Upgrade for £200

[asillars]

Hey folks, been 4 years since last here (when I built my computer).

Not much has changed since building it in 2010. In fact there has only been one change which was installing a Corsair 128MB SSD 18 months ago.

So I still have these components in my system

cpu - phenom 2 550BE
motherboard - asus m4a77td PRO
4gb geil value ddr3 10666 1333mhz
windows 7
ATI Radeon 5770


I have approximately £200 to upgrade this system and keep it up to date.

Apart from general web browsing, my main uses are FSX, and Football Manager. I don't play graphic intense games.

So should I upgrade CPU and memory, or should I switch to Intel which would mean a new motherboard also?

 

[CEUOTC]

If you can find a Phenom IIX6 1090T cheap then go for it.

Or.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £157.99
1 x MSI H81M-P33 Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £33.95
Total : £201.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Or

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £110.99
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £200.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Or

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £79.99
Total : £169.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).



As long as your PSU is upto it.

 

[Danny75]

Suitable upgrades would be CPU and RAM, yes. However, the newer AMD processors are AM3+ (well, the Piledrivers are). Some AM3 motherboards can be BIOS updated to support AM3+ processors. I don't think yours is one, from what I see. But don't take my word for it.

So you may end up needing a mobo too, even if you stay with AMD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £79.99
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £74.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G1600HC9DC01) £49.99
Total : £214.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).




EDIT: Just saw CEUOTC's post. That seems a good option too.

 

[asillars]

definitely thinking Intel now if I am most likely going to need to replace the mobo. This is a good thing, I've wanted to switch to Intel for a few years and now would be a good time to do it.