Upgrades Advice

[Fyfey96]

Hey all,

I built my PC at Christmas 2011

The Base is the same currently, the specs are as follows.

Motherboard : Asus M5A97 PRO
CPU : AMD FX-4100
RAM : 16GB 1600Mhz G.SKills (8GB of added in August 13)
PSU : Powercool 650W PSU

I had a Sapphire 6770 until the other day when I decided to purchase the Asus R9 290 DC2 4GB GPU. I know the newer ones have just be released but for what i need its probably a bit much. So just stuck with that to save a little. I also added a 120GB Samsung SSD at the same time.

I believe that the 290 will probably not be performing its best with the current CPU/Mobo set up. So I was looking at purchasing an ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Hero Motherboard and maybe something like a Intel i5 4690 or thereabouts.
I have an H80i also but it breakdown and is sent away for warranty replacement (Hopfully)

So my plan is the get the new Mobo and CPU and then in further future replace PSU and move it into a new case (Currently a CM HAF 922)

Just wondering if you guys think this is a wise idea and if i will see a good performance boost?

Thanks
Ally

 

[Excalabur50]

I don't really think your cpu and board would be limiting your gpu that much but if you do upgrade to the intel chip the one you have picked should perform cpu based tasks better than your current cpu
The board and chip you have chosen are good and should give you some boost in performance and will last you for awhile and I did notice you said you were updating your psu when you do DON"T skimp on it as it's the heart of your machine, a Corsair or Superflower or similar would be the way to go.

 

[Wraith]

Nice system dude, I had the same FX-4100 paired with a HD6790 and it was great for gaming very good all rounder CPUs the FX-4100, especially when OC'd I ran 4.0Ghz 24/7 and it was solid and cool on air, however you will notice a dramatic difference if you move to the Blue side. Like Excalibur50 said and we do try to hammer this tip home and that is "never scrimp on your PSU" get the best you possibly can for your money.. I always say if it isn't 80+ rated it's not worth even looking at.

 

[Fyfey96]

Thanks Guys. Yea I'm most definitely going to get am AX760 or 860 that's one thing I always regret the first time round. It was on a budget and paid for by my parents. But now I can spend what I like on it.
Edit : I do a lot of work with pics and videos so that's why I'm thinking intel would be better for me.

 

[Excalabur50]

Intel will serve you better for photos and videos

 

[PCgamingnoob]

I don't really think your cpu and board would be limiting your gpu that much but if you do upgrade to the intel chip the one you have picked should perform cpu based tasks better than your current cpu
The board and chip you have chosen are good and should give you some boost in performance and will last you for awhile and I did notice you said you were updating your psu when you do DON"T skimp on it as it's the heart of your machine, a Corsair or Superflower or similar would be the way to go.

Haha. That's funny. In some games the FX4100 (which is worse than a Phenom II 955 btw) will bottleneck that GPU to as little as half the performance it would achieve with a fast i5 Haswell chip.

OP- don't buy now. Skylake has been moved up to August or September. It was supposed to come out in 2016 and we were supposed to get Broadwell first but it has been confirmed that Intel will skip the 5000 series desktop chips and move straight into 6000 series desktop chips with Z1XX chipset motherboards. Among other improvements, you will get 20 PCIE 3.0 lanes compared to 16, and you will get DDR4 support. Definitely don't buy Haswell now. Wait for Skylake. It's around the corner.

Stay away from Corsair powersupplies. Unless you're buying their absolute top of the line stuff, somebody else makes a better PSU. This is true across the board. I suggest that you look into a Seasonic SSR G series or an EVGA Supernova G2 or P2 power supply in your required wattage.

 

[Doomslayer]

Thanks Guys. Yea I'm most definitely going to get am AX760 or 860 that's one thing I always regret the first time round. It was on a budget and paid for by my parents. But now I can spend what I like on it.
Edit : I do a lot of work with pics and videos so that's why I'm thinking intel would be better for me.

IMO i wouldn't buy the AX series anymore cause it's an older series of PSU i would look at the AXi, HXi or RMi series unless you can get the AX series for a good price.

 

[Fyfey96]

IMO i wouldn't buy the AX series anymore cause it's an older series of PSU i would look at the AXi, HXi or RMi series unless you can get the AX series for a good price.

When i wrote that i meant to include the i that's the ones ive been looking at thanks.

OP- don't buy now. Skylake has been moved up to August or September. It was supposed to come out in 2016 and we were supposed to get Broadwell first but it has been confirmed that Intel will skip the 5000 series desktop chips and move straight into 6000 series desktop chips with Z1XX chipset motherboards. Among other improvements, you will get 20 PCIE 3.0 lanes compared to 16, and you will get DDR4 support. Definitely don't buy Haswell now. Wait for Skylake. It's around the corner.

Sounds good man, im not upto date with all the latest releases ect if you get me but i do know whats good and the technical stuff a bit. Ill look into the Skylake.
Thanks