Need to upgrade on the cheap

[sporkman]

So my current desktop is built around a Core i3 from quite a few years ago (3.07 GHz, 256KB L2 cache, 4MB L3 cache, 533MHz bus speed). For graphics, I have some ancient GeForce 9500 GT card.

For the most part, this is OK - I live most of my day in iTerm and remote ssh sessions with a fair amount of time in Mail.app and Chrome. But when I start doing some web development work, then the browser is slowing me down, batch operations in Photoshop are getting a bit painful, and there's just a general bit of overall lag.

I'd like to reuse my case, PSU, SSD and all the other bits and pieces and just replace the mainboard, processor and RAM. I think integrated graphics, if well-supported, would be more than enough for me (zero gaming here).

What's scaring me, is that while I can find mainboards that are sub-$100, damn, processors are expensive. How far back to older stock can I go to get some kind of a deal? If I'm spending $100 on a board, probably another $60 on RAM and then at least another $100 on a processor, I'm going to want a decent speed boost. Where should I be aiming??? I was hoping for $300 for the upgrade, but that seems impossible unless I start thinking about used...

 

[pastrychef]

I don't know which CPU will be the best match for your usage, but just wanted to warn you that if you go with a Haswell or Skylake system, you may need a power supply that's Haswell compatible. Older power supplies will not be compatible with the newer power states found on Haswell and Skylake systems.

Use of older power supplies with Haswell or Skylake is possible but would require that you disable C6 and C7 power states from bios or to avoid using sleep/hibernate. However, I don't know how this would affect compatibility on a hackintosh.

 

[Adrian B]

For development work, most in this profession will use an i7 processor as the extra cores and threads work well in this operating environment. I would look at changing the i3 processor for an i7 model from the same original range. Common supported 5 & 6 series CPU models are listed in the older buyers guides from the period of your build. Buy second hand and consider upgrading the RAM to keep this build running well as you save for new hardware.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/b...versions-of-os-x-using-older-chipsets.141225/

If you wish to update, then $500 to $600 is realisticly probably more accurate for something like the CustoMac Budget ATX build
http://www.tonymacx86.com/buyersguide/august/2016#CustoMac_Budget_ATX

 

[kiiroaka]

Another vote for upgrading the CPU to the fastest i7 made for that mobo (with the prerequisite BIOS updating before changing the CPU).

You seem to have an LGA1156 i3-540. You can probably find an i7-880 for about $200. http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/cpu/Intel+Core+i7-880+Processor+/review

The i7-875K is probably too expensive at about $335 on Amazon, new. idkfs.

Your memory seems to be DDR3 1333, and since you mentioned "$60" I will presume that you now have about 8GB of RAM. How many RAM slots does your mobo have? If you have four slots 32GB will cost you about $130.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-880-vs-Intel-Core-i7-875K

Is 16GB the max that you mobo can support? At 21,333 MB/s mem bus bandwidth going to the DDR4 2133 won't really seem that much different. If your mobo can support higher than DDR3 1333 speeds then that is what I would do - only buy the very fastest speed RAM that mobo can take. For instance, if your mobo supports DDR3 1066 and 1333 (Intel i7-880 speeds), only install the 1333 stuff. But if your mobo allows XPM mem "overclocking," try to get the fastest possible speed RAM. There will be a point where it becomes prohibitively expensive though, if they are even still being produced or available. And the speed gains may not justify the higher prices. But sometimes higher speed RAM will cost less than slower RAM. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-870-1156,2482-9.html and http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-scaling-i7,2325.html

Basically, you will get more bang for your buck by going with a faster processor than with going with faster RAM. As far as mem prices go, 16GB of DDR3 1333 could cost as much as 32GB of DDR3 2400, which could cost as much as 64GB of DDR4 2133. That's the kicker right there.

Then this Christmas you can update the video card when they all go on sale; or buy used from EBay, Craigslist, etc. My price is always around the $150 mark. This upcoming Christmas you can probably get a GTX960 for around that price.

Yes, it would seem that you are at a cross road, whether to spend money on old tech or "go all in" and build an up-to-date system. IMO, going to the latest while not also going to the fastest, will just be repeating the same cycle, even though you will be going to PCI-E 3.0 instead of PCI-E 2.0, or USB 3.0 instead of USB 2.0. IMO, it is best to always get the fastest possible CPU and the max amount of RAM. But if you have non-standard chipsets, like a VIA or nVidia chipsets, it may be better to upgrade to a newer board, one that can accept the latest OSes. And if you do decide to go with a Z170 mobo and a Skylake processor, I would recommend the fastest i5 and 64GB of DDR4 2133. Figure that will cost about $500, perhaps more when you consider the cost of a better PSU and GPU. $800 for a nice upgrade wouldn't seem to be unreasonable, to me; ymmv, obviously.

