Looking to upgrade either cpu or graphics card

JaqenHgarr

Hi all i have come into a bit of money recently and am looking to upgrade my gaming pc a little bit. I record videos for youtube and i am currently getting a lag in games that have lots of explosions gunfire etc. my budget is around 200 euros so if you could also suggest watch cpu/gpu i should upgrade to that would be appreciated.
Here are my current specs :
CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
RAM : 4gb corsair ddr2
GPU : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Motherboard : Gigabyte G41M-ES2L (Socket 775)
Hard Drive :466GB Seagate ST3500630NS Q ATA Device (SATA)

Daniel S

JaqenHgarr wrote: »

Hi all i have come into a bit of money recently and am looking to upgrade my gaming pc a little bit. I record videos for youtube and i am currently getting a lag in games that have lots of explosions gunfire etc. my budget is around 200 euros so if you could also suggest watch cpu/gpu i should upgrade to that would be appreciated.
Here are my current specs :
CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
RAM : 4gb corsair ddr2
GPU : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Motherboard : Gigabyte G41M-ES2L (Socket 775)
Hard Drive :466GB Seagate ST3500630NS Q ATA Device (SATA)

What 5700 Series card is it? 5830/5850/5870/5890?

It's a pretty balanced setup in that if you upgrade anything, other parts will hold it back a bit.

Have you tried overclocking?

Also, if you're getting a new cpu you will need a new motherboard and ram. Unless you decide to look for an old QX9650 or something.

TerrorFirmer

Your current CPU is okayish, I think it would have to be your card - it's probably something like a 5750 or 5770. Throw in a 7850 for around the 150 mark and you'll give it a new lease of life. If you want, you can look into a little overclocking, even bringing it to 3Ghz will help, but even at stock it should be OK for now for most games.

JaqenHgarr

yes i think i have the 5750 is the 7850 new or newish as i want to invest in a graphics card that will last a few years

uberpixie

JaqenHgarr wrote: »

yes i think i have the 5750 is the 7850 new or newish as i want to invest in a graphics card that will last a few years

The 7850 is a good leap in performance and should keep you going for a while.
(2 years more or less depending on what games you play and what settings...)

It really depends on what expectations you have and when you are upgrading.

smellsfunny

What resolution do you play at?

JaqenHgarr

1920 x 1080

BloodBath

I'd say 4 more gigs of ram and a 7850 would be your best bet.

I'd slap a decent cooler on that cpu and overclock it to make sure it doesn't bottleneck your 7850 as well.

The coolermaster hyper 212 evo is a great budget cooler and is compatible with most sockets including 775. It will also serve you well for future builds.

JaqenHgarr

Alright im going to be a complete newb here but what exactly is overclocking and how do you do it, i know it boosts the performance or whatever but like, how ? lol

JaqenHgarr

hey im looking into the 7850 and have a question about it and graphics cards in general, there are a few different 7850s from different manufactures or suppliers or whatever and they vary in price, does it matter hugely what one i get or is there a big performance difference with different manufactures

Daniel S

JaqenHgarr wrote: »

hey im looking into the 7850 and have a question about it and graphics cards in general, there are a few different 7850s from different manufactures or suppliers or whatever and they vary in price, does it matter hugely what one i get or is there a big performance difference with different manufactures

They're all very very similar. It's all brand loyalty/a bit of a better warranty really.

Overclocking is making your components run faster than they currently do (it's perfectly safe, provided you take it easy).

Look at a few guides on youtube before you try anything. If you are afraid of breaking parts, just overclock with stock voltages. You can't go wrong then provided it's stable (requires running a stress test).

JaqenHgarr

ok so it shoulldn't make much difference what 7850 i go for i can just pick the cheapest one ? by the way thanks for all the help guys

Daniel S

JaqenHgarr wrote: »

ok so it shoulldn't make much difference what 7850 i go for i can just pick the cheapest one ? by the way thanks for all the help guys

There are some brands you may want to avoid, just let us know first. If an EVGA/XFX/any other good brand is there and it's only a few euro more, go for that.

JaqenHgarr

Apart from dabs and komplett what other good irish hardware stores are there, preferably online and is harwareversand delivery expensive ?

JaqenHgarr

how about this one ? http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/11984340/art/amd/radeon-hd-7850-oem-2-gb-g.html

BloodBath

Daniel S wrote: »

There are some brands you may want to avoid, just let us know first. If an EVGA/XFX/any other good brand is there and it's only a few euro more, go for that.

EVGA and XFX are 2 of the worst from this gen of cards imo. I know they have a long and popular history but their cooler designs on this gen of cards are just crap.

Sapphire, gigabyte, club3d and asus are the brands to go with from the 7000 series.

JaqenHgarr

this i kind of stupid to ask but will the 7850 allow me to play most new games at highest settings

JaqenHgarr

hey guys what about a 7870 or is there not a huge difference between 7850 and 7870 found a 7870 for 200 euros http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/12638311/art/amd/radeon-hd-7870-oem-2-gb-g.html

smellsfunny

JaqenHgarr wrote: »

this i kind of stupid to ask but will the 7850 allow me to play most new games at highest settings

It will allow you to play any new game currently out now at the highest settings. Your CPU should be okay for a while.

JaqenHgarr

cool thanks

JaqenHgarr

http://www.amazon.co.uk/3D-CGAX-7876O-RoyalKing-Graphics-DisplayPort/dp/B007XE4CH8/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1358454508&sr=8-12

BloodBath

This card is a bit better and should be cheaper with free delivery

http://www.komplett.ie/komplett/product/zkb_01com/20176807/asus_radeon_hd7850_dc2_2gd5_v2__2gb__pce_e/details.aspx

Alternatively

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/2048+MB/62369/Sapphire+Radeon+HD+7850%2C+2GB+GDDR5%2C+lite+retail.article

Slightly cheaper again including the €19 delivery but you can only pay by bank transfer and delivery will take a little longer.

JaqenHgarr

the link i gave for amazon is a 7870 and is cheaper than the 7850 you showed, is the 7870 better than the 7850

BloodBath

My bad, it's a 7870. I thought it was a 7850.

There's not much between them, maybe 5-8%.

That's a good price but the cooler on that doesn't look up to much. These cards like most of the 7000 series can be overclocked a lot but you need a decent cooler to get good oc's. 30-40% oc's are common.

If you're not planning on overclocking it then it doesn't matter. You might not get the extra performance anyway.

JaqenHgarr

so if i were to get the 7850 you linked i could overclock it more

BloodBath

I haven't seen test's for the specific 7870 you listed so I can't say for sure but potentially yes.

They might balance out though as the 7870 is slightly better at the same clock speeds.

JaqenHgarr

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VTX3D-Radeon-7870-Graphics-Card/dp/B00AM3A7JY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_8 have you seen anything about the overclocking on this one

JaqenHgarr

okay i am now fairly sure i want to get the 7870 can anyone suggest a good model that will allow a decent amount of overclocking

SpannerMonkey

Sapphire are excellent for cooling.
But dont spend all your cash on a graphics card . Get sone extra RAM and maybe look at an SSD it will vastly improve your gaming experience

And dont spend too much money in total . You will need to upgrade the cpu in the future to keep up with new games .
Have you considered holding off for a while getting some more money together and building a pc from scratch ?

JaqenHgarr

yeh ive considered it but i think id rather get the upgrades as their needed rather than start from scratch