Toying with the idea of upgrades, thoughts?

TheDoc

Howdy fellas,

Every summer I usually drop a few bob on the PC to give it a little jolt. As with most of my machines they are originally bought as an assembled piece, and then over the years get upgraded until it's essentially custom

I've been looking around to see my latest upgrades. I have scaled back my gaming in a sense I'm not playing every new game that comes out. I play mostly the same games over and over, at the moment League of Legends is really the only game I'm playing. But there is always the option to play others(I'm a longtime WoW player) and I have an extensive Steam Catalogue.

I'll update with some full specs when I get home, in work at the moment just browsing. I think I'd like to upgrade my RAM to 8GB, and possibly my GFX card is I can get a big imrpovement for my money.

I havn't exactly got a budget, but I don't want to be spending mad money either. Possibly €180 max on a GFX card, and then take a goo on the RAM and see what cost is what and if it again is bang for my buck.

My specs in my machine are the following, feel free to make suggestions elsehwere

Mobo
ASRock 970 Extreme3, AM3+, ATX

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail

GPU
Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II TOP 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

RAM
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)

PSU
Think it is about 650w from memory, not sure

Xenoronin

Other than a bit more ram (and even that isn't really holding you back much at the moment), the machine is pretty damn solid. I'd say forget upgrading the GPU if you aren't playing modern games, that card will still play everything on med/high settings very well and a 180€ upgrade won't really have the most noticeable effect other than being able to put a few settings a bit higher.

If you don't have an SSD in that PC, i'd say go get that instead and get a good one.
The Samsung 840 is one of the best at the moment.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Series-250GB-Solid-State/dp/B009LI7C9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375349348&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+840

Some more ram if you want it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMX4GX3M2A1600C9-Performance-Desktop-Memory/dp/B002LE8D2A/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1375349387&sr=1-3&keywords=corsair+xms3+4gb

I am no professional, but this is how i'd go with your upgrade anyway

TheDoc

Cheers

Am running a Crucial M4 128GB SSD for my games, and have an OCZ Agility Vertex 60GB completely empty. It took 18 months to RMA, would "like" to put my OS on there, but am scared incase it ****s itself again, and the effort involved in reinstalling windows, so it sits idle.

This is the RAM I got from overclockers.co.uk, paid £19 looking at my order history back in '11
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS

Cheap and cheerful upgrade I guess to double my RAM ( from memory pretty sure I have 4 RAM slots.)

Xenoronin

Yeahhh... The OCZ ones were notorious for failing a while back. I haven't heard any Samsung failures on either the 830 or 840 series so I'd honestly look back into it. The chances of it going wrong again are unlikely.

The ram is still up to date. Nothing wrong with it so adding on the same type is fine. I remember looking for PC2-6400 ram for my desktop to add some more to it a few years ago. It was like double if not triple what I paid for it at first.

Are you running into low FPS problems with that gfx card by the way?
I'd suggest this as an upgrade
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GTX660-TI-DC2-2GD5-Graphics-Surround-PCI-Express/dp/B008X3CMSE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375350592&sr=8-1&keywords=660ti

or if you wanted to pay a little bit more, something in the 760 series.

Yet another upgrade you could do (since WoW is pretty CPU dependant) is to upgrade your CPU.
This is amazing for the price.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8350-Edition-Processor-4-2GHz/dp/B009O7YUF6/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1375350758&sr=1-1&keywords=fx+8350

M00lers

Has your CPU been overclocked?

BloodBath

You have a good board for overclocking. If you haven't already I'd buy a 212 evo and overclock it. There's life in those phenoms yet.

TheDoc

Havn't ever overclocked before, never really got into it or wanted to run the risk tbh.

Any ballpark figures of performance boosts I might get?

I have a big dirty CPU fan that I bought with the CPU when I got it, according to order history its a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

M00lers

TheDoc wrote: »

Havn't ever overclocked before, never really got into it or wanted to run the risk tbh.

Any ballpark figures of performance boosts I might get?

