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Upgrading Suggestions

LemurHaloEcho

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Hey All!

So, i'm new to this forum, and have a couple of questions for the officionado's here regarding how to upgrade my PC, and what i should upgrade it with.. so here's what i'm working with at the moment:

HP Desktop
HP vs19 Monitor
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit
LiteOn 300w PSU
Corsair 500gb HDD
3GB OEM DDR2 Memory
nVidia GeForce 8800GS
AsusTeK Model 2A73h Motherboard - http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/pegatron-corporation-2a73h-motherboard-specs/
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 @ 2.4GHz

What i'm looking to get out of this, is a PC that'll basically run Diablo 3 on high settings, and generally play YouTube videos at 1080p, just generally keep up with good games of the current generation (I'm not looking to play Crysis 3 or Battlefield 3 on this machine, i have a PS3 for that task).

Currently my system will only run my Diablo 3 Starter Edition on High Graphics and low/medium/off on everything else smoothly, otherwise i get a lot of stutters in the gameplay.

So as a benchmark, let's say that i have roughly £50 to spend to upgrade this machine, what would your recommendations be? I've seen on the link up there i can upgrade to a Core 2 Quad CPU, but i know that my GPU is very low on memory compared to what's out there, and i HAVE looked at the nVidia GeForce 9800GX2 (1gb) GPU as an upgrade from what i'm using.

Ideas anyone?
 
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You would need to upgrade your GPU. You don't have much to work with in the way of money for a new GPU.

Your 300W PSU is a huge issue for you, and would definitely not run the 9800GX2 along with the rest of your components (you would need almost double that, as the GX2 is a hog).

I am at a loss, but I would suggest something in the 7750/70 range if you can get your hands on it for that money.

You have to be careful, because your PSU cant handle much of anything, and I am surprised it can handle the 8800GS.
 

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That PSU will not be able to power a 9800 GX2, I wouldn't even feel safe running your current specs, as far as upgrading, the PSU, CPU and GPU would be my main concern, though you will not be able to do that on your budget by any means.

Can you overclock your CPU with that motherboard? I would start there, you should be able to get 3.4ghz out of your C2d dual core, the same with your 8800GS you should be able to net a good OC out of that, overclocking can net very good performance improvements and give you upto 30% better FPS, though I would take that £50 and spend it on a PSU if you plan to overclock.
 
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Well itd be either CPU or you you need to upgrade, depending on which, you may even need another psu to handle it! CPU id roll with a ivy bridge dual core or quad if you want to push it, so i3 if you don't want to push the price, but an i5 even if its the lower end, you want best clock per core if you're not overclocking. I3 2120 is alrght, and i5 2500k, but you can get an i5 3570k for the same price which is better. If you want to stick with the same mobo, a q6600 is still damn good for a quad core if you ask me, one or my rigs still uses one. Gpu, id hit a 7850 or a 660 and above, everything else below is severely limiting yourself.
But you need a 500w power supply for any of that, 300w is just bad!
 
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-183-MS

This looks like your only saving grace, but it is still over your price range. I very highly recommend splurging on this if you can't do a system overhaul, and the price is great. This should be pretty close to maxing out D3 at your monitors resolution.

This is also a plug-and-play solution that will work great with your setup. You might need a molex-to-PCIe adapter for your PSU.
 
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-183-MS

This looks like your only saving grace, but it is still over your price range. I very highly recommend splurging on this if you can't do a system overhaul, and the price is great. This should be pretty close to maxing out D3 at your monitors resolution.

This is also a plug-and-play solution that will work great with your setup. You might need a molex-to-PCIe adapter for your PSU.

and overclockers will price match almost anyone if you give them a call xD U found that out the mean way!

for £50 you won't get much useful at all, system as a whole is not really fit for maxing out in any way, needs a new psu and everything else, but psu first. And if all you're playing is Diablo 3, and you can comfortably play it how it is, then don't waste your money
 

LemurHaloEcho

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Hmm, so from what you're all saying, any money being spent would be best spent first on a better PSU! Well right off the bat i've looked at 500w PSU's on eBay, and there are thousands, upon thousands, of the buggers. Cheap, Expensive, You name it, it's on there, and i haven't a damned clue as to what would be a reliable and safe option for a PSU, i mean, most of the 500w ones can be bought for the same price and same brand as a 750w on there!

I think i'll take the side off my stack in a little while and take a look at the exact model number of my current PSU, i KNOW it's a LiteOn, but somewhere i'll find out what connectors it has, that'll help me match or upgrade what's in there at least, and i'll be safe knowing i'm not lacking anything that i might need.

So what brands / suggestions do you guys have in the way of buying a 500/750w PSU?
 
