upgrading 7 yrs old com with mid-end CPU and Mobo

ionosphere

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Jul 25, 2010
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My 6-7 years old computer is running on:
ASROCK 939n something SATA2
Lian Li tower case
dual core 2 GHz
2 GB RAM DDR1.
Raid 0 with 2 HDD 500 GB total.
GT 240 1 GB
Enermax 475 watt.

The newest component is the GPU (1-2 years old) while the rest are half a decade old.

The thing is this:

I want to get a new mobo and CPU for about $600-700, but I didn't really follow hardware news that much anymore:

Here are my criteria:

Low power consumption:
With my old system running 100% on both CPU and GPU, I see it only uses about 130 watts. And that's impressive. In fact, I am satisfied with ~30 fps or so on Starcraft 2 with everything on ultra setting. That's more than sufficient for me.

Stability:
My old system never went above 50 c even when running at 100% for hours. For the new CPU, I would not really need higher-end CPU. In fact, an i5 is enough for me. ( I am also fine with AMD side ) A 3 cores (6 virtual cores) CPU is fine too. Adding a non-default sink would be a plus.

Medium gaming capability:
Given 2 above criteria, I only expect that I can run modern games on medium setting with 30 fps or so. I'm not that serious really about going all ultra in games. GT 240 is sufficed for me.

Summary:
Budget: $600-700

Mandatory:
New CPU.
New motherboard.
New RAM DDR3 4 GB.

Optional:
Add RAM to 8 GB.
Non-default sink for CPU.
New PSU.

So can somebody throw some suggestion around these lines?
 

l0v3rboi

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Mar 30, 2012
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[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZAYQ) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZAYQ/by_merchant/) / [Benchmarks](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZAYQ/benchmarks/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53470) | $149.99 @ Microcenter
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4mvp) | $82.55 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/mushkin-memory-997002) | $62.99 @ Newegg
**Power Supply** | [SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ssr550rm) | $79.99 @ Amazon
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $375.52
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-24 05:58 EDT-0400 |
 

ionosphere

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Currently I still got Far Cry 3 and a few more in my list. But I see that these days, many of my games are Japanese hobbyist games that only got 2D graphics really.

I've tried Far Cry 3 on my laptop with i5 and 5650M, I have tried with medium setting and got about 20 fps. While the graphical community tries to impress us with foliage, ambient occlusion, etc., I turn these off most of the time as I don't see much difference with ambient occlusion and I prefer to see important gameplay objects as clear as possible.
 

RenzoGuzi

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May 3, 2013
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You could just build a whole new system for 700$ (with os) and play most games without a problem, that is if you want to.
 

ionosphere

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**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53470) | $149.99 @ Microcenter
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h77pro4...) | $82.55 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/mushkin-memory-997002) | $62.99 @ Newegg

What if I go for AMD path instead of Intel in this case? What shall be the AMD equivalents for all these? And how will the price be?

You could just build a whole new system for 700$ (with os) and play most games without a problem, that is if you want to.

A whole new system? :) Okay, then let's hear your deal, and see how it goes. Don't forget about my "low power consumption" and "stability" in my original post.
 

RenzoGuzi

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May 3, 2013
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Sure no prob man. Just give me a few minutes. :D
 

RenzoGuzi

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May 3, 2013
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Sorry it took a while but here you go :) :
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($119.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 1GB Video Card ($146.09 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT Tempest 410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $688.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-24 10:24 EDT-0400)

Since you were worried about power, i went with the 95w cpu. The 650 Ti Boost will last you a long time especially if youre okay with medium settings. Medium settings on this thing will give you around 50-80 fps on 1080p on most modern games (probably). But right now, you can play most games on high and ultra 1080p on maybe 30-50fps. Welcome to the world of awesome graphics lol. And good luck on your upgrade or new build. ;)
 
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