Spec me an upgrade

VRC Racer

VRC Racer

VRC Racer

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Joined
6 Nov 2013
Posts
27
Current system...

gigabyte ga-78lmt-usb3 4.1 running f4 bios
amd fx6300 6 core
16g singe channel # ddr3 (8g x2) Kingston NB frequency 2008.9mhz DRAM frequency 669.6mhz in slot 1 and 3 as shown in cpu-z
sapphire radion 7750 hd 1G ddr5
cheap and maybe not so cheerful HDD and dvdrw
cit atx 500cb PSU
Midi? case, outside dimensions are 16*16*7 inches approx.


If anyone can help me upload a photo I am willing to take the side panel off or whatever and take some pictures.

Looking at doing a 2 part upgrade, gpu budget 200-250
Component ie psu maybe mobo/memory budget £200

Looking for maximum frame rate on high settings and multi player (upto 7 my bandwith can handle) on VRC simulator pro
 
Definitely a new mobo to get the most out of your CPU. The current one has a low power phase design and will massively limit your clock. The rest of teh cash can go to an SSD for the biggest speed boost.

The GPU i suggest for the budget is a 280x, they are absolutely brilliant for the price and keep you going for ages.

Cash left over?

Sell the CPU and get a 8320, boom full upgrade!

The memory seems fine, its just that it is being clocked at 1333 rather than tis stock of 2000, probably due tot he motherboard not having its profile. You can go into the bios and set the timings and speed yourself. Timings are written on the sticks and the Speed should set be something like 1000 (will mean it runs at 2000 ddr=double data rate) or 2000 depending on what the bios is asking for.
 
GPU and PSU would have to be at the same time:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus HD 7950 DirectCU II TOP V2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
Total : £271.98 (includes shipping : £10.00).



As for memory and motherboard, what you have is fine really, memory prices have gone through the roof due to a fire at one of the Hynix memory factories so you may want to hang onto the RAM for now as 16GB of faster memory could set you back over £120 vs £70 not too long ago.

You can overclock a little on that motherboard, it is fairly decent, I had one in the past with a Phenom II 955 Black Edition in it, but if you were to overclock to the extent your motherboard would allow, you may want to upgrade your CPU cooler to something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler £28.99
Total : £38.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).



Or pick another CPU cooler you like the look of and run it by us: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=2330

If you felt inclined to upgrade the motherboard regardless so that you can go for higher overclocks than your current motherboard may be able to manage, something like this would do the trick assuming that your case is ATX:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
Total : £99.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).



If your case is not ATX you would also need a new case to accomodate it:

YOUR BASKET
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
Total : £43.49 (includes shipping : £8.75).



Or pick a case you like the look of from here and run it by us: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=2362&catid=2277

If your case is M-ATX and you do not want to change it, you may as well keep your current motherboard as well. The easiest way to determine the form factor of your case and the maximum motherboard size your case can accomodate would be for you to post us a picture of the inside of your case, or else find the make and model number of your case :)
 
Avenged7Fold said:
The rest of teh cash can go to an SSD for the biggest speed boost.

The memory seems fine, its just that it is being clocked at 1333 rather than tis stock of 2000, probably due tot he motherboard not having its profile. You can go into the bios and set the timings and speed yourself. Timings are written on the sticks and the Speed should set be something like 1000 (will mean it runs at 2000 ddr=double data rate) or 2000 depending on what the bios is asking for.
Click to expand...

It is worth mentioning that an SSD will not boost game performance, it will however vastly improve boot up times, system responsiveness and application/game load times.

Also @Avenged7Fold, the system was bought from a store so I suspect that the RAM is cheap(ish) 1333MHz stuff. I believe the OP was stating that the NB frequency is 2000MHz

@OP, don't forget that you can make money back from selling your old parts also :) We can't tell you how much here but you could use a popular auction site to get a better idea. If you do that, you could spend the extra cash on a better motherboard that those stated so far, such as this perhaps:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £113.99
Total : £123.89 (includes shipping : £8.25).



And then sell the CPU as well and put the money towards one of these:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
Total : £128.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).



This is beginning to look more and more like a complete system replacement. :rolleyes:
 
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Oh missed the nb bit, thought it was 2000Mhz ram. To be honest 1333Mhz is fine if you already have it. There is an Asus evo 970 in B-grade for dirt cheap btw, which will let you hit 4.5+ GHz with no problem.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
Oh missed the nb bit, thought it was 2000Mhz ram. To be honest 1333Mhz is fine if you already have it. There is an Asus evo 970 in B-grade for dirt cheap btw, which will let you hit 4.5+ GHz with no problem.
Click to expand...

