Upgrade advice

[Gilletter]

So my PSU just took a dump on me, so it's being replaced. I've decided to upgrade another component or two. I have a budget of around $160-$180... What would you upgrade on my current system and why?

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

What are you doing with your current rig? Gaming?

 

[Gilletter]

Some gaming, skyrim, fallout, Diablo 3, StarCraft 2. Internet browsing, watching movies and anime. BTW, updated system to current

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

GPU will the best improvement for you. Do you want to stick with AMD or go Nvidia?

 

[Gilletter]

GPU will the best improvement for you. Do you want to stick with AMD or go Nvidia?

I was thinking that too. Im impartial, I have amd now but have used nvidia in the past too. I was looking up comparison specs and it seems like things in my price range aren't much better as far as performance goes, so any input I'd gladly take.

 

[RCoon]

I was thinking that too. Im impartial, I have amd now but have used nvidia in the past too. I was looking up comparison specs and it seems like things in my price range aren't much better as far as performance goes, so any input I'd gladly take.

OCZ Memory - Mind=blown
Been a while since I saw OCZ memory xD

As our NZXT friend here said, GPU would be best I imagine, on that kind of budget I recommend second hand. Perhaps you could check out the FS/FT threads on the forums to see if anyone is selling any nice GPU's? I trust these forums more than ebay second hand goods, that's for sure.

Out of curiosity, what PSU are you buying?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

$160-180 will get you a GTX560TI, GTX 660, or a HD 7870, all of which are considerable more powerful than your 4870. The 4870 just as powerful as a 5770.

 

[tokyoduong]

So my PSU just took a dump on me, so it's being replaced. I've decided to upgrade another component or two. I have a budget of around $160-$180... What would you upgrade on my current system and why?

Replace the 4870 with a 7850. It should cost around $120(US price).
With the extra $40-60, you can buy a new PSU. Normally, a Corsair 500W goes for that price range.

Else, you can get a 7870 for around $160-180 if you already bought the PSU.

I'm not sure your budget will allow for a CPU upgrade as you would need a motherboard as well. If you do that, you would not be able to get anything decent. You would also need new RAM which is expensive these days.

 

[Gilletter]

OCZ Memory - Mind=blown
Been a while since I saw OCZ memory xD

As our NZXT friend here said, GPU would be best I imagine, on that kind of budget I recommend second hand. Perhaps you could check out the FS/FT threads on the forums to see if anyone is selling any nice GPU's? I trust these forums more than ebay second hand goods, th

Out of curiosity, what PSU are you buying?

PSU is a 520w Antec that should arrive tomorrow. The budget I had was excluding the PSU from the price since it was already purchased. I see new egg has an amd for 120 after mir. Or for a bit more an asus nvidia card if i can convince the wife to allow me to go over budget. And by a bit more I mean double.

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

I would get a 660 and call it a day.

 

[theo2021]

I see your system is a bit out of date the gpu's that others have suggested are good and in your price range but if i were you i would wait a bit since new cards might come in a few months and the new apu's coming shortly maybe prices change!

 

[tokyoduong]

PSU is a 520w Antec that should arrive tomorrow. The budget I had was excluding the PSU from the price since it was already purchased. I see new egg has an amd for 120 after mir. Or for a bit more an asus nvidia card if i can convince the wife to allow me to go over budget. And by a bit more I mean double.

I don't think you need to upgrade your CPU and motherboard yet. It should run things in general about the same as the new APUs. In gaming, it does about the same also. Just upgrade your GPU. I would stretch to about $200-220 and get a Radeon 7870 or 660GTX. I would not go with a powerful NVDA above the 660GTX level. With the radeons, at least many new titles can use Mantle to help you with the old CPU.

Good luck to you.

 

[Gilletter]

I may just wait until I save up again and do a complete tear down and rebuild. I figure I'm due to rebuild eventually anyway. Kind of hard when you have money burning a hole in your pocket though! lol

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

I've heard that the 8 series cards are due out some time in the 2nd quarter of this year and that will drop the prices of the seven series cards.

