£250 to upgrade! what to get?

grudas

grudas

grudas

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My brother wants to upgrade his system, he mainly uses it for video/photo editing and some gaming - but he seems to only play GTA SA/TF2/L4D etc

his current spec

AMD Athlon 5000+ BE
2GB ddr2
3850 256MB
AM2 Board - can't remember the model now

what would the best upgrade be?

i was thinking of getting him a new motherboard + quad core cpu + new gpu and 4-8gb of DDR3 Ram - which SHOULD be possible if we got a used gpu/ram?

any suggestion are really welcome! i haven't been fallowing the whole thing for quite some time so im not really sure whats what! :o

Thanks.
 
I have some parts lying around from an old DELL machine that might be of interest to you. They are all in working order and I have used it now and again and a little gaming (Skyrim).

The specification is as follows -

i7 920
6GB DDR3 1333MHz (Triple channel, need to confirm the speed)
Radeon 4850
(Need to check what the motherboard is, as it is a Dell system expansion is limited)

Otherwise, I would say that an i3/i5 with a H77 motherboard should fit inside that budget. If you go down the used route you will likely get something that is perhaps more powerful, but of course you don't have the same with regards to warranty etc.

Would probably prefer an Intel system as they do offer better performance with better thermals then many of the AMD systems, though prices vary of course.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £217.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).




Would put you in good stead. then save up for a better gpu.

or if you wanted to scrimp out on mboard could get below


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £183.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
 
How do people copy and paste the baskets?

None the less:

Overbudget by £30 but it'll get you up to date
vzntlm.jpg



alternately you could just go for this, the RAM isn't amazing but it's enough. No GPU but the best CPU you can get for this kinda price. Overbudget by £7
d7jd1t.jpg
 
Last edited:
Omaeka said:
How do people copy and paste the baskets?

None the less:

Overbudget by £30 but it'll get you up to date
vzntlm.jpg



alternately you could just go for, but the RAM isn't amazing, although it's enough. No GPU but the best CPU you can get pound for pound.
d7jd1t.jpg
Click to expand...

I would have chosen the ram already recommended above -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-058-PA

As you are getting 1600MHz with standard timings. As for the CPU not sure it is worth paying extra for the K series but going for a motherboard which cannot really make use of it. Surely the i5 3330/3450 or similar would be suitable?
 
It all depends on what comes first for your Bro

his video and photo editing or gaming? if he wants to get the best for his video and photo editing best forking OUt for an I5 and getlow end gpu, if he likes doing both gaming and editing equally best getting I3 and the hyperthreading of the I3 should be sufficient for his editing then get half decent gpu
 
dunn2010 said:
It all depends on what comes first for your Bro

his video and photo editing or gaming? if he wants to get the best for his video and photo editing best forking OUt for an I5 and getlow end gpu, if he likes doing both gaming and editing equally best getting I3 and the hyperthreading of the I3 should be sufficient for his editing then get half decent gpu
Click to expand...

he works with video/photo editing and does quite a bit of it at home too! and currently his pc LAGS with photoshop/sony vegas/after effects on! now he's also working with MAYA and again that just lags! :)

then again, he games everyday but he has been playing the same games for 2-3 years now! so im not sure what gpu would be ok for him, i guess a 5850 or 6850 would do the job?

thanks for suggestions, ill talk with him tonight and see what he thinks and maybe he agrees to expand his budget a bit to get better parts which would last him longer.

:)
 
Or get i3, iv choosen g840 because theres only little bit of difference and for a time it should be ok. But next year i would buy i5 2500k


YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £143.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £318.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Or


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £297.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x MSI GeForce GT 430 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card £49.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £347.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Is the least i would get , as i said could drop to I3 however as editing is his main priority i would get a good cpu.

could even re-use that gfx card and he will see a perfomance boost anyway from the I5 onboard HD 4000 graphics. then save up for a gfx card later. you can get some good deals on second hand gtx 460's on a certain well known selling sight that rhymes with relay. however buying second hand comes with risk if braking and no warranty.
 
he wants to stick with AMD

so here's what i got

nYA2r.png


the cpu is older gen i guess, but i have a 955 and its good for my use and its similar to his! should we swap anything over? maybe get the bulldozer instead of phenom 2?
 
Bacon? said:
Does he really have to stick with AMD? Right now they are the dogs droppings compared to Intel
Click to expand...

i guess he just wants to have a quad? dunno really, i always had amd - best bang for buck and so did he :o

Doomedspeed said:
phenom is better than bulldozer.

I still say the i3's are better than the phenom x4's.

16GB of RAM, why?
Click to expand...

more future proof? plus video editing really takes a lot of memory :o

i dunno guys, feel free to suggest! but i can't cross the 350 mark!
 
 
It seems kinda funny how the budget is just creeping up and up and up ... Think it is important to try and stick to the budget a little better! Would really favour the Intel + Virtu which should help speed up the video editing and be much better than an AMD rig. With the memory I am sure 8GB would sufficient to start with, but it depends how tight the budget is, £48 for 16GB is a good price..

So one of the new series i3s with a H77/Z77 motherboard would be a good choice.
 
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