Which would allow you to take this path:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
1 x **B Grade** Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £65
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler £28.99
Total : £375.97 (includes shipping : £10.00).



And get a new case if necessary, and leaves the option open to upgrade the CPU at a later date if you felt inclined to. :)
 
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A bit more info on this thread! That RAM will be fine then, and I still think what I speced in the other thread will be more than goodbfor your needs.
 
I want to get the other components now, and the gpu around Christmas time.
New budget now including a bit extra for potential sales of old equip upto a max of £250.
This is not to include the GPU,
How do I add a photo?
 
VRC Racer said:
I now have a photo just no way of adding it to the post?
Click to expand...

If you upload it to something like photobucket or imgur, then click the icon of an image in the message editor on the forum, then paste in the direct image link, that will do it. :)

Maximum image width is 1280px
 
Cit knight black midi atx case.

Sorry I couldn't seem to sign up to photoshare with my phone. And PC in use at present but found the box it came in :)
 
Ok so that's a few things cleared up here are my thoughts ...


Case - good
Memory - good
CPU - good
Mobo - negotiable/probably change
PSU - definitely change
GPU - definitely change
SDD- worthwhile upgrade could be persuaded
Cooling - worthwhile if upgrading mobo
Extra case fan maybe?
 
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That looks about right :)

Something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 (MB-349-GI) £80
1 x Antec High Current Gamer 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler £39.95
Total : £191.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



(Motherboard is B-Grade meaning it may have accessories missing which generally shouldnt matter, and comes with a 90 day warranty, but is a great motherboard for overclocking thanks to its 8 + 2 power phase, and could handle an overclocked 8 core CPU in the future should you want it to)

If you to buy new, here is the re-relased replacement/equivelant model brand new: (re-released due to Gigabyte changing their colour scheme mainly, also slightly better for dual GPU configurations thanks to 2x full x16 PCI-E slots rather than 1x x16 and 1x x8)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £113.99



And as for fans, I think your case can take a single 120MM fan in the front, and another in the back correct? If so, then take your pick!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED White Quiet Edition - Dual Pack (CO-9050016-WLED) £16.99
1 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED Purple Quiet Edition - Dual Pack (CO-9050016-PLED) £16.99
1 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED Blue Quiet Edition - Dual Pack (CO-9050016-BLED) £16.99
1 x Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED Red Quiet Edition - Dual Pack (CO-9050016-RLED) £16.99

 
Thanks, getting there I think, the fan you have species is out of stock though, there is a liquid cooler for 45 on offer but not sure that would fit?
 
It is but you could always buy that one part from elsewhere if you so wished :)

As for the liquid coolers, there is one on offer as you say, and also a superior liquid cooler which is refurbished/clearance stock available for less:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £39.95
Total : £49.85 (includes shipping : £8.25).



It is an £85 cooler new. I myself have a refurbished/clearance H100 which I got from here for around the same price (would have been £100 new originally) and it has been great at cooling my 4.6 - 5.0GHz 2500K 24/7 for several months since I got it. Judging by how it arrived in what appeared to be new condition in a sealed box, i'm not convinced it was even refurbished.

You would need to check that your case definitely has a 120MM mounting position at the back, and also that there is enough clearance around the mounting holes for the radiator.

If it turns out that cooler will fit and you decide to purchase it, rather than buying the pair of fans, you may want to get a single one as the H80 comes with a pair of fans for the radiator.

I would seriously consider getting a replacement case though. Even this one for example: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-010-BX&groupid=2362&catid=2277
would mean the PSU is at the bottom of the case rather than the top which is the new & generally accepted standard (lower centre of mavity, less strain on the case, wires reach further and what-not), it has more fan mounting positions, a CPU backplate cut-out meaning that fitting the CPU cooler will be a far easier task as you could do it after putting the motherboard in rather than struggling to fit it outside of the case and then somehow working a huge mass of motherboard & heatsink into the case and somehow getting the screws in (its not fun, trust me haha) as well as there just generally being more cable routing options, a better quality of construction and knowing the H80 (or another 120MM watercooler) will definitely fit. :)

And despite looking grey in the image, it is in-fact black: http://content.hwigroup.net/images/products/xl/130174/13/bitfenix_merc_alpha.jpg
Example system: http://images.tweaktown.com/content..._merc_alpha_mid_tower_chassis_review_full.jpg
H80 installed: http://cdn.overclock.net/b/b4/900x900px-LL-b4f2303b_IMG_0003.jpeg
 
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