recent bonus, looking to upgrade!

[Aratreis]

Hey everyone. I recently received a nice little chunk of change, so I think its about time for a little upgrade to my rig.

okay,so... I'm looking for either a new processor, or a new video card. However, I'm not entirely sure which needs an upgrade over the other. My video card is nividia gts 450, and my processor is a amd phenom quad core black edition. Which one is in more need of an upgrade? The system is about 2.5 years old. It might be worth mentioning I have a 800 watt power source.

any sort of advice is appreciated thanks in advance.

[Killora]

Hey everyone. I recently received a nice little chunk of change, so I think its about time for a little upgrade to my rig.

okay,so... I'm looking for either a new processor, or a new video card. However, I'm not entirely sure which needs an upgrade over the other. My video card is nividia gts 450, and my processor is a amd phenom quad core black edition. Which one is in more need of an upgrade? The system is about 2.5 years old. It might be worth mentioning I have a 800 watt power source.

any sort of advice is appreciated thanks in advance.

I assume it's a AMD Phenom X4 965 BE?

The GPU. As much as i don't like the 965 BE, the GPU has to go. Whats your budget?

[chazus]

Honestly, they could both use an upgrade. I'd suggest checking out the upgrade sticky. What's your budget? What do you do/play? What brand PSU do you have, also... Because someone with that kind of hardware, but an 800w PSU sounds like you got one of those 'bargain' ones that is actually a disaster waiting to happen >.>

[vindicatorx]

Well for the most part unless you are going to stick with an AMD CPU that is the same socket type as the current CPU you will need a new mobo as well. If I was you I personally would just save up and get a new CPU, mobo, CPU cooler and Video card all at once at once

[Aratreis]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Yes, that's the cpu.

My budget is around 600$, but i'll dip into high 700s if needed.

I play WoW, LoL, DotA 2, skyrim, starcraft, and whatever catches my eye on steam. I've really want to pick up the new bioshock game :3

Man, I have no idea on the brand of PSU honestly >.< I bought it so an upgrade in the future wouldn't be hampered by lack of one, it wasn't exactly a bargain one.

If you think I need a new mobo and such, just let me know. I'm patient, and don't mind waiting a bit.

[chazus]

This will play just about anything on the market, and will last a good number of years. It even leaves a little breathing room for a power supply, if need be. The 800w thing just makes me nervous. Take off the side panel of the computer, and look at the brand and/or model number.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $559.95

[Killora]

This will play just about anything on the market, and will last a good number of years. It even leaves a little breathing room for a power supply, if need be. The 800w thing just makes me nervous. Take off the side panel of the computer, and look at the brand and/or model number.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $559.95

Thumbs up for this build. Look on the top or side of the PSU and look for the brand or model number. Or both.

[Deleted]

This will play just about anything on the market, and will last a good number of years. It even leaves a little breathing room for a power supply, if need be. The 800w thing just makes me nervous. Take off the side panel of the computer, and look at the brand and/or model number.

PCPartPicker part list
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z75 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $559.95

assuming this PSU is good i'd pick this list with 1 addition.
swap the mobo to a nice Z77, even an slight overclock can make quite a performance boost for wow. (takes 1 evening of reading on overclocking and you'll love it for life to get that extra performance from hardware)

[Aratreis]

Thanks again guys, love this community ^.^

The PSU is an Antec Earthwatts 750W (Whoops, I lied D Model: EA-750

Does this change anything?

[chazus]

swap the mobo to a nice Z77, even an slight overclock can make quite a performance boost for wow.

Eh, I guess. I wouldn't spend more than 15-20 more though, to go from 4.0 to 4.4.

---------- Post added 2013-04-08 at 01:23 AM ----------

Antec Earthwatts 750W

While not one of the upper tier PSU's, it's not a bad one (or even 'meh'. I'd rate it at "High Decent" to "Low Good") so you'll be fine with it.

[Aratreis]

As I think I've made bluntly clear, I'm not the most tech savvy guy in the world.

