SPCR

Hello. I will be upgrading my system soon and I would appreciate some advice regarding video.

My current setup is as follows:
Athlon 64x2 6000
Gigabyte MA78 GPM-DS2H (AMD 780G chipset).
LCD Monitor (1): 22' 1680 x 1050 (motherboard's DVI port connected to monitor's DVI port; D-sub port available on monitor)
LCD Monitor (2): 19' 1280 x 1024 (motherboard's D-sub port connected to monitor's D-sub port, no other port on monitor)
I use my system for work, mainly with Office applications. I don't play games, but I do watch videos.
I am happy with the level of graphic performance I have now.

I am considering upgrading to the following configuration:

Intel Core i3 530
Gigabyte GA H55M-UD2H
(1 D-Sub port / 1 DVI-D port / 1 HDMI port /1 DisplayPort)
DDR3 2GB
Same monitors and same resolution as above

Now I have two concerns:
- Will the integrated graphics of the Core i3 be powerful enough to support the above resolutions ?
- According to the motherboard's manual "The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter."
Also, I have read that the Core i3 does not support D-sub ports... Hmm..
I am a bit confused here and not sure I will be able to connect everything together...

I would appreciate any advice. Thanks

What do you expect from the upgrade, except for the lowered power consumption? You seem to be quite happy with what you've got..

The new system will be faster, but I'm not sure you'll have much benefit from it.
Your current motherboard supports lots of new CPU's too, and that would cost less to upgrade (scroll down here).

But if you want to do something that makes a regular office/internet/entertainment computer faster you should get a SSD.
A new SSD in your current system would make a bigger difference than a new CPU, and cost less. Well unless you're running high speed HDD's in RAID right now.

Start with a new SSD, and upgrade later (= next year when all the new CPU's/sockets/chipsets shows up from both brands).
Be thankful for having a working system! It does work, right?

In my country, an Athlon II X3 440 and an Intel X25-M 80 GB cost the same as your upgrade, but I think the SSD alone will be enough boost for now.

Thanks for the advice. Good points.

I will be upgrading because my significant other's system is too old and too slow now (Celeron 326 I think). So instead of building a new system for her, I will give her my system, which is a good one, and I'm going to get a new computer .

Ok, well that makes sense now!
Then all I can tell you is that socket the 1156 used for i3 CPU's will be replaced in less than a year, and the new CPU's will have socket 1155.

AM3 is supposed to work with AMD's next CPU in 2011, which is a totally new CPU and actually their biggest change in about a decade.
I dunno if you care about upgradeability, but if you do, it can be useful info.

- According to the motherboard's manual "The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter."

- But you use one DVI for the DVI in the monitor so I don't really see the problem?

Also, I have read that the Core i3 does not support D-sub ports... Hmm..

Well that's strange. I mean, what's that D-sub for then? Decoration?
I checked the manual and I'm pretty sure it'll work.

Thanks for the information on future sockets. Very interesting.
Yes, upgradeability is important, but in the end there's a fixed pattern:
I tend to get a new CPU with a new motherboard every two year or so, so I'm not too upset. I've even considered building my new system around a Core 2 Duo E7500. It is quite limited in terms of upgradeability, but it is cheap and would let me reuse my DDR2 memory and the Scythe cooler from my wife's system (reuse is fun).

I work from home. I'm not doing processor-intensive tasks, but having a snappy system makes my work more efficient and pleasurable.

As for D-Sub problem, I think I got it now. Intel's integrated graphics do not support analog output through D-Sub port (see review from customer#1 in the link below), but digital output through the same should be fine.

http://www.20north.com/Intel-Core-i3-Pr ... src=search

I've been considering the AMD Athlon X4 630, which costs about the same price as the i3 core 530 here. I'd save a few pennies by reusing my DDR2 memory, and I'd have slighter better performance than the i3, but that's it. (not sure about the better performance of four cores in Office applications)
The low power consumption of the i3 is extremely attracting to me. Also, I have been using AMD-based systems for ten years (cost performance!), and maybe I want to taste something different now. Not sure.

SwiftSilent wrote:According to the motherboard's manual "The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter.

What it means is the DVI port cannot output analog signals, i.e. you cannot connect a DVI-to-VGA cable nor use a DVI-to-VGA convertor on said DVI port.

The D-Sub port on the other hand works fine. It does with my i3-530 + Sony Trinitron combo.

Cheers!

SwiftSilent wrote: As for D-Sub problem, I think I got it now. Intel's integrated graphics do not support analog output through D-Sub output (see review from customer#1 in the link below), but digital output through the same should be fine.

He's talking about using a D-sub adapter for the DVI output to get dual analog outputs, together with the D-sub port. That won't work.
You have one D-sub only and one DVI capable display, so you won't face this problem. You can't get digtal output from a D-sub.

Edit: Too late..

Thank you very much for your replies.

SwiftSilent wrote: I work from home. I'm not doing processor-intensive tasks, but having a snappy system makes my work more efficient and pleasurable.

Get a SSD. Do the programs you need to run for work become more and more bloated every two years btw?

Yes I'll get a SSD later. Thanks for responding.

Need to change the title of the thread. Sorry