$600 Computer Upgrade - is it a worthy successor to my current rig?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
R

Runo

Honorable
Mar 30, 2013
1
0
10,510
Hello there!

This is my first post on Tom's, but I'm a long-time browser of the community and I deicded to break the ice with a post about upgrading my current rig with a $600 budget, mostly in hopes of figuring out if the proposed upgrades I have lined up are worth upgrading TO.

My current peripherals (not that it really matters)
24" ASUS Widescreen LCD @ 1080p
Logitech G500
Logitech G90

My current components (What I'm upgrading FROM)
Cooler Master Storm Scout
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Gigabyte 890GX (UD3H) AMD Motherboard
Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition @ stock rates
SeaSonic X650
EVGA GTX 460 768MB
4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24 1.5v
Samsung 500GB SpinPoint F3 7200RPM/32MB Cache
Sony Optiarc

What I wanted to upgrade TO:
MSI 660Ti 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696
8GB G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1600 9-9-9-24-2N 1.5v
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
Samsung 840 Pro 128GB (May pick up the 64GB version in the series instead when it's available)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147192

So, I'm replacing my GPU, CPU, RAM and adding an SSD but keeping my case, OS, PSU, and HDD! I think this should be a pretty good budget upgrade for the types of games that I play, but I wanted to know what you all thought.

Gaming details:
I play all my games at 1920x1080 resolution, typically in windowed or borderless/fullscreen windowed.
*Tribes Ascend
*Counter-Strike Global Offensive
*Hawken
*Skyrim
*Guild Wars 2
*Upcoming games such as The Elder Scrolls Online and Wildstar
So since my games aren't TOO terribly demanding and I'm okay with not maxing out all my settings all the time, this should be a pretty decent upgrade. Thoughts?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
T

tigger888

Distinguished
Nov 16, 2011
57
0
18,640
Definately, you can probably push that cpu anywhere from 3.8ghz to 4.4. The card is a huge boost up, and SSD will make things snappier. make a folder called program files on your harddrive and install noncritical apps there, saving precious SSD space. I think it might feel like a whole new computer!. I just had another thought, you could skip the SSD and bump to a better videocard like a 7950 or a 670. you can buy a SSD later, when prices drop to better $/gb. Thats what I would do.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Swordkd

Swordkd

Splendid
Oct 3, 2012
2,795
1
21,965
What you have listed isn't bad. However, as was stated earlier, I'd hold out on the SSD for a little while longer. It doesn't really do much other than speed up loading screens. You don't get better FPS, your games don't look better, etc. Spend the money on an SSD when you don't really have a good upgrade to get otherwise. If you are looking to spend around 600 dollars on an upgrade, how about:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($94.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $566.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-30 05:03 EDT-0400)

The fx6300 is better than the 965(but if you already owned a 965 it wouldn't be worth upgrading from to the fx6300), the video card is cheaper and should perform better in about half the games you listed. Frame latency might be an issue, and you might notice some type of stutter though, so you could spend the rest of the 600 and just get the 660ti.

Also included is a heatsink/fan so you can overclock your CPU for even better price per performance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom