Need a bit of advice on upgrading.

ben1191 · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:34

Is my PSU and that type of board sufficient to overclock?what am i likely going to be able to OC it too?

RJC · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:27

Your PSU will be ok but go with the motherboard I specced in post 16, has cooling on the chipset which powers the cpu.

Quick low down on the board:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ASUS-M5A97-R20-Motherboard/1772/9

Ripshod · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:30

Just want to point out the antec vp550p is a dual-rail, and antec themselves describe it as 'entry-level' and 'value'. Just in case it was missed.

ben1191 · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:42

its lasted me a good year or 2 and a few months running the 7950,whats the difference between dual rail and i presume theirs tripple rail or w/e

stulid · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:46

ben1191 said:
This is what ive selected at the moment
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-054-ZA
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-337-AM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-597-AS
im not sure how to post it like you did

That board is inadequate, these are what i would suggest,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
Total : £164.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

You need VRM heatsinks around the socket.

Ripshod · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:48

Single rail is the way. If you was to upgrade the GPU later you'll probably run into further problems. I've helped peeps who've RMA'd cards twice but still had the same problem, usualy instant shutdowns. If you could guarantee a good balance between the rails you may get away with it. But they just prove problematic with the newer hardware and the higher draw on the 12V that comes with it.

I stay away from 'value', but that's just a personal preference (I don't trust)

ben1191 · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:53

Maybe ill leave the upgrade for another time then,i cant afford to upgrade practicly everything in my pc lol.Whats the difference between the other board stulid?

Ripshod · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:55

I don't want to put you off at all. I just wanted to point out a possible pit-fall. I even explained that with a good balance you may get away with it.

*edit*

I'm sure someone will jump in and say I'm talking utter rubbish!!

RJC · 7 Mar 2014 at 22:58

Review of your PSU:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Antec/VP550P/9.html

The board which Stulid and one I posted in post 16 have cooling on the VRM's which feed the CPU.

stulid · 7 Mar 2014 at 23:04

ben1191 said:
Maybe ill leave the upgrade for another time then,i cant afford to upgrade practicly everything in my pc lol.Whats the difference between the other board stulid?

Simply put the Asus EVO R2.0 as you can see from the pics have VRM heatsinks around the CPU, the FX chips draw lots of power and you need good cooling on the part of the board that feeds this power to keep the CPU from throttling.

ben1191 · 7 Mar 2014 at 23:22

Ah right,ive found the board for £65 although with the added shipping its pretty pointless getting it seperate from another site.I guess ill give it a couple of weeks before i make a decision.I always take ages to choose something when it comes to my pc because theres so many different options and potention pros/cons