Hey guys, I have been shopping around for the last couple hours for some upgrades for my PC. I wouldn't say it is terrible, but it is getting pretty old and I think it's time to spend some more money on it. So we are all on the same page, I'll tell you what I have now.
AMD Phenom II X4 940
MSI 785GT-E63
4GB RAM (Salvaged from an HP PC, so probably the worst they could find)
PNY GTS 250 XLR8 (accelerate, get it? :D)
Corsair TX850W
Drives are all SATA, so no worries there.
The first problem is the CPU socket is an AM2, for which there are no more CPUs. Secondly the memory is DDR2. So that means I need a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and graphics card. Another problem is that I am not a man of many dollars, so I really need to get something that performs well for it's price. I could probably come up with 500 bucks maximum. Mainly it's an entertainment PC, so lots of streaming video and gaming. I don't do any video rendering nor do I want to. I would like to get a solid 60FPS while playing Planetside 2 on high settings. So, here is what I was thinking.
I had also considered breaking it up and getting the motherboard, RAM, and CPU first then the graphics card later; maybe even getting another GTS 250 to run in SLI if I could find one and for cheap enough. That's when I ran into something really curious. It appears that most of the GTS 250s I found are going for 180 dollars or more. I don't understand how this could be since I could get a much newer card for that price. I even saw one for over 300 dollars, which is insane. Have they become collectors items while I wasn't looking or something? Can anyone explain why they are so expensive?
Anyway, I will probably just buy everything at once since that makes more sense. But if I were to upgrade in two steps, would you guys go for the graphics card, or the core components first? Any other opinions or recommendations are welcome.
GTS 250s are very expensive nowadays as are most older cards because mainly that they are not in production anymore, retailers don't want to carry their stock, and nvidia wants consumers to buy the newest models.
The parts you have picked out there are solid but I'm not sure if the price of new mobo+new CPU justifies the performance boost, I'm not sure how much of a boost you'd get.
Thanks for your input. The reason I wanted the new motherboard is mainly for future upgradability, but I see your point. If I do upgrade in steps I'll get the graphics card first. That will help depending on how much money I'm able to round up.
Hey guys, I have been shopping around for the last couple hours for some upgrades for my PC. I wouldn't say it is terrible, but it is getting pretty old and I think it's time to spend some more money on it. So we are all on the same page, I'll tell you what I have now.
AMD Phenom II X4 940
MSI 785GT-E63
4GB RAM (Salvaged from an HP PC, so probably the worst they could find)
PNY GTS 250 XLR8 (accelerate, get it? )
Corsair TX850W
Drives are all SATA, so no worries there.
The first problem is the CPU socket is an AM2, for which there are no more CPUs. Secondly the memory is DDR2. So that means I need a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and graphics card. Another problem is that I am not a man of many dollars, so I really need to get something that performs well for it's price. I could probably come up with 500 bucks maximum. Mainly it's an entertainment PC, so lots of streaming video and gaming. I don't do any video rendering nor do I want to. I would like to get a solid 60FPS while playing Planetside 2 on high settings. So, here is what I was thinking.
I had also considered breaking it up and getting the motherboard, RAM, and CPU first then the graphics card later; maybe even getting another GTS 250 to run in SLI if I could find one and for cheap enough. That's when I ran into something really curious. It appears that most of the GTS 250s I found are going for 180 dollars or more. I don't understand how this could be since I could get a much newer card for that price. I even saw one for over 300 dollars, which is insane. Have they become collectors items while I wasn't looking or something? Can anyone explain why they are so expensive?
Anyway, I will probably just buy everything at once since that makes more sense. But if I were to upgrade in two steps, would you guys go for the graphics card, or the core components first? Any other opinions or recommendations are welcome.
If you want to play planetside 2, you may want to consider a nvidia card as it has been somewhat optimized for that game.
If you want to play planetside 2, you may want to consider a nvidia card as it has been somewhat optimized for that game.
Yeah, I've heard about that, but it also seems that the 7850 is a better overall card than the 650ti. So I may have to deal with it since Planetside is only one of many games I play.
It's actually only 65 dollars on Newegg's site, regardless I can't find equivilant RAM for 40 bucks, at least not on Newegg. A link would be helpful.
Yeah, I've heard about that, but it also seems that the 7850 is a better overall card than the 650ti. So I may have to deal with it since Planetside is only one of many games I play.
Look for it through PC part picker. I believe the Kingston blue is $41.. Look for 8GB (2x4) @ 1333MHz for low price.
