine, never ran out yet. Maybe if you run 2 demanding games at once, but I wouldn't advise that if you're actually planning on playing either one.

[Skybird]

Honestly I would prefer them to not overclock at all. More heat = shorter lifespan. I seriously doubt that I need those reserves created from that temporary overclocking, so I assume it will not happen anyway.

[Fincuan]

One more vote to GTX460's bang for the buck factor and pure performance. Anything that can run Arma2 on high/very high can't be a bad choice

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Honestly I would prefer them to not overclock at all. More heat = shorter lifespan. I seriously doubt that I need those reserves created from that temporary overclocking, so I assume it will not happen anyway.

No, that's the point why it shuts down cores: the CPU is always within its TDP envelope, so it's never getting any hotter.

Perhaps there would be increased wear on individual cores though, but I can't imagine.

If you don't like it, turn it off. Sure there's a setting in BIOS.