Old to new. Is anything compatible?

Dilithium

Dilithium

Dilithium

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Joined
23 Mar 2015
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5
Hello people,

I realise, looking at this sub-forum that this question appears a lot, but all the systems are different. So...

I've recently started getting more into UE4 project creation. Nothing huge. I'm an animator. So, just interested in getting my stuff moving about (for now, anyway. My graphics card, I presume, is starting to show it's age and was hoping to upgrade my current machine bit-by-bit. It is: -

AMD phenom II Black x3 720 3.3Ghz
Gigabyte MA790gpt-ud3h motherboard
6 Gig Memory
GeForce 9800GT (1 gig gfx memory version)
Win 7 Home Premium

I was hoping to swap out the card first and add a GeForce 960 GTX or a 970.

Q. Will this card fit my current board without having to buy anything else with it?

Q. Or do I really need to start with Motherboard, processor, memory and GFX card all at once?

I don't think my PC is _that_ miserable. It runs photoshop and 3DS Max/Maya and UDK fine. Just UE4 is really starting to test its oomph!

Thanks.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

Dilithium said:
I was hoping to swap out the card first and add a GeForce 960 GTX or a 970.
Click to expand...

There are great deals on GTX 770 and 780 Ti till remaining stocks run out. The 770 is faster than the 960. The 780Ti is more or less equal to a 970 (actually slightly faster if both are at stock Nvidia speeds) and slightly cheaper. But the better deal is the 770 compared to 960.


Dilithium said:
Q. Will this card fit my current board without having to buy anything else with it?
Click to expand...

That depends on your case and the particular size of the card you buy. They differ.

Dilithium said:
Q. Or do I really need to start with Motherboard, processor, memory and GFX card all at once?
Click to expand...

No, video card first. But you do need to see which PSU you have first (make and exact model). As well as measure the space for the card in your case.
 
Thanks. I'll have a look after work. I bought the system from you (I presume you are an OC employee) a good few years back. So, I might even still be on your records. Though, I'm not posting my full name and address on a forum.

Regards.
 
Is your ram ddr2 or ddr3?

you will have to upgrade the cpu and motherboard together, and if the ram is ddr3, you could carry that over to the new build, but if its ddr2, you will need new ram.

Graphics card can be upgraded before or after. As long as it fits in your case, then it will be compatible with your old / new stuff.
 
Dilithium said:
Thanks. I'll have a look after work. I bought the system from you (I presume you are an OC employee) a good few years back. So, I might even still be on your records. Though, I'm not posting my full name and address on a forum.

Regards.
Click to expand...

I'm not an OcUK employee. I just like hardware and this forum, like many here who help out.

You can always post in the Customer Service forum, which can only be seen by some OcUK staff and yourself.
 
OK. Thanks. The way the current price Vs. specs were written, I assumed you were all employess.

I've took some photo's and written down some numbers. Here goes: -

My PSU specs:


My memory specs and type - DDR3



How close my current GFX card is to my HDD


My ATX case has (roughly) the following dimensions: -
Width - 170mm
Height - 410mm
Depth - 450mm
The heatsink and fan on my CPU is an aftermarket thing. I was told I'd need something a bit heftier, as I've overclocked the CPU from 2.8 Ghz to 3.3Ghz

My current card is 225mm in length and 100mm wide, not including the connector pins/edge



Regards.
 
Age considering you'd be better off replacing that PSU, as it not one of the known reliable makes... Particularly poor ones tend to fry components when they give in.

It should be able to power a modern graphics card, as long as you take care not to overload any of the 4 rails, so it is up to you.

You could fit one of the ITX size 960/970 GTX cards or R9 285 Compact. But I'd replace the case and get a full size card: I expect more noise from these as they have to use smaller coolers.

There are nice cases around which have a more thought out design for placing components, so they don't interfere as much and don't cost that much.
 
new boy said:
"powerful & extremely silence" doesn't inspire confidence.
Click to expand...

LOL! :-) I thought that, too. I _did_ buy it from OC, though.

Things is, though... When I first bought the system, I bought a Corsair PSU because I was told it was good quality. It lasted about six months before it went pop. When I tried to get it swapped under warranty, Corsair said, "Sure. Just send the broken one back to us." The postage was going to cost me something like £40 to send the old one back which pi55ed me off no end. That's why I bought this one. This one has been running ever since and not missed a beat.
 
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Some corsair PSUs are good, some not so good. up to 12 months the retailer should deal with the return on your behalf.
 
It looks a bit dusty, perhaps a quick dustoff? especially cpu heatsink. What are your cpu temperatures? use 'HWMonitor'. Doesn't look like youve got a lot of airflow going in that case. Might be worth a gradual upgrade, such as case and psu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide Series 100R Silent Edition Mid-Tower PC Case - Black £44.99
Total : £114.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



As far as clearance of your GPU & HDD, are you able to move the HDD, up or down? to gain clearance?
 
That HDD can be moved. You won't have trouble with most GPUs.

I too would replace the PSU with a modern modular one. I'd also replace the case to improve the cooling.
 
You sure you have 6gb ram? Looks from your pictures you only have 2 x 2gb sticks of a 6gb (3 x 2gb) kit installed?

If you're not planning on replacing the case yet you might want to fit a couple of 80mm fans to the rear mounts. Might get a wee bit toasty if the only thing pushing the hot bair from your case is the psu fan! :eek:
 
I don't see what's wrong with that PSU to be honest, as long as it works I wouldn't worry about it.

Also you don't need to change your motherboard or anything just yet. As for graphics card something like this Asus GeForce GTX 750Ti 2048MB GDDR5 is good, only £115 from Overclockers and doesn't need a separate power supply which a lot of cards do these days.

A SSD and a fresh re-install will make things a lot faster, a new RAM kit to get you up to 8gb might be nice and you can take it with you when you do eventually upgrade the motherboard/cpu.

*edit* sorry, just looking at your RAM, three 2gb pieces of RAM for a 6gb kit? I don't think that will work in dual channel mode. Better off with 2x4gb, your machine only supports 1666mhz but I think if you get some cheap 1800mhz it will downclock then you can use it in your next motherboard later but best get somebody to confirm that.
 
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