Looking for some advice upgrading my CPU and GPU

Ryan McKenzie · 8 Apr 2017 at 20:50

Hi guys!

I am looking for some advice when it comes to potentially upgrading my CPU and GPU. I have around £200-250 that I can put towards upgrades and am not expecting to get anything super special. I am a casual gamer who enjoys playing games like Overwatch, PlayerUnknown's BG, Witcher 3, etc. I am completely open to any suggestions of better options for CPUs and GPUs for me.

My current setup:

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P - 5.0 - motherboard - micro ATX - Socket AM3+ - AMD 760G
Graphics Card - GeForce GTX 660
CPU - AMD FX 4100 Quad-Core (95Watt)
RAM - Kingston HyperX Genesis 16Gb DDR3
PSU - Corsair CX430

Items I am looking at:

Graphics Card Options
- MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB OC GDDR5
- MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G 4 GB GDDR5
- Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1050Ti WF2 OC 4GB GDDR5
- EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti SC (Superclock) GAMING 4 GB GDDR5

CPU
- AMD FX 8350 Black Edition "Vishera" (125Watt) = £125.89

I have been looking at a number of potential items but I still have a few questions.

Can my motherboard support a 125watt processor (I think it can), and will my PSU handle the new GPU and CPU options I am looking at?

Are the components I have chosen all compatible with my current setup?

What is the better GPU out of the 4 I have chosen and are they good cards for around the £140 mark?

Any help would be awesome, thanks!

Ryan McKenzie · 8 Apr 2017 at 22:04

Thanks for the fast reply and advice!

Looks like the AMD FX-8320E Black Edition 8 Core CPU might be a better option for my motherboard.

Any idea of the best GPU I can get for around £100-150?

Ryan McKenzie · 8 Apr 2017 at 22:39

Yeah I play at 1080p preferably.

When it comes to picking a 1050ti for example, what is best to consider? the ones I have listed on my main post, is there a GPU that is say "the better one"?

I am new to this so thanks for helping out.

Ryan McKenzie · 9 Apr 2017 at 08:32

Ah okay that's an idea. I have never oc'd before but am sure i can manage that, will my processor be stable when clocking it at say 4.5?

Also the temp may be higher so better cooling like you say may be a good shout. Put new thermal paste and cooling gear on. Any coolers you recommend?

Is getting the new processor a bad option? I want more juice and would love more stability and higher consistent fps when gaming.

Switching from an nvidea gpu will mean un installing nvidea drivers and installing new ones I guess?

Again, cheers for the help!

Ryan McKenzie · 9 Apr 2017 at 12:21

Cool! This is awesome, thanks for the help!

I will try oc'ing my current CPU and see how that works out. I will look around for a CPU cooler and GPU like you guys suggested.

Currently I have a 250gb SSD and 1tb HDD.

Hoping to run games with no frame issues and on reasonable graphics quality. I am not looking to build a completely new PC for at least another 2 years, so i dont mind spending £200-250 so i guess i have a decent amount to play with for a small upgrade.

Thanks for taking time to help a newbie out!

Ryan McKenzie · 9 Apr 2017 at 14:08

Okay so I can go for these upgrades:

CPU - AMD FX 4100 Quad-Core *Overclocked* (My current CPU)

CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Air

GPU - Radeon RX 480 Nitro 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express RGB or Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 1060 WF2 3GB GDDR5 PCI-E

I should be able to achieve these upgrades easily under my £250 budget.

Cheers! Looking forward to getting these installed.

Ryan McKenzie · 9 Apr 2017 at 18:43

I am willing to give oc'ing a go and see how I get on but I am just wondering about how long I will get out of my CPU once oc'd.
Instead of oc'ing and purchasing a new CPU cooler, would buying a better CPU be less hassle and more stable?

pastymuncher said:
bad idea to fit a FX8000 series cpu in that board

So say I was looking to go for a new CPU, I would not be able to use the AMD FX-8320E comfortably in my board?

mickyflinn said:
http://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-78LMT-S2P-rev-5x#support-cpu

^ This link Mickyflinn posted seems to think my board can handle the AMD FX-8320E.

I am not trying to go against what you guys are saying I am just wondering if upgrading the CPU will be more reliable and last me in the long run, especially since Pastymuncher mentioned my boards VRM.

Even if I have to borrow a little bit money from my parents initially I could get these although over budget:

CPU - AMD FX-8320E Black Edition 8 Core

CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Air

GPU - Radeon RX 480 Nitro 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express RGB

Would this be a good option if i push it, or do you think just go with my original CPU (oc'd) with new cooler and get a GPU I want?

Thanks for all the input and time to help me out guys, I am pretty much good to go now i reckon! Not knowing about this stuff has been tough but you have made it way more comfortable