Look for it through PC part picker. I believe the Kingston blue is $41.. Look for 8GB (2x4) @ 1333MHz for low price.
he needs DDR2 oh smart one.
DDR3 wont work.
Also, would a AM3+ cpu not work in a AM2 socket? i was under the impression their backwards compatible to some degree.
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Proud member of the MCF AWA war of '13! if someone suggests Alienware or Cyberpower, wait for a custom-built list from someone who knows their stuff. Meh Rig
I'm not completely sure about the backwards compatability on the AMD sockets, but I am looking for DDR3 RAM, since I am upgrading the whole system.
Also, 1333 is slower than 1600, so that wouldn't be equivelant. However I did find some Kingston DDR3-1600 for 43 dollars and others for about the same price. I normally like to buy everything from the same place, but 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
Interesting build. However, I don't like the motherboard for a few reasons. First of all, once the graphics card is installed, I will only have a single PCI slot left, which is really only good for legacy support. Secondly, no SATA 6Gb/s. And third, only two DDR3 slots which means if I ever upgrade my RAM I would have to replace the old modules rather than add to them. Also it only supports up to 1333 MHz if overclocked (which makes the choice of 1866MHz RAM questionable). Of all the parts the motherboard is where I would be least willing to skimp. I tend to keep parts running for quite a while and having room to expand is pretty important.
But it does bring up a question. How much VRAM does one really need on a GPU? I am under the impression that 1GB is fine, but is it worth the money to go for 2GB? Also I'm not sure a six core will make a significant difference when it comes to general gaming, maybe a few frames. It may or may not be worth the extra 15 bucks, but I think I would be better off going for the 4300 then upgrading to the 8350 sometime later.
The difference between 1333 and 1600 MHz RAM is not noticeable. The only time you need fast RAM is when you have an APU. Also, I don't see why you need more than one PCI-E slot. You won't be running multi GPU setups anytime soon on this thing, and if you are an entirely new system and budget is needed.
There are lots of things you can use a PCI-e slot for. Such as a tuner card, audio card, network card, and on and on. I wont be getting any of those things immediately, but I could see at leas an audio card in the future to go with my home theater system.
And yeah, the difference between 1333 and 1600 may be minimal, but if they are the same price, why not go for 1600?
Just some input on the whole backwards compatibility:
I don't think it'd be a good idea to do AM3+ in an AM2 motherboard. I have borrowed a friend's FX-8150 at a point just to try it in my motherboard (Asus M4A9GTD PRO, AM3). It worked with a BIOS update, but I only did it because Asus said that you could do it.
AM2 > AM3+ is 3 revisions right there, I don't think it'll work in the least bit.
Also AM3+ uses DDR3, he has DDR2.
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Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 | AMD Phenom II X6 1090T | Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 | 1TB WD Caviar Black | Intel 520 240GB SSD | Corsair H70 push-pull | Antec P280 White Windowed
Just some input on the whole backwards compatibility:
I don't think it'd be a good idea to do AM3+ in an AM2 motherboard. I have borrowed a friend's FX-8150 at a point just to try it in my motherboard (Asus M4A9GTD PRO, AM3). It worked with a BIOS update, but I only did it because Asus said that you could do it.
AM2 > AM3+ is 3 revisions right there, I don't think it'll work in the least bit.
Also AM3+ uses DDR3, he has DDR2.
CPU may work, I mean the Phenom X6 is still a decent yet old CPU... Get some DDR3, a 970(mobo) of some description and a GTX 660
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-Sctune-CFO, PRO & Owner of Phicraft, Co-Owner of BuildersInc, Founder of OminousWinds
Change the RAM to something cheaper and the processor to FX-6300 which has two more cores and more cache and you'll be good to go.
Honestly, I've looked at the benchmarks at AnandTech and I don't see a significant improvement over the 4300 for gaming. 4 frames here, 6 frames there. Unless I am overlooking something, in which case by all means, help me out. The 6300 is only 15 bucks more expensive so it's tempting anyway, but that could also buy me a new game so unless there is a good reason to go for it I might just save the money for something else. And as others have pointed out, the RAM in the original build is overpriced and I've found multiple kits for around 40-45 bucks.
The 1866 ram has no speed difference that is noticeable, it's just cheap
Ah, I see. However, my other concerns still stand so I don't think that is the motherboard for me. Will the 2GB verson of the 7850 offer a noticable difference over the 1GB version?