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Don't buy a CiT if you see a dirt cheap 600w for $50. They explode on 2 weeks :D
I recommend: corsair, xfx, ocz, thermaltake, nzxt, coolermaster
 

LemurHaloEcho

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Looks legit, will run one high end you (were talking 7970 plus processor) easily! 2 x 6 pins for gfx
 
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LemurHaloEcho,

I think you'd have to upgrade your GPU to atleast something in the £80-100 price range to achieve what you want. I'd recommend the ATI 7770 -£100.


Generally speaking your PC entire rig is old and ready for retirement soon, you wont get the most from any GPU you put inside. You might get away with not replacing the PSU immediately. It's a risk you can take. Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable dropping too much money on this computer.


Sapphire HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini.. | ...
Corsair 500W CX Builder 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year....


Edit:

Just found this, will have to compare to what i'm using at the moment (for connectors since i don't see any x16 on there for my 8800) but it does look good value :-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cooler-Master-PSU-iGreen-Power-600W-RS-600-ASAA-/221147884211?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item337d70eab3&_uhb=1

Good or bad?

PSU is the only component in a computer I wouldn't buy second hand. Remember PSUs can go "boom".

If money is an issue you can buy a new Cooler Master PSU for £33. It isn't great, and I normally wouldn't recommend it. But it's better than what you have and it'll be enough to power a midrange card.

Coolermaster Elite Power 500W PSU | Ebuyer.com
Corsair 430W CX Builder Series 80 Plus Bronze PSU ...
 
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LemurHaloEcho

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I know it's old and arthritic, when you're unemployed and lacking any real money it's hard to keep up with tech, very hard.

But that being said, with an upgrade to the CPU, GPU and PSU, and a new set of memory, it could be a fairly good PC to be frank, a nice Q6600 Quad-Core, a new GPU (leaning more towards a Radeon judging by the recommendations) and a 600w PSU, and it could be running fairly good.

Building a new rig would cost over £300 and that's money i just don't have, as much as i'd like to, so, gotta make the best of what i've got! :)
 

UbErN00b

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You could buy an AMD A8 5700 APU, motherboard and 4GB DDR3 RAM for £150, just use your existing case, HDD, DVD, PSU etc.

The A8 5700 is a quad core CPU with integrated DX11 7 series on the same chip, the HD 7660d, not sure how it would stack up to your 8800GS, I think they would be close in performance though the CPU would be a good step up and DDR3 would give you a noticeable boost aswell, though depends if you can get that kind of money.

This would also be kinder on your PSU as the GPU is on the CPU die which is rated at 100w TDP :toast:
 
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If you are really hurting on money, now isn't the time to be upgrading anything other than your GPU, as it won't do you any good for the time being. It looks like you have a pre-built system from a company, you don't want to be upgrading things in that. Just wait on the rest of your components.

Getting a 7750 right now will enable you to upgrade to CFX with a 7770 (or 7790 if it comes out) when you upgrade your hardware.
 
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Building a new rig would cost over £300 and that's money i just don't have, as much as i'd like to, so, gotta make the best of what i've got! :)

You can build a rig around the 6 core Bulldozer for £250 easily. Maybe just under £300.

If you are really hurting on money, now isn't the time to be upgrading anything other than your GPU, as it won't do you any good for the time being. It looks like you have a pre-built system from a company, you don't want to be upgrading things in that.

I agree.
 
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You could buy an AMD A8 5700 APU, motherboard and 4GB DDR3 RAM for £150, just use your existing case, HDD, DVD, PSU etc.

The A8 5700 is a quad core CPU with integrated DX11 7 series on the same chip, the HD 7660d, not sure how it would stack up to your 8800GS, I think they would be close in performance though the CPU would be a good step up and DDR3 would give you a noticeable boost aswell, though depends if you can get that kind of money.

This would also be kinder on your PSU as the GPU is on the CPU die which is rated at 100w TDP :toast:

This is above his budget.
 
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I did the same thing you are looking to do back in the day and it was always a constant upgrade. If you can tough it out, save up for a new rig. You will be always chasing technology.
 

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The HP Pavilion VS19 has a max resolution of 1280 × 1024. Max setting gaming on that shouldn't be too hard to do.

As others have said though, unless you're holding out for 5 or more years before another system, it might be more cost efficient to wait. Even then upgrades should be done if you're hurting in something you do often. Since I'm also running a Socket 775 system, I'll offer some advice as I've done some upgrading on my own Socket 775 system.

