[Crunchy6409]

Love this forum and was hoping that once again you could all steer me in the right direction!!

I built this system in 2008:
Intel Core2 Duo E6750
This motherboard.
This hard-drive
Radeo HD 3870 graphics card

I am looking to make things a little faster while I load and edit photos in Adobe Lightroom. Wondering if this CPU/mobo upgrade would make a noticeable difference:
AMD
and
Mobo

Is there another direction I should go?
Thanks so much for your advice!

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Hello Crunchy6409

The MB and CPU would make a marked difference to what you presently have, but there are other considerations that need to be taken into account such as the quantity and the speed/spec of the Ram and the OS that you have.

Your present Ram is DDR2 and so is not compatible with the MB, adding 8GB of 1600MHz Ram is the way to go.
As you are purchasing/upgrading the MB you may also need to purchase a new OS disk and product key, this will depend on whether or not the present OS that is being used alongside the GA-P35-DS3L MB is the full retail version or the OEM version that is only licensed for a single use and so tied to the present MB.

If the Radeon HD 3870 is the 1GB version it will be fine for your intended use and I would keep it, this because the PSU that you have now obviously has an adequate power output whereas as a new video card may also require more power than is available which would then also necessitate for a PSU upgrade and stretch your budget.

Photoshop Lightroom 5 System requirements

Windows• Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8, or Windows 8.
•Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor*
•DirectX 10–capable or later graphics card
•Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1
•2GB of RAM (4GB recommended)
•2GB of available hard-disk space
•1024x768 display
•DVD-ROM drive required if purchasing Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® retail boxed version
•Internet connection required for Internet-based services†

[phillpower2]

Hello Crunchy6409

The MB and CPU would make a marked difference to what you presently have, but there are other considerations that need to be taken into account such as the quantity and the speed/spec of the Ram and the OS that you have.

Your present Ram is DDR2 and so is not compatible with the MB, adding 8GB of 1600MHz Ram is the way to go.
As you are purchasing/upgrading the MB you may also need to purchase a new OS disk and product key, this will depend on whether or not the present OS that is being used alongside the GA-P35-DS3L MB is the full retail version or the OEM version that is only licensed for a single use and so tied to the present MB.

If the Radeon HD 3870 is the 1GB version it will be fine for your intended use and I would keep it, this because the PSU that you have now obviously has an adequate power output whereas as a new video card may also require more power than is available which would then also necessitate for a PSU upgrade and stretch your budget.

Photoshop Lightroom 5 System requirements

Windows• Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8, or Windows 8.
•Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor*
•DirectX 10–capable or later graphics card
•Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1
•2GB of RAM (4GB recommended)
•2GB of available hard-disk space
•1024x768 display
•DVD-ROM drive required if purchasing Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® retail boxed version
•Internet connection required for Internet-based services†

[Crunchy6409]

Wow! Thank you so much for all the wonderful information! I had not even considered that the RAM would need to be upgraded as well! Is there a way to tell whether I have an OEM version of Windows 7? I have an official disc from Microsoft that does not indicate OEM or anything. It just says something about a backup disc. I had assumed that the license would be more attached to the hard drives than the mobo. Thanks for the tip.

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome Crunchy6409

Lets take a more in depth look at your present system, run Speccy and then post the resultant url here please, we will be able to let you know then if your OS is full retail or OEM, no licence details are revealed by the test.

[Crunchy6409]

Looks like I only have 512MB on my graphics card. It almost sounds as if I just need to try and do a $400 refresh of the system. Not sure if I'm in the mood for that just yet

Here's the Speccy!

[phillpower2]

Speccy doesn't identify the OS as OEM but to be certain can I ask if you still have the disk that you used to install the OS and do you know for certain whether or not the OS is the full retail or OEM license.

