I want to upgrade my hardware on a budget.

Drake5

Drake5

Drake5

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2005
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My current system is an i3 530, 8GB RAM, 550w ocz psu and a 560gtx ti.

I haven't used it for gaming in a while however I've started to play TF2 and I'm disappointed that that the system is showing a slowdown when there's lots of action. Dipping down to about 30fps.

I want to upgrade but I don't want to massively upgrade or spend lots of money. I wouldn't want to go anymore than £400 and I may also consider getting some parts from the MM.

What suggestions do you guys have? I won't need new RAM, hdd or a PSU. I will need a new case also as the one I have now is in bad shape.

Cheers
 
A second hand i5 (must be 1156 socket) and a GPU upgrade to something like a 270X would do the trick and be within budget hopefully
 
I much appreciate the suggestions guys however one of the CPU pins on my motherboard is bent so I'd be looking for a new motherboard to.

If I was to go for a 2nd hand bundle (Mobo + CPU) what should I be looking for?
 
If I did want to do it a bit cheaper, is there anything I could get for around £150? (I don't need or want an amazing board because I won't be overclocking).

Cheers
 
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Never really understood how AMD CPU's are so.... bad for what their specs claim to be. You'd think an octo-core CPU would be beast but no
 
pastymuncher said:
You could get a second hand 2500k and Z77 board for around £150 in the MM. No chance of straightening the bent pin?
Click to expand...

The 2500k and Z77 sounds like a good idea. For now I've just stripped the i3 3220 from my media PC along with the mobo so I'm using that at the moment.

Hopefully it runs TF2 a bit better than the i3 530 (I've been told that TF2 is very CPU dependent.)

Cheers
 
2500k's go for sround £90-100 and usually sell pretty quick. Worth keeping a eye out for is the 3570k. Two have recently sold in the MM for £110 and £120.

A decent Z77 mobo would be £50 and up.

There's a guy here selling a Asrock Z77 Pro4 for £60 delivered although he has already said he would do it for £55.
 
Wow... The i3 3220 runs TF2 amazingly. I can ramp all of the settings up and have a constant 60FPS... It's made a massive difference!

Is the i3 530 really that much slower than the i3 3220?
 
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Was the 530 at stock or overclocked? They were awesome clockers and most hit around 4.2Ghz easily enough. I would have thought one at that speed would be more or less on a par with a 3220.
 
There was your problem. They were excellent clockers and if i remember right OCUK were doing 4.2Ghz and 4.4Ghz bundles when they came out.
 
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