 

[Gilletter]

What about setting up two R7 240's in crossfire? Would that be a better setup than a single 7850? Or hd7870. Also PowerColor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131546 or XFX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605 if I go 7870?

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

7850 will be a ton better then Crossfire R7 cards


7850 vs a r7 260x

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1044?vs=1076

 

[Gilletter]

OK, what about r9 270 vs a 7870? Worth the price difference? Or just buy 7870 and OC it?

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

Your talking very marginal gains with the r9 270x card vs the 7870.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1043?vs=1034

Get the 7870 and OC it would be my bet.

 

[Gilletter]

Ok, so I might be able to increase my budget for upgrading to $450, should I go for a higher GPU, or should I use remaining budget for a new CPU, MOBO, RAM? I found an fx 8320 CPU from microcenter for $99.99, and a biostar ta970 mobo for $79.99. As far as memory goes G. Skill Ripjaws x (1866) 4 gb sticks are $39.99 each (thinking of using 2) or one single Crucial Ballistix sport 8 gb for $68.99. Pairing that up with either and hd 7870 or a GTX 760... Any thoughts?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

If your going to continue using your 22" monitor, a 7870 or a GTX760 will be plenty gpu power for your resolution. You'll definitely see more of a performance improvement going with the 8320 combo you mentioned as your original Phenom quad is definitely showing it's age.

 

[GreiverBlade]

well i would say a R9 270 for the sake of the refresh and added functionality (i have a R9 270) i paid around 180$ for mine but since i am swiss the price range can be different, i would also recommend the MSI Gaming line for their Twin Frozr IV is one of the best cooling i had.

but a 7870/760 can also be a viable alternative, depending on the pricing.

worth mentioning i used that R9 270 with a Phenom X4 9600B did handle most of my games without too much compromise.

 

[Gilletter]

I just wish the prices would stabilize! Every time I check the damn prices are different!!! I'm trying to get the best deal and bang for my buck!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($99.99)
Motherboard: Biostar TA970 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($239.99)
Total: $529.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-13 19:30 EST-0500)

 

[xD3aDPooLx]

That looks like a solid winner now.

If there is a microcenter near you, I would look at getting a combo deal there for the motherboard and CPU

 

[Gilletter]

That looks like a solid winner now.

If there is a microcenter near you, I would look at getting a combo deal there for the motherboard and CPU

Microcenter I have to pay tax at, and they don't have the 8320 in a combo deal due to I assume it being clearance priced. Plus I get a 40 combo with newegg for the memory

 

[GreiverBlade]

not bad at all, tho i still prefer my main rig even if its a FM2+ and not a AM3+

ofc if you use above 4 core the 8320 is good (IE: video encoding, crunching, random.) a R9 270 would be cheaper than a 760 but you also could take a 270X, 280(if you are lucky enough to find one with a price not over inflated by the Sh*tcoins madness for a 280/280X) for a bit more of that price and have the benefice of Mantle if it get the attention needed.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2SY7t 790$ shipping include ... oh well not totally what i have but i did compensate the value of what they don't have (case and PSU) to my actual "new" price where i live and hell if i paid 1/2 of that price that was the maximum, mostly 2nd hand but the essential is new CPU/MOBO/GPU/PSU

if i redo it like yours, no PSU/HDD/SSD a bit more ram and the 270 i get
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2SYkc 560$ shipping include

if i redo yours and add some of what i would call an option :
last minute: oh wow i guess the 99.99 for the 8320 is locally ... i get it at 153.83... now i know why i did chose the Athlon X4 760K : not much difference in game and nearly half the price (and a A88X board are high end in the FM2+ board unlike the 970 who are lower end and more suited for a 6300 and under than a 83xx)
i get 572.79$ due to the price of the FX being back to normal otherwise it would be a bit cheaper, the R9 270 needing also only 1 6pin pciEx you could be able to CFX it later for further upgrades,

as for me my luck would be that AMD will do a Kaveri Athlon X4 like they did with the Llano and Richland and i would have a upgrade for my FM2+ for later, other than a A10-7850K