I come bearing a challenge! (Upgrading computer... :D)

Bilbocard

Bilbocard

Bilbocard

Associate
Joined
18 Jul 2011
Posts
265
Hello community of Overclockers!
Almost a year and a half ago you helped me to build my computer. The advice and help I received was of professional quality, and clearly delivered. I am so grateful for what you have done, I have returned with another challenge of epic proportions! Forget dragons and zombies, your challenge is to help an idiot upgrade his computer...

I am doing this because games are beginning to lag even on the medium settings :(

The budget challenge is £300-£400, good luck!

My current specifications look like this:
-FX-4100 Quad Core 3.6GHz processor
-Asus M5A78L-M LX Motherboard
-2x DDR3 Dual-Channel - PC3-10666 RAM (1333MHz)
-nVidia GeForce GTX 550Ti Graphics Card
-320 GB Internal Hard Drive
-1 TB External Hard Drive
-Some disc tray...
-I do not have an SSD :(

Thank you in advance brave heroes of Overclockers!
I am now going to retire to my nerdy corner,
Billy
 
Doomedspeed said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99
Total : £257.38 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Click to expand...

Dang it! I just bought Far Cry 3 xD
I guess I could just sell it on...

Thank you for your contribution, they look like solid enough components. If nothing else is suggested I will probably get these.

Fire_fly said:
What games are you playing?

+1 to the WF 7850.
Click to expand...

Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2, etc...
 
no overclock on the cpu? as that will help new fan only needed so quite cheap

video card upgrade

and as above a sdd will help, but maybe also a fresh install of windows as old system shouldn't be that slow either
 
Bilbocard said:
Dang it! I just bought Far Cry 3 xD
I guess I could just sell it on...

Thank you for your contribution, they look like solid enough components. If nothing else is suggested I will probably get these.
Click to expand...

Ill have it :)

They are, and if you sell your 550ti, i'd of only cost you about £200... :)

EDIT: as Zakk Said Overclock that CPU.. If you need a cooler:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 High Performance Quiet CPU Cooler(Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £29.99
Total : £35.96 (includes shipping : £4.98).

 
zakblood said:
no overclock on the cpu? as that will help new fan only needed so quite cheap

video card upgrade

and as above a sdd will help, but maybe also a fresh install of windows as old system shouldn't be that slow either
Click to expand...

I have tried OCing the CPU before, but it goes all crazy xD

VC upgrade is probably what I will do

I will be fresh installing Windows 7 with the new components, so maybe I should get a new internal HDD? Like a 1 TB one?

Doomedspeed said:
Ill have it :)

They are, and if you sell your 550ti, i'd of only cost you about £200... :)
Click to expand...

Where should I sell the 550Ti, on the OC forums in that thingymebob subforum?

Also it is a reassurance that you have the card :)
 
i3 2120/2100 would have been better (Pretty much the same price 'n all) since you didn't OC the CPU, then switched out for an i5 now, which stock for stock is a better gamer than an FX8320.

But, can't change the past, the FX8320 would definitely be in my list with Doomed's parts at 400.
Although I might compromise on the SSD for a 7870 LE.
 
Martini1991 said:
i3 2120/2100 would have been better (Pretty much the same price 'n all) since you didn't OC the CPU, then switched out for an i5 now, which stock for stock is a better gamer than an FX8320.

But, can't change the past, the FX8320 would definitely be in my list with Doomed's parts at 400.
Although I might compromise on the SSD for a 7870 LE.
Click to expand...

I am a time traveller, so I can if you want me to...

I will probably get the FX-8130

Can I have a link to the VC you compromise the SSD for?

Thanks for the help :)
 
Martini1991 said:
Don't get the FX8130, get the FX8320.

FX81XX denotes Bulldozer 8 core.
FX83XX denotes Pildedriver 8 core.

Piledriver is superior.

And the GPU ; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-312-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
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WAIT A MINUTE I wrote FX-8320 not 8130 ARGHHHHHHHH I look so stupid...

Thanks for the link, please don't think I'm stupid, I'm not, I promise... please...

P.S. I'm so stupid I wrote a processor that OC don't even sell...
 
Is it worth keeping the SSD? Or will it not affect the performance by much?

Also, SSD or bigger HDD?