AMD Phenom II X4 940
MSI 785GT-E63
4GB RAM (Salvaged from an HP PC, so probably the worst they could find)
PNY GTS 250 XLR8 (accelerate, get it? :D)
Corsair TX850W
Drives are all SATA, so no worries there.
The first problem is the CPU socket is an AM2, for which there are no more CPUs. Secondly the memory is DDR2. So that means I need a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, and graphics card. Another problem is that I am not a man of many dollars, so I really need to get something that performs well for it's price. I could probably come up with 500 bucks maximum. Mainly it's an entertainment PC, so lots of streaming video and gaming. I don't do any video rendering nor do I want to. I would like to get a solid 60FPS while playing Planetside 2 on high settings. So, here is what I was thinking.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JXPQ
I had also considered breaking it up and getting the motherboard, RAM, and CPU first then the graphics card later; maybe even getting another GTS 250 to run in SLI if I could find one and for cheap enough. That's when I ran into something really curious. It appears that most of the GTS 250s I found are going for 180 dollars or more. I don't understand how this could be since I could get a much newer card for that price. I even saw one for over 300 dollars, which is insane. Have they become collectors items while I wasn't looking or something? Can anyone explain why they are so expensive?
Anyway, I will probably just buy everything at once since that makes more sense. But if I were to upgrade in two steps, would you guys go for the graphics card, or the core components first? Any other opinions or recommendations are welcome.
The parts you have picked out there are solid but I'm not sure if the price of new mobo+new CPU justifies the performance boost, I'm not sure how much of a boost you'd get.
So yes, I'd go for GPU first.
If you want to play planetside 2, you may want to consider a nvidia card as it has been somewhat optimized for that game.
Yeah, I've heard about that, but it also seems that the 7850 is a better overall card than the 650ti. So I may have to deal with it since Planetside is only one of many games I play.
Look for it through PC part picker. I believe the Kingston blue is $41.. Look for 8GB (2x4) @ 1333MHz for low price.
he needs DDR2 oh smart one.
DDR3 wont work.
Also, would a AM3+ cpu not work in a AM2 socket? i was under the impression their backwards compatible to some degree.
if someone suggests Alienware or Cyberpower, wait for a custom-built list from someone who knows their stuff. Meh Rig
I am assuming he's buying a new motherboard.
EDIT: Yup, his list of parts supports DDR3 and AM3+, oh smart one.
Also, 1333 is slower than 1600, so that wouldn't be equivelant. However I did find some Kingston DDR3-1600 for 43 dollars and others for about the same price. I normally like to buy everything from the same place, but 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JZVb
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JZVb/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JZVb/benchmarks/
CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($189.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $417.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-16 00:38 EDT-0400)
But it does bring up a question. How much VRAM does one really need on a GPU? I am under the impression that 1GB is fine, but is it worth the money to go for 2GB? Also I'm not sure a six core will make a significant difference when it comes to general gaming, maybe a few frames. It may or may not be worth the extra 15 bucks, but I think I would be better off going for the 4300 then upgrading to the 8350 sometime later.
And yeah, the difference between 1333 and 1600 may be minimal, but if they are the same price, why not go for 1600?
FX-6200? isn't that better value?
I don't think it'd be a good idea to do AM3+ in an AM2 motherboard. I have borrowed a friend's FX-8150 at a point just to try it in my motherboard (Asus M4A9GTD PRO, AM3). It worked with a BIOS update, but I only did it because Asus said that you could do it.
AM2 > AM3+ is 3 revisions right there, I don't think it'll work in the least bit.
Also AM3+ uses DDR3, he has DDR2.
CPU may work, I mean the Phenom X6 is still a decent yet old CPU... Get some DDR3, a 970(mobo) of some description and a GTX 660
???
I'm not looking for an upgrade, OP is.
I'm just offering my input on backwards compatibility.
Honestly, I've looked at the benchmarks at AnandTech and I don't see a significant improvement over the 4300 for gaming. 4 frames here, 6 frames there. Unless I am overlooking something, in which case by all means, help me out. The 6300 is only 15 bucks more expensive so it's tempting anyway, but that could also buy me a new game so unless there is a good reason to go for it I might just save the money for something else. And as others have pointed out, the RAM in the original build is overpriced and I've found multiple kits for around 40-45 bucks.
Ah, I see. However, my other concerns still stand so I don't think that is the motherboard for me. Will the 2GB verson of the 7850 offer a noticable difference over the 1GB version?