Would OCing be that beneficial for the games I play? I would like Ultra settings, with little fps issues. :P

[Killora]

As I think I've made bluntly clear, I'm not the most tech savvy guy in the world.

Would OCing be that beneficial for the games I play? I would like Ultra settings, with little fps issues. :P

Depends on the game, really. Most games you'll see small-ish improvements, and in some, like WoW, Skyrim, and StarCraft, you'll see relatively larger improvements. perhaps less so in skyrim but iirc skyrim does benefit fairly well from higher CPU clock speeds.

Overclocking a CPU or GPU is quite easy. And theres easy to follow guides on how to do it.

[Aratreis]

Awesome. I'll definitely look into that then ^.^ Thanks everyone for all the help. You've made my life so much easier ^.^

[chazus]

An example of OC. I bought a 3570K about 4 months back, and could run Ultra, but it would dip to 50fps in busy areas (quest hubs, cities, etc). At first I kicked it to 3.8ghz (3.4 stock), and that made it a solid 60fps (Vertical Sync) in those areas, but my CPU ran rather warm (60c). I finally got around to ordering the 212 EVO (Which I included in that above setup) and kicked it even higher to 4.4ghz. Not only did 25s and LFR now run at about 50fps, but my temps dropped to sub-50c levels. Fantastic cooler, and surprising performance gains for little extra cost. With the Z75 board, you should be able to hit the 4.0-4.2 range without mucking with voltages.

[Killora]

An example of OC. I bought a 3570K about 4 months back, and could run Ultra, but it would dip to 50fps in busy areas (quest hubs, cities, etc). At first I kicked it to 3.8ghz (3.4 stock), and that made it a solid 60fps (Vertical Sync) in those areas, but my CPU ran rather warm (60c). I finally got around to ordering the 212 EVO (Which I included in that above setup) and kicked it even higher to 4.4ghz. Not only did 25s and LFR now run at about 50fps, but my temps dropped to sub-50c levels. Fantastic cooler, and surprising performance gains for little extra cost. With the Z75 board, you should be able to hit the 4.0-4.2 range without mucking with voltages.

I wouldn't say 60C is hot, but nonetheless a good example of performance increases with overclocking.

[chazus]

I wouldn't say 60C is hot, but nonetheless a good example of performance increases with overclocking.

I was actually pretty shocked that -increasing- my overclock -dropped- my temp by a good 15c... by getting a decent cooler. It also makes me question why anyone would get a Noctua unless they were going to push 4.8ghz or something.

[Confined]

You guys live in freezers.... my 3570k idles at mid 30s and goes to low 60s @ 4.4 while gaming with a fresh paste on a 212evo hate summer here in Egypt..

[Deleted]

I was actually pretty shocked that -increasing- my overclock -dropped- my temp by a good 15c... by getting a decent cooler. It also makes me question why anyone would get a Noctua unless they were going to push 4.8ghz or something.

sound ofcourse.
also it was more of an investment to last pretty long so rather overkill it to make sure it lasts a bunch of generations.
i just hope my noctua will allow me to run a 3770k at decent temps in the 4,8-5 range. (if a good chip in the first place)

[chazus]

You guys live in freezers...... hate summer here in Egypt..

I live in Vegas. It's 70 degrees F year round. Hooray for air conditioning. >.<

It gets up to 49c ambient here (120F) for a decent part of the year, sometimes. It's almost mandatory to keep the AC cranked or you just melt.

[Deleted]

sound ofcourse.
also it was more of an investment to last pretty long so rather overkill it to make sure it lasts a bunch of generations.
i just hope my noctua will allow me to run a 3770k at decent temps in the 4,8-5 range. (if a good chip in the first place)

And also just to be able to say "I have a 1.2KG CPU Cooler. So what?" - clearly a horrible reason to buy a big cooler (dark rock in my case), but hey!

Shroudster, weren't you planning on doing the OC this weekend?

@OP: Performance gain when overclocking is... awesome. /me points at his sig.