I have a big dirty CPU fan that I bought with the CPU when I got it, according to order history its a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

Risk smisk:D

Seriously though it will be fine. 3.8Ghz should be well doable some do 4.0Ghz plus! Slap on that cooler and get overclocking!!!:D

Gumbi

TheDoc wrote: »

Havn't ever overclocked before, never really got into it or wanted to run the risk tbh.

Any ballpark figures of performance boosts I might get?

I have a big dirty CPU fan that I bought with the CPU when I got it, according to order history its a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

Depends on what you play and what your graphics card is. If your graphics card is high end, overclocking your CPU wont make a diff in most games, but will allow it to last you longer between different cards, if you decide to upgrade. In some games (Starcraft II being one), it makes a HUGE difference.

TheDoc

So came into some cash and will double up on RAM for a start. Treating myself to new earphones as well.

Any comment on GPU. My 560ti has been a solid performer. But I wouldnt mind upgrading if at a decent price there is something to really boost my machine.

I've looked into the overclocking and it looks relatively straight forward. Seemingly my CPU is magic for OCing but just a lot of trial and error involved. Might toy with this around the wot kend.
Any links to solid overclocking guides or reading is welcome.

TheDoc

HI all,

With the recent release of Battlefield 4, and some games coming down the pipe I'm interested in, thought I would revisit this thread, and get some information on maybe peoples thoughts. I have recently being made redundant, and have a bit of cash coming my way, so I want to maybe treat my PC to some upgrades.

Oddly enough I never got around to doing the RAM upgrade discussed before, still on 4GB, so that might be a start. I'm not hampered by my machine or disappointed, I'm just looking to maybe throw a few bob into it. I've been upgrading it for a pretty long time now, trying to keep it somewhat relevant.

So yeah any advise on upgrades would be lovely.

In terms of budget, I find it hard to justify splashing €400 etc on Graphics cards. I'm looking for value for money that will give noticeable improvement.

I've also been told so much about Overclocking that CPU, which I still havnt done. Have a third party cooler ( evo something) on the CPU, so have the capacity for it.



*Worth noting I have been using this for comparisons for GFX cards

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+560+Ti&id=18

MY 560TI is a number of years old at this stage afaik, but yet is still ranked pretty high on this comparison chart. Not mad on spending 200-300 euro for like 5 more fps in games.

M00lers

Overclock your cpu or get a FX6300, get an SSD, more RAM and add a 280X, nice upgrade which should yeild good improvements.

TheDoc

moolers2000 wrote: »

Overclock your cpu or get a FX6300, get an SSD, more RAM and add a 280X, nice upgrade which should yeild good improvements.

I keep forgetting to mention I am running two SSD's at present

M00lers

TheDoc wrote: »

I keep forgetting to mention I am running two SSD's at present

Great. What's your total budget for upgrades.

TheDoc

moolers2000 wrote: »

Great. What's your total budget for upgrades.

Like I said I have a good bit of cash coming to me in January, so money isn't the object, but I don't blow cash on minuscule upgrades.

RAM definitly seems something I can do, but the price is shocking. It wasn't too long ago RAM was cheap s chips. I'll need to check what the setup is in my PC at the moment. I have four RAM slots and I think only 2x2GB, so can maybe get another 2x2GB, rather then shelling out €120 for 8GB which is expensive.

The GPU you mentioned seems to have a good improvement over my current one, coming in around €280-300 though which again I'd consider expensive : /

M00lers

TheDoc wrote: »

Like I said I have a good bit of cash coming to me in January, so money isn't the object, but I don't blow cash on minuscule upgrades.

RAM definitly seems something I can do, but the price is shocking. It wasn't too long ago RAM was cheap s chips. I'll need to check what the setup is in my PC at the moment. I have four RAM slots and I think only 2x2GB, so can maybe get another 2x2GB, rather then shelling out €120 for 8GB which is expensive.

The GPU you mentioned seems to have a good improvement over my current one, coming in around €280-300 though which again I'd consider expensive : /

You can get 2 x 4GB Ram for about 80 euro but you also could wait for the price to come down. How much are you willing to spend on a GPU?

