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My first computer upgrade, advice definitely required.

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  • Console Gaming
  • Video Games
  • Computers
Last response: in Video Games
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October 14, 2013 6:27:10 AM

Hello, I have recently decided to upgrade my computer to allow it to be more of a gaming rig. It's getting on a bit and since I've moved more and more towards pc gaming from console gaming it just makes sense to improve it's performance. I've never so much as installed ram for it and my base knowledge is pretty weak. I've been going online to look up tutorials but don't feel I've found anything that either goes into the detail I'd like or goes into far too much technical detail and gives me brain wrinkles. I've seen tomshardware linked on several different sites and having browsed around the forums and a couple of articles for the past few days I felt it would the best place to ask for advice.
Essentially I would like two big favours, the first being advice on the actual upgrading of my pc and the second being any and all links to tutorials you guys know about online that you feel could aid a philistine like myself so that in the future i will be a bit more knowledgeable.

In terms of the upgrade, i'd like to run most modern games on high without stutter and I'm looking forward to playing the likes of BF4 and Watchdogs. I have a budget of around £500 but I'm willing to go higher if it is deemed to be necessary, the number is just an idealistic figure rather than a complete restriction. I'd also like a good idea of where to look for computer parts for future reference, as it is something I'd like to get more into and know more about. I assume any parts i have will bottleneck any strong upgrades so if an overhaul is required so be it. My current specs are as follows

CPU - AMD Phenom 9650 Quad-core, 2.3 GHz
RAM - 4GB
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT, 2796 MB memory
Display - 1080p
Motherboard - Gigabyte Technology Co. / System Model GA-MA770-UD3

If any extra info is required just tell me where to look and I'll get it for you.

As for the tutorial part I'd love to get a beginner level article that gives me a better understanding of the basics of what each component does and how they fit together as well as one that shows me how to actually piece together a pc. Any tutorials on this site (or any other if that's allowed) that you guys have used in the past to get yourselves started would greatly appreciated.

I know this is a long comment and it's a hefty request in some ways but it's only so I know where to begin, I don't have any pc savvy friends to turn to and don't have the free time to take up a course. I'm grateful for any help offered whatsoever, this is my first comment on a pc forum and so if I broke any rules or come across as quite rude I apologise in advance. Thank you very much for your time.

More about : computer upgrade advice required

October 14, 2013 6:35:51 AM

If I were you, I'd take a game that is coming out soon and look at it's requirements. Let's take BF4 as an example. This is copied directly off of their site(these are the recommended specs):
The BF4 Beta requires a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 (the full version of Battlefield 4 will also support 32-bit operating systems.)
PROCESSOR:
AMD SIX-CORE CPU
INTEL QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY:
8 GB
GRAPHICS CARD:
AMD RADEON HD 7870
NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660
GRAPHICS MEMORY:
3 GB
HARD DRIVE:
16 GB (approx.)
You should base your PC upgrades around that.
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October 14, 2013 6:48:03 AM

aznkeo gave you a realy good answer for the upgrdes as for the links you requested
http://www.youtube.com/user/NCIXcom
http://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips
these chaneles should be what you need and not borring :) 
for battlefield 3 you will need a good prossessor beacuse unlike most of the games bttlefield 3 and 4 have a new engine that requires prossessing power as well and you will find most games requireing 2 core 5 year old prossesor this game will demand more.
its better to run it on a 64 bit will run on 32.
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October 14, 2013 7:06:07 AM

For gaming, the most important component is the graphics card.
For a balanced gamer, plan on spending 2x the cost of the cpu for the graphics card.

In your case, the 9500GT is not a great performer for modern shooters.

Your cpu is a bit old, but it is not clear that it will not do the job for a while.
To help clarify your options, run these two tests:

a) Run your games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 50%.
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.


Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
set to 50% and see how you do.


You could also experiment with removing one core in the bios. This will tell you how sensitive your games are to the benefits of many cores.

If your FPS drops significantly, it is an indicator that your cpu is the limiting factor, and a cpu upgrade is in order.