Start with the PSU. It is the foundation for future upgrades since your current PSU doesn't leave much room for more power. It is also very forward-compatible. That is, you can use it in a new computer 5 or 10 years later and not worry about it being obsolete. More powerful hardware requires more power, though newer hardware is getting more energy efficient. SeaSonic makes some good PSUs, but price may be an issue. Any decent 550W or higher PSU will serve you well for this computer.

The GPU is next. Of note is that you're running a 32-bit OS. Since Windows XP32's SP2, the memory limit for a 32-bit OS has been 4GB. This also includes your video card memory. Read about it HERE. Because of the 32-bit memory limit, you should try to get a card with no more than 1GB VRAM. The current most powerful such card is the 1GB version of the Radeon HD7850. It is a bit expensive though. More economical choices would be the Radeon HD7770 and the GTX660 Ti. From the previous generation, there's the Radeon HD6950 1GB and the GTX560 Ti. One other issue to consider is size. Some cards are very long (the Radeon HD6950 in particular) and may not fit in your computer's case. As such, you'll want to check how much room you have.

The CPU is a tricky thing to consider. It is the least forward-compatible. In fact, the Core 2 line is old by technology standards. Unlike the other two parts, you will not be able to use it in a future new system. If you want to upgrade the CPU anyway, your motherboard can support the 45nm Core 2 CPUs so you should try one of those. Top chips in a generation/die size will go for a high price since people upgrading older systems will want them. You can go for something one or two steps below that. You might want to try for the Q9450, though the older 65nm Q6600 is still a big significant upgrade from your current E4600. Unless you do things that are very CPU intensive (e.g. video encoding) or find a very good deal, you might want to hold off on this.
 
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I did the same thing you are looking to do back in the day and it was always a constant upgrade. If you can tough it out, save up for a new rig. You will be always chasing technology.

This is very true. The trick is to upgrade before the rig gets too bad.

Like I've had my rig for 3 years now. In 2009, started with Athlon II X4 + 4850 CF + 4GB DDR3. Cost me no more than £300 back then. More than enough for gaming back in 2009.

After about two years in 2011, I then upgraded the PSU, 5850 CF and 16GB of RAM and plunged about £200 ish into the rig. To be honest I didn't need to upgrade but the components were heavily discounted so I couldn't resist.

I don't think I'll upgrade this year or next. When I do upgrade it'll be after almost 5 years. (late 2013/early 2014).

My point is if you buy strategically you can get away with spending £100 or so every year or two on a component. But if you leave the upgrading too long it's sometimes more cost effective to build fresh (in the OP case).
 

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Wow, the sheer amount of information here is fantastic, and you guys are brilliant, really are.. just wanted to say that.

But back on topic, i think from what i've heard i shall make the decision to hold off on upgrades, and simply find and buy a decent 550w / 650w PSU, put that in there, and keep it for future use, as many of you have said, a PSU only really needs upgrading once in a blue moon.

Now, i think i'll have to start putting together a literal "shopping list" of things to get for a new rig.. I know i'll be keeping my Disc Drive and HDD, because all my stuff's on there, and i don't much fancy replacing it at the moment, but according to you all, everything else needs the old heave-ho!

So let's work on a list?

Case? I've seen them on eBay from like, £10 up to £200, i quite like the look of some of them, but is there anything in particular to look for as far as requirements go?

CPU & Motherboard? Yet again, i've seen you can get package deals that even include memory sometimes ranging from £100 to £250, so, knowing my requirements (general mmorpg gaming and D3, possible games in the future as well, just nothing too taxing) what do you think i should go for? I quite like the performance and stats from the AMD range, my dad uses a Phenom II quad-core and it works a treat.

*Edit* Remembered someone talking about a Bulldozer build? How's this for a bundle? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-Bulldozer-FX-4100-3-6Ghz-Quad-Core-CPU-Gigabyte-M68MT-Motherboard-Bundle-/140850003361?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item20cb507da1&_uhb=1 *Edit*

PSU - I'll go for a new one, probably between 500 - 650w depending on budget.

GPU? Not really enjoying the pricing on the GeForce series anymore, my 8800GS was remarkable in it's day, but not really up to spec now, and the Radeon's offer a lot more value for money, so perhaps try and keep in mind i'd like to go for a AMD CPU & come in at under £300 total budget when recommending one.

Anything else?..
 
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Memory 8 GB G.Skills 1600Mhz
Video Card(s) ATI ASUS Crossfire 5850
Storage Crucial MX100 SATA 2.5 SSD
Display(s) Lenovo ThinkVision 27" (LEN P27h-10)
Case Antec VSK 2000 Black Tower Case
Audio Device(s) Onkyo TX-SR309 Receiver, 2x Kef Cresta 1, 1x Kef Center 20c
Power Supply OCZ StealthXstream II 600w, 4x12v/18A, 80% efficiency.
Software Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
So are you saying that you are prepared to spend £300 now?
 

