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So I have 2 systems, that I want to replace mobo/cpu/ram in one of them.
The Phenom is a 555 Callisto unlocked to 4 cores on a Gigabyte 880GM-UDH2 with 4 Gb Ram
The Clarksdale is on an Intel DH55 with 4 Gb of Ram.
I thought of upgrading CPU's in both of them, however the current upgrades available are both around $200 and don't seem to be worth it. I can buy a new IB 3570K with Asus Z77 board and 8Gb of ram for roughly $450. Which system should I be looking to upgrade? Usage will be general gaming and Folding.

I would say neither, however if you are folding you may want to look at a ph2 x6, direct drop in replacement (cheap option).

For games you may want to just upgrade your video card instead, which can also fold, and may be the best option for you (instead of pepperjack).

Purely from a CPU performance persepctive, I'd keep a 4-core Phenom II over a Clarkdale. The Clarkdale would need roughly a 10% clockspeed advantage if I remember correctly from my estimates back when they came out to be equal but you aren't going to do any overclocking on the Intel motherboard. The Phenom II has higher power draw though.

Upgrade the Pepperjack. It's a fine cheese for light snacking and lunch sandwiches and performs to expectations if you apply it accordingly, but the wine pairings are few and the potential for broader satisfaction is nil.

For a longer-term investment, a smoked Gouda is the minimum price of admission, and it can be applied to a broader range of applications ranging from your basic cheese tray to fruit to a meal of grilled fish, or even a classic meat and potatoes Sunday dinner. Throughput can easily exceed an ounce per minute during periods of heavy consumption.

If you're near a Micro Center, you can get an Intel Core i5-3570K for $190, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M for $60 and 2x4 GiB of PC3-12800 for $45 plus tax, for a total of $295 + tax. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 would be $30 more.

ludi wrote:

Upgrade the Pepperjack. It's a fine cheese for light snacking and lunch sandwiches and performs to expectations if you apply it accordingly, but the wine pairings are few and the potential for broader satisfaction is nil.

For a longer-term investment, a smoked Gouda is the minimum price of admission, and it can be applied to a broader range of applications ranging from your basic cheese tray to fruit to a meal of grilled fish, or even a classic meat and potatoes Sunday dinner. Throughput can easily exceed an ounce per minute during periods of heavy consumption.

True. But have you considered goat cheese? I'm astonished at how many benchmarks goat cheese is at or near the top in. It's hard to mess up a goat cheese build unless you forget to add other components. Goat cheese requires other components to run properly, IMO, otherwise it scores much lower. Try goat cheese on a rosemary cracker with honey dabbled on top and be totally surprised. Also, try the same except with pepper jelly instead of honey. Amazing.

If your x2 555 is unlocked to 4 cores it should peform roughly like an x4 955. In that case, check out a benchmark comparison between the two CPUs and decide for yourself depending on your usage. Replace the loser with an i5-3570K though.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

If you're near a Micro Center, you can get an Intel Core i5-3570K for $190, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M for $60 and 2x4 GiB of PC3-12800 for $45 plus tax, for a total of $295 + tax. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 would be $30 more.

I don't live near one, unless there's one in S Flo I'm unaware of. Logically I know that AsRock is an offshoot of ASUS for "value boards" but I havent convinced myself I'm ready to try them, maybe it's time to take the rose colored glasses off and give them a shot.

DPete27 wrote:

If your x2 555 is unlocked to 4 cores it should peform roughly like an x4 955. In that case, check out a benchmark comparison between the two CPUs and decide for yourself depending on your usage. Replace the loser with an i5-3570K though.

Thanks for that link, I dont spend much time at there and I didnt realize that was there. According to that comparison the I3 is the loser for the most part.