One big caution: since your PSU is probably 6 years old you may either want to take it apart and look for pop-corning or leaking capacitors, or just replace it with a nice new >500W PSU. The last thing you want is to install a new CPU then see a flash of sparks coming out of the PSU. BTDT.

 

[sporkman]

Argh! Sorry I did not check back on this thread. I appreciate all the replies. I'll add a few more quick notes:

Even if I could re-use the mainboard (Asus H55M-UD2H), I'd prefer not to. The "linux2mac" driver does not really work very well with whatever chipset this is.

Two issues are multicast (and therefore all kinds of discovery) not working at random until I physically plug/unplug the ethernet cable, and the occasional total network lockup with "
Sep 1 08:07:36 frankentosh kernel[0]: ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(20) failed" messages, hard reset being the only fix.

Is there any board that has built-in ethernet that's natively supported? I've had it with RealTek.

And GPU-wise, can I get away with onboard? I really don't need gaming-glass graphics.

I need to review all these options - thanks to the first poster for noting the PSU issue!

Are these crazy CPU prices because of AMD basically giving up the market to Intel?

 

[Adrian B]

Argh! Sorry I did not check back on this thread. I appreciate all the replies. I'll add a few more quick notes:

Even if I could re-use the mainboard (Asus H55M-UD2H), I'd prefer not to. The "linux2mac" driver does not really work very well with whatever chipset this is.

Depending on which version of OS X you are running, there are other Realtek options. An additional ehternet card may may an option.

Two issues are multicast (and therefore all kinds of discovery) not working at random until I physically plug/unplug the ethernet cable, and the occasional total network lockup with "
Sep 1 08:07:36 frankentosh kernel[0]: ctl_enqueuedata: m_allocpacket_internal(20) failed" messages, hard reset being the only fix.

Is there any board that has built-in ethernet that's natively supported? I've had it with RealTek.

Some boards can have issues, but most modern boards are working well. The Intel ethernet option is probably the best for using with OS X.

And GPU-wise, can I get away with onboard? I really don't need gaming-glass graphics.

A modern CPU has much better graphics performance and will rival an old AMD5770.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/b...-2016-hierarchy-chart-by-toms-hardware.81325/

I need to review all these options - thanks to the first poster for noting the PSU issue!

You are on a tight budget if considering an all new build. A cheap i3 processor will be faster, but it lacks the additional cores and threads that your computing applications really need.

Are these crazy CPU prices because of AMD basically giving up the market to Intel?

AMD have not given up on the CPU market, they have long since competed at the entry level of the market. AMD Zen looks like it might start to change that. Performance wise a modern i7 leaves an older i7 in the dust, the 'K' processors are very OC friendly.

 

[kiiroaka]

Even if I could re-use the mainboard (Asus H55M-UD2H), I'd prefer not to.

I think you mean Gigabyte GA-H55-UD2H.

Do you already have 16GB of RAM?

Adding an Intel NIC shouldn't be a problem.

 

[sporkman]

Yes, Gigabyte - got it confused with my wife's old Core2Duo Hackintosh...

I have 8GB and so far that's been more than enough. I keep an eye on the usage and even with VMware given 2GB I'm still under 6GB used. I'd go with 16GB for a new build to match my old MBP (mid-2011, i7 mobile cpu - which is generally faster).

I think I'm going to go with the budget ATX build, re-using what I can and sticking with integrated graphics (I see a note that sleep doesn't work with integrated graphics, but I don't sleep this desktop, so no issue there). I see Realtek is onboard with the GA-Z170-HD3, so recommendations on an external Intel card are welcome...

 

[sporkman]

So I'm considering the following (and keeping the existing case, PSU, SSD):

GIGABYTE GA-H170-D3HP (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128869)

Intel Core i5-6400 6 MB Skylake Quad-Core 2.7 GHz LGA 1151 65W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117564)

Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Desktop Memory Model CT2K8G4DFD8213 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148859)

That's $361 before shipping. The only savings I could really see here would be moving to an i3, but it's not a huge savings.

I might hand the current board down to my wife and replace her old Core2Duo desktop board. If I wanted an Intel PCI-e card, are there any particular models to look at that are going to be compatible with OS-X out of the box?

 

[Adrian B]

For a PCIe NIC, the following thread should help:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/best-network-adapter-nic-to-buy-pci-pcie-usb.94036/

For the mainboard, this may be of some assistance- it is for the Z170 rather than the H170:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/updated-guide-gigabyte-z170-hd3p-10-11-5.182109/

If you experience any strange behavior, then it may be PSU related. Older PSU technology is known to cause issues with modern Post Haswell hardware. You should at least be aware of this before you build this system.

Good luck.