~£350 upgrade on 2008 PC

Woody1122

Woody1122

Woody1122

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Hi guys,

I'm currently looking to upgrade what is now an ageing (2008) PC, if I could get some advice on the matter I'd be most appreciative. Currently I'm running a Core 2 Duo E6750 with a nVidia PoV 8800 GTS. RAM is cheap DDR2. I've been very happy indeed with the build, it's served me well and even today does reasonably well with new releases.

My gaming time has declined steeply in recent years, but with this new build I'd like a system that could play the new releases for the next few years - I'm not, however, dead set on playing them at 1080p on ultra high. Medium at 40 fps would be fine. What I really need it for is to run Lightroom, PS and InDesign with some pace and for it to last to a reasonable standard for a good few years.

I was debating between the i3 3220 and the FX6300 and am still unsure on which to choose - any advice would be great. For GPU I was again undecided - trying to pick between the GT 640 and Radeon 7770. For RAM, I was thinking Corsair L9 DDR3 Vengeance? I'm unsure on PSU, I was hoping I could continue using the one currently in my PC (I will check the model when I'm home). I'd also probably get an SSD and was very tempted by the new M500 series.

Motherboard would obviously be processor dependent, but I was thinking the Asus P8B75-M LX for an Intel and Asus M5A78L-M for AMD.

I understand this is a reasonably budget build, but I do have the finances to upgrade if it would be good value for money. I have been tempted by the 3570K and GeForce GTX 650 Ti but I think (sadly) with my reduced gaming time it's not justifiable! (Feel free to prove me wrong!)

I understand I've managed to almost completely skip DDR3 as DDR4 is coming soon - is it worth holding out for that?

Many thanks indeed.
 
Morning, :)

DDR4 will be release on an extreme platform before a majorally commercial one, so there is no need to hold out for it..

I like the options you've came up with but can I thorw another option your way.. Richland. :)

The A10 6800k in particular, the reason I bring this up is the graphically performance is pretty good and can be had reasonably cheap. £250-£300 will get you the CPU, motherboard for overc locking and some super fast RAM (the faster the RAM the better the graphics are, APU wise)..

Feel free to take a look at some vidoes.. You can even pair this with a 7750 in hybrid xfire. :)
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Doomedspeed, thanks for pointing that out. If I bought that processor would it essentially negate the need for a standalone GPU? I was always under the impression inbuilt graphics cards weren't of the best quality? It does seem a bargain if it could work though.

Acme, do you think it would be worth investing in a better graphics card and sacrificing the CPU then? I understand the 2100 isn't the best out there?
 
Woody1122 said:
Thanks for the replies guys.

Doomedspeed, thanks for pointing that out. If I bought that processor would it essentially negate the need for a standalone GPU? I was always under the impression inbuilt graphics cards weren't of the best quality? It does seem a bargain if it could work though.

Acme, do you think it would be worth investing in a better graphics card and sacrificing the CPU then? I understand the 2100 isn't the best out there?
Click to expand...

Trinity & Richmond are the best APU's on the market. You can run BF3, Crysis and other games on mid-high settings, with great frame rates. Providing you get nice fast RAM, 2133/2400, you will get good results.

Check out YouTube/Google Video's for some examples and yes, you wouldn't need a dedicated graphics card, but you could hybrid-crossfire.

What PSU do you have?
YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A8-6600K 3.90GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD660KWOHLBOX) £99.95
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £74.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £64
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £39.95
Total : £352.27 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
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(my first post was hopeless so i'll try again) :p

A Richland setup would be a decent and simple option at this price point:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-6800K Black Edition 4.10GHz (Socket FM2) APU Richland Quad Core Processor (AD680KWOHLBOX) £124.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85X-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £68.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD38G2666HC11CDC01) £65.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £28.99
Total : £300.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).



However I would personally get something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7790 TURBO 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £99.95
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £47.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £45.95
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £28.99
Total : £234.28 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Along with an i5 2500K from a well known auction site (you should be able to get one for under £120)

That option would blow the Richland setup out of the water.
The 7790 offers a great price to performance ratio, slap bang in the middle of the 7770 and 7850, but only £20 more than the 7770, while being £50 less than the 7850.
The i5 2500K will also have substantially more processing power than the 6800K, which is never a bad thing. :)
 
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Martini1991 said:
He's at 1080p though, you won't be playing many modern games on high with a Richland APU at that res.
Click to expand...