The GPU I linked to could possibly be double the power of your current card.

Dcully

I got these the other day and has sped up my rig hugely.

http://www.memoryc.ie/products/description/8GB_G_Skill_DDR3_PC3_12800_1600MHz_Sniper_Series-9_9_9_24-Dual_Channel_kit/index.html

Also im running a MSI GTX660 TI Twin Frozr and its a little beast of a card,not sure how much they are now, could be an option?
Im running BF4 @ ultra 60-120 fps @ 1920X1200 ,turn off AA and HBAO and its 75-140 fps.

Luck100

If you're looking for value for money, this is the worst possible time to buy ram. It's literally twice the price that it was last year due to temporary production shortfalls. I think there was a fire at a major ram production facility (Hynix?) which created a temporary spike.

On the other hand, prices on graphics cards have been slashed recently due to new models and competition between NVidia and AMD.

marco_polo

You could get €30 for you existing kit to put towards new RAM on adverts or else just buy another 4GB yourself for about the same. At about €75 this is probably one of the cheaper prices to get 8GB of DDR3-1600 kit delivered to the door.

By simply changing the CPU multiplier you should be able to get to at least 3.6-3.7GHz with little or no extra CPU voltage required (which is near 15% and not to be sniffed at).

I found with a 965BE that approaching 4.0GHz+ you'll need to understand more advanced concepts and will probably have to start tweaking NB/IMC settings as well to get fully stable (It also depend on whether the chip itself is good enough get there). Since you have a decent cooler might as well give it a go and see if performance is improves enough before splashing out on a new CPU.

This Phemom II guideon overclock.net is one of the best starting points.

TheDoc

Value for money does seem to put that R9 280x ahead of the curve, about €250-260 euro for some mammoth improvements by the looks of it, so that looks a relatively solid start.

RAM as you say, pricing looks extortionate at the moment. I was shocked to find my machine had 4GB, was under the impression it was 8GB, which goes to show my machine doesn't slug around, it's perfect for what I do, just looking to get a little more.

• Overlock my CPU to get a little more
• Radeon R9 280x GPU
• RAM when the pricing comes down

Looks to be a pretty decent avenue of attack

M00lers

Put a good amount of time and effort into overclocking your CPU, 3.8-4.0GHz should be doable and will help avoid any/much of a bottleneck with the 280x if you decide to go with it. Overclocking the Phenoms is pretty simple as long as you do your research first.

TheDoc

moolers2000 wrote: »

Put a good amount of time and effort into overclocking your CPU, 3.8-4.0GHz should be doable and will help avoid any/much of a bottleneck with the 280x if you decide to go with it. Overclocking the Phenoms is pretty simple as long as you do your research first.

Thanks, had a read of that link above over the last hour.

I have a third party heatsink/Fan on the CPU, checked it out and seemingly one that all the guides etc. recommend. I'll tweak the multiplier this evening and see if I can hit 3.8GHZ.

Luck100

If you've tweaked any settings in the BIOS, it's a good idea to save them to a USB stick (if your motherboard allows that). When you start dialing up the multiplier, it's quite possible to end up with an unstable overclock where you can't even get back into the BIOS to change it back. Then you generally have to pop open then case and do a CMOS reset. Happened to me when I was testing overclock settings. The CMOS reset will put the BIOS back to the factory settings, so it's handy to have them saved on a USB so you can just load them back up.

markbreen17

I personally have a 280x in my machine. I upgraded from a gtx 560 (non-ti). With the 560 I could get about 60 fps on high with bf3, 30 with ultra which I didn't like. With my 280x I get anywhere between 70-100, seen it go past 100 at times! Anyways its a very good card for the value.

TheDoc

So turns out I have 8GB of RAM, opened up the machine and saw it there, checked the config on the PC and its showing 8GB, no idea where that extra 4GB came from

Anywho, the GFX card looks solid, but as usual, so many different manafacturers. Any recommendations?

markbreen17

TheDoc wrote: »

So turns out I have 8GB of RAM, opened up the machine and saw it there, checked the config on the PC and its showing 8GB, no idea where that extra 4GB came from

Anywho, the GFX card looks solid, but as usual, so many different manafacturers. Any recommendations?

