Ideas for upgrade to AMD Phenom II X4 965 based system?

Temrael

Temrael

Temrael

Associate
Joined
22 May 2007
Posts
20
Hi guys,

Complete noob at this but have been frustrated by my PC's performance lately. It's ended up stupidly unbalanced through me giving better bits to the kids PCs (as they tend to game a bit more than I do, lucky buggers!).

Ok, so current spec...

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (recently OC'd very slightly)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3
RAM: 4Gb (2 x Cheap 2gb DDR3 1333)
Graphics: ATI Radeon x1950

I was considering keeping the CPU and mobo and buying...

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Graphics: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 650 Ti OC 2GB GDDR5


How does that look in terms of bang for buck? My aim is to give it a new lease of life for around £200. I know it's not going to suddenly become cutting edge at that sort of money but should allow me to game pretty happily, turning detail down on some newer games.

Ideally I'd have a bit of money left over as the airflow and cooling isn't great and I should probably look at a larger case and better CPU fan at the same time.

Any constructive thoughts on the above would be very welcome indeed. Any other hardware I should be considering? :)

Cheers,

Tem
 
Ram speed won't make a difference although having 4gb/8gb instead of 2gb is the norm these days.

Your cpu is fine tbh, i had a phenom II 955 last year with a gtx 680 and although there was some bottlenecking, i could still play games at 1080p on high settings (No AA of course or very little).

Also i would go for a AMD 7950 graphics card as it can be had for as little as £200 or less at some places. It out performs the 650Ti and will last you a lot longer.
 
Cheers for that Jay, there only seems to be about £8 in it between 8Gb of 12800 vs 10666 so probably not worth worrying too much.

The 7950 looks great but is about £80 more. I guess the dilema is whether to spend more now to make it last longer or spend a bit less and then do a bigger upgrade later. Decisions decisions. ;)

Tem
 
Temrael said:
Cheers for that Jay, there only seems to be about £8 in it between 8Gb of 12800 vs 10666 so probably not worth worrying too much.

The 7950 looks great but is about £80 more. I guess the dilema is whether to spend more now to make it last longer or spend a bit less and then do a bigger upgrade later. Decisions decisions. ;)

Tem
Click to expand...

1600mhz for ram is the sweet spot. Anything more and its pointless for gaming. I would invest in 8gb for future proofing although 4gb is alsp plenty.

If you dont want to buy brand new you could always go 2nd hand. Bare in mind you get 3 free game codes with some AMD graphics card purchase which you can sell on to make up some of the cost of the card.
 
Yeah, I think I might actually push the boat out and up the gpu to an AMD 7950. It's only money, right? ;)

For the case I might scrimp a bit though and go for the CoolerMaster Elite 430, will still be loads better than the case I have at the moment.

Any recomendations for a good cooler for the AMD Phenom II X4 965? The Zalman I have on at the moment runs pretty loud.

Tem
 
Temrael said:
Yeah, I think I might actually push the boat out and up the gpu to an AMD 7950. It's only money, right? ;)

For the case I might scrimp a bit though and go for the CoolerMaster Elite 430, will still be loads better than the case I have at the moment.

Any recomendations for a good cooler for the AMD Phenom II X4 965? The Zalman I have on at the moment runs pretty loud.

Tem
Click to expand...

It would be the wiser thing to do i think at this point in time unless something cheaper and better comes to light.

Cases i am unsure of, though i could look into later for you if its only aircooling you're looking at getting.

I will need to check the specs of that case to see what coolers fit too
 
The case looks fine, how much are you wanting to spend on cooling for your system?

Does the cooling include fans as well?
 
I still run a Phenom II 555BE in my HTPC, it unlocks to a quad so is closely related to your CPU. The Phenom II memory controller is rated at 1333Mhz, while I do have Kingston Genesis 1600Mhz RAM in the rig it is stepped down to 1333Mhz to help me overclock the CPU @4.1Ghz.

RAM prices are crazy at the moment. To be honest I would wait on the RAM till you want to do a mobo bundle upgrade and have free P&P (100 posts needed, I hope you are UK mainland). I personally wouldn't buy 1600Mhz as the faster kits are actually priced very close to them, unless of course there is a fantastic offer on. As you get a lifetime warranty with the RAM it really makes sense to get the best you can afford at the time.

If you are leaning to getting a 7950 maybe consider a 7870XT instead. It's cheaper than the "full fat" 7950 but with an overclock it will trade blows with a stock 7950. You can then use some of that cash you saved to get a case ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x **B Grade** BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Windowed Case - Black £39.95
Total : £243.40 (includes shipping : £11.25).



The Windowed Shinobi is B grade which makes it cheaper, there is only one in stock but £40 will bag you are pretty decent budget case. This just shows you can get a case and 7950 performance for the price of a 7950 if you are savvy :)
 
1600 is sweet spot fot Intel CPUs, or newest AMDs. Phenom II is still in 1333 epoque, so any RAM 1333 is fine, moreover some Phenom revisions had issues with 1333+ memory speed. 4 GB is fine, too - so I'd stay with this memory.

For 200 pounds I'd buy GPU only which is

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-099-GI&tool=3
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-109-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=2379
this one, if you wish to expand memory, or buy some SSD in the same time (try it, if you don't have one).
 
Thanks both, lots of great info there! :)

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I'm now not sure I necessarily need a case! I just re-did the thermal paste on my current cooler (Zalman CNPS10X Quiet) and experimented with rotating it round 180 degrees so that instead of blowing on the GPU (duh!) it blows at the intake fan for the PSU.

