Help, what upgrades should I get?

alexth3great97

New member
I currently have my 18 month old build and I have only upgraded my GPU and an SSD, but I was just wondering what upgrades I should get. I am 15 so don't have a lot of money (it took a while to save up for building my pc in the first place) so I would want a good worthwhile upgrade which won't cost too much. My specs now are:

Case: Zalman Z11 Plus
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97
CPU: AMD FX 4100
GPU: HIS RadeonHD 7870 ICEQX
RAM: x2 4gb Corsair ValueRAM 1333mhz
PSU: Corsair CX 600
HDD: Seagate 7200RPM 1TB
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 64gb

I was thinking a new CPU and possibly converting to Intel so I would need a new motherboard too so I would say around £300 for these together. But if there is something better which will play BF4 on medium for less than £300 that would be great.
I was also thinking of changing my case because the Z11 is a pain to manage the cables and I want it too look good and clean so a white case would be the best and something around the £100 mark would be good. Also I would like a big case so I can have plenty of space for possible future upgrades.

If you have any other recommendations I will be happy to hear them :) Thanks
 
Last edited:
I currently have my 18 month old build and I have only upgraded my GPU and an SSD, but I was just wondering what upgrades I should get. I am 15 so don't have a lot of money (it took a while to save up for building my pc in the first place) so I would want a good worthwhile upgrade which won't cost too much. My specs now are:

Case: Zalman Z11 Plus
Motherboard: ASUS M5A97
CPU: AMD FX 4100
GPU: HIS RadeonHD 7870 ICEQX
RAM: x2 4gb Corsair ValueRAM 1333mhz
PSU: Corsair CX 600
HDD: Seagate 7200RPM 1TB
SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 64gb

I was thinking a new CPU and possibly converting to Intel so I would need a new motherboard too so I would say around £300 for these together. But if there is something better which will play BF4 on medium for less than £300 that would be great.
I was also thinking of changing my case because the Z11 is a pain to manage the cables and I want it too look good and clean so a white case would be the best and something around the £100 mark would be good. Also I would like a big case so I can have plenty of space for possible future upgrades.

If you have any other recommendations I will be happy to hear them :) Thanks

I would hold off until more near christmas until upgrading a CPU. One reason for sales but a whole other reason is because many newer AAA games are using more cores and etc. This would change the better upgrade option vs a 4670k and 4770k(out of budget anyway).

As for a white case. Fractal Deisgn Define R2 in white ought to do you good.
 
Get a nice sound card. I know it sounds insignificant, but it really isn't. They are inexpensive for the most part and a good sound card can make cheap speakers shine. Get a Xonar card something like a DX or an STX. No matter what you do on the computer you will enjoy the sound card and what it offers. Not to mention it will expand your horizon on further future upgrades to you work station and make the computer hobby a little larger.
 
as for your cpu, if you don't have much of a budget a piledriver fx chip like the fx 6300 or 8320 could be an alternative to intel.

lots of new games are coming with support for higher numbers of cores, eg battlefield 4 watch dogs assassins creed. Also saves you from changing the motherboard.

here are cpu comparisons for the battlefield beta.

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Battlefield_4_Beta-test-bf_4_proz_2.jpg


You may also consider upgrading the ram in the near future, loads of pc games are moving to 64 bit only versions, going by leaked recommended specs for soon to be released titles a few more gigs might help.

as for a case, its personal preference really, find one you like the look off, check review sites to see how well it performs.
 
as for your cpu, if you don't have much of a budget a piledriver fx chip like the fx 6300 or 8320 could be an alternative to intel.

lots of new games are coming with support for higher numbers of cores, eg battlefield 4 watch dogs assassins creed. Also saves you from changing the motherboard.

here are cpu comparisons for the battlefield beta.

http--www.gamegpu.ru-images-stories-Test_GPU-Action-Battlefield_4_Beta-test-bf_4_proz_2.jpg


You may also consider upgrading the ram in the near future, loads of pc games are moving to 64 bit only versions, going by leaked recommended specs for soon to be released titles a few more gigs might help.

as for a case, its personal preference really, find one you like the look off, check review sites to see how well it performs.

+1 for this couldn't have put it better myself
 
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