trying to upgrade a pos

[Papi]

I am helping a guildie friend update his computer to which he does play WoW on. Not having much $$ for an entirely new build, we are starting to upgrade piece by piece to eventually get into a new computer. This is what we have to work with. I cannot post links atm, so bare with me.

The MB is: FOXCONN 2A29
The CPU: AMD II x4 / 2.6ghz maybe 2.8
Memory: 8 GB
The GPU: GeForce 9500
PSU: 250W generic

This is an old Hewlett-Packard from what I have been told. My thought is to start with a new GPU & PSU.

I know it is generic information, I am at work atm and have a little more info written down at home.

We started talking today about a new video card. The MB supports PCI-e x16 2.0 so I am thinking a GTX460. With the GTX460, we will need to upgrade the PSU.

I will be buying him a new PSU.
CORSAIR - Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W

Keeping in mind, the PSU will be going into a new computer build, when we've got everything for it.

Over the next month or two, when there is a little more disposable coin, we will be looking into a new MB, CPU, Case and an SSD.

I know I am am all over the place with this post, just kind of trying to get all the information I have.

[Lathais]

That PSU is over the top for anything he may upgrade into. A good 450 will run any single GPU even with an OC no problem and a 550 could potentially handle 2 GPUs though it's cutting it close. If you do not want a modular one a good cheap one is the XFX Pro Series 450w.

Other than that, without a budget it's really hard to suggest anything, but yes, the GPU needs to get upgraded badly, and while the GTX460 would be an upgrade, it's 3 generations old already and I could not rightly recommend it as an upgrade. If you guys are set on nVidia, which is not a bad choice as WoW favors them, I would look at the new GTX650 ti Boost and see if that is within budget.

After that, the CPU is starting to get dated and need an upgrade as well, so new MoBo and RAM as well. The PSU and GPU are a good start though.

[Papi]

The GTX460 is a cheap alternative atm with the MB that he is using. The buget was $100 on the GPU, as I was going to split it with him, instead I would buy the PSU.

So using the MB/CPU stated above with a low balling budget of say $150, I am looking for a PSU and a GPU right now. I'll start looking around for a PSU within the 450W - 550W range then, if that will be acceptable.

I haven't dealt with this aged hardware before, as I have just completed my second build which consists of fairly updated hardware. (ie.. i5-2500k at 4.8, GTX670 4gb) So I am not entirely in the stone-age like my friend here.

He currently plays wow, raids in a 25man guild with me and usually runs frapes for creating basic videos for w/e reasons.





---------- Post added 2013-04-10 at 08:08 PM ----------

The MB he is currently using only utilizes PCI-e x16 2.0. How would the GTX650 ti boost run on the MB as that is a 3.0 gen?

[Lathais]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Video Card ($110.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $160.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-10 20:09 EDT-0400)

That is more than enough PSU right there.
The video card, it's just slightly over budget, but he'll likely be much happier with the performance.

[slasher0161]

I would be more inclined to go with mobo / cpu / ram upgrade, foxconn mobo's I haven't heard the greatest things about and depending on the age of it I wouldn't expect it to last much longer. That will however likely still need a psu upgrade so what is the budget for this upgrade chunk so we can work out where we stand. As an aside a 460 is still a very weak card an apu set up would net better results with oc'd ram.

[chazus]

Newegg currently has a Radeon 7770 for $95 after MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127687

If you're going to spend $110 on a 550ti, you may as well spend $90 on a 650. About the same performance, but better technology, almost -half- the power draw. And.. yeah.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127703

[Lathais]

Newegg currently has a Radeon 7770 for $95 after MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127687

If you're going to spend $110 on a 550ti, you may as well spend $90 on a 650. About the same performance, but better technology, almost -half- the power draw. And.. yeah.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127703

Yeah, that does look better. With the total budget of $150 I wasn't even looking at 6xx series, guess I should have. However, that card says it's PCI Express 3.0 and his MoBo only has 2.0. It will still work but not too it's full potential right? I've always been slightly confused by that.

[Papi]

The budget atm is as cheap as possible really. In another month or two, we will be looking into spending a little more at buying a better quality MB/CPU.

[chazus]

However, that card says it's PCI Express 3.0 and his MoBo only has 2.0. It will still work but not too it's full potential right?

Yeah, PCI 2.0 and PCI 3.0 are sort of like SATA II and SATA III... If the device is slower than the controller's cap, it doesn't matter. I don't even think most PCI 3.0 cards break 2.0's saturation cap currently, though I could be wrong.