Seems to have dropped temps by about 8 degrees under load! :eek:

Tem
 
Temrael said:
Thanks both, lots of great info there! :)

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I'm now not sure I necessarily need a case! I just re-did the thermal paste on my current cooler (Zalman CNPS10X Quiet) and experimented with rotating it round 180 degrees so that instead of blowing on the GPU (duh!) it blows at the intake fan for the PSU.

Seems to have dropped temps by about 8 degrees under load! :eek:

Tem
Click to expand...

The Gigabyte 7870 is NOT a Tahiti core like the 7870 I used. Go with my suggestion not only because it is cheaper but it's also the better GPU.

That's good you have dropped your temps but it does sound like you have an "old skool" case with the PSU mounted at the top. Pretty much all modern cases now have the PSU mounted at the bottom where it's cooler. More modern cases also have 120mm fans which shift more air and rule of thumb is the larger the fan the quieter it is.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £236.44 (includes shipping : £11.25).



Cheaper retail case. Still has USB3 and comes with dual 120mm fans fitted. If you want to keep your case then fair dos but please check the max length allowed before ordering a GPU.
 
I've got a 965 running on what is by today's standards a pretty ancient AM2+ setup with DDR2 1066. Dropping in a 7850 was a good decision for me as I was running a 4830 for a long time. So with your proposed upgrades I think you'll be pleased with the end result especially going from a x1950. Good luck!
 
Temrael said:
Thanks both, lots of great info there! :)

I'm slightly embarrassed to say I'm now not sure I necessarily need a case! I just re-did the thermal paste on my current cooler (Zalman CNPS10X Quiet) and experimented with rotating it round 180 degrees so that instead of blowing on the GPU (duh!) it blows at the intake fan for the PSU.

Seems to have dropped temps by about 8 degrees under load! :eek:

Tem
Click to expand...

Just to be safe; what wattage power supply do you have? Need to make sure it's capable of powering your new GPU when you get it.

Ideally you want the cooler to be positioned towards the rear exhaust fan (if you have one) but if the orientation of the Zalman doesn't allow it then perhaps a new case at some point would be a good thing. You don't really want hot air being exhausted through the PSU. In that case, try and get a case with a top-mounted fan. Or get a new cooler that allows warm air to be exhausted through the rear of the case and keep the case. I certainly wouldn't replace both case and cooler, there's no real point to it.
 
Last edited:
Cheers guys, I went ahead and splashed out on the 7950 and upped the RAM to 8GB. I'm finally able to play Borderlands 2 and got Bioshock Infinite and Crysis 3 as freebies which is awesome. :D

I'm sure I'm not going to be able to get away without investing in a new case and maybe some additional fans before too long though. My idle CPU temp is about 39 degrees and my GPU temp is 46 degrees. More of an annoyance though is the fan noise during games. :(

Probably best to show you a picture of the case...

img2099lj.jpg


Not a great pic, and things have changed a bit since then, but it gives you an idea of how crowded everything is I guess. The "little" graphics card shown here, has of course been replaced with the monster 7950 (fans blowing downward obviously) and I've rotated the CPU fan to blow upward into the 500w PSU. I needed to move the HDD down to accomodate the 7950 too.

Annoyingly, the clip on the Zalman CPU cooler only doesn't allow it to be orientated to blow towards the rear of the case (which I guess would be preferable), only up or down.

Basically whats the least amount of money I can spend to get this hardware cooler and quieter. I'm not really into designer cases with blingy lights, after something simple and understated (but effective obviously).

That Xigmatek Asgard Pro case that honosuseri posted looks like good value. Will that make a big difference on it's own, or would it be wise to look at a different CPU cooler at the same time? One that can be rotated to face the rear of the case?

Would I need any additional case fans or could I reuse the current Zalman case fan (see pic)?

In these newer (PSU at the bottom) cases won't that mean there will be hot air from the GPU blowing through the PSU? Which risky says isn't ideal?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks a lot to those who have helped so far.

Cheers,

Tem
 
What i would do is buy a new case but keep the old CPU cooler. That Xigmatek case can have top-mounted fans, which means you could leave the CPU cooler mounted as it is and it would throw the warm air upwards towards that top exhaust fan.

Which 7950 did you get? If it's got a reference cooler, that will expel most of the warm air from the GPU and out the case through the vents at the back of the card. If it's got an aftermarket cooler on it that warm air tends to get dumped in the case, but hot air rises, so it would find it's way out the case both through the rear exhaust fan and the top exhaust fan.

Because hot air rises, a bottom-mounted PSU would suck in very little, if any, warm air at all because the bottom of the case is usually cooler.

Get the case and maybe a couple of extra fans, depending on how many come with the case, and how much cooler you want the rig to be.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that. :)

Ok so the new case arrived and temps idle temps have dropped like 10 degrees, which is great. Also marvelous is that under load (in games) the fan noise no longer gets deafening. The fans and extra airflow are obviously keeping everything in check even when the system is busy.

The only minor niggle now is that, at idle, the fan noise is fairly noticeable/intrusive, I'm sure it's the two stock 120mm fans at the front and rear of the case. It's not awful, just a bit annoying. I don't think there is a way of throttling these 3pin fans back without a fan controller is there?

Failing that, presumably I could replace them with quieter 120mm fans? What's a really quiet, good value 120mm fan? No neon lights required. :)

Cheers,

Tem
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom