$100 PC Upgrade

[RandelA]

Hello guys, Randel here!
Okay, I received $100 (or 4000 Philippine Peso, which is actually 97 something dollars...) last Christmas.. and I am absolutely thankful for it as a college student :thumbs:
Anyway! I am planning on using the money for a little upgrade for my gaming pc .. which is almost 2 years old and haven't upgraded

I'm asking for help from you guys.. I can't decide and I don't know what to buy for my 2 year old pc. My storage is still okay so I don't really need to upgrade it.. and I bet I couldn't find a brand new video card that is on my budget and is better than mine.. same with the cpu.. so I'm thinking of buying a CPU cooler + a 2GB stick of RAM! (to balance my dual channel, since I'm using only 6GB on 3 slots..). What do you guys recommend?


** sa mga pinoys dyan.. mas matutulungan nyo ako sa prices..

[Jetster]

My first choice would be to get another 5770 and SLI

Second would be to sell the ram I have. Bye 2X8 1866 ram

[lyndonguitar]

Originally Posted by RandelA

** sa mga pinoys dyan.. mas matutulungan nyo ako sa prices..

wow pinoy

with 4k pesos, you can't really upgrade that much. Maybe the RAM, but it's 6GB already so no point, and the 5770 is much better than 4000 pesos cards today, like the HD 7750

are you having problems running present games lately?

If you'll ask me I'll just save more money, and upgrade to a newer LGA 1155 setup

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by Jetster

My first choice would be to get another 5770 and SLI

Second would be to sell the ram I have. Bye 2X8 1866 ram

that actually sounds great.. should I use the same brand (powercolor) or is it okay to use other brands?

Also forgot to mention that I have removed the stock cpu cooler and put it back on without putting thermal paste.. I know I can just buy one. is stock cooling okay?

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by RandelA

that actually sounds great.. should I use the same brand (powercolor) or is it okay to use other brands?

Also forgot to mention that I have removed the stock cpu cooler and put it back on without putting thermal paste.. I know I can just buy one. is stock cooling okay?

Same brand would look best but not nessary. It has to be a 5770 though, same ram, same clocks I believe

You have to have thermal paste!!!!

[lyndonguitar]

Originally Posted by RandelA

that actually sounds great.. should I use the same brand (powercolor) or is it okay to use other brands?

Also forgot to mention that I have removed the stock cpu cooler and put it back on without putting thermal paste.. I know I can just buy one. is stock cooling okay?

Yes, You can use different brands, But i would prefer to use two identical cards.

If you didn't clean the thermal paste residue, It's kinda fine.

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Same brand would look beast but not nessary. It has to be a 5770 though, same ram, same clocks I believe

You have to have thermal paste!!!!

Clean off the old stuff and get some at your local shop

Stock is fine though

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by lyndonguitar

Yes, You can use different brands, But i would prefer to use two identical cards.

If you didn't clean the thermal paste residue, It's kinda fine.

I didn't, but I am having trouble running games like GTA IV.. L.A. Noire.. etc. which were running fast and smooth before I removed the cpu fan D: (I did it out of curiosity.. because it was my first time building my pc and was not advised about some stuff)

Originally Posted by Jetster

Same brand would look best but not nessary. It has to be a 5770 though, same ram, same clocks I believe

You have to have thermal paste!!!!

I always get that reaction every time I say I didn't put thermal paste after removing the cooler.. better off buying one since it's cheap. but I don't know how many to put and what compound to use!!

[lyndonguitar]

Originally Posted by RandelA

I always get that reaction every time I say I didn't put thermal paste after removing the cooler.. better off buying one since it's cheap. but I don't know how many to put and what compound to use!!

Clean all the residues first, and make it shiny, and Just put a little, the size of a bead, at the center of the chip, then spread it off using a flat cardboard. most pastes when you buy them will have free cards.

[Jetster]

Any thermal paste will work. Small grain of rice in the center. Dont spread it just let the heatsink smash it. Check you tube. Plenty of examples

Clean off the old paste with alcohol. Dont get any Alcohol down in the socket

If you go to your local shop they will probably give you a dab for free. Just take your clean HS with you

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by lyndonguitar

Clean all the residues first, and make it shiny, and Just put a little, the size of a bead, at the center of the chip, then spread it off using a flat cardboard. most pastes when you buy them will have free cards.

definitely a do!

Originally Posted by Jetster

Any thermal paste will work. Small grain of rice in the center. Dont spread it just let the heatsink smash it. Check you tube. Plenty of examples

Clean off the old paste with alcohol. Dont get any Alcohol down in the socket

If you go to your local shop they will probably give you a dab for free. Just take your clean HS with you

is it okay if i use wet wipes instead?

[Jetster]

Only if you use a clean one lol

Actually no. It has lotion on it

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Only if you use a clean one lol

Actually no. It has lotion on it

lol so does tissue and a bit of alcohol work? or do I have to use a cloth?

[razaron]

How's about an SSD to use as an OS drive? Going by Newegg you can get 120/128GB ones for 100$. I have no idea what prices are like in the Philippines, but you should be able to get 64GB ones. That should be enough for your OS and a few games.

Originally Posted by RandelA

lol so does tissue and a bit of alcohol work? or do I have to use a cloth?

Alcohol and a cloth of some sort would be best. A tissue will leave little bits of tissue.

