Help needed for an upgrade.

chiscocks · 24 May 2016 at 15:21

I currently have a PC which i bought pre-built instead of building my own. Linked below.

I would like to upgrade the RAM, DDR3, i have no trouble doing this and add a dedicated graphics card, preferably 8GB. I know i would also need to upgrade my PSU but unsure which to buy that will fit my case. If possible i don't want to have to purchase a new case. The graphics card i'd like to buy is listed below.

Could someone help me with compatibility and anything else i may need to consider.

snips86x · 24 May 2016 at 15:25

You should remove competitor links

Will get your account suspended

Ideally, you should list the specs and then we can provide guidance

Avenged7Fold · 24 May 2016 at 15:31

Post your full spec including your monitor resolution and which games you play.

chiscocks · 24 May 2016 at 19:23

So these are my current specs, let me know if you need any other details.

AMD A10 7700K Radeon R7 CPU w/ built in Radeon R7 Graphics

8 Gb DDR3 RAM

Corsair VS350 PSU

Asus A68HM-Plus Motherboard

Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080

And a PCS ALPHA TRION 7622B Black Case with dimensions of: 487 x 212 x 451mm (H x W x D)

What i'm looking to install if possible is an XFX AMD R9 390 Graphics card, and a Corsair 750 Watt (750W) Power Supply if possible, as i said i really don't want to have to buy new case or motherboard.

Borealis · 24 May 2016 at 19:47

Yeah, you'll definitely need anoter PSU. 350W is nowhere near enough for a 390 and the VS350 is an awfully cheap unit.

It's a m-ATX case from what I can tell but it will fit a normal PSU. If space is an issue, the EVGA GS 550W or 650W are very compact fully modular units. Like any modular PSU, they're more expensive than hard-wired models. Although the card says you need a 600W PSU, you don't. No single card setup needs more than a good 550W PSU, that's including overclocking everything.

The Superflower HX550W Golden Green is a compact non-modular PSU, which is very good:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...0-plus-gold-power-supply-black-ca-003-sf.html

The 390s tend to be quite long cards. The XFX is 29.5cm long. It may be worth you measuring how much room you have for the graphics card as I'm having trouble finding any detailed internal dimensions for your case.

EDIT: Just visited the competitors website. Apparently that case will accept a 390/390X just fine. Personally, I'd check to be sure - I don't always trust online configurators.

chiscocks · 24 May 2016 at 20:10

Borealis said:
Yeah, you'll definitely need anoter PSU. 350W is nowhere near enough for a 390 and the VS350 is an awfully cheap unit.

It's a m-ATX case from what I can tell but it will fit a normal PSU. If space is an issue, the EVGA GS 550W or 650W are very compact fully modular units. Like any modular PSU, they're more expensive than hard-wired models. Although the card says you need a 600W PSU, you don't. No single card setup needs more than a good 550W PSU, that's including overclocking everything.

The Superflower HX550W Golden Green is a compact non-modular PSU, which is very good:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...0-plus-gold-power-supply-black-ca-003-sf.html

The 390s tend to be quite long cards. The XFX is 29.5cm long. It may be worth you measuring how much room you have for the graphics card as I'm having trouble finding any detailed internal dimensions for your case.

EDIT: Just visited the competitors website. Apparently that case will accept a 390/390X just fine. Personally, I'd check to be sure - I don't always trust online configurators.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...nze-power-supply-cp-9020048-uk-ca-048-cs.html

I was thinking this may be a good alternative? The Corsair CX600w Basically no size difference to my current PSU and would more than be able to handle a new GPU. Also is there another GPU you could recommend in case?

Borealis · 24 May 2016 at 20:59

Instead of the CX600W Bronze-rated unit, I recommend you spend another £2 on either the Superflower HX550W Golden Green or the Antec Truepower Classic 550W. They're more efficient units and have better internal components than the Corsair unit.

The CX600 is a 600W PSU, but can only output 554W on the 12V rail where you need it the most. Almost 50W of the rated output isn't available on the 12V rail.

The Superflower can output 546W on the 12V rail and the Antec can output 540W on the 12V rail. As you can see, for another £2 you get better efficiency and performance. Warranty is 5 years on the Superflower/Antec and 3 years on the Corsair.

GPU-wise, the 390s are all quite big. The Gigabyte G1 Gaming seems to be slightly smaller though at around 25cm according to the Gigabyte website. I'm not familiar with the 390s in terms of performance. With 8GB VRAM though, it should last a while. At £270-300 it's very good value. That budget would get you a GTX970, which only has 4GB VRAM.

Quartz · 24 May 2016 at 21:29

You should wait for the GTX 1070. You won't need a new PSU if you get one. Your 7700 has a TDP of 95W and the GTX 1070 is expected to have a TDP of 150W, for a total of 245W, leaving headroom of 105W for everything else. So you'll easily manage it on your current 350W PSU, though overclocking would be out of the question. That said, I really would suggest you get a higher quality PSU as the Corsair VS is in the bottom tier of decent PSUs. It's still vastly better than the no-name Chinese danger-boxes.

Borealis · 24 May 2016 at 21:49

Quartz said:
That said, I really would suggest you get a higher quality PSU as the Corsair VS is in the bottom tier of decent PSUs. It's still vastly better than the no-name Chinese danger-boxes.

Depending on the OPs budget, then yes a 1070 could be an option. I agree there are way worse PSUs out there than the VS series, CiT and Ace spring to mind. (the Ace review is a good laugh)

For reference, the VS350 can output 300W on the 12V rail.