CPU performance comparisons

[tribeca600]

Currently have an old desktop (Gateway SX4860) running a Core i3 2120 which I bought early 2006. It runs OK but sometimes bogs down with complex web pages or if I have multiple apps open. I have 6GB RAM. I have upgraded the video card a few years ago to something entry level but superior to the integrated graphics to run dual monitors at 1080p.

Thinking of upgrading to AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, was thinking how much of a performance improvement I will actually see for web browsing, multimedia and business apps. I am not a gamer.

 

[Burpo]

There's a Gateway DX 4860 that came with that CPU, but that CPU was first launched in 2011, NOT 2006.. You can upgrade the CPU to an I7 3770 for about $140 and it would still be a decent PC to continue using.

 

[tribeca600]

Correction it's a SX2870

 

[Topweasel]

Currently have an old desktop (Gateway SX4860) running a Core i3 2120 which I bought early 2006. It runs OK but sometimes bogs down with complex web pages or if I have multiple apps open. I have 6GB RAM. I have upgraded the video card a few years ago to something entry level but superior to the integrated graphics to run dual monitors at 1080p.

Thinking of upgrading to AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, was thinking how much of a performance improvement I will actually see for web browsing, multimedia and business apps. I am not a gamer.

Tons but that CPU is waaaay overkill. Right now you are running off of 2 core CPU and it means that it would be incredibly easy to thread lock your computer. At most though I would look at a 1700, or maybe a 1600x where you get the clocks of a 1800x at half the price with 2 less cores. That's still 3 times the cores and 6 times the threads of what you are currently using. The only real advantage of the 1800x is gaming while not wanting to play the overclocking game.

 

[Burpo]

You can still upgrade the CPU.. I7 3770 or 3770s would be a major improvement..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...777279?hash=item33cedaca7f:g:YEMAAOSw~FJZHIOc

 

[Pick2]

"You can upgrade the CPU"
If you can get a BIOS update from Gateway that recognizes the new CPU , and the VRM's will handle the extra load , and the Power supply won't be overloaded. Be aware that lots of OEMs spec their parts pretty tight. I would suggest limping along on that 11 year old rig as is and start looking/saving for a new one

 

[VirtualLarry]

SX2870... that sounds strikingly familiar. I think I may have purchased one of those, with a Sandy Bridge Pentium G630 CPU, and then re-sold it to a friend's relative.

Was it a slimline SFF tower?

I would advise considering to replace the whole thing. Get an Asus (Acer?) i5-7400 / 7500 Kaby Lake quad-core, with 8GB / 16GB of RAM, and preferably, an SSD. (They sell them now in OEM boxes.) Or get the HDD version cheaper, and install your own SSD. Re-installing Windows 10 with a USB stick is relatively a piece of cake. You can get i5 CPU towers with 8GB and a HDD for as low as $399.99 at Newegg, brand new.

I would advise that over purchasing just a i7 CPU upgrade for your existing unit, unless you happen to be rather technical. Upgrading OEM boxes with higher-end CPUs, if they were never sold with those CPUs as an original factory option, is fraught with peril. (VRMs not specced high enough, BIOS issues, etc.)

Ryzen's not bad, but it's rather overkill for web browsing.

TBH, I'm surprised that your web browsing is slow. Could it have to do with the number of add-ons?

Do you currently have an SSD? That alone might breath new life into your PC.

Btw, TopWeasel, an i3 has 4 threads, it's very unlikely to get thread-locked.

Edit: Btw, if you upgraded your video card "a few years ago", then it probably doesn't support hardware decoding of the newest video formats.

Scratch my earlier suggestion, consider instead, NOT upgrading the CPU, but instead, installing a (240GB or larger) SSD, AND an NVidia GT1030 card (they JUST came out). If you need a single-slot, or low-profile, or both, they have those too. (Probably essential if you have the slimline model.)

I put an NVidia GT430 (128-bit RAM) LP into my slimline Gateway, before I sold it, and upped the RAM from 4GB to 8GB. The new video card helped immensely.

