Upgrading an old gaming rig!

[Sirilius]

Hi!

I've not used these forums in a long long time. This community help me build my first PC in 2009. I am looking to upgrade my build but am unsure where my "bottlenecks" are.

My current rig -
CPU - AMD Phenon II X4 955 Black edition
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P, AMD 790X
GPU - ATI HD4890
and 4GB of ram

I tried upgrading my ram a year ago, but the 8GB (2x 4gb) kept causing BSOD so I am really unsure what ram would work with the mobo.

Basically I would like some advice on what I can upgrade. Ideally I would like to upgrade cpu/gpu/ram, but if the mobo needs upgrading I wouldnt mind. I will just fill in the questionair as well,

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
-Gaming! Gaming! Gaming!

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
-~£500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
- UK

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
-Not fussed, tho if I recall correctly, my current mobo only works with AMD and ATI

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
-Monitor, mouse/keybound, speakers, and current powersupply 750W

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
-A few but I am fairly confused lol

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
-No knowledge on how to and bit fearful about it

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
-Soon as possible!

9. What resolution and settings do you use?
-Currently my monitor resolution is 1680x1050, however in a years time I plan on getting a new monitor and pumping up the resolution (actually an info/advise on a nice resolution monitor would be welcomed)

10. Are there any specific technologies you want?
-I plan on getting a SSD as well

[Dzzope]

Read up on overclocking, Grab a ssd and a GTX 660 if you feel your graphics are letting you down(looks like 2 weeks till it's released).. sorted for at least 2 more years.. you will need a full upgrade the next time..

Alternatively add an SSD and OC.. not worth spending £500 on that system.. It's fine but you budget is gonna be best saved for another 2 years then replace the lot..

[great_big_abyss]

Well, I'm just having a cursory look on ebuyer.co.uk: All prices in Sterling

There. I don't think there's any viable upgrade path from your existing motherboard. Your best bet is to switch to an Intel system.

Intel Core i5 3450 3.1 GHZ - 147.52
ASUS P8Z77-V LX ATX Motherboard - 89.70
Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz - 39.28
Gigabyte HD7850 OC Windforce - 189.16
OCZ 120GB Agility 3 SSD

Total: 535.65

Reuse your old case, powersupply and Dvd Drive. Also, use your existing HDD as a storage drive to support the SSD.

[Sirilius]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

Read up on overclocking, Grab a ssd and a GTX 660 if you feel your graphics are letting you down(looks like 2 weeks till it's released).. sorted for at least 2 more years.. you will need a full upgrade the next time..

Alternatively add an SSD and OC.. not worth spending £500 on that system.. It's fine but you budget is gonna be best saved for another 2 years then replace the lot..

I was thinkin along the same line.

Will most likely purchase this Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1.5V.. | Ebuyer.com and Corsair 120GB Force 3 SSD - Cheap SSD | Ebuyer.com

I will look into overclocking my CPU, however I think I would like to get a new GPU as well. My current MOBO only supports ATI. Any advise on an ATI GPU upgrade that is on par with my current cpu?

Would the Gigabyte HD 7850 OC Windforce X2 975MHz 4800MHz 2GB.. | Ebuyer.com work on my current mobo and cpu?

[Dzzope]

Originally Posted by Sirilius

My current MOBO only supports ATI. Any advise on an ATI GPU upgrade that is on par with my current cpu?

Would the Gigabyte HD 7850 OC Windforce X2 975MHz 4800MHz 2GB.. | Ebuyer.com work on my current mobo and cpu?

Ok.. your mother board will take an Nvidia card BUT it's probably only able to support X-fire rather than SLI... this means with single cards your fine.. BUT with 2 cards you will have to go AMD..


That card should be good.. but really the 660 should be better value and performance at normal resolutions (up to 1920X1200) will probably be as good as you'll need for a few years.. THough if you plan on getting like a 27" screen with 2560x1440 or more then you want a 670 minimum.. But they are quite bloody expensive (unless you look at a catleap type one, check the display section here)

it *SHOULD* also force amd into more price-changes.. but only time will tell..
As I said, it looks like there will be a launch in the next couple of weeks so if I were you I would hold fire unless your REALLY in need of it now..

[Chromey]

the old days are long gone SLI will work on crossfire boards with a crack.

i rund sli on all my p45 boards

[Sirilius]

Originally Posted by Dzzope

Ok.. your mother board will take an Nvidia card BUT it's probably only able to support X-fire rather than SLI... this means with single cards your fine.. BUT with 2 cards you will have to go AMD..


That card should be good.. but really the 660 should be better value and performance at normal resolutions (up to 1920X1200) will probably be as good as you'll need for a few years.. THough if you plan on getting like a 27" screen with 2560x1440 or more then you want a 670 minimum.. But they are quite bloody expensive (unless you look at a catleap type one, check the display section here)

it *SHOULD* also force amd into more price-changes.. but only time will tell..
As I said, it looks like there will be a launch in the next couple of weeks so if I were you I would hold fire unless your REALLY in need of it now..

thx, altho I still dont understand how nvidia card would run on my mobo. I'll get my ram/ssd first and look at the GPU upgrade in a month time i guess

EDIT - ahh i can get nvidia cards to run by a hack? I'd rather avoid the hassle and settle for an ATI card (even tho the drivers are such a hassle)

[Dzzope]

Any PCI-Express compatable card will run on any board that supports it ( apart from mixes of REALLY old and new er stuff)..

When your board isn't compatible with a type of graphics card it will be talking about dual card set-ups..

You could always just get a second (second-hand) card the same as you have for a cheap upgrade... but personally if I need a gpu upgrade I tend to stick to 1 card as it's less hassle.

You don't need a hack to run a single nvidia card..

[hossdaddy]

Hey Sirilius have you updated the bios to the latest version? There have been 6 bios releases for that mobo since it came out. I would dare to say that it would improve the ram stability. Also, when you install the ram always set the voltage and timing manually vs the "auto" selection.

Definitely do some overclocking on that cpu. Its very overclockable. many people get it well over 4 ghz. Here are some ram, gpu and cpu cooler suggestions.

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti

GIGABYTE GV-R785OC-2GD Radeon HD 7850 2GB