Upgrade Advice

[opel80uk]

Hi all

I'm looking forward to playing a few upcoming games (BF3, Elder Scrolls V) and I also have Deus Ex Revolution to install.

I have a bit of Money (£300, Could strech to £400 if needs be) and wondered whether it would be time to upgrade my PC to play those games, and similar ones in the future, and if so, upgrade which parts to what? I don't overclock or anything like that, so just looking for good performance at stock, and (without asking for too much!) looking for a bit of value for money!

My current set up is:

Phenom II X4 955BE
Gigabyte MA770-UD3 revision 2
4gb PC2-8500
Samsung F1 1tb
XFX HD 4870 512mb
Corsair HX450W 450w
Antec 300

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Bulldozer is being released tomorrow. I suspect a Core i5 might be better for a lot of games but we will soon find out.

However,it does look like the BF3 beta runs fine on even an Athlon II X4:

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-b...nce/page7.html

I suspect the Phenom II X4 955BE should still do the job.

An HD6950 2GB should just about fit an Antec 300:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sho...php?p=18121837

I suspect the Phenom II X4 955BE should still do the job.

[opel80uk]

Cheers Cat, so do you reckon I just need to upgrade the GPU for now?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Cheers Cat, so do you reckon I just need to upgrade the GPU for now?

Yep!! TBH,it would be better to wait until BF3 is released so more there are more reviews.

This card is on special offer today:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=43820

According to this thread it is 27.5CM long:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...6950-695a-cnfc

However,I do not know if this is the PCB length or shroud length.

[Pob255]

You could upgrade motherboard to a am3+ and ram to ddr3
Which would mean you can still use your current cpu and give you the option to upgrade to BD later.

good value on that 6950 otherwise I'd suggest a 6870 not as fast but very good value for money.

just spotted you have one of the great hx450w psu's I'm jealous.

[opel80uk]

just spotted you have one of the great hx450w psu's I'm jealous.

That was down to CAT as it goes. This was my first build and I went on his recommendation. The build has served me very well indeed!

You could upgrade motherboard to a am3+ and ram to ddr3

I was having a dust out of my PC the other day, and I'm pretty sure the motherboard had AM3 printed on it? I could be (and probably am!) wrong of course!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

just spotted you have one of the great hx450w psu's I'm jealous.

I now have one of the flexATX 500W Shuttle units in my PC.



For a 500W unit it is not only quite small but relatively quiet too.

That was down to CAT as it goes. This was my first build and I went on his recommendation. The build has served me very well indeed!



I was having a dust out of my PC the other day, and I'm pretty sure the motherboard had AM3 printed on it? I could be (and probably am!) wrong of course!

I am glad to hear that. The Phenom II X4 955BE is still a capable CPU for gaming.

The deal on the HD6950 2GB is ending by 9AM tommorrow IIRC.

[opel80uk]

I am glad to hear that. The Phenom II X4 955BE is still a capable CPU for gaming.

The deal on the HD6950 2GB is ending by 9AM tommorrow IIRC.

Cheers CAT. I assume that this GPU will hold me in good stead for the next couple of years in much the same way as the 4870 has? (The build was in Sept 2009)

Also, anyone know how much I could expect to get for said 4870?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Cheers CAT. I assume that this GPU will hold me in good stead for the next couple of years in much the same way as the 4870 has? (The build was in Sept 2009)

Also, anyone know how much I could expect to get for said 4870?

Hopefully,but again you might always get a game which needs insane GPU power.

Your current graphics card seems to be worth around £30 to £40 on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/csc/i.html?_nk....c0.m270.l1313

[Pob255]

The Gigabyte MA770-UD3 revision 2 is AM2+ it uses am AM3 cpu and ddr2 ram.
AM3 uses AM3 cpu and ddr3 ram
The new AM3+ uses ddr3 and am3 cpu or the bulldozer am3+ cpu's that wil becoming out shortly.

At the time you got it ddr2 was still cheap and ddr3 expensive but didn't give much performance bonus.

Just upgrading to to an AM3+ with ddr3, while still keeping your phenomII x4 955be will not be much of an upgrade, but it would open up possible future upgrades.
not only in cpu, but also in sata3 for a possible ssd and usb3

[opel80uk]

The Gigabyte MA770-UD3 revision 2 is AM2+ it uses am AM3 cpu and ddr2 ram.
AM3 uses AM3 cpu and ddr3 ram
The new AM3+ uses ddr3 and am3 cpu or the bulldozer am3+ cpu's that wil becoming out shortly.

Gotcha! Thanks for that. So...................... anyone got any advice on which mobo then? I spent £180 on that GPU that CAT recommended and still have another £120 (which could stretch to £220 if needs be) for any further upgrade.

Although after reading a few of the BD reviews, am I correct in feeling slightly underwhelmed?

[kalniel]

Although after reading a few of the BD reviews, am I correct in feeling slightly underwhelmed?

Yes. Stick with your current CPU and just upgrade the GPU. It's unlikely that any chips on AM3 will be Intel beaters, so better waiting until AM4 or switching to Intel *if you need to*. There are a few games that will be hampered by your current CPU, but there are quite rare (The Witcher 2 for example). Skyrim is going to be very light and would probably run max/near max even with your existing set up!

(I'm still using a 4870 )

[opel80uk]

Thanks very much guys. I just got the GPU and will hold fire a bit for upgrading anything else then. Although Witcher 2 was one of the games I also wanted to have a crack at. it wouldn't be unplayable with my CPU though would it?

(I'm still using a 4870 )

To be fair, it's done me well for all the games I've played up to now, so definitely money well spent 2 1/2 years ago! (Again, cheers CAT!)