How can I wise (cheap and good) upgrade my PC?

[WojtasRed]

Any ideas, guys?

 

[brandonwh64]

Used: I7-2600K
Used Z77 motherboard (gigabyte i prefer)
2x8GB or 2x4GB sticks DDR3-1600
AMD 280 or used 7970/50

As for the rest I would just salvage out of your old PC

 

[Silas Woodruff]

Well first of all think of what you want from a PC(Play the latest games, watch movies, edit and make videos and whatever else you can do with a PC), after you do that find something you like within your budget and research it, if it seems unsatisfactory find something else and repeat till you think it will be good for you.


An upgrade in your case most likely means new parts since your PC is pretty old but if you want to really do it research what CPU's your motherboard supports and go from there to the rest GPU's and whatever.


Please post your budget so I and most likely others can help you better.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

What do you consider cheap?

Buy a new Fan?

 

[buildzoid]

Switch cpus to an fm2 athlon x4 and get 8gb of ram

 

[Dent1]

Switch cpus to an fm2 athlon x4 and get 8gb of ram

Not really a huge upgrade coming from a Phenom II X3. The money spent on a new board should be redirected into a better CPU itself.

I say keep the board and drop in a Phenom II X6 - (or FX if supported?)

Upgrade from 4GB to 8GB or 16GB of RAM.

Keep the GPU the same.

 

[Johan45]

Looks like that board will support up to a 1090T X6 probably find one for around $100, the only thing is your DDR2 will slow you down.

 

[suraswami]

If you are in the US you can get FX 8320 for $99 at Microcenter, match it with a nice Gigabyte or Asus 990FX chipset board + atleast 8GB ram, may be pickup a cheap used 560TI for SLI and carry over existing whatever you can.

 

[TRWOV]

If you don't want to spend much you could get an used X6 (1055t or better) and get another 4GB set but I think you should save and build a new PC.

 

[buildzoid]

Not really a huge upgrade coming from a Phenom II X3. The money spent on a new board should be redirected into a better CPU itself.
I say keep the board and drop in a Phenom II X6 - (or FX if supported?)
Upgrade from 4GB to 8GB or 16GB of RAM.
Keep the GPU the same.

The athlon x4 runs at 4Ghz his Phenom is at 2.8Ghz so the athlon should be about 30% faster

 

[Nordic]

Cheap and good is a hard mix. Used is the only way.

Amd, I would upgrade to the thuban 6 core with a new gpu.
Intel, I would get a quad core sandy bridge cpu i5-2400 or newer with a new gpu.

 

[vega22]

x4 be cpu and new gpu would work wonders.

2500k and z68 mobo if you want to switch platforms.

idk how cheap is cheap?

for gaming you want a quad core dude, that should be top of your list. then a better gpu, or 2 560ti if your house is cold?

 

[TRWOV]

The athlon x4 runs at 4Ghz his Phenom is at 2.8Ghz so the athlon should be about 30% faster

Phenoms have L3 cache

 

[buildzoid]

Phenoms have L3 cache

That only really matters in games everything else the Athlon x4 is 20-30% faster though he does play games so he should just get an FX4300 and Gigabyte 970A-UD3P/DS3P and 4/8GB of ram that will definetly be 30% faster than his Phenom II at 2.8Ghz including games.

 

[Blue-Knight]

What do you consider cheap?

< $100 per item.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

that was a question for the OP, not you. But nice to know your budget. haha.

 

[Dent1]

Phenoms have L3 cache

L3 won't help it. The Phenom II's Deneb was bearly faster than the Propos Athlon II X4 even with the missing L3.

The new Athlon's II X4s are Trinity, Richland and Piledriver architecture so it would be slightly faster clock for clock than the Phenom II with equal cores. The X6 additional cores will likely nullify the advantage and overwhelm it in multi threading.

That only really matters in games everything else the Athlon x4 is 20-30% faster though he does play games so he should just get an FX4300 and Gigabyte 970A-UD3P/DS3P and 4/8GB of ram that will definetly be 30% faster than his Phenom II at 2.8Ghz including games.

What you said is correct, but it isn't the best route.

A new board and FX4300 would cost more than just dropping in a Phenom II X6. The FX4300 would not outperform a Phenom II X6 either.

Check this out, Even with a 500Mhz disadvantage, the two extra cores bring victories for the Phenom II X6.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/203?vs=700

 

[buildzoid]

What you said is correct, but it isn't the best route.
A new board and FX4300 would cost more than just dropping in a Phenom II X6. The FX4300 would not outperform a Phenom II X6 either.

