Upgrading my Computer (Help/Opinions)

[Jesusmobile]

Hey I'm planning on upgrading my computer (Which I bought from one of my friends who built it). I'm not sure what I'm gonna upgrade on it yet but I'm open to hearing your opinions and suggestions. Also tell me what you think and what parts most need to be upgraded or what I should do. I usually use my computer for gaming or watching movies.


Current Build~
"If I forgot to include any parts, just post and I'll fix it."

Case-
Manufacturer:Silverstone
Model #:SST-RV02B-W
Name:Raven
http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/...l=RV02&area=en

Motherboard-
Asus M4A89GTD-PRO/USB3
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD...specifications

Ram-
Corsair XMS3 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
http://www.corsair.com/en/memory-by-...m2a1600c9.html
(I was thinking about upgrading my ram not sure how much tho.)

CPU-
AMD Phenom (tm) II X6 1055T
2.81GHz
(It says it is only running on 5 cores even though there are 6 so that might be a problem lol)

PSU-
Corsair TX 750W

Graphics Card-
ATI Radeon HD 4770
http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...s/hd-4770.aspx

Operating System-
Windows 7 Home Basic x64
(I also have other versions of windows 7. Would you suggest using a different one?)

Monitor-
Sharp LC-26SV490U - 26 inches
(1920x1080)

Speakers-
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 co
http://www.klipsch.com/promedia-2-1-computer-speakers

DVD/CD drive-
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7240S

Hard Drives-
Western Digital 500GB WD5000AVDS-63U7B0(internal)
--5400 RPM (its quite slow so i'm thinking of possibly upgrading to a faster drive with atleast 1TB as my main hard drive)
Seagate freeagent goflex 1TB hard drive USB 3.0 (external)

Network Cards-
wired: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
wireless: Linksys WMP600N Wireless-N PCI Adapter with Dual-Band
(usually use the wired one)

[Lemmiwink]

Oh lord, I hope you got it cheap cus' this is gonna cost....... I'm just gonna start listing a few things that might cause you minor issues when trying to game smoothly:

CPU: I actually have one of those CPU's. I use it in my work computer. It's slow as a turtle on a low-carb diet in MMO's and it does a poor job at multi core tasks as well. An upgrade here is needed. Good news, at least it isn't bottlenecking your GPU, which is the next thing on the list. Recommended CPU: i3 3220 or i5 3570k. Upgrading CPU requires a new MB, the ASRock Z77 board everyone uses will do the job fine. You can get a H77 board if you go for the i3, saves alot of money.

GPU: Low end card back in the day, was bad then, even worse now. This is a thing you absolutely will have to upgrade if you are interested in up'ing your settings. Recommended upgrade: 7770 or better AMD card/GTX650ti or better nvidia card.

RAM: Not enough unless your computer is used purely as a media center. You will get bad performance if you don't add a little more. Add 4 more and make sure it's the same kind and that you run it in dual channel. (placed in slot 2 and 4 from the CPU)

HDD: Now if you are low on money and can't affor the other parts listed at least you can get a nice windows experience from buying an SSD. This will multiply your performance in windows by probably 20. If you go for a sizeable one it would let you install a couple games on it, making them load alot faster enhancing your experience further. Use a faster HDD for games and the slower one for movies and music etc.

Asides from what I listed your PC looks fine for gaming. PSU is big enough for plenty more etc.

[Biernot]

Oh lord, I hope you got it cheap cus' this is gonna cost....... I'm just gonna start listing a few things that might cause you minor issues when trying to game smoothly:

CPU: I actually have one of those CPU's. I use it in my work computer. It's slow as a turtle on a low-carb diet in MMO's and it does a poor job at multi core tasks as well. An upgrade here is needed. Good news, at least it isn't bottlenecking your GPU, which is the next thing on the list. Recommended CPU: i3 3220 or i5 3570k. Upgrading CPU requires a new MB, the ASRock Z77 board everyone uses will do the job fine. You can get a H77 board if you go for the i3, saves alot of money.

GPU: Low end card back in the day, was bad then, even worse now. This is a thing you absolutely will have to upgrade if you are interested in up'ing your settings. Recommended upgrade: 7770 or better AMD card/GTX650ti or better nvidia card.

RAM: Not enough unless your computer is used purely as a media center. You will get bad performance if you don't add a little more. Add 4 more and make sure it's the same kind and that you run it in dual channel. (placed in slot 2 and 4 from the CPU)

HDD: Now if you are low on money and can't affor the other parts listed at least you can get a nice windows experience from buying an SSD. This will multiply your performance in windows by probably 20. If you go for a sizeable one it would let you install a couple games on it, making them load alot faster enhancing your experience further. Use a faster HDD for games and the slower one for movies and music etc.

Asides from what I listed your PC looks fine for gaming. PSU is big enough for plenty more etc.

While most of that is more or less true, it is exaggerated by a lot and actually not that bad as you make it out to be.

CPU: In most cases, a fast clocked dual-core cpu is better than a slower clocked quad core. That's because most programs and games only really use 1 or 2 cores simultaneously. So, if you don't use programs that make good use of a lot of cores, a dual core is the most cost-effective solution.
The suggested i3-3220 is a good example, but not what i would take. Because you would have to also buy a new motherboard, making the $120 upgrade for the cpu an actual $200+ upgrade. The AMD FX-4300 is nearly identical in performance and price and fits on your current motherboard (just remember that a BIOS update is needed beforehand)

RAM: Unless you are a heavy multitasker or have specific needs (e.g. video editing software will eat ram like a nascar fan chucks bear bottles), you can get by fine with 4GB. But as RAM is so cheap these days, you can drop a few $ on an additional 4GB.

GPU: The 4770 was a decent mid-range card back when it was current, but just can't compete with todays monsters. A good upgrade would be in the $200 range (Radeon 7850 or 7870, Geforce GTX660). If you want all current games to run flawlessly at max settings , then you might want to look into the $300-400 range (Radeon 7950 or 7970, Geforce GTX660 Ti or GTX670)

Storage: A SSD would probably be the best investment here. Get at least 120GB, if you can afford it a 250GB model might be interesting.

[Lemmiwink]

I felt I was pretty accurate in my description. That CPU sucks.... FX4300 is a decent buy but I would still go for intel.

[Biernot]

I felt I was pretty accurate in my description. That CPU sucks.... FX4300 is a decent buy but I would still go for intel.

Going Intel only makes sense, when you go i5-3570k. The i3-3220 would be a waste of money (for the reason i put above).