Upgrade recommendations

[Deleted]

Hello folks, I have an old PC but a good graphics card, it's fine for single player games or when i am alone in like gw2,swtor,wow etc but in busy areas it keels over and becomes unplayable. I normally have the graphics close to maximum when solo but when it's busy my fps just dies and adjusting the graphics level makes little or no difference, so i assume it's to do with my CPU and motherboard.

So what CPU, motherboard and ram would you recommend for £150, i want something that will handle the current mmos and the new ones such as tes online,I know there are no specifications out yet but indulge me. i would be willing to pay a little more if it makes a big difference. I will probably upgrade the hard drive eventually but right now i want to focus on the really bad stuff.

Current specs
CPU AMD Phenom X4 9650 Quad-Core (2.3GHz)
Motherboard Foxconn A7VMX-K
Memory 4GB DDR2
Hard Drive 640GB SATA
Video card ATI sapphire HD 6870
PSU 600cx corsair

So i am after something that will handle the busy areas and the upcoming mmos,throw me your suggestions, thanks

[Musta Kyy]

You could go for AMD FX 6100 (6 core, 3.3Ghz) or i3-3220 (2 core, 3.3Ghz) processor and some cheap motherboard (someone here can probably recommend some).
I would say that the AMD one in this case, with this budget would be better.

[n0cturnal]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£86.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8B75-M LX PLUS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.40 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £164.62
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 14:40 GMT+0000)


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£68.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 970DE3/U3S3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£52.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £152.21
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 14:42 GMT+0000)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-4300 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (£89.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2P Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£35.15 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £155.37
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 14:45 GMT+0000)

Personally I would go for the Intel build.

[noteworthynerd]

£150 for all three components is not going to buy you anything that is much better than what you have now. You could go with something like this for £185:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor (£86.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£62.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £184.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 14:45 GMT+0000)

[Deleted]

well i don't mind spending more if it will make a big difference you know £180-200 or so is fine i am just trying to play it safe, i don't know a great deal about this stuff, thanks for the responses.

[n0cturnal]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8B75-M LX PLUS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£47.40 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £208.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 15:00 GMT+0000)

Is £209 OK?

[Deleted]

Is £209 OK?

It's fine if it's a huge upgrade, i see the benchmarks for it but for a novice like myself i don't know what it all means:P I see it's relatively high but how well would it handle current games and when i am online in busy areas would i get any slowdown in the newer mmo's like GW2? can you quantify it for someone like me :P ?

thanks for the advice guys i will certainly look to upgrade my PC with one of these recommendations, once i read up on them

EDIT: screw it can you show me something for say £250-300, we only live once and i am sick of slow downs. :P

[n0cturnal]

Well the i5 is a proper quadcore and will have better performance in any game that utilizes more than 2 threads, WoW for example use 3 or more thread.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/702?vs=677 The 3350P is just slightly slower than a 3470, like 2-3%.

[Deleted]

EDIT: screw it can you show me something for say £250-300, we only live once and i am sick of slow downs. :P

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£73.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £269.20
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 15:18 GMT+0000)

[jholdaway]

In case you feel comfortable overclocking I'd go with this. It's almost identical to Notargets except different motherboard and includes an aftermarket cpu cooler.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£164.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.00 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£76.30 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£30.23 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £295.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-06 15:37 GMT+0000)

[Deleted]

Hi guys, I just want to check something.

Am i right in thinking that either one of the two motherboards linked directly above would fit in this Midi tower case or will i have to buy a new case?

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/pcs/2...specifications

This is the only image/specs i could find of the case, not sure how much it helps. thanks once again.

[jholdaway]

That Foxcoon P43AL motherboard is an ATX so these motherboards are the same size. So they should fit no problem.