help upgrading low end gaming pc

njard

njard

njard

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14 Oct 2013
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12
Hi guys im new to the forum and was after some advice, I built this cheap gaming rig a while ago as my first attempt at building a pc, it has done me well but I now really want to upgrade it somewhat. below is what I am currently running, I was thinking of maybe swapping out the motherboard and processor for something better, maybe even the graphics card(either now or at a later date). would you guys say this would be the best move and is it even worth upgrading what I currently have?

My starting budget is around £200-250 and was thinking of buying a motherboard and processor then going from there at a later date, is this what I should be upgrading or would graphics card/complete new build be a better way to go?

Any suggestions are welcome as im not very clued up on all this, and want to set up for a better overall rig long term. thanks in advance for any help/ suggestions!:)




2.10 gigahertz AMD A6-3500 APU with Radeon HD Graphics (3CORE)

asus F1A55-M LX motherboard

ASUS GTX 550 Ti 1gb graphics card

2x 4gb ddr3 ram

580w power supply

1tb Seagate hard drive

I also have a case with fans/ cd drive and screen/ mouse ect.
 
its called a g7 power extreme, I got it in ****** so maybe not the best quality.


the budget is somewhat flexible if it or any other part would require changing.
 
FX6300 - £80
decent AM3+ MB - £80
decent cooler - £25
decent PSU - £60

£245

would be a good start, then, when you save up some more cash, just do the GPU and you're set.

or you can do it the other way. - GPU and PSU now and CPU and MB later.
 
TBH, with your current rig, it'll be a hard stretch to upgrade much as you'll probably need a platform upgrade to make any upgrade worthwhile
so i'd say save up some cash for now for a larger upgrade
 
Ok cool. So even the ram would want changing?

Also what do you guys mean by new platform?, also im not looking to go massivley high spec.
 
njard said:
Ok cool. So even the ram would want changing?

Also what do you guys mean by new platform?, also im not looking to go massivley high spec.
Click to expand...

Ram should be ok, you will have to check with the qvl of your new motherboard, maybe an i5 or fx 4 core build would suit your needs
 
right i feel a lot clearer now on what i need, thanks everyone for the advice (should have come here first time around).

Im going to keep the ram and HD for now and replace pretty much everything else, i can budget 500 now for that stuff but am unsure if i should wait, like i said i don't really want anything that high end i mostly play strategy games, dayz and lol, and am not happy with the fps i get currently.
 
hi guys, I've had a think and decided to just bite the bullet and start again, I'm going to work on a budget of 750 and have come up with this build from other threads I've seen of similar price, would this be ok? or is there a better way to spend?

Sapphire HD 7950 Boost 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-19-20G) £179.99

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99

Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99

Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £83.99

Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020048-UK) Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020048-UK) £59.99

Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £59.99

Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99

current total 718.02
 
The specs/components you've listed with your new budget look good to me.

Both a 550w (as njard suggested) or the 600w PSU will suffice to power your system.

If you don't mind me suggesting, you could save some money if you were to go with an AMD CPU and mobo, especially if you are going with the HD7950...

For example, check out this combo at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1455389

It includes the FX-8350 and the Asus Sabertooth 990FX motherboard (it's $354, about 220 pounds - I'm in the US by the way). These, combined with the HD7950 will run the latest games and should help you avoid having to upgrade down the line.
 
Sam, that combo here is over 300 quid (From OCUK)

Slightly more expensive than the 4670K and board (Although you can drop to an FX8320 and board) to save around 80 quid.
 
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