Help spec UPGRADE to gaming machine.

djinuk2014

djinuk2014

djinuk2014

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12 Nov 2014
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6
Hi Guys ,

Im after some potential upgrade advice, please bear with me as its been a while since i became involved in any pc hardware.

My current system is
Lynnfield i5 750 cpu with a H20 corsair cooler 1556
gigabyte p55a ud4 mobo
Sapphire Hd5850 gfx card
2x 2gb ddr 3 corsair 1333 ram
run of the mill sata drive.
650 corsair psu

Im feeling the systems currently dropping behind the times, its used for gaming however a few games are now struggling, in particular the new COD and a few other fps once they become busy.

Ive thought about a bigger power supply and cross fire two hd5850 cards, 8gb of some form of ram however im very much out the loop and would appreciate any advice.
 
would like to keep it reasonable really, im not chasing figures purely wish to improve the machine, an upgrade list in order of efficiency would be great, its an old machine now but cost me quite a bit at time of building, it does 80% of what id like.
 
Don't bother going crossfire on the 5850...1GB vram isn't enough for modern games anyway, unless with lots of things turned down.

Depending on your budget...you could upgrade to a 280x or 290/290x or the GTX970. For most part you system is still fine, but you'd want to add 4GB more memory, and overclock your i5 750 to may be around 4.00GHz or little higher. Don't look down on your i5 750...it is may be an aged system, but it is still very capable.

I myself came from a 5850 to the 290x, and it was a huge upgrade (it is like 3-4 times the speed...if not more of the 5850).
 
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Thanks for the advice, Off the top of my head Im sure i overclocked my cpu to around 3.6/3.8ghz but would have to check,

Any advice on what ram would be best suited? , would it be worthwhile putting 2x8gb sticks in.

Will my psu cope with a better graphics card such as the 290x
 
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Just 8 GB is enough, if your just gaming to be honest.

Comes in with -£30 off the GPU as well as 4 free games with the code "XFX290PROMO" (the price below includes the discount). Added slightly faster RAM as well that is even cheaper. But the Avexir is bling.

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDFD) £229.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.99
Total : £269.58 (includes shipping : £8.00 & the promocode).



IMO the XFX 290 is a deal to good to turn down, pretty much bar performance with the 970 (as least I think so), just not as power efficient.

Might be blind and you've already mentioned that you have one, but an SSD would make everything nice and smooth:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £154.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Crucial MX100 128GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT128MX100SSD1) £54.98
Total : £299.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
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Just about to order

1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDFD) £229.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.99

just to confirm is that definatly the best memory for my cpu/mobo combo.. ive no idea what memory to use etc.

just had a look at my mobo spec and it dosent look like it will support the 2666mhz

'

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 2200/1600/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
Support for non-ECC memory modules
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules '
 
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djinuk2014 said:
Just about to order

1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDFD) £229.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.99

just to confirm is that definatly the best memory for my cpu/mobo combo.. ive no idea what memory to use etc.

just had a look at my mobo spec and it dosent look like it will support the 2666mhz

'

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 2200/1600/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
Support for non-ECC memory modules
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules '
Click to expand...

The RAM should be fine, will just run at a slower speed (but you should be able to 'overclock' it up to the 2666MHz.

Also I'd go for the GTX 970... It works out around the same price as the 290 if you sell the game code. Plus it will be a lot quieter (I have just upgraded from an XFX 7950 DD - loud cooler), more efficient and run cooler :)

Comparison here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1068?vs=1355
 
tbh, imo, i'd get this instead:

YOUR BASKET
1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDFD) £199.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
2 x TeamGroup Elite 2GB (1x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Single Channel Module (TED32GM1600C1101) £14.99 (£29.98)
Total : £309.96 (includes shipping : ).



just a wee bit above £300 (inc shipping and 4 free games with code XFX290PROMO)
as your board supports 4 dimms, rather than discarding your current 2x2gb, just get another 2x2gb sticks for £30 rather than a new set of 2x4gb for £60
and a ssd for os/apps/games
 
hellarda said:
Also I'd go for the GTX 970... It works out around the same price as the 290 if you sell the game code. Plus it will be a lot quieter (I have just upgraded from an XFX 7950 DD - loud cooler), more efficient and run cooler :)
Click to expand...

you say that as if the 290 doesn't come with game codes, when actually the codes from the 290 are worth £60-70!

and the xfx 290 coolers are different from the double dissipation of the 79xx iirc, so they should be better in the noise department.
 
I was thinkinking about just running another 2x2gb sticks, does it matter if its a diffrent brand/speed ?

I ordered the 1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB last night so thats on its way, just a question of the memory.

The Ssd ill probably order after xmas as ive just purchased 2 cars :rolleyes:
 
djinuk2014 said:
I was thinkinking about just running another 2x2gb sticks, does it matter if its a diffrent brand/speed ?
Click to expand...

i think going the 2x2 gb route would be a better option as i outlined in my previous post. and no, it doesn't matter if it's a different brand/speed. the ram will run at the lowest speed of the 4 sticks
 
i second the get two more 2gb sticks, since if you upgrade in the future 1-2years down the line? you'll probably want DDR4 ram anyhow.
 
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