The budget atm is as cheap as possible really. In another month or two, we will be looking into spending a little more at buying a better quality MB/CPU.

Will that budget allow for a more expensive GPU in a month or two as well? If so, spending $100 now, when you could spend 150-200 later, would make it worth waiting a month or so.

[Papi]

Will that budget allow for a more expensive GPU in a month or two as well? If so, spending $100 now, when you could spend 150-200 later, would make it worth waiting a month or so.

In due time, maybe. I'm looking for a PSU/GPU that we can use when we're ready to purchase the MB & CPU in another month or two. The $150 that we have allocated probably wouldn't go far if we started with the MB & CPU. With that being said, we thought that an upgrade of the video card would be the best bang for your buck at this point in time. When we started looking around for video cards, they were "recommending" a PSU of around 500-550W. He is using a 250W atm, so we thought that the PSU & GPU should be the first upgrades.

[yurano]

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Video Card ($110.91 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 450W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)

A 550 Ti @ $110 isn't worth it compared to a $100 7770. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/541?vs=536

$50 for a 450W is pretty expensive and somewhat misuse of such a tight budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($122.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $147.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-10 21:07 EDT-0400)

[chazus]

A 550 Ti @ $110 is worth it compared to a $100 7770. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/541?vs=536

...wat?

Based off the thing you linked, the cheaper card (7770) performs better in every game except SC2.
Even moreso, the $95 650 is -also- better than the 550ti.

Are we not looking at the same benchmarks, or are you looking at the utterly useless 'aggregate' score?

[yurano]

Are we not looking at the same benchmarks, or are you looking at the utterly useless 'aggregate' score?

Missed the n't in isn't.

[chazus]

Missed the n't in isn't.

Oh. That's... different >.>

[Killora]

Yeah, PCI 2.0 and PCI 3.0 are sort of like SATA II and SATA III... If the device is slower than the controller's cap, it doesn't matter. I don't even think most PCI 3.0 cards break 2.0's saturation cap currently, though I could be wrong.

So far as i know, not even Titan or any of those cards hit the 2.0 saturation cap. I don't forsee 3.0 being needed for a little while yet.

PCI-E 3.0 on cards is just a market ploy. None of them saturate 2.0 in the slightest. At least, not single cards.

[vesseblah]

Also need to keep in mind with the PSU+graphics card upgrade that there is a real chance it could cascade far beyond that.

Often HP, Dell, Acer etc make especially small cases that only fit small PSUs with small motherboards, and you might end up in a situation where neither the graphics card nor the PSU will fit into the old case. And when you buy new case you might find out that the computer actually used mirrored motherboard which will not fit into standard ATX case and then you need to swap motherboard and cpu and RAM too.

Check first if the motherboard on that computer is standard, and if there's actually room for anything new in the case.

[Rafax]

Dont get the builder series from corsair, stick with the xfx 450, there's a reason the builder series is so cheap...

[Lathais]

A 550 Ti @ $110 isn't worth it compared to a $100 7770. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/541?vs=536

$50 for a 450W is pretty expensive and somewhat misuse of such a tight budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($122.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $147.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-10 21:07 EDT-0400)

While I agree the 650 ti, or if he can afford it a 650ti Boost, would be a better solution, I did not know you could use a 3.0 card on a 2.0 board. So yeah, get the better card now. For the PSU though, personally, I tend to stay away from the cheap ones. Reading some reviews on that particular one, several people had issues with 1 of the SATA power connectors breaking, it only has 2 SATA power connectors so if you plan to have an Optical Drive and HDD and an SSD your out of luck. There were also some complaints that the cables were pretty short making cable management tough in a larger case. One person even mentioned a dent in the PSU itself, but no damage on the box, so was damaged before being boxed and the dent was near the signed Q.A. sticker......what does that say about the QA?

[Papi]

Back again!

We ended up with the purchase of:
MSI N650-MD1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 650 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
CORSAIR CX430M 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Looking around for a new CPU & MB, I managed to stumble upon an i5-2500k NIB for $135. I just bought it. So now, I am in search for a MB for it. Don't have a definite budget for the board, just looking for the best bang for the buck. Thoughts?

---------- Post added 2013-04-19 at 05:38 PM ----------

I personally have a MSI Z77A-GD55 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS with my i5 and runs like a dream. However, I don't want to spend that much if I don't have too.

[chazus]

MSI N650-MD1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 650 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Any particular reason you ignored the suggestions and went with a cheaper card?

So now, I am in search for a MB for it. Don't have a definite budget for the board, just looking for the best bang for the buck.

Any decent brand P67/Z68 or Z77/Z75