Advice upgrading current system.

Bloodfever

Bloodfever

Bloodfever

Associate
Joined
1 Mar 2013
Posts
7
Hi guys, I am finding my PC struggling a lot with some of the new games I am playing these days so am seeking any advice with what I should purchase to run a bit better. (Specifically mobo, CPU and tower).

Currently I have
Unknown mobo (cant find any model info!)
AMD Radeon HD 6850
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual core Processor 4200+
Antec Truepower 650w PSU
and an old in need of retiring AC tower.

I have been looking around and am interested in buying

CPU
AMD FX8320 Black Edition 8 Core (3.5/4.0GHz)
or
AMD FX8350 Black Edition 8 Core Processor (4.0/4.2GHz)

MOBO
Asus Sabertooth 990FX.

I am running 4gb of DDR2 ram atm but have some 2x4gb DDR3 intel extreme masters ram so ram isn't an issue.

I am really unsure about the tower as the cpu + mobo come to around £260-£280) with a budget of around the £350 mark so perhaps could make some suggestions.
I'm not really planning on overclocking as I'm an overclocking virgin + I may need to deal with stock cooling for the time being.

So are what I have found decent or are can I do better?

Thanks in advance
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

How about an Intel i5. Mobo is "B" grade but is not listed as having any accessories missing.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £331.45 (includes shipping : £11.25).

 
Thanks a lot. I'm assuming what you suggested is on par/surpasses what I suggested?

I'm not liking the case all to much in all honesty though. I know aesthetics are not really important, but I don't really like the look of it. Also something with USB hubs at the front or top would be preferable. Is there something around the £50-£70 that may be better.

How about any of these?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-196-AN&groupid=2362&catid=160

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-054-NX&groupid=2362&catid=35

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-013-XG&groupid=2362&catid=1572
 
The i5-3570k and P8Z77-V LX2 seem to be popular choices. Think i'll place an order over the next few days, thanks a lot.


EDIT:Out of curiousity, if my budget for a mobo and CPU was at around £800 what would you change? (I would probably buy the Corsair Vengeance C70 case) and Im guessing it would be worth getting a better HDD for my OS. I'm running an IDE atm :s
 
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Bloodfever said:
The i5-3570k and P8Z77-V LX2 seem to be popular choices. Think i'll place an order over the next few days, thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

The Z77-D3H is popular too for the 3 year UK based warranty and dual bios.

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 £89.99
1 x NZXT Source 210 Elite Midi Tower Case - Black £39.95
1 x Thermalright True Spirit 120 REV A (BW) Performance CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £24.98
Total : £349.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Depends what is on offer at the time. Case will largely be to your preference for the price. We have given a few budget friendly examples to help

Bloodfever said:
EDIT:Out of curiousity, if my budget for a mobo and CPU was at around £800 what would you change? (I would probably buy the Corsair Vengeance C70 case) and Im guessing it would be worth getting a better HDD for my OS. I'm running an IDE atm :s
Click to expand...

IDE has been dropped from modern mobos fella. The 6850 is about on par with the 1GB 460 I own, they do OK but you will be looking to upgrade that soon too. If it was me with £800ish in my pocket, going from what you have asked for and now needing drives......

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7870 XT rev2.0 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
1 x **B Grade** Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (S (HD-255-SE) £62.40
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £816.38 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Someone will say just get a 7950, you don't need the SSD,the mobo is too pricey or whatever. You have to balance things yourself for what you need. With Haswell due in June (we think) you might well want to wait and save your cash to do a serious upgrade in the one hit.
 
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Oh right. Well in all honesty I'm not overly knowledgeable regarding computer hardware and don't feel too confident trying to match up what I need myself so would you personally wait? I am assuming if I waited for the Haswell chipset I would need a compatible MOBO so would need to wait for that too?
Frustratingly due to how old my Mobo is, its bottlenecking my current GFX card as it is, so can't consider getting a new card until I get a new mobo.

It al kinda makes me think I should just go back to my Xbox 360! haha!
 
