Plan of action for XMAS rig.

KuroNanashi

KuroNanashi

KuroNanashi

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Joined
18 Dec 2013
Posts
5
Good morning OCuk. : )

It's my first time posting on these forums so short of an introduction - my name is Matthew and I'm a young software developer in Oxfordshire. :p

I've bought myself a few components from our supplier and most of my decisions have been based on recommendations and discussions I have witnessed on these forums. My machine after recent upgrades is as followed:

CPU ==
AMD Fx-6100 (3.3GHz stock w/ 3.9GHz turbo)
MEMORY ==
2x4GB Corsair 1600MHz CL9
1x8GB Corsair 1600MHz CL10
MOTHERBOARD ==
ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z [XMAS]
GPU ==
Sapphire R9 280x Toxic Edition (3GB/1150MHz Clock) [XMAS]
PSU ==
OCZ ZS750W (54A on single 12V rail)
Storage ==
1x2TB Seagate Barracuda (Games/Downloads)
1x1.5TB Seagate Barracuda (OS)
1x250GB Seagate Barracuda (Music only)
and a few more conventional disks just for storage.
Case ==
Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower [XMAS]

My friend is selling me his Corsair H55 as a cooler for about £25 which to me is a fair deal. He's grabbing the h100i, but my real question is - what would a substantial worthwhile upgrade be for my machine. I have just about £250 to spend on upgrades this Christmas not including the ones already made and I am not sure what route to take.

My first idea would be to eliminate any HDD bottlenecks. Being a developer and a gamer, I have steam open, VS/Dev VMs open and everything really open at a time and this is a drag to load up when I'm doing anything. So an SSD would be an idea for my OS disk - but which one?

My second idea was to upgrade my processor. After hearing AMD are not doing anything much with the FX series in 2014, I don't think it's worth holding out for a more powerful CPU. I was thinking of getting an 8350. But is it really going to bag me a substantial performance increase?

My third idea was somewhat ridiculous, but I thought of just going for peripherals and getting a nice mouse and keyboard to replace my Microsoft Desktop set. I have a 27" monitor (1080p though) which I've bought recently. The trouble is peripherals don't necessarily interest me as much as they could do.

What's your thoughts OCuk? Is there any other upgrade I could make to my machine that's worthwhile - or is there maybe a new bit of tech that I could grab.

Thanks guys!
 
The 8350 is a good increase over a 6100 for software editing etc, even better than i5s and the like... However... if you plan on gaming, for the love of god get an Intel.
 
Doomedspeed said:
Welcome.

Can you clear a few things up for me?

Are the parts marked [XMAS] parts you're think of buying or have already got?
Click to expand...

The xmas parts are parts I have already got as presents from family.

Omaeka said:
The 8350 is a good increase over a 6100 for software editing etc, even better than i5s and the like... However... if you plan on gaming, for the love of god get an Intel.
Click to expand...

I did consider going Intel but held back because I wanted not to be reliant on getting another CPU on top of my motherboard (using my existing fx-6100). However I've had more money this month than I thought I'd have and haven't much choice after having spent £170+ on the Crosshair V.
 
acme15 said:
Whats going on here?
Click to expand...

Haha, I wondered how long it would be before someone mentioned this. I originally had the 8GB kit, but when building a machine for a friend noticed the price of the DIMMs had come up to £65 for the kit up from £33 when I bought them. I hurried to buy another 8GB before they increase and managed to get a single 8GB stick for just short of £45. A few weeks later they were back up to £60~ on amazon so.

So yes, unfortunately I'm sporting the 16GB at CL10. I don't really think it's that much of a problem though. I'd much rather have more memory (I use it) than a slight decrease in memory latency.
 
16GB CL10 single channel :p

I'm sure running RAM in CL10 single channel won't make a whole lot of difference vs. CL9 dual channel, though personally I'd sell the single 8GB stick and keep the 8GB CL9 dual channel kit. :)
 
The 8320 is generally better value than the 8350 being the same chip just with a different clock speed set - of course prices and availability vary.

Personally I'd probably stick with your current CPU and spend on an SSD instead, the 840 Evo is a pretty popular choice just now. Get one, see how you feel and if there is a particular task you find stretches your machine then spend the rest of the cash.

Edit: And see if you can do something with that RAM mis-match! Maybe someone you know has a prebuilt system with a single 8GB stick in it? At least you could both go dual-channel then, though of course you should check what their RAM is capable of.
 
David Bisset said:
The 8320 is generally better value than the 8350 being the same chip just with a different clock speed set - of course prices and availability vary.

Personally I'd probably stick with your current CPU and spend on an SSD instead, the 840 Evo is a pretty popular choice just now. Get one, see how you feel and if there is a particular task you find stretches your machine then spend the rest of the cash.

Edit: And see if you can do something with that RAM mis-match! Maybe someone you know has a prebuilt system with a single 8GB stick in it? At least you could both go dual-channel then, though of course you should check what their RAM is capable of.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, I think I'll get the 8320 then. Definitely going for the 250GB EVO ssd now. Perhaps I could also sell all my memory and grab a 2133Mhz 16GB kit. My motherboard supports up to 2400 apparently.
 
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