Advice on upgrade

Dazzo

Dazzo

Dazzo

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Joined
30 Sep 2008
Posts
246
Hi All,

Looking to upgrade my gaming rig to bring it up to spec for newer PC games.

Currently I have:
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
Patriot G Series Sector 5 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGV34G1333ELK)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ / ST500DM005) x2
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366)

I am getting an SSD soon so I will Raid the two HDD to store everything but OS and Games.

I was thinking I could upgrade the Memory for sure but not sure what else would help.... maybe gfx?

Regards
Daz
 
Really you want to be looking at a mtherboard/CPU upgrade before you upgrade your GPU.

Unfortunately your motherboard won't support AM3+.. so you'd need a new one to get a new (FX) CPU.

You could get a better CPU for you're current motherboard but that'd be a Phenom X 6, and i don't really think it'd be worth the upgrade.

How much money have you got in mind to spend on this?
 
Was looking at about £200 including the memory, which I think may be a bridge too far.

Just looked at the specs of the mobo and realised I need a new one if I want AM3+, will probably stick with AMD as it's never let me down.
 
mickyflinn said:
Ok 8gb would be better for gaming, there is a saphire card for the same money that has BF4 included but its out of stock.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £56.99
Total : £216.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

Thanks Micky!

Might get the Ram and stick with what I have for now and save upgrade everything all at once!
 
*Update*

Bought the Teamgroup black 8GB memory and it's fantastic really helped with the issues on Path of Exile.

After a birthday and a 17 hour overtime shift I have a bit of spare cash and wanted to now upgrade my PC the best I can as I will hopefully be getting a house at the end of 2014 and well bye bye spare cash!

These are current specs:
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Iiyama ProLite E2407HDS 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black x2
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £103.74 1 £103.74
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Certified Modular Power Supply
Roccat Arvo Compact Gaming Keyboard
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache x2
Sony Optiarc DRU-870S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1155/1156/1366)
Teamgroup black 8GB

My budget is MAX £400 and I'm hoping to get the best I can from this.

Here is a quick run through:
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X WindForce 3X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included Gigabyte Radeon R9 270X WindForce 3X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with BattleField 4 PC Game Included £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8350 Black Edition 4.00GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
(£66.66) £79.99
(£66.66)

So that's £370 + BF4 but no CPU cooler!

Any thoughts?
 
Go with this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X DEVIL 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £157.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £361.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).



The 8350 isn't worth it over the 8320..

The 270X Devil is the faster out the box 270X and suprisingly good for noise and cooling too..

Well worth a purchase, as it comes with 4 FrEE AMD games and BF4. :eek:
 
Doomedspeed said:
Go with this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270X DEVIL 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £157.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £361.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).



The 8350 isn't worth it over the 8320..

The 270X Devil is the faster out the box 270X and suprisingly good for noise and cooling too..

Well worth a purchase, as it comes with 4 FrEE AMD games and BF4. :eek:
Click to expand...

Wow did not know that one came with games.

Is there a CPU cooler you would recommend? My current one doesn't fit socket AM3+
 
It doesn't say in the compatibility list but just had a little google and it seems the cooler you have should be am3+ compatible, tho saying that if you can stretch the £400 budget slightly would say to go with a 4670k.

Edit: got beaten by doom while I was googling, didn't refresh before posting.
 
Appreciate the help guys, I will wait untill the payslip comes in so I know exactly how much I'm working with.

Tempted to push a little to the I5 as I've never had Intel before....
 
Come back guys!! haha

In head maths is terrible as just had payslip confirmed.

I got £460 budget atm but might be able to stretch to £500 for the right parts.

Debating intel v AMD now but if I can stretch to a 280x I would be chuffed!
 
I don't think I will be able to push for an intel build with the 280x.

That's with choosing the powercolor 280x currently on offer this week. I've looked at reviews and apprently there are better ones but it comes with bf4 and is a good £20 cheaper then the next one that does.

Will be needing an additional CPU cooler as I won't to keep the old one on the phenom and use it as a test box in the future.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 280X TurboDUO "BF4 Edition" 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £113.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £443.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
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