Bloodfever said:
Oh right. Well in all honesty I'm not overly knowledgeable regarding computer hardware and don't feel too confident trying to match up what I need myself so would you personally wait? I am assuming if I waited for the Haswell chipset I would need a compatible MOBO so would need to wait for that too?
Frustratingly due to how old my Mobo is, its bottlenecking my current GFX card as it is, so can't consider getting a new card until I get a new mobo.

It al kinda makes me think I should just go back to my Xbox 360! haha!
Click to expand...

Haswell will be a new socket (1150). It will have a better IGP, lower power consumption and a tad quicker. Anyone already on Sandybridge or Ivybridge I doubt will feel compelled to upgrade.

The Xbox is pants mate. I barely use mine only for Forza now. I have the 460 which is on par with what you have and it smashes the Xbox. I've overclocked mine and I'm happy to keep it till the next generation of GPUs land. You could do a mobo bundle and HDD upgrade now and still notice a decent improvement
 
Well thankfully atm I only really play League of Legends so my PC hasn't become redundant but would be nice to get some better games!
If there will not be a huge difference then I would probably get what I need now (I am impatient haha)
I do have a few Sata drives for storage (never got round to putting my OS on one) but will probably get a SSD and do a fresh install.
If I upgrade my GFX card I could probably still sell my xfx radeon hd 6850 BE for around £75 atleast.

What I currently have in my shopping list:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7870 XT rev2.0 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £209.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Military Green £109.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £794.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Does this look like a good investment?
 
The 7870XT can be overclocked to 7950 performance but if you can afford the 7950 that would be better. Overclocking the CPU isn't difficult either.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Military Green £109.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD128BW) £109.99
1 x Thermalright Macho 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £851.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Selling your 6850 will get you back £50ish there abouts (you'd have to check the members market for proper pricing but you dont have access). There are cheaper mobos but this one is Xfire/Sli capable and has wifi and bluetooth included with some other freebies thrown in.
 
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The extra £30 should be doable, it all comes down to how much I get for selling 1 or 2 of my bass guitars!! haha.
With all of these specs I am assuming I shouldn't have any issues with heat? Or would any extra cooling be advised?

Could it be better to spend a bit more on a better CPU cooler such as:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-002-IN&groupid=701&catid=2330

Also (sorry to ask so many questions) but would swapping out the mobo for http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-199-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261 be a better option as its on offer atm?
 
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Ok, so I have a revised Shopping list:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £259.99
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £251.99
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77A-GD65 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £119.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Arctic White £109.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Intel Liquid Cooling Solution CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011) £73.98
1 x NZXT Havik 140 CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £54.98
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £1,498.57 (includes shipping : £14.75).



Hopefully this will all be compatible and efficient although but if anyone can suggest any improvements?
Also there seems to be a lot of debate between the 3 7950 GFX cards and I can't decide on what 1 would be best.
Anyone have any suggestions?
 
It's a question of balance bud and only you can decide that. I'd get the Mpower for the wifi and other extras. I don't know what RAM you have or it's colour, which would influence my decision on mobo to be fair......I'm picky like that.

The Windforce is good but pricey, does have a 3 year UK based warranty and a decent cooler but it dumps the hot air in the case. The HIS has a shorter warranty but it's cooler dumps the air out of the case, making it better suited to dual carding (Xfire). The MSI is cheaper, still a good GPU, I was happy to save a few quid and for the PCB to match the mobo.

I'd take the Plextor over the standard 840. The 840 Pro has much better write speeds but it's the read speeds that you really notice.

The cooler I suggested was good value. The K2 Mount Doom is £60 and would be better than a small CLC kit. If you want the watercooled look you might as well get a 240mm rad CLC to do the job properly.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI Z77 MPower Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 ATX Motherboard with FREE F1 RC Car & MSI HDD Enclosure £149.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Military Green £109.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £99.98
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £894.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).



You'll have to decide what suits you best yourself bud. Hopefully you can balance things easier now :)
 
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