Upgrading, best bang for buck, thoughts?

[furriusmurrius]

Currently running:

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply

ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

PNY Optima 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model MD4096KD3-1333

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX

Nvidia GEFORCE GTS 250 video card


Now, first and foremost, I know the video card is pretty old and the amount of ram I am using is woefully low. I have 200 or so in Newegg giftcards that I can spent and another 200-250 in cash I can go to a local shop and get something with as well. Id like I upgrade both of these pretty significantly but not so much that my other components don't work with it.

The pieces I listed are from a list that an old internet friend helped me buy and piece together initially, otherwise I have zero computer building knowledge. I know its a common misstep in buying the wrong style of ram, or a card that won't fit, etc etc.

I also have a gutted Razer style tower with nothing but a motherboard in it, but seeing as how I didn't buy this one, I dunno how to ascertain a motherboard model. I like to think its better than what I have, just looking at the newness, but no clue. Its got these weird things I never saw before in the front, like closet doors but curved, and the power button is on top of the case.

But for now, any clues on what items to buy that will go with the original build and increase my performance (Specifically GW2, I keep crashing out of that.) Thanks!

[tielknight]

snip

Something like this might work. Went through the Build Thread and picked out some parts. Your PSU is plenty good enough so don't gotta worry about that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock B75 PRO3-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($77.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $391.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-07 23:12 EDT-0400)

Leaves a big of room for some more upgrades and whatnot.

[furriusmurrius]

Ideally, I'm looking to only replace the memory sticks and video card. Didn't want to have to go ahead and do a new mobo and cpu as well :-/

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, the motherboard in the gutted case I have is an MSI P6N SLI Platinum - can I put my hard drive and PSU in there and spend my budget on Ram and Video card only? Once again, very poor at assembling computer parts, the less I have to buy and thusly put back together, the better.

[tielknight]

Fair enough. Though, have you unlocked the 4th-core on your CPU or overclocked it at all?

You could just stick with the 650ti and get a some 1600mhz ram instead of the 1333mhz. I'm unsure if you will encounter any bottlenecks with that CPU though, you'll have to wait until someone smarter hops in here.

edit : that MSi mobo is a completely different socket type so you would have to end up getting a new CPU if you wanted to use it.

Your current Mobo is a AM3 socket while the MSI is a LGA 775 socket.

edit2: Also noticed that the MSI takes DDR2 800 memory and does not have a PCI-Express 2.0 slot, meaning that the 650ti might not even work with it.

Looks like it you might be stuck with the old mobo/cpu and upgrading the ram/gpu or getting a new mobo/cpu/gpu/ram.

edit3: the MSi mobo is from early 2007 while your current mobo (the ASUS one) is from late 2010. 3 years is a LONG time in regards to computer hardware.

[furriusmurrius]

snip

Cool, so we are ruling out the MSi, I'll just stick with the current mobo and cpu I suppose. PSU seems good, harddrive is fine I guess, so at this point I'm just gonna do a ram and video card upgrade, dunno what you mean by bottlenecks. Also, I doubt I have unlocked 4th core and Im sure I haven't overclocked a thing.

Thanks alot for expressing an interest in helping me out; the last guy I went to for this advice is no longer an option so I find myself either screwed or looking forward to asking some guy at Best Buy (and I do not trust them as far as I can throw them. They want the sale.)

[tielknight]

asking some guy at Best Buy

For the love of god no. You have a 1-in-a-million shot of getting a Best Buy worker that actually know what they hell they are talking about and will point you toward what YOU need and not what THEY need to sell.

Bottlenecks happen(i think) when you get a piece of hardware that isn't as powerful as the rest and when the information goes back and forth between the others and it hits the weaker bit, it causes all the others to slow down to the same level. A computer(or anything for that matter) is only as good as it's weakest part, the CPU/GPU are usually the parts that cause that the most.

Though you should be fine with getting the 650ti and probably the ram as well so you don't go mixing ram sticks(not sure if that could cause problems but you never know).

As for the unlocking, that depends on a few things(if it can be unlocked) and involves tinkering with some stuff(voltages) you probably don't want to :P

As for the help, it's amazing what you can find via google with a few minutes to spare and the right keywords. I knew precisely jack about any of your parts or that you can unlock your cpu and such beforehand.

[Deleted]

i use the gigabyte 650ti oc 1gb and its a beast for all games. i play l4d bo2, wow, diablo 3 and so on.
For a proccesor you dont actually need intel. For an i3 you buy a amd fx 6300 same price but 6 cores.
Use that with an AsRock970Extreme3 mobo. and some 8 gb ram and your done.

[tielknight]

i use the gigabyte 650ti oc 1gb and its a beast for all games. i play l4d bo2, wow, diablo 3 and so on.
For a proccesor you dont actually need intel. For an i3 you buy a amd fx 6300 same price but 6 cores.
Use that with an AsRock970Extreme3 mobo. and some 8 gb ram and your done.

They don't want to buy a new mobo/cpu

They want to get a new GPU/ram so thats is what I am helping with. The mobo/cpu will work for now and is new enough to accept DDR3 ram and the ram/gpu they are getting can always be swapped into another build later-on or used if they are comfortable enough to slap one together.

[Deleted]

Dont get the regular 650 ti, get the 650 ti Boost. It shouldnt cost that much more, but performance wise it is a lot better.

[Danno]

Yeah, if you don't want to upgrade your CPU/MB, then I'd say upgrade to 8GB RAM if you feel you need it (make sure you have a 64-bit OS) and a Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost.

[furriusmurrius]

A PNY Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost will work in my current mobo, and I have the power in my PSU to run it, yeah? I haven't got a car and my friend is willing to come bring me to a computer shop today so I'd like to be 100% sure before i head out.