The FX4300 will still win when it comes to games and that's if both are running on DDR3 so an FX4300 @ stock + DDR3 vs Phenom II x6 1100T + DDR2 will heavily favor the FX4300 in games. Even the 3.8Ghz Phenom II x4 980 BE + DDR3 loses to an FX4300 in games so a sub 3.3Ghz Phenom II x6 + DDR2 will get destroyed when it comes to FPS in games.
If he also renders 3D, edits movies or some other multithreaded task then yeah the Phenom II x6 will be good but then he can spend 10$-15$ more and buy an FX6300 and have more speed than a 1100T in EVERYTHING. The only problem I can see with my idea is the current prices of DDR3 but he can always sell the phenom II x3 and the 2x2GB DDR2 kit to recover some of the costs.

 

[Liquid Cool]

If it was my rig...I'd toss in a Samsung 120GB SSD, use the current drive as a storage drive and then leave the rest of the rig alone for another year or so...

Best,

LC

 

[Dent1]

The FX4300 will still win when it comes to games and that's if both are running on DDR3 so an FX4300 @ stock + DDR3 vs Phenom II x6 1100T + DDR2 will heavily favor the FX4300 in games. Even the 3.7Ghz Phenom II x4 980 BE + DDR3 loses to an FX4300 in games so a sub 3.3Ghz Phenom II x6 + DDR2 will get destroyed when it comes to FPS in games.

I don't think the Phenom II X4 980BE @ 3.7GHz is a good example, the Phenom II X4 1100T @ 3.3GHz performs virtually the same in games and within margin for error. It goes back to what I was saying the additional 2 cores can nullify the clock disadvantage.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/362?vs=203


Even the older Phenom II X4 980BE @ 3.7GHz outperforms the FX4300 @ 3.8GHz in many tasks, in gaming specifically they perform virtually identical and within margin for error.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/362?vs=700

From what I can see the Phenom II X4 980BE @ 3.7GHz and FX4300 @ 3.8GHz and Phenom II x6 1100T @ 3.3GHz all perform virtually the same in games all within margin or error +/- 5FPS in either direction.

The shocking thing is if the Phenom II X6 was clocked 400-500Mhz higher to match the other two it would be a lot faster in gaming too.

Considering gaming is equal, the Phenom II x6 1100T also has a clear advantage in non-gaming tasks, whilst being the cheapest option too (No MB upgrade needed).

If he also renders 3D, edits movies or some other multithreaded task then yeah the Phenom II x6 will be good but then he can spend 10$-15$ more and buy an FX6300 and have more speed than a 1100T in EVERYTHING. The only problem I can see with my idea is the current prices of DDR3 but he can always sell the phenom II x3 and the 2x2GB DDR2 kit to recover some of the costs.

The difference between a Phenom II X6 and Piledriver FX 6xx is only slight. Not worth changing boards for that. I would go straight for the FX8xxx. I wouldn't be opposed changing board for a FX 8320.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

You all going on these big rampages about costs and performance. You don't even know how much he wants to spend. You should wait for op to post his budget...then get back into arguments.

 

[Dent1]

You all going on these big rampages about costs and performance. You don't even know how much he wants to spend. You should wait for op to post his budget...then get back into arguments.

I agree. I've been burnt many times posting essays only for the OP not to return

 

[de.das.dude]

cant tell without budget.
give us a budget...

 

[Vario]

As far as CPU's go,

Phenom II X6's are pretty expensive last I checked. I'd go Deneb over Thuban. And yes Deneb and Thuban are plenty powerful for modern gaming. Really the only thing you will have problems with is Starcraft 2, Battlefield 4, and maybe Skyrim. My friend's rig has my old Deneb, 8gb of ram, and a used freebie 5870 from his bitcoin friend, I think the whole thing cost him around $250. He snagged a free power supply from another friend. Really a good computer. Plays Tribes Ascend and other modern games no problem.

Most 955 and 965's quads with unlocked multi can reach 3.8 to 4.0ghz easily which, given the lower price over Thuban, provides better value than the hexa core. With that said, if you get a chance to grab a Thuban for the same price as a Deneb, do it.


I think you will find benefit from an x3 at a lower clock to an x4 or x6 at higher clock.

Here is an example: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/102?vs=83

If you can get one for around $60 and sell your x3 for $30 its worthwhile. If you have to spend about $100 for the CPU, don't bother.

 

[silentbogo]

That's a tough upgrade, man. Best is to get rid of everything.
The only thing i would hold onto is that GTX560Ti and HDD (at least for now).