And to think, the GT430 is considered "old" now. (Fermi generation). The GT1030 (Pascal) is the new hotness for SFF / video-watching.

If that's what it is, and I suspect it could be the case, is that the videos you are trying to watch online, are NOT decoded by the video card, but instead, by the CPU, and that's bogging everything down.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709 601297382

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487347

Note that these newer Pascal cards from Nvidia, as well as the Polaris cards from AMD, do NOT support VGA output any more.

You would need to buy a DisplayPort to VGA cable, Newegg had a Rosewill branded white one on sale for $10.99 recently, I almost bought a few, just in case I needed them.

Edit: Looks like this is your system?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113220

Mine was similar, only with the Pentium and not the i3. Probably same motherboard. Sadly, that board only has two SATA ports on it, and not four. Which means, that you would have to actually replace the HDD with an SSD, and not just add it and keep the HDD for data. Which could make things slightly more complicated to move your data around.

 

[Topweasel]

Didn't realize that I was think it was a vanilla 2c2t model.

 

[LTC8K6]

Put an ssd in it.

 

[Burpo]

The board has 4 SATA ports & Intel C216 chipset. It handles an ivy no problem. I'm using one now with an E3 1280v2 Xeon I got for cheap, and the stock I5 65 watt cooler.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Not the slimline one, Burpo. I owned one, it definitely only has two SATA ports.

Maybe OP would be willing to take the PC apart to look? Or will Device Manager show unpopulated SATA ports?

 

[w3rd]

Currently have an old desktop (Gateway SX4860) running a Core i3 2120 which I bought early 2006. It runs OK but sometimes bogs down with complex web pages or if I have multiple apps open. I have 6GB RAM. I have upgraded the video card a few years ago to something entry level but superior to the integrated graphics to run dual monitors at 1080p.

Thinking of upgrading to AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, was thinking how much of a performance improvement I will actually see for web browsing, multimedia and business apps. I am not a gamer.

Greetings.
To honestly guide you here, we are going to need more about your intended use, or any new hobbies or games you will want to pick up. Anyone here can suggest a great min/max system for you.

What I suggest is to get familiar with the newer computer cases and how their designs have changed, small, or cubes, etc. Find something that fits your needs and can possibly handle a radiator (all in one solutions), so that when fully built, Your new rig acts as a complete system.

That will help focus on your needs and what form factor (iTX, mATX, ATX, etc) you want to use. Then go from there.

But given your opening post, I highly doubt you would make much use of the 1800x, & I would suggest the 1600 instead. Saving yourself $280 bucks along the way. Invest in a good NVMe drive (500GB) and you will have a much more balanced computer system.

Only other build suggestion is, a high quality power supply unit. And at least 650w for your (potential) use.

 

[Burpo]

Yeah Larry, I have the DX 4870 mini-tower, and it has 4 memory slots and 4 SATA ports, but I see the slimline only has 2 of each. Still uses C216 chipset tho, and would work well with a 65watt I7 3770S.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Now that's an idea! I had forgotten about the 65W "S" model CPU. That would make a major difference.

But I also stand by my two suggestions, get an SSD of sufficient size, and a GT1030 low-profile single-slot card.

Edit: To handle video offload of H.265 / HEVC, and VP9. As an added bonus, the HDMI2.0 port supports 4K60 UHD TVs, should the OP ever want to upgrade his display.

 

[tribeca600]

The rig is 11 years old and does not even support USB 3, i'm thinking maybe it's time to just upgrade rather than trying to squeeze life out of this thing... I mean it's still the original HDD for over a decade and I don't know how much longer this thing will live. The problem is that the power supply of this thing is super weak, I think 220W. It's a mini tower. When I was looking at video cards I was really limited as none would work without upgrade of the power supply and the card that is now in it is just about sucks the max out of this power supply.

Question - if I build my own machine how difficult is it to implement the water cooling stuff?

 

[tribeca600]

Edit: Looks like this is your system?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883113220

Yep, that's the exact one

 

[tribeca600]

Greetings.
To honestly guide you here, we are going to need more about your intended use, or any new hobbies or games you will want to pick up. Anyone here can suggest a great min/max system for you.

