Pocket Money upgrade question

WYNIR0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:38

Hi all, been a while since I posted...

Just built one of my sons a modest gaming rig out of spare parts I had following an upgrade to my own system.

His main interest is in playing GTA V at 1080p, which this system can do after a fashion.

The system I've built him has :

AMD Phenom II 1045t CPU (6core 2.7Ghz)
RADEON 5850 GFX 1GB
6 GB RAM.

He's already looking at what he can save his pocket money toward to provide budget upgrades. The current mobo will only take Phenom chips as a max but I have another I could swap out which will take the FX Range.

So what I'd like some advice on is should he upgrade the CPU (thinking to a FX 8320) or the GFX card first?

Any advice appreciated, if he needs to look GFX 1st, what 2GB minimum card will give him a noticeable boost for £150?

Thanks!

andicole0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:44

You'd be looking at a GTX970 or an R9 270 depending on preference for that price.

I'd be looking at saving for a bit longer and getting a 4GB card though, get him to wash your car a few times :-)

Andi.

spoffle · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:45

If your son is getting pocket money, he ain't old enough for GTA 5.

spoffle · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:45

andicole0 said:
You'd be looking at a GTX970 or an R9 270 depending on preference for that price.

I'd be looking at saving for a bit longer and getting a 4GB card though, get him to wash your car a few times

Andi.

A 970 and a 270 are nowhere near comparable.

WYNIR0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:56

spoffle said:
If your son is getting pocket money, he ain't old enough for GTA 5.

Thanks for your parenting advice. Any input on the CPU / GPU issue?

pastymuncher · 7 Jul 2015 at 09:03

What motherboard is it? What make and model psu does he have? The gpu would give the biggest immediate boost.

WYNIR0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 09:06

pastymuncher said:
What motherboard is it? What make and model psu does he have? The gpu would give the biggest immediate boost.

Current is a ASROCk N68C-S UCC but I can swap it out for a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 which has better CPU support.

Can't remember the PSU model but it's a 500w Antec.

andicole0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 11:21

spoffle said:
A 970 and a 270 are nowhere near comparable.

They are price wise ;-)

Which was the specification. You could get either for £150.

Andi.

spoffle · 7 Jul 2015 at 11:29

andicole0 said:
They are price wise Which was the specification. You could get either for £150.

Andi.

A GTX970 for £150?

Mr Badger · 7 Jul 2015 at 11:34

andicole0 said:
You'd be looking at a GTX970 or an R9 270 depending on preference for that price.

andicole0 said:
They are price wise Which was the specification. You could get either for £150.

Andi.

Are you sure you mean the 970 and not the 960 for £150?

andicole0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 13:44

Sorry my bad GTX960 of course.

Andi.

Depressed Monk · 7 Jul 2015 at 13:55

If your happy to go second hand, you can pick up a 290x for less than £150

David Bisset · 7 Jul 2015 at 14:05

andicole0 said:
You'd be looking at a GTX970 or an R9 270 depending on preference for that price.

I'd be looking at saving for a bit longer and getting a 4GB card though, get him to wash your car a few times

Andi.

As well as the 970 being actually the 960 as pointed out, the 270 should probably read 380 being the AMD offering around the £150 mark.

WYNIR0 · 7 Jul 2015 at 15:12

Thanks all, so there seems to be agreement that GFX is the way to go 1st of all??

Given that he'll take a couple of months at least to save the required cash it's probably I take a look closer to the time in the hope that some of the even more capable cards have dropped to around £150 by then.