Best way to upgrade

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:41

Hi,

I have just inherited a new PC from a family member and I am wanting to upgrade it. I want to be able to play Football Manager 2013 and the new Sim City on it. I have approx £300 to spend.

The spec of the unit i have is:

INTEL I3-3220 @3.30GHZ
4GB OF KINGSTON DDR3-1333 RAM
1TB Toshiba HD
MSI H61M-P31-G3 (REV B3) Socket 1155 DDR3 PCI-E Motherboard

Thanks in advance for any help.

snips86x · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:43

How about this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showd (GX-100-GI) £129.95
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
Total : £241.30 (includes shipping : £9.50).

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:48

Thanks for the quick reply.. money to spare too. Is it worth getting more memory too?

Smoogels · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:50

What is the power supply? Will it be able to handle a graphics card?

lee32uk · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:56

I would get a new 7850 as you get 2 free games included which are worth about £60. I don't think you will get them with a 'B' grade card.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
Total : £180.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:56

Smoogels said:
What is the power supply? Will it be able to handle a graphics card?

Its a OCZ 500w

LukieBoy007 · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:56

Note that the SSD will have to run at SATA2 speeds as the motherboard doesn't support SATA3. As already said, what powersupply do you have? And is the RAM 1x4GB or 2x2GB?

lee32uk · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:57

Smoogels said:
What is the power supply? Will it be able to handle a graphics card?

A 450W psu will be fine for a 7850 card.

lee32uk · 20 Feb 2013 at 16:58

ianforbes44 said:
Its a OCZ 500w

You are good to go

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:00

LukieBoy007 said:
Note that the SSD will have to run at SATA2 speeds as the motherboard doesn't support SATA3. As already said, what powersupply do you have? And is the RAM 1x4GB or 2x2GB?

Hi, I believe it is 2x2gb

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

snips86x · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:01

lee32uk said:
I would get a new 7850 as you get 2 free games included which are worth about £60. I don't think you will get them with a 'B' grade card.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
Total : £180.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).

Good Shout.

You could get more RAM, but I think you only have 2 slots. You'd be getting rid of what you have now for 8gb.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1333C9DC) £34.99
Total : £316.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).

LukieBoy007 · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:02

Ok, are you also thinking of playing any other demanding games (Crysis 3, Battlefield 3 etc.)? Only asking as a 7850 may be overkill for your needs.

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:11

At the moment I don't have any plans for it at the moment, however if I am going to get a new graphics card I may as well get something that is good value for money so that there is potential if i change my mind.

Thanks

LukieBoy007 · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:14

Ok, in that case something like this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £149.99
1 x Crucial V4 64GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive £51.98
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £31.99
Total : £244.76 (includes shipping : £9.00).

The motherboard you have doesn't support SATA3, so a 64GB SATA2 SSD will be nice for OS and programs with a game or two.
8GB RAM is the normal for gaming nowadays.
A 7850 is one of the best value for money cards around the price point.

ianforbes44 · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:16

That looks really good.. Thank you very much

lee32uk · 20 Feb 2013 at 17:23

I would go for something like this. The SSD will still work ok, but at SATA II speeds. It will save you from changing it again if you upgrade your motherboard. You can sell the two free games if you don't want them and it will bring the spend down about £50 or so.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £169.99
1 x Plextor M5 Pro 128GB Extreme Series Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5P) £99.95
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £31.99
Total : £313.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).