Next upgrade ?

RiseAgainst

RiseAgainst

RiseAgainst

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Joined
5 Apr 2011
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515
OK so my system atm is getting old i know so i think its time to start getting new components. As I am still a student my budget is VERY limited and i am just looking for some opinions of what to upgrade and what's the best parts to get these days :) Iam not really looking to change my hard drives as i have a dual boot with vista and ubuntu set and I am happy with it atm :) thanks


CPU> phenom 9550 oc to 2.5 ( the set up is too hot to go further atm )
MOBO> foxconn A7VMX-S
Hard Disk :WDC green (500 GB)+ WDC blue (640 GB)
Physical Memory :4096 MB (2 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM )
Video Card :Sapphire Radeon HD 5570 Series(GPU: 700MHz GM:910MHz)
 
Doesn't look like there's too much you can do with 'very limited' funds.

You could upgrade the CPU to a Phenom II quadcore or something, or get a better CPU cooler and overclock your one a bit more.

I wouldn't upgrade much without upgrading the PSU first though.
 
i also think that a better quality PSU is a priority

but if you looking at options, you may also consider using RAID, but that would include getting additional hard drives
 
well i mean with the extra part time work i will be doing over summer i would say that i will have a budget of about £200 or around that
but compared to some people on this site that is small change :P
 
I'm pretty sure you can use an AMD3 CPU in a AMD2+ board but you can't use an AMD2 CPU in an AM3 board. Double check with a google search first though :) lol
 
RiseAgainst said:
can you put AMD3 processor in a AMD2+ socket ?
i thought that was i no go :P
and thanks a lot :)
Click to expand...

AM2+ supports AM3 CPUs. It may need a bios update first though. Check the manufacturers website for the list of supported processors, and which bios revision you will need.

Edit: I've looked at the Foxconn site, and it seems to say a Phenom II X4 would work fine.
 
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ah thanks :) also is the 5770 still worth getting, i was think i about looking in to that for an upgrade as my gpu sucks, although it did impress me by playing crysis on high at playable frame rates :)
and is flashing your bios not risky ( one of the things ive never actually done )
 
RiseAgainst said:
ah thanks :) also is the 5770 still worth getting, i was think i about looking in to that for an upgrade as my gpu sucks, although it did impress me by playing crysis on high at playable frame rates :)
and is flashing your bios not risky ( one of the things ive never actually done )
Click to expand...

I have the 5770 at the minute and it runs Bad Company 2 on the highest settings
and it also plays BlackOps on its highests settings as well, i can about 140-150 fps
on blackops, not looked what I get on Nad Company2.

So yeh its still a good card but I would probably save that bit more and get an even better card.
 
ok :)
i have looked at reviews and youtube stuff but its all for slightly older games and i was just wondering how its doing, or if you needed something like a 6990 to get decent frame rates these days :L
thanks guys :)
 
The 5830 is definitely worth the extra £20

A bios flash carrys a small risk, but usually is no problem. Plenty of people on here upgrade their bios every time a new one comes out without issue. Have a proper look at the Foxconn website to see if you need to. Your current bios may support the CPU you want.
 
RiseAgainst said:
ok :)
i have looked at reviews and youtube stuff but its all for slightly older games and i was just wondering how its doing, or if you needed something like a 6990 to get decent frame rates these days :L
thanks guys :)
Click to expand...

Because the xbox is so rubbish, modern games don't push the limit if what PC's are capable of these days. A 5830 will run everything at high settings at resolutions up to 1080p. Its only if you have a huge resolution and want loads of AA that you need high end cards.
 
with a budget of £300, i would say the graphics card is the most important upgrade if your planning on gaming, because the processor looks alright to me. by the sound of things, gaming will be your most processor intensive task too.

your processor at current clock vs standard X4 955BE: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/29?vs=88

i'd go for something like this:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Stalker Call of Pripyat PC Game Voucher £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £217.46
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £45.99
Total : £275.95

hopefully you'll get a better overclock with the extra cooler too.

i dont think theres anything the 5870 wont run on max settings these days, so your not goingto ned to upgrade for a while :)
 
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