Gaming upgrade - Processor, GPU, Mobo and RAM for £400ish

StixxUK

StixxUK

StixxUK

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Joined
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Bristol
Hey all, I've been out of the PC building game for a while and playing console games, but the time has come to get back into it.

I'm currently running

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.0GHz
Radeon HD4850 512mb
Asus P5Q PRO Motherboard
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz
Corsair 650W TX Series PSU

I can't play anything on it these days... I think the graphics card is overheating like a mofo, it's sitting at 85 idle and if I try and play anything it cuts out after about 30 minutes of play.

I've also got a HDD and SSD in there, and already got Windows 8. Keeping the old case (an old Antec Sonata 2 that's lasted me a couple of builds already and probably the PSU.

What can I get for this kind of money, I was thinking along the lines of ~200 for the processor/mobo/RAM and 200 for the graphics. That said, having looked at a few recent builds on this board I might need to tip it slightly in the favour of the processor/mobo.

Budget is not super-strict just a guideline. Decided to do this instead of getting a PS4!

edit: just wanted to add - cool and quiet is important, not intending to overclock.
 
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It's a tricky budget. I think you'd struggle to stretch to an Intel build without sacrificing too much in the graphics department.

This is the best I could come up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T) with FREE GAMES £154.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
Total : £426.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).



To get the best out of it though you'd want a nice cooler too, since the stock AMD one is atrocious. With that motherboard and a decent cooler you should be able to overclock the CPU decently too. I know you said you weren't intending to, but it might be worth having an extra option down the line if things are feeling a little sluggish.
 
If you were willing to stretch to £500 or so you could just about get a non-overclockable Haswell and a 7950. You could justify (rationalise) the extra expense with the 3 free games you'd get wth the GPU.
 
Thanks guys

I do tend to prefer Intel having had an AMD processor that was a bit of a pain in the ass cooling-wise (admittedly that was a long time ago, before they had heat plates on the processors). That said I've no idea what they're like these days.

I do want to keep it nice and quiet, especially when idle, so don't want enough heat that I need to dial up the case fan.
 
StixxUK said:
Thanks guys

I do tend to prefer Intel having had an AMD processor that was a bit of a pain in the ass cooling-wise (admittedly that was a long time ago, before they had heat plates on the processors). That said I've no idea what they're like these days.

I do want to keep it nice and quiet, especially when idle, so don't want enough heat that I need to dial up the case fan.
Click to expand...

Tbh, with that budget, I`d be looking in the MM.
 
Id go with kaku and maybe strech budget for 7950. Cant go wrong with the rest having owned myself some of those parts. An h60 or 80 and you can easily OC to 4.5ghz.
 
Delta Charlie said:
Sorry, what is the mm?
Click to expand...

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Click to expand...
 
Is there a quick way to post the contents of your basket?

I'm now looking at

AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) - £120
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard - £90
HIS 7950 - £180
Corsair H60 refurb - £36
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) - £50
 
StixxUK said:
Is there a quick way to post the contents of your basket?

I'm now looking at

AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) - £120
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard - £90
HIS 7950 - £180
Corsair H60 refurb - £36
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) - £50
Click to expand...

Cart extension here

Would look to get a 990 chipset too over the 970.
 
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Here we go... can you recommend a 990 chipset mobo that would be good for overclocking? As you can see, I've gone for the H60 cooler so may as well get some extra power out of that processor!

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795F3G2M) £179.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £35.99
Total : £487.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
The chipset doesn't affect how well it overclocks, 990 series just adds on better Crossfire/SLI options. The Asus 970 EVO R2.0 is the best board under £100 by a long way. If you want dual cards, the Asus 990FX Pro.
 
Sticking with the original mobo then!

Think I'm gonna pay the extra Tenner and get the iceq his 7950, seems like a good price point!

Anyone know how I can check my PSU's compatibility?
Also worried I might need a new OS (just upgraded to Win8 a couple of months ago, off Windows Vista OEM)
 
I'm pretty sure you can't activate Windows OEM on a new board. If you phone them and say you had to change the board I think they allow it, but I'm not certain.

Your PSU is fine.

The 7950's a very good choice. If you can stretch a bit further, this one is really recommended here - very quiet, high overclocks, etc.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **Voltage Unlocked** £191.99
Total : £202.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

 
Thanks, gonna go for that and try my luck with the OS... In my mind it's an upgrade but I am replacing most of the guts of the machine.

Will also go for the iceq model of the 7950

Thanks again for your help all!
 
 
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