Upgrading my three year old gaming computer (desktop). Can someone help me out?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
H

HappyCamelLicker

Honorable
Oct 6, 2013
11
0
10,510
(firstly, allow me to apologize if some of the information I provide does not make sense to you. I am not very experienced with computers apart from actually using them. This is my first thread, so I am sorry if I break some norms or unwritten rules of this forum :))

Okay, so three years ago I bought a pre-built desktop for gaming, with completely okay specs at the time. Lately I have noticed that it can't keep up with newer games, and therefore I have decided to just replace pretty much everything inside the computer itself.
Here are my current specs to give you some insight as to what I am currently using.

Motherboard : MSI 770-C45
Processor : AMD Athlon II X4 635
Graphics card : ATI Radeon HD 5770 series
RAM : 4GB (2x Kingston ValueR, DDR3 1333MHz)
PSU : Chieftec Smart Series 550W
HDD : Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB, SATA2 16MB 7200RPM.

My current cabinet is the Cooler Master CM 690 Midi Tower, and the cooling is the stock cooling of this cabinet.

These are the things I am looking to replace, apart from the cabinet, if I can help it.
New parts I am thinking about getting :

Motherboard : Asus Sabretooth 990FX R2.0
Processor : AMD FX-8320
RAM : Kingston DDR3 HyperX blu 1600MHz 16GB
Graphics card : Really troubled here, I really don't know enough to make a good decision here. I think I might invest in a GTX 780 though, just to have something that will last a few years. I might buy a 120Hz monitor to go with it at some point (If I buy it).
Cooling : Corsair H100i Hydro Series CPU cooler + 2x Corsair AF140 Quiet Edt.
PSU : Corsair CX 750M, 750W PSU.
HDD : Not sure if I need a new one yet, but I might get an SSD to put my OS and some other programs on.

The Motherboard, Processor and RAM are part of a premade upgrade set so if I have to change one of those parts I might have to change them all, or buy them individually.
To my understanding some people frown at using an FX-8320 processor for gaming as alot of games don't utilize all 8 cores, making it less effective or on par with cheaper Intel processors.
(Amateur ramble, forgive me :))

If you are willing to take the time and effort to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. I am afraid some of the parts might bottleneck the others. I am FAIRLY sure that the cooling should be good enough for my needs, and for some decent overclocking of my Processor and Graphics card when I get to that. The PSU should be more than adequate for this setup, me thinks.

My budget can stretch pretty far, so feel free to suggest anything within a reasonable price-range of what I already have here.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the wall of text! :)
-HappyCamelLicker.
 
Solution
Sakkura
The actual hardware looks good. But those prices look a bit excessive. I can get an H100i for 760 DKK, that shouldn't translate to 1049 NOK.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Sakkura

Sakkura

Illustrious
Aug 22, 2011
8,129
3
37,965
AMD are about to launch their R9 290X which will compete with the currently overpriced GTX 780. I would recommend you wait and see what happens there - the 780 might get a lot cheaper, or the 290X may offer a lot more performance for the money. Or if you want to upgrade right away, you could get one of the cheaper cards that already offer more performance per dollar - GTX 770, Radeon HD 7970 etc.

The motherboard, CPU and RAM are alright, but I think you could save quite a bit of money there. The motherboard is rather expensive, and 16 GB of RAM is not necessary for gaming.

I'd recommend a different power supply. With a single graphics card, you won't need that much wattage. But you could get higher quality instead.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

HappyCamelLicker

Honorable
Oct 6, 2013
11
0
10,510


Okay, but just to clarify, I don't want to have "just enough" for gaming :)
This time around I have a better job and a larger budget, and I would rather invest in high quality that lasts, despite it having matching prices.
I have no issues paying for the Motherboard, RAM and CPU unless they really are redundantly powerful for gaming.

So the cooling seems in order then? Alright, thought so :)

Okay, so the PSU might be a bit overkill, but I want the ability to expand and add to my computer. While power is really cheap here though, I don't want to pull more than I need, so perhaps I should invest in a lower wattage silver/gold branded one instead then.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

HappyCamelLicker

Honorable
Oct 6, 2013
11
0
10,510


Well, you guys are the ones who know this stuff, thanks :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

HappyCamelLicker

Honorable
Oct 6, 2013
11
0
10,510
Alright, here is what I have come up with after looking at that list you showed me and consulting some of my housemates.
http://imgur.com/L2fAJ9f
Please excuse the fact that the page is in Norwegian. Product names are the same though, so it doesn't matter.
Went with a GTX 770 instead of a 780 because I really don't need that good a graphics card for the games I play. Took your advice on the i5 processor and found a suitable MOBO and some decent Kingston RAM. Invested in a 850W PSU so that I can overclock and add another GPU without worrying too much. Cooling remains the same as before, should be adequate :)

What do you think?
This is about 1200 GBP / 1900 USD / 1400 EUR.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H

HappyCamelLicker

Honorable
Oct 6, 2013
11
0
10,510
Most of this is as cheap as I can find in Norway, Sakkura. Komplett is generally the cheapest retailer that sells to individual persons and not just companies, or at least that's what I've heard. Might be an exception here and there, but just generally speaking cheapest.

Badboyrog, well, I'm not really sure whether I need it or not. I am planning on overclocking (Hence the PSU) and I just want to make sure I have good enough cooling to reach my goals. Do you find it too excessive? Should I go for a Cooler Master: Hyper 212 EVO or something of the sort instead?

Also, thanks for confirming that this is indeed a good setup,. It might be available for pick-up tomorrow! :)

Ordered it now, thanks for your help guys! :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
K

karmageden

Honorable
Dec 6, 2013
24
0
10,510
I am of no help at all, but you sir are spending a whole lot of money on that computer.... Almost $2000.00 on cooling, I've got a fan from Walmart blowing at my computer so my GPU doesn't melt... Just realized this is 2 months old, but I'm going to post it anyways.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sakkura

Sakkura

Illustrious
Aug 22, 2011
8,129
3
37,965

The prices in that image are in Norwegian kroner, so it's not THAT expensive.
 
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