I think I'll be spending cash at the shop and then when I get home I will buy some 8 gigs of ram via new egg - any DDR3 ram will work in my current mobo as well?

Thanks and hope you guys don't mind the completely noob questions, lol.

[potis]

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A...specifications

Your PSU is overkill for your PC actually so you will be fine.

RAM wise you can see what you can get on the list i posted above, since its a generally weak PC i would just look into cheap stuff like the Corsair XMS ones.

[tielknight]

A PNY Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost will work in my current mobo, and I have the power in my PSU to run it, yeah? I haven't got a car and my friend is willing to come bring me to a computer shop today so I'd like to be 100% sure before i head out.

I think I'll be spending cash at the shop and then when I get home I will buy some 8 gigs of ram via new egg - any DDR3 ram will work in my current mobo as well?

Thanks and hope you guys don't mind the completely noob questions, lol.

Just watch out for the prices. Some local shops are awesome and don't over-price their stuff much and others just LOVE it when someone that doesn't know much comes in and they can shovel whatever they want at them just to get some easy sales. The GTX 650ti Boost runs about $140 and up online, depending on the brand(PNY, MSI, Galaxy, etc). The EVGA Superclocked cards seem to have the highest clock rates out of the bunch and they start at around $160. That should give you a idea of what prices to expect. If they are priced too much higher than that, lets say $40 more or so, than you would be better off ordering it online and using that extra $40 on more components.

Newegg has some decent ram on sale at the moment if you wanna snag it. 16% off the normal price and good reviews. $53 ~ Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (Yellow Heat Spreader) Model TLYD38G1600HC9DC01

The only bad review is someone blaming the ram for causing his HDD to fry when ram simply can not do that(the PSU could though).

[jmt]

If you've got $400 - $450 to spend, why not completely overhaul your system?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-4300 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Respire T20 68.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.35 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 880GM-LE FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $371.31
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-08 11:54 EDT-0400)

Price should be similar to NewEgg. It kept removing the store default.

[tielknight]

If you've got $400 - $450 to spend, why not completely overhaul your system?

Because if you read the whole thread, you would know that they wish to upgrade the ram & GPU and they don't want to deal with getting a new mobo/cpu and all that jazz that it entails at this time. The CPU is plenty powerful enough to run GW2 , they just needed a newer video card and some better(and more) ram to run it at the settings they desire.

[Deleted]

Asrock970extreme3 mobo is like 60 euros..

[tielknight]

Asrock970extreme3 mobo is like 60 euros..

They wanted a new GPU & ram. They do not want/need a new mobo/cpu/psu/anything else at this time. I swear i've stated this 4 times already .

Just wait for them to hop back in here and bring us up to date on if they were able to find the GPU and whatnot.

[furriusmurrius]

They wanted a new GPU & ram. They do not want/need a new mobo/cpu/psu/anything else at this time. I swear i've stated this 4 times already .

Just wait for them to hop back in here and bring us up to date on if they were able to find the GPU and whatnot.

Heya tiel, thanks so much for the support throughout all of this, as well as all the other helpful mmo-champers. Friend brought me to Best Buy today, I snagged a GTX 650 (not Ti or Boost; that was all I could afford / all they had in stock) and then ordered the very ram you suggested a few posts up.

Something that hadn't even occurred to me was that my room (which is a 2nd story to a garage with no A/C and two relatively small windows) gets excessively hot during these summer months -- when the ram arrives I will rip the case open, pop the ram and GPU in, and I think for the summer I will treat my computer to a nice desk fan to keep it (hopefully) running cooler.

[tielknight]

Heya tiel, thanks so much for the support throughout all of this, as well as all the other helpful mmo-champers. Friend brought me to Best Buy today, I snagged a GTX 650 (not Ti or Boost; that was all I could afford / all they had in stock) and then ordered the very ram you suggested a few posts up.

Something that hadn't even occurred to me was that my room (which is a 2nd story to a garage with no A/C and two relatively small windows) gets excessively hot during these summer months -- when the ram arrives I will rip the case open, pop the ram and GPU in, and I think for the summer I will treat my computer to a nice desk fan to keep it (hopefully) running cooler.

As long as they didn't charge ya to much, that should work just fine(the GTX 650 starts at about $100[with a $20 rebate, which is a pretty darn good deal]).
If you don't have any case-fans, get at least one. Newegg has a nice 120mm(about the size of a CD/DVD) fan for $5.99 w/free shipping that has helped keep my case alot cooler. My GPU runs about 10-15c cooler than it was before I got it(had no case fans at all) so it helps to keep things from burning up during hot weather. Pretty sure a 90mm will fit in most cases though, the 120mm I got wouldn't fit in my cranky old computer so i had to....um.....modify it.

I am hoping you didn't pay anymore than $140 or so for the card or you got jipped big time and I shall have to faceplant my keyboard.

[furriusmurrius]

As long as they didn't charge ya to much, that should work just fine(the GTX 650 starts at about $100[with a $20 rebate, which is a pretty darn good deal]).
If you don't have any case-fans, get at least one. Newegg has a nice 120mm(about the size of a CD/DVD) fan for $5.99 w/free shipping that has helped keep my case alot cooler. My GPU runs about 10-15c cooler than it was before I got it(had no case fans at all) so it helps to keep things from burning up during hot weather. Pretty sure a 90mm will fit in most cases though, the 120mm I got wouldn't fit in my cranky old computer so i had to....um.....modify it.

I am hoping you didn't pay anymore than $140 or so for the card or you got jipped big time and I shall have to faceplant my keyboard.

Nah, snagged the 650 for just over 100 bucks. The instant gratification of it all was worth it.