Upgrade Help - GFX Card and CPU Cooler

[FlapR]

Going to treat myself for my birthday and upgrade my graphics card, just wondered what's the best choice based on a budget of up to around £200 based on my current system, can stretch further if its really worth it.

Currently running the following:

Windows 8.1 64bit
AMD FX-8320 @ 3.5Ghz
AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB GDDR5
M5A97 EVO R2.0
Corsair CX600M 80 Plus Bronze

Also looking for a decent CPU Cooler that doesn't sound like a jet engine and will fit into my Corsair 300R.

Cheers!

 

[ShivP]

Definitely a new GPU

Something like an R9 290 or GTX 970 if you can stretch perhaps? However, the R9 290 is perfectly in budget;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £199.99
Total : £209.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



As for coolers, these are excellent budget coolers;

YOUR BASKET
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler - Black £14.99
Total : £45.48 (includes shipping : £8.75).



Your case supports around 420mm 450mm graphics cards and 158mm (170mm stated on Corsair site) coolers, so these should fit fine

 

[FlapR]

Cheers Shivy.

Looking at some benchmarks online, the GTX 970 seems a fair bit better, would my Mobo+CPU hold it back at all?

Looking through the 970's now and the price range is confusing me a little bit! Is the following okay?

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-2974-KR) £251.99
Total : £261.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Finally, would the CPU coolers be okay if I did some overclocking in the future or would I need something a bit heftier?

 

[ShivP]

Cheers Shivy.

Looking at some benchmarks online, the GTX 970 seems a fair bit better, would my Mobo+CPU hold it back at all?

Looking through the 970's now and the price range is confusing me a little bit! Is the following okay?

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX 2.0 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (04G-P4-2974-KR) £251.99
Total : £261.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Finally, would the CPU coolers be okay if I did some overclocking in the future or would I need something a bit heftier?

Okay, not so sure about the EVGA coolers myself, however they seem okay so yeah sure, why not? Good brand behind them and the old ACX coolers were good, however you might want to go with another brand as I did read about some problems they were having with the core not hitting the heatsink properly?
Perhaps someone can enlighten us on this. If I were going 970, probably one of these?
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 WindForce OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N970WF3OC-4GD) £263.99
1 x GALAX GeForce GTX 970 EX OC "Black Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (97NQH6DNB4TX) £259.99
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-90101-10P) £239.99
Total : £777.47 (includes shipping : £11.25).



More budget orientated one's

As for the cooler, you might go with something a bit more beefy as the 8320 isn't particularly cool running. However with the themis you should be able to achieve a mild overclock (4.2-4.4Ghz at least as this is what the 8350 runs at!) But overall yes, the Themis should cope with some overclocking and the Aidos a bit less, but still a bit

 

[FlapR]

Right I'll grab one of the GTX970 's you suggested and I'll have a look at the beefier CPU coolers now. I'd rather spent extra and get decent upgrades that will last me a while.

I just had the £200~ budget in mind because I didn't know if I'd be limited by my CPU + Power Supply and if I didn't set myself some budget I'd end up spending a ridiculous amount!

Thanks again.