What should I upgrade first?

N

nessBee

New member
Here are my specs:
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2441876

1090T@ stock clock /w stock cooler,
ASUS M4A78LT-M 780G,
8GB Patriot Memory 1333mhz,
GTX 460 SE,
1TB Samsung HD103SJ,
WinPower+ 750W,
ThermalTake Wing RS.

So practically I have saved up £200 but I don't know what to spend it on first; obviously I can save up more.
I use my PC for gaming, web browsing and the occasional streaming. I normally play CPU intensive games so I'm more interested in intel, however as you can see my power supply and case is horrendous. Mr graphics card... Don't even go there. :(


So what should I upgrade first and upgrade it to what? :confused:
 
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How do you mean cpu intensive games?
I dont think there's any need up upgrade your processor as it's still one of the best AMD processors around. Although I would get an aftermarket cooler and overclock it.

If it was me, I'd either get a new graphics card (7850) or a cheaper graphics card such as the 560ti and an SSD
 
Well first, Blizzard games practically. Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, WoW. I don't play any of my FPS's on my PC, I play them on my PS3.

Secondly, like I said my case and power supply is horrendous. Thermaltacky and some crappy unkown brand power supply.

So I would rather upgrade them, but if you really think I need to have a better graphics card and a SSD then I'll take that into consideration.
(Sorry if that sounded aggressive in any way^^)
 
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Well IMO the case isnt currently limiting future upgrades and it isnt causing you issues currently. I also agree the psu isnt great, but since you'll only be using like 450/500 watts on load I personally think it'll be ok for the time being and it isnt really begging to be upgraded.
And all the games you've listed are still GPU games. And you're CPU is easily powerful enough to be running them. The biggest bottleneck in running them would be the graphics card. If you got a 64/128gb Crucial M4 SSD, depending on price, that will be the biggest performance increase you'll get.
After that, see what money you have left over, and see how much selling your graphics card would get you to put towards buying a new one. You should be able to get a 128gb and a GTX 560ti for around £220, so if you can get £40/50 for your 460SE then you should easily be able to cover that.
 
diablo uses a far chunk of graphics to run well. SO a graphic card could be an idea. how ever yea not sure about the power supply. pretty sure with the money you have you could buy a 560ti and a new power supply.

I think you CPU would last longer, really was a good processor had a friend with one. in which as mentioned you could buy a new cooler and overclock it.
 
nessBee said:
So I found this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/128g...-flash-read-500mb-s-write-175mb-s-new-version

And this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...832mhz-384-cores-mini-hdmi-2x-dual-link-dvi-i

Is that alright?

Also, if I do get to sell my GTX 460SE should I spend the money on a aftermarket cooler? If so, what do you recommend.
Click to expand...
the graphic card is a good choice. not much of a fan of ssd's but im not stopping you, you could get something else instead really.

would really be your choice, if you saved a bit you could buy a liquid cooled loop like the corsair h** series, other wise something along the lines of noctua are good.
 
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It seems I'm out flanked here :)

PSU's only really fail when they're stressed close to their specified power, or at least within a 100/50 watts of it. This system is going to be well under the 750w limit so I wouldnt really have a problem running it myself. I wouldnt want anymore than that on it however.

Suppose you'd be safer going for the psu, just dont really think it's vital
 
Yea I'd keep the CPU, it is powerful enough. Later on get a decent air cooler and clock it to 4Ghz, then it will last even longer (and you can keep the cooler for your next build most probably).

My biggest concern is your PSU. Looking around the interwebz I think that WinPower+ 750W has:

+12V 33A
+5V 45A
+3.3v 32A

At 12V that's only effectively 396W so you don't have a lot to play with.

So firstly I'd get a something like a corsair TX650.

That's takes your £200 down to around £130 and whilst you could get a GTX560 for that I wouldn't recommend it. Yes it would be better but it is last generation and will quickly go out of date.

If possible I'd save another £50 or so and get an HD 7850. In fact, looking on Ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=gtx+460&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=4) you could sell your card for ~£50 and get a 7850 straight off!

You could get a new PSU and this then https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...R5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=49689
 
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I know what you mean james its just that with an unbranded psu like that It ight only be like 60/70 % efficient.

If you do go with a new psu I would recommend the CX600 from corsair, if you got that you would still be able to get a 560ti and a 64gb ssd
 
Will a Noctua NH-D14 fit into my case? I want to get the cooler straight after rather than a new power supply because the stock cooler is LOUD. I don't even have an intake fan at the moment so I might grab a set of Corsair AF 120mm fans.
 
You "should" be ok getting a cooler in that case. As a general rule if the case has an 120mm rear fan then it will fit a large air cooler.

I still strongly suggest you get a more powerful PSU though. The 12V rail is what powers the major components including CPU, GPU, fans and even the drives.

You're cpu at load chews through ~230W, the GPU ~240W which is like 70W more than they PSU dishes out. Are you sure that the noise you are hearing isn't from the PSU fan? I had an 1100t and it was quiet to be honest but your PSU is pretty much maxing out so it's fans will probably be spinning hard.
 
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I'm going to stick to the Crucial M4 124GB and the GTX 560 Ti, as soon as I get enough I'll get either the CX600 or the TX650 or if I get enough, maybe the AX650?

I've had this PSU for ages and it still hasn't broke down on me YET so I'm going to put a bit more faith in it and hopefully it won't fail me before I get enough money for a new one^^

After that it'll be the Corsair fans and the Noctua NH-D14! Thank you for the suggestions :)
 
Basically any PSU with enough watts coming off the 12v rail is good but corsair never seem to fail but there are others too.

As long as you know what you are risking. Your peak system load is already greater than what the 12v rail can supply (but systems rarely run maxed out across all the components) so you might get lucky with the 560 which draws only a little bit more than the 460.

Assuming your PSU doesn't blow up you'll have a nice bump in performance with an SSD and 560!
 
Okay, so I feel like a retard because my mobo doesn't even support SATA III 6/Gbps. So I'm going to be getting a new power supply instead! Most preferably Corsair's AX650w.

Got a question though, is it worth getting a SATA II SSD? Or should I just get a better mobo instead and get one from there.
 
Then IMHO you shouldn't really be spending £110 on a power suply, the CX600 is only £50 and will power any single card and most in crossfire/sli just fine
 
You think it's worth getting a SATA II SSD? Or to just a get a motherboard that supports SATA III and then get a SSD.
 
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