I went for the MSI, I just liked the look of it and it has good temps as well. Comes down to personal choice really

TheDoc

markbreen17 wrote: »

I went for the MSI, I just liked the look of it and it has good temps as well. Comes down to personal choice really

Must also check the physical dimensions of the card, my 560TI was a bit of a tit fit, hopefully they are making the new models smaller rather then the ****ing monsters that came out during the 500 series and respective Radeon version

markbreen17

TheDoc wrote: »

Must also check the physical dimensions of the card, my 560TI was a bit of a tit fit, hopefully they are making the new models smaller rather then the ****ing monsters that came out during the 500 series and respective Radeon version

If only that were the case, the new cards are massive! My 280x is about am inch longer than my 560. Had to move some hard drives around so it would fit.

TheDoc

Decided not to wait for Xmas.

Payday next week so going to order the card then

M00lers

Have you started overclocking your CPU yet?

TheDoc

moolers2000 wrote: »

Have you started overclocking your CPU yet?

Been busy and havnt had a chance , will give it a whirl this evening or tomorrow should have some free time.

Was reading around along with that link above, seems I just need to tweak the multiplier and happy days.

TheDoc

Do I need to hold any concern for my PSU?

My original post mentions a 650w, but is there a way I can check it via some software, rather then opening the Pc ( pain in the gicker). STILLLL havn't got around to Overclocking. I get less and less time on games these days and find I just want to maximise playtime rather then fiddling, might have a lash tonight.

Another little sticker is the GPU, I might have got a bot confused. The R9 280x is roughly €300 in most places, and that is a bit pricey. What are opinions on the R9270x? It can be gotten for €100 cheaper and I'm hoping there is litle difference in the two ?

M00lers

If its a decent 650W it should be fine but you should really have a look. You also need to get cracking with the CPU overclock otherwise it will bottleneck your new GPU.

TheDoc

ooooo Amazon black friday starts in two days, might hang on and see GPU prices then. The card I have selected ( MSI R9270X twin forzr) is already discounted but might get more

TheDoc

Was just about to go to bed and said hold on lets try this overclocking.

Loaded bios and the motherboard had a feature to move from Auto to manual for CPU multiplier. It had a dropdown menu with basically each multiplier and what speed it would return.

Went up to 3.7ghz and then loaded up Core temp and CPU-z to see what the score was.

Running lovely at 3.7ghz and temps at 27*c. I'm tempted to try for 4GHZ now

TheDoc

So GFX card came.

Installed and running within ten minutes. Absolutely incredible, noticeable increase already. Thank you all so much

There is some feature to capture recordings directly from the video card which I'm really interested in, just need to find where to set it up :)_

markbreen17

TheDoc wrote: »

So GFX card came.

Installed and running within ten minutes. Absolutely incredible, noticeable increase already. Thank you all so much

There is some feature to capture recordings directly from the video card which I'm really interested in, just need to find where to set it up :)_

Very nice, happy gaming! I believe MSI afterburner has a free game capture utility built in, unless its a different one you're talking about?

BeerFear

TheDoc wrote: »

Was just about to go to bed and said hold on lets try this overclocking.

Loaded bios and the motherboard had a feature to move from Auto to manual for CPU multiplier. It had a dropdown menu with basically each multiplier and what speed it would return.

Went up to 3.7ghz and then loaded up Core temp and CPU-z to see what the score was.

Running lovely at 3.7ghz and temps at 27*c. I'm tempted to try for 4GHZ now

Make sure you run a program called prime95 and use coretemp to monitor the tempereature. If you have the cash an FX6300 or 8320 might be a viable upgrade. What graphics card did you go for?

TheDoc

markbreen17 wrote: »

Very nice, happy gaming! I believe MSI afterburner has a free game capture utility built in, unless its a different one you're talking about?

Yup found it, its excellent