Single component upgrade - UPDATE [Solved]

GWillow

GWillow

GWillow

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Romney Marsh, Kent
Hi,

I built the following spec mostly 7 years ago, and, although it does what I ask of it, it does it slower now than I would like.

I tend to do general web surfing, I'm just getting into programming C#, some video rendering, watching Twitch and some gaming (Lord of the Rings online, Elite dangerous and some older race games (Grid), I'd also like to play Skyrim a little more ).

When watching Twitch I have to run in software rendering mode otherwise the stream stutters at 1080p. This obviously affects any gaming I may do at the same time (usually LotRO). I'm using the built in overclocking genie on the motherboard which helps a bit.

I'm guessing it's either an upgrade to the GPU or CPU. Which one would give me the best results. I'm looking at spending approx £200 - £250.

At some point in the future I would also like to upgrade the smaller monitor to a 27" (ish) screen (the eyes aren't as good as they used to be).

Here is what I currently have:
  • Coolermaster CM 690 ll Case
  • XFX 750W Black Edition Modular Power Supply
  • MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **
  • Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
  • Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
  • MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • Corsair XMS3 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
  • LiteOn IHAS324-32 24x DVDąRW ReWriter SATA
  • 1 * 480 Gb SSD (main boot drive)
  • Various smaller sized HDDs
  • Samsung S23A700D 23" 120Hz 3D Widescreen Gaming Monitor (1920 * 1080)
  • Samsung 2232 BW 22" monitor (1680 x 1050)
Thanks in advance for any help.
 

P4Clock

P4Clock

P4Clock

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get an i7 2600k and overclock the hell out of it

also the GPU will be holding you back a bit. anything 780ti/280x or newer would be a big jump for you.
 

Flubble

Flubble

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definitely the graphics card, cpu is fine, i built roughly the same spec years ago too but just had 8gb ram instead and it runs skyrim fine with a few mods too (nothing too heavy as it will ctd) with a graphics card upgrade

still running it today (i don't play new games though, got a ps4 now instead)
I5-2500k
8GB DDR3
R9 290X
 

GWillow

GWillow

GWillow

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Quick update,

I went for the RX580 (linked earlier) but the PC just will not boot when installed. Putting the old GPU back in and everything is fine again (the fans on the new GPU spin but not boot and yes, the power is plugged into it).

A little deeper reading suggests that I need to update the BIOS (I currently have v1.9 installed and need 4.x). I am totally failing at getting this done so far.

I've downloaded the right BIOS from the MSI website (at least, I think I have) and tried using the flashing tool built into the BIOS, this doesn't even find the ROM file on the Pendrive (I performed a backup of the existing BIOS and it finds this on the Pendrive though).

I've tried using the MSIHQ tool as well but this says it's updated successfully (albeit very quickly), but the BIOS stays as v1.9.

I'm now stuck in a "Inaccessible boot device" loop at start-up (I can get into Safe mode though)(*Update* apparently, "Bootres.dll is corrupt").

Think I might just give up and either try for a refund on the new GPU or bite the bullet and get a new MoBo and CPU (I'll start a new thread for that as I have no idea where to start).
 
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GWillow

GWillow

GWillow

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I've finally managed to get windows to boot up again although I had to do a windows reset to do it. Fortunately anything remotely important is backed up online.


As for the BIOS,

I've tried the latest BIOS (v4.3), downloaded through Chrome and also Opera, I've also tried the previous version (4.2).

So far I've tried them on a 16Gb pendrive as well as a 2Gb drive.

I will try it on a different port, that's not something I'd thought of.

My next attempt will be to try following the instructions here (using the right BIOS for my board though).

http://emmanuelcontreras.com/how-to/how-to-update-the-bios-on-an-msi-z87-g41-pc-mate-motherboard/
 

GWillow

GWillow

GWillow

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I've tried the stick on a different port and still no joy. Tango, I made that mistake initially but it is currently FAT32.

What I don't get is that the stick has the new BIOS file on it and I've also backed up the current BIOS to it as well, when I go through the process of selecting a BIOS to install (through the BIOS menus), only the currently back up BIOS can be found on the pendrive.
 

GWillow

GWillow

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I LOVE YOU ALL !!!

I downloaded v4.3 of the BIOS from a thread on the MSI forum, redownloaded the Flashing tool, cleared down the 2Gb stick and tried again, this time all seems to have worked. I am now at BIOS v4.3 and the new Radeon RX580 is installed and Windows booted.

Just have the task of re-installing all my software again after the windows reset.

Just in case anyone else stumbles upon this thread looking for a solution, the forum thread I used was:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=184286.0

Thanks again for all the help and advice.
 
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