Not a gamer at all, intended uses are:
- Software development (I am a tech guy, software side, I don't delve or keep up too much into hardware - just here and there, I do enjoy messing around though so would enjoy putting together my own system)
- web browsing (it's important that even complex webpages load at the fastest pace possible, right now it's fast but sometimes there just too much going on and it just slows)
- Videos, dual monitor setup, I need 4K videos to play with zero lag. 4K videos sort of jerk right now but 1080p videos are no issues at all. I have 2 27inch 1080p monitors now but eventually thinking of replacing them with 2 4K 24 inchers.
- High refresh rate, currently running at 60Hz, I would prefer the highest refresh rate for 4K

Even though my current system is old it's somewhat ok with daily tasks. The main reason I may want to overhaul is just that it's 11 years old and it may die anytime without any warnings. I do have my data backed up in the cloud and on drives so i'm prepared for that but I figured why not upgrade anyway.

Note - I also have a Surface Pro 4 with a core i5 6300U processor and that's quite a bit quicker than my desktop even though it's a mobile processor. I also have a Dell core i7 4600U laptop for work that I do all my development work on but it's pretty damn slow for development as it frequently gets very bogged down if I throw too many things at it.

The reason I posted my original query was to get some feedback on what kind of a end user difference in performance I would see if I created a brand new system using a Ryzen CPU with a current mid range graphics card, 16GB of DDR4, SSD vs what I am using right now given my use case above.

 

[tribeca600]

Model is a SX2840

 

[tribeca600]

Yep, that's the exact one

I was a bit mistaken... checked the model# in the specs and it's a SX2840, Intel Core i3 530 CPU at 2.93 Ghz

 

[tribeca600]

opinions on this build?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl_ioGy2dds

$998 for this setup isn't too shabby at all!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was a bit mistaken... checked the model# in the specs and it's a SX2840, Intel Core i3 530 CPU at 2.93 Ghz

Oh, that's a little bit different then. That's old enough, that you should probably simply replace it altogether. Especially if the HDD is ten years old - that's amazing longevity for a HDD! (Has it been spun up 24/7, or does it spin down or is the machine shut off / hibernated every day?)

 

[misuspita]

Purely off topic, but I still have a HDD from my E6300 system, which I bought around 2006. It lived in a cramped cube case for the first 5 years of it's life, and then moved to a mini tower for the rest, till present day. WD something 400GB. Spun everyday, because I shut it down whenever I finish work on it.

As for the recommendation, I would suggest a R5 1600x system, because it would behave better in single thread, but also have 12 threads for multitasking. I see gaming is not really on the table, so I would get something like rx560 or ti1050. And if budget allows for, a nvme ssd for programs, 256gb or better. That will speed things a lot.

 

[w3rd]

opinions on this build?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl_ioGy2dds

$998 for this setup isn't too shabby at all!

Again, you can go in any direction when building a system.
It is best to stay focused on your tasks. And build your system outward, and what ever that price is, is what it is. Don't set some arbitrary or artificial limit for yourself. Just follow your need and remember you are building a system.

Exactly how taxing is your software development tools, etc..?
Understand, things like web browsing or videos..? You'll easily be able to web browse 40+ pages, all open at once, or even several Videos playing at once...

Since you already have a working Video Card, I would just use it until you decide to move to 4k. But, before you even decide on a video card, you have to first decide on what type of display set-up you want. For example, do you want one Big Monitor 32" ~42" (productivity monitors), or do you really want two tiny 24" monitors..?

But those are choices that do not impact your build, just a choice you'll have to decide, before upgrading your GPU.

 

[tribeca600]

Right now micro center has $100 off if you get the Ryzen 7 1700X with a Asus Prime X370-PRO motherboard so you essentially get the combo for $430 taxes included which I think is a terrific deal.

 

[inf64]

Right now micro center has $100 off if you get the Ryzen 7 1700X with a Asus Prime X370-PRO motherboard so you essentially get the combo for $430 taxes included which I think is a terrific deal.

Grab that and don't look back! It will be massive performance upgrade from what you have now.