Four cores is enough for what you require of the CPU, an alternative list of parts for you to look over here
The CPU that I have selected has very good integrated graphics and will suit your needs, you could however go for a CPU with more cores (forget 6 and go for 8) continue to use the present video card and then upgrade that at a later date, keep in mind that any software that you may wish to use in the future could require that you upgrade the HD 3870 first so always check the system requirements that the software requires.

Crunchy6409 8 core CPU list

[Crunchy6409]

Thanks! These options look great!!

A couple questions:
1. Could you help me understand the advantages/disadvantages of having the integrated graphics?
2. I haven't looked at these things since I built this system in '08, so a lot has changed. Why have you selected the 8150 over the FX-6300? Due to the number of cores?
3. I'm thinking my OS may be retail. I do not see "OEM" anywhere. I read that the product ID would have OEM In it if it was not retail? Is that correct? There's a windows certificate of authenticity that does not say anything about OEM for the version or anything.

I really appreciate your help!!

[phillpower2]

1: Integrated graphics are an advantage when they are capable of running the software that you have and you are on a tight budget, they are a good back up to have in the event that you have an add on video card failure and they are not power hungry like many add on video cards.

Personally I would say that having integrated graphics has no disadvantages, this because it is up to the end user to ensure that they have enough graphics power to handle any software or game that they intend using, for example, I would not recommend integrated graphics to anyone building a computer if they wanted a high end gaming rig capable of playing the latest games on high/ultra settings.

2: The 8150 is faster and the additional cores will be able to handle the more demanding software of the future, have it now when you are upgrading so as to avoid having to upgrade again further down the road.

3:Examples of OEM stickers that you will find and full retail here

You are welcome btw

[Crunchy6409]

Yeah, I'm really thinking my Win 7 is retail. That's good to know!

I'm still trying to understand the on-board graphics. Would the 6790K be better than my current graphics card? I could later add a card if I felt the urge, I assume?

Regarding how this would actually go down- I've read a couple articles that make it seem possible to upgrade mobo/cpu without a fresh windows install. I know it's always better to start fresh, but is it necessary do you think?

[phillpower2]

Sorry for the delay (the kettle was boiling )

OS

I would use the HD 3870 alongside the 6970K, having once had a MB go bad on me that did not have integrated graphics I made my mind up to never caught out that way again, integrated graphics is a good safety net to have.

If your present OS is the full retail version all you will need to do is remove the previous MB drivers and install the drivers for the new MB from the disk that it will have bundled with it.

As an asides you may have to reactivate Windows with MS as the change of MB will be detected when Windows updates.

[Crunchy6409]

This may sound like a dumb question- but would I install the new MB drivers prior to making the physical change so that it was ready to go when booted up the first time?

[phillpower2]

Not a dumb question at all as people do this type of upgrade in different ways, please keep in mind though that you will initially be relying on the Windows generic drivers upon first boot + heaven forbid that it doesn't happen but one of the new components could arrive DOA.

Let me know which hardware upgrades you decide upon and I will then let you know how I would do the exchange of parts.

NB: I am not sure if you noticed or not but I made sure that the MBs that I suggested have USB 3.0 connectivity available.

[Crunchy6409]

I will try to see whether I'm going to go ahead and upgrade at this point. I think I may. The 8 core is $50-$60 more I guess- do you feel it is worth it? Seems like it might be. I could go ahead with my current graphics card for now.

I definitely took notice that the motherboards had USB 3 and SATA 6. Those were 2 things I definitely want

[phillpower2]

For the Adobe software that you presently use a quad core CPU would be more than up to the task, the CPU in your OP is a six core which led me to believe that you were looking for more than a quad core CPU, I don't use the Adobe software that you use and so you will have a far better idea whether or not their future products will require 6 or 8 core technology, an example 4 core CPU here

[Crunchy6409]

I like the 8150. I wonder if the Adobe applications take advantage of the multi-cores or if I should be looking for a high single core speed.

I might see if there are any benchmarks out there for lightroom.