Sapphire HD 7870 XT 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW)
 
Does your case support ATX motherboards? If so you could do something like this if you sell your current setup and the free games. Then you could add a SSD and a cooler if you decide to o/c later.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £461.95 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Bilbocard said:
Is it worth keeping the SSD? Or will it not affect the performance by much?

Also, SSD or bigger HDD?

Sapphire HD 7870 XT 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail
Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW)
Click to expand...

Compromise on SSD, not get better GPU instead of an SSD.
64GB SATA III for about 60 ish, and sell your bottom for 20 quid to make up the extra.

How much RAM do you have?
 
Last edited:
Martini1991 said:
Compromise on SSD, not get better GPU instead of an SSD.
64GB SATA III for about 60 ish, and sell your bottom for 20 quid to make up the extra.
Click to expand...

You want me to sell my own bottom for £20?
I knew times were tough... but I didn't think you'd tell me to do prostitution :O

Martini1991 said:
How much RAM do you have?
Click to expand...
4GB (2x2GB)

lee32uk said:
Does your case support ATX motherboards? If so you could do something like this if you sell your current setup and the free games. Then you could add a SSD and a cooler if you decide to o/c later.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £35.99
Total : £461.95 (includes shipping : FREE).

Click to expand...

A lot of people seem to be putting the 7850 and 7870 forward, but changing out my entire MoBo and CPU would need more thought on my part...
 
When you're struggling in games, is your CPU maxed out (either all cores, or a single core?). What's your memory usage at the same point?

If you're not maxing your CPU (or a single core in the case of single threaded games), and have memory to spare, then you don't need to overclock/upgrade your CPU yet. If you are maxing the CPU, then you're probably bottlenecking your graphics card.

Looking at it, it's likely that your GPU is causing the problems - the 550 falls a bit short when it comes to FarCry 3 etc, whereas a 3.6gHz quad shouldn't be close to struggling yet.

IMO, check the CPU+RAM usage when games are struggling. Assuming it's neither CPU or GPU, get the card recommended. If the CPU/RAM are struggling, you'll need a heftier upgrade (although with £3-400 and the ability to sell the old components, you'll still easily be able to afford it)

Don't buy the SSD just yet. It's a really nice upgrade to have, but other than loading times it doesn't affect gaming too much. The last thing you want to do is buy an SSD then realise that you'd really prefer to have that £90 towards CPU/RAM/Motherboard. Get the gaming right first - if the GPU solves your gaming problems then by all means buy an SSD.
 
Bilbocard said:
You want me to sell my own bottom for £20?
I knew times were tough... but I didn't think you'd tell me to do prostitution :O

A lot of people seem to be putting the 7850 and 7870 forward, but changing out my entire MoBo and CPU would need more thought on my part...
Click to expand...

£20 is pretty cheap, i'm sure you could make more...(not much though)

I think, for you, in your situation the 8350 and 7850 or 7870 XT (which is basically a 7950) + and SSD would be the best thing you could do..

the 8350 and 3570k are pretty simular, may be the i5's a bit better but it's more hassle to upgrade...

Martini1991 said:
Which numbskull told you to buy an FX4100?
Get the parts Doomed has listed along with an FX8320.
Click to expand...

@Martin1991: I've been reading his old thread :) No one told him to get a 4100, they were suggesting i3's and pentiums.. Though one guy helped him pick a AM3+ Motherboard. :)
 
If I was doing an upgrade for someone on your parts, and they'd never used an SSD before and didn't care for an SSD, Lee's upgrade would be pretty much what I'd do, however I'd have never put someone on an FX4100 in the first place.

But since you're on AM3+ and Piledriver isn't that bad, at 130-140 quid, an FX8320 over your FX4100 isn't a bad upgrade, sure in gaming the i5 will consistently be ahead, but you'd be at the limits of a 7850, whereas a 7870 LE and FX8320 with SSD would yield the greater gaming and usability.

Doomedspeed said:
@Martin1991: I've been reading his old thread :) No one told him to get a 4100, they were suggesting i3's and pentiums.. Though one guy helped him pick a AM3+ Motherboard. :)
Click to expand...

I had a look through the threads, and couldn't see a build one, I saw him ask about a 2600 and FX8100 though in August 2011 which I posted in.
 
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