Really depends upon what you're used to and what you're expecting. At 120fps, no, check out some youtube videos - stick 6800k 1080p into the search box. The HD 8670D is very capable for an iGPU, more so than numbers on review sites do justice to imo
 
I still feel a 7790 build with say an FX4300 will be better, he wants to play new releases, a Richland isn't going to cope for long at 1080p for his medium at 40 FPS expectations.
Kaveri on the other hand stands a much better chance.
 
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Martini1991 said:
I still feel a 7790 build with say an FX4300 will be better, he wants to play new releases, a Richland isn't going to cope for long at 1080p for his medium at 40 FPS expectations.
Click to expand...

Though Richland hybrid xfire may help matters.. If he needs it..

When things become too much for igp he can just add a GPU anyway right? Im still in camp Richland though both options are good.

Idleman said:
That`s butchering. :p
Click to expand...

Have you slept recently? :)
 
If your budget is really strict at £350, I'd buy a Z68 motherboard, ram and 2500K/2600K secondhand and whatever's left on a graphics card.
Bang for buck and you're not likely to need more CPU power than an overclocked Sandybridge for some time.


If I were you I'd try at all costs to get Haswell/Ivy/Sandy. As mentioned above the CPU performance is so good that you're unlikely to need an motherboard/cpu upgrade for a long time - especially for casual gaming. I went from exactly your spec to Ivybridge/nVidia GTX and it's a different world entirely!
 
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Many thanks for all the helpful comments guys. I'm sorry I wasn't clear - I'm trying to say I do not need my PC to run games at 1080p on ultra high settings!

I was doing a little research on the A10 6800K and found this: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1634622/a10-5800k-6300-gaming.html#10555804

It seems its graphical potential isn't much better than a 6570 - with this in mind wouldn't it be better to get a CPU and purchase a slightly nicer card? Or I suppose I could do SLI with the APU's graphics and a separate card, or even just buy a nicer card when it becomes necessary? Hard to know which option is best here.

The FX4300 is only £3 cheaper than the FX6300, so it would perhaps be more sensible to go for the latter for the negligible expense?

Though the advice to get the 2500k is tempting - it's a couple of years old now though, isn't it? Would it still last to a good standard for a few more years? They're going for about £70-£90 on the popular auction site. I'd be happy to OC it and was considering getting the H60 cooler for £30 from here.

What are the real advantages of spending more than the basics on a motherboard? I see some out there for £200+ and others for £50?

Thanks!
 
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The 2500K can match the brand new 4670K very easily with a bit of tweaking :)

Still a very capable chip. The performance gains from 2500K to 3570K to 4670K have been rather disappointing.

Also I believe the Corsair refurb coolers are going to take a few weeks to get here as they are currently being shipped to the UK, but if you do decide to go with one, I really would get the H80 as it is only a few quid more and the rad is substantially thicker which will improve cooling performance proportionately :)
 
acme15 said:
The 2500K can match the brand new 4670K very easily with a bit of tweaking :)

Still a very capable chip. The performance gains from 2500K to 3570K to 4670K have been rather disappointing.

Also I believe the Corsair refurb coolers are going to take a few weeks to get here as they are currently being shipped to the UK, but if you do decide to go with one, I really would get the H80 as it is only a few quid more and the rad is substantially thicker which will improve cooling performance proportionately :)
Click to expand...

Super - this is very tempting. So the 2500k with 650 Ti would serve pretty well? I have a degree of nerves with buying a chip of an auction site - is there any generic advice about that sort of thing?

Yeah, I was thinking that with the cooling - the H100 is only a few pounds more than the H80 but it looks like it might be a bit of a squash in a case? Is there any simple way of telling my case's size?
 
Yeh, from Sandy to Haswell there's been no real reason to upgrade but coming from anything before them you'll definitely notice the difference (except possibly a highly overclocked 920?)

Even if you look at recently released games using multiple cores my Ivybridge barely breaks a sweat even running latest titles where the Core2Duo used to be maxed out at 100% CPU on them, thus why I think it'll be at least another 3 years before I'll need an upgrade in CPU terms and possibly more.
 
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Sorry to bump a slightly ageing thread, but I've found out it's the Corsair HX 520W PSU I have - will this be sufficient?

Also, if anyone could advise on a good bang-for-buck graphics card, that'd be great.
 
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