[RandelA]

Thank you for all those responses. The reason why I have not replied the past days is because I dropped by some stores near my college. The powercolor HD5770 IS still available but the price is higher than my budget! (5,400 pesos). I found one HD5570 which is exact to my budget but I know that it could not be crossfired with my 5770..

[lyndonguitar]

Originally Posted by RandelA

Thank you for all those responses. The reason why I have not replied the past days is because I dropped by some stores near my college. The powercolor HD5770 IS still available but the price is higher than my budget! (5,400 pesos). I found one HD5570 which is exact to my budget but I know that it could not be crossfired with my 5770..

you can't, and even ify ou can, you wouldn't feel any noticable difference at all

irc you can only xfire cards belonging on the same series e.g. 57xx, so 5770 and 5750 will be okay

edit: you can go for the 5770

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by lyndonguitar

you can't, and even ify ou can, you wouldn't feel any noticable difference at all

irc you can only xfire cards belonging on the same series e.g. 57xx, so 5770 and 5750 will be okay

edit: you can go for the 5770

I can't go for it actually.. it is more than 4000 pesos I also looked for the 5750, it is less than $100 (3400?), but it is only a 512mb version. Would that suffice?

[PLSG08]

I'd say save it for next Christmas or get another 5770 (second hand ofc)

(Fellow pinoy here) I would say save since AMD HD 8000 series are coming out this year and 5000 series cards would get a price drop because of the new gen.

Maybe get a CPU cooler,a 212+ evo is a great choice

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by PLSG08

I'd say save it for next Christmas or get another 5770 (second hand ofc)

(Fellow pinoy here) I would say save since AMD HD 8000 series are coming out this year and 5000 series cards would get a price drop because of the new gen.

Maybe get a CPU cooler,a 212+ evo is a great choice

Well... I think that's a cool idea.. but this term (3rd term), we are rendering 3D, video editing, and we'll be programming some codes... Do you think my stock solution would cut it? (If that would be enough, I would just buy myself a thermal compound since I didn't put one when I removed the heatsink, and then save up)

I read an article and they also said that the 212+ evo is quite good and 20 degrees cooler than the stock..

[lilhasselhoffer]

Yeah thermal compound is a necessity, not a suggestion.

If you're still using stock cooling, then by all means pick-up a new CPU cooler. The 212+ is very nice, and should be well within price range (~20 USD) once you pick-up thermal compound.

Between those two purchases, and some mild CPU overclocking, you should be good. Rendering is generally CPU intensive, and coding (or more specifically compiling) is definitely going to put your CPU through the paces.

A 5770 is not something you need to replace. Light gaming, at lower resolutions, should still be very possible with a 5770. The improvements offered by crossfiring would be nice, but you don't see that usage in all games.

[RandelA]

Originally Posted by lilhasselhoffer

Yeah thermal compound is a necessity, not a suggestion.

If you're still using stock cooling, then by all means pick-up a new CPU cooler. The 212+ is very nice, and should be well within price range (~20 USD) once you pick-up thermal compound.

Between those two purchases, and some mild CPU overclocking, you should be good. Rendering is generally CPU intensive, and coding (or more specifically compiling) is definitely going to put your CPU through the paces.

A 5770 is not something you need to replace. Light gaming, at lower resolutions, should still be very possible with a 5770. The improvements offered by crossfiring would be nice, but you don't see that usage in all games.

I see I see... I will just find someone who's willing to sponsor on my 2nd HD5770 (who knows!)

what do you think about Antec Kuhler H2O 920? I am also into gaming but I would most likely play games when the term ends or during a long weekend, and if not, I would most likely render and code.

[3870x2]

All this talk of Filipinos, and I wonder where you all come from in that small area. Then I just realized that the Philippines are pretty large, and the population is about a third of the united states.

I always wondered how I had so many Filipino friends.

If you can find a 5770 here in the states for your budget, ill send to you for half the shipping cost. I got rid of a 5750 for $60, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

[PLSG08]

Originally Posted by RandelA

I see I see... I will just find someone who's willing to sponsor on my 2nd HD5770 (who knows!)

what do you think about Antec Kuhler H2O 920? I am also into gaming but I would most likely play games when the term ends or during a long weekend, and if not, I would most likely render and code.

I wouldn't go down a watercooling path if you're the kind of person that doesn't do yearly maintenance. Although the 920 is good, I suggest air cooling since you're still not pushing your system that hard.

We're both in college and I have to say the your rig is more than sufficient for what the prof ask, but if you want more omph then get a 2nd 5770, although if you play your cards right you can save for a 8770 or a 8850 that might come out this year

gaming wise that 5770 still beats the crap out of my GT640M (Lol laptop GPU) which runs most games nowadays on 1366x768 on med quality decently

Oh and lucky you I found a 2nd Hand 1gb DDR5 HD 5770 on sulit
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...Position,1-1,1

check it out if you want it

Also on the memory side your good to go, although more RAM can help in vid editing and rendering, your CPU would do most of the work

[3870x2]

2x 5770s work really great. I ran 5750s up until earlier this year, and was able to play everything just great, mostly from high to maximum settings. Lower end GPUs in CFX is the best kind of price per performance you can get. I would expect performance to be somewhere between 7770 and 7850.

[lilhasselhoffer]

A sealed water unit is a nice upgrade, but low end units generally have similar performance to the high end air coolers. I believe your best bet is to purchase a 212 or 212+, buy two good 120 mm fans, and save the rest of that money for a rainy day.

You'll wind up with cash in your pocket, and some decent overclocking headroom.