LemurHaloEcho

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
30 (0.01/day)
System Name AMD "Gaming Evolved"
Processor AMD FX-6300
Motherboard Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0
Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2x4GB Patriot Viper 3 "Venom Red" 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD7850 1GB Dual-X
Storage 1TB Seagate Barracuda / 64GB Crucial M4
Display(s) HP vs19
Case Corsair Carbide 300R Windowed
Power Supply Corsair CX600M
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
I've got a £65 national insurance refund coming my way soon, and i'm depending on Christmas Money too, so i think around a total of £300 is (albeit at the outer limits) not a totally unrealistic amount, i know it's changed from £50, but that's all i have at the PRESENT time, and since i now realise just how variably futile it is to really try upgrading what i'm using at the moment, i figure holding off for a while, saving up, and building my own rig, is a much more sensible way to do it :)
 
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
3,427 (0.68/day)
System Name My baby
Processor Athlon II X4 620 @ 3.5GHz, 1.45v, NB @ 2700Mhz, HT @ 2700Mhz - 24hr prime95 stable
Motherboard Asus M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling Sonic Tower Rev 2 with 120mm Akasa attached, Akasa @ Front, Xilence Red Wing 120mm @ Rear
Memory 8 GB G.Skills 1600Mhz
Video Card(s) ATI ASUS Crossfire 5850
Storage Crucial MX100 SATA 2.5 SSD
Display(s) Lenovo ThinkVision 27" (LEN P27h-10)
Case Antec VSK 2000 Black Tower Case
Audio Device(s) Onkyo TX-SR309 Receiver, 2x Kef Cresta 1, 1x Kef Center 20c
Power Supply OCZ StealthXstream II 600w, 4x12v/18A, 80% efficiency.
Software Windows 10 Professional 64-bit
G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Module CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V - £17.94
Biostar A960A3+ £41.58
Casecom Black ATX Mid Tower Case - £10.98
Sapphire HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card - £97.74
AMD Piledriver FX-4 Quad Core 4300 3.80GHz - £99.95

Total: 302.14


Think that is the fastest computer you'll be able to build on £300.

I'd recommend spending £312.18 and opting for the AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 3.50GHz

Bear in mind when you sell your current CPU, mobo and RAM you'll get back £100 on Ebay.

G-Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory.....
Casecom Black ATX Mid Tower Case | Ebuyer.com
Sapphire HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini.. | ...
Corsair 430W CX Builder Series 80 Plus Bronze PSU ...
Biostar A960A3+ Socket AM3+ 6 Channel Audio ATX.. ...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-339-AM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-338-AM


4GB of RAM is the minimum you want running today's games on Windows 7. But considering you're using a 32-bit OS that's the limit it supports. I'd recommend not falling behind on upgrades and next year topping the RAM upto 8GB and getting a 64-bit OS.
 
Last edited:

LemurHaloEcho

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2012
Messages
30 (0.01/day)
System Name AMD "Gaming Evolved"
Processor AMD FX-6300
Motherboard Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0
Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2x4GB Patriot Viper 3 "Venom Red" 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD7850 1GB Dual-X
Storage 1TB Seagate Barracuda / 64GB Crucial M4
Display(s) HP vs19
Case Corsair Carbide 300R Windowed
Power Supply Corsair CX600M
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Hey guys, i've been looking around the web for a couple of days, trying to scout out good deals, or parts for good prices, and between sites like Amazon, eBay, and Ebuyer, as well as the links provided here, i think i'm starting to get a good-ish grip on what it is that i need, and what i can afford and need.

Dent1, i'm not actually going to be able to sell off the parts on this PC, as it is still my father's, and will have to be given back to him when i'm done with it, including the disc-drive and HDD, so i'm going to have to try and find another 500gb HDD / disc drive, but on a plus-note, my father DOES have a legitimate copy of Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit which he's said i could use on the new PC, so i'll be operating on a 64-bit system, but will i suffer compatibility issues with my current files / music / stuff by changing from 32-bit to 64-bit?

Ah, and that £10 stack from Ebuyer comes with 0 fans, and i'm not too keen on it to be honest, after looking at used stacks on eBay i've found some pretty good brands going 2nd-hand, like this Antec 902 case - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330824010412?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 which i think at the right price would be good, maybe £30 including P&P, that's about the most i'll happily spend on a Case.

But i must ask, those two Piledriver CPU's, they're on pre-order at Overclockers, would something else be a better alternative? like a bundle? eg; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140850003361?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Just a couple of thoughts really, as i know i'm going to have to buy a new HDD now so need to price up correctly.
 
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