Can I upgrade my PC for $500.00

[David Ruhland]

I have recently upgraded to Vegas 10. I would like to get a lil more power out of my PC, so its time for an upgrade.

I am thinking about replacing/upgrading the MOBO, PROCESSOR, and GRAPHICS CARD, but honestly dont even know where to start. All I use the machine for is editing with Sony Vegas and Photoshop.

I have used AMD processors in the past and have no problem using the 6 core 1090t chip... I dont have a clue what overclocking means, or what the heck a sandy bridge is unless its near the beach!

I will be using Windows 7 pro 64bit OS.

Suggestions please...

[Dale Guthormsen]

I would bet you can up the processor a step or three and with windows 7 yu can definitely up the Ram to 12 gigs and then get an inexpensive HD graphics card. You could do that pretty reasonably and it would help a lot!

[Jeff Harper]

David, you will receive lots of advice, but I would suggest taking this route:

(First, is your present PC a custom type, or a OEM like Dell? OEM cannot be upgraded, but you know that right?)

1. Choose the processor you want first. It doesn't matter which brand you use, Intel or AMD from a knowledge point of view. They install similarly, so that is a non-issue. The key is choosing the best you can afford. Intel i7s are generally the better ones.

Intels are regarded as currently having the better processors for video editing, but if you get the best AMD you can afford, they are OK also.

note: overclocking is nice, but complicated. I do it, but there is a learning curve, and it can create real issues, I would avoid it if you are not set on doing it.

2. Select your MOBO after you choose your processor. Go to a site (I use Newegg) and shop for your board based on the processor you chose.

3. Select your ram, 6GB is enough, on your budget. 4GB will work, but the ram you choose will depend on your mobo. Does it have 3 ram slots, or 4? If it has four choose 4 1GB sticks of ram.

4. Make sure your power supply is enough. It might be, but you might need to upgrade that as well, don't know.

This will probaly cost a bit more than $500, but to spend less your cheating yourself and you will have a cheapo on your hands. I could be wrong, but I haven't shopped components for over two years.

You might consider trying to find a used PC with an intel i7 920 in it, see what kind of price you can get. That would give you two PCs, and would hold you over, and be much simpler, check Craigslist, just be careful.

[David Ruhland]

Thanks Jeff....

My current config is home built. I fell victim to a HP propritary MOBO years ago....IT taught me how to build my own system real quick.

[David Ruhland]

This is the processor that caught my eye, BUT what is the difference between Locked and unlocked processors


Intel Core i7-2600K BX80623I72600K Unlocked Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.40 GHz, Socket H2 (LGA1155), Retail at TigerDirect.com

[Randall Leong]

Originally Posted by David Ruhland

This is the processor that caught my eye, BUT what is the difference between Locked and unlocked processors


Intel Core i7-2600K BX80623I72600K Unlocked Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.40 GHz, Socket H2 (LGA1155), Retail at TigerDirect.com

You will be cutting it very close to your intended $500 budget, if not exceed it, with that CPU:

You will also need a new motherboard for it. And if your current system uses DDR2 memory, you will need DDR3 memory since DDR2 modules are totally incompatible with Sandy Bridge motherboards. So even if you can find a $150 P67 motherboard compatible with that i7-2600K, you will exceed that $500 budget if you also have to buy 8GB of new DDR3 memory.

[David Ruhland]

ive accepted the fact that it will cost over 500. is this a good processor for video editing.

What is difference between locked processor and unlocked?

And can someone please explain this sandy bridge thingy to me in laymens terms...Ive been googling it....getting more confused

[Randall Leong]

Dave,

Between the "locked" i7-2600 and the "unlocked" i7-2600K, the plain 2600 is actually what's called a "limited unlocked" CPU, which means that overclocking the CPU is limited to four speed bins above the stock Turbo frequency (in this case, the plain i7-2600, whose stock speed is 3.40GHz and its Turbo clock speed is 3.50GHz with all four cores in use, is limited to a maximum overclocked speed of 3.90GHz with all four cores in use). The i7-2600K, on the other hand, allows you to use any overclock multiplier up to 57x when used with a compatible motherboard. (These CPUs cannot have their BCLK raised much, if any, above their stock 100MHz without having all of the other buses going way out of spec and thus cause serious instability.) That gives the i7-2600K a theoretical maximum clock speed of 5.70GHz; however, the maximum practical speed of the 2600K falls somewhere between 4.50GHz and 5.00GHz. Currently, only P67 chipset-based motherboards allow you to use those unlocked or limited-unlocked multipliers.

And yes, Sandy Bridge is the second-generation version of the Intel CPU architecture that began with Nehalem (the Bloomfield i7-9xx CPUs are part of the first generation). These CPUs have their memory controller either in the CPU die itself or in the CPU package (previous Intel platforms had their memory controller on the motherboard). Sandy Bridge delivers better performance per clock compared to the Lynnfield i7-8xx CPUs (also considered "first-generation") it is intended to replace.

[Jeff Harper]

That would be a nice choice, David. Well done!