It is possible that both tests are positive, indicating that you have a well balanced system, and both cpu and gpu need to be upgraded to get better gaming FPS.

I might suggest you do your upgrade in two parts:

1. upgrade the graphics card. Anything you buy will be easily transferred to a new motherboard if needed. I might be thinking of a GTX760 or GTX770 class card. Because they are Nvidia, you can just drop it in to your current pc, replacing the 9500GT since I think they both use the same driver. See how you do. Verify that your current psu can support whatever card you buy.

2. If you need more cpu power, the issue is a bit more complex. Few games use more than 2-3 cores so the FX 6 and 8 core cpu's may not help that much. But, they will be faster than your current cpu, assuming that your motherboard will support them.
Check the supported cpu list for your motherboard on the Gigabyte web site. A bios update may be required.

If your budget for a cpu is for more than a FX-6100, then a intel quad cpu will be better. They have much faster cores.
That will also require a motherboard change.

Newegg has a tutorial video series that might be helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
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October 14, 2013 7:06:56 AM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($135.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.96 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($249.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $942.36
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-14 09:59 EDT-0400)
Lucky for you, you already have a good display. This is around $1000, with the actual price being about 700 euros, however, this is probably the best system you can get for the price to performance ratio. There are other options you can get which will lower the price as well.
In response to geofelt, I checked to see and OP's motherboard is a socket AM2+, which means that he has no room to grow in terms of processing power. That is why is suggest a new system, as he would have to get a new motherboard anyway if he were to get a new processor.
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October 14, 2013 8:56:51 AM

Thanks for the swift response! I wasn't expecting such a solid group of answers so quickly, I don't have the time to try out your suggestions today but when I come back from work I'll investigate more. I was wondering if it's possible to get maybe the Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz, or is the i5 that James suggested more than capable? Another thing I was wondering is whether it's worth getting a SSD and if it's possible to use that alongside my current hardrive, or a larger cheaper one? The build I'm looking for is one that I would be able to continue to add to down the line, so I think a new motherboard is a great idea, probably a new build all together is the ideal. Thanks again.
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October 14, 2013 8:56:54 AM

Thanks for the swift response! I wasn't expecting such a solid group of answers so quickly, I don't have the time to try out your suggestions today but when I come back from work I'll investigate more. I was wondering if it's possible to get maybe the Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz, or is the i5 that James suggested more than capable? Another thing I was wondering is whether it's worth getting a SSD and if it's possible to use that alongside my current hardrive, or a larger cheaper one? The build I'm looking for is one that I would be able to continue to add to down the line, so I think a new motherboard is a great idea, probably a new build all together is the ideal. Thanks again.
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October 14, 2013 12:35:53 PM

No problem man. Glad to be of help, always remember that the people of Tom's Hardware forums are always here to help.
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October 14, 2013 5:10:44 PM

For under £300 you could get a Phenom II x4 or x6 (as you board supports AM3 CPUs) and a GTX 760 or Radeon 7870 LE or 7950 or spend more and go with an i5 as suggested. Just another option if you don't want to spend so much now.
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October 15, 2013 3:39:59 AM

What do you think of this build? I was playing around on the uk pcpartpicker and came to this set up ut I'm not entirely sure if it's any good. I used James's build for inspiration.

Total: £717.59
CPU - Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core £153.59
CPU Cooler - Arctic Cooling UCACO-AP11301-BUA01 Fluid Dynamic Bearing £11.30
Motherboard - ASRock Z77 Professional-M Micro ATX LGA1155 £109.61
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 £45.88
Storage - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £44.99
Video Card - Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB £206.99
Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus ATX Mid Tower £62.29
Optical Drive - Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer £15.75
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) £67.19
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October 15, 2013 12:06:58 PM

You forgot a power supply.
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October 15, 2013 12:08:26 PM

I'd recommend the Corsair CX500. Fantastic inexpensive power supply plus a great warranty. Corsair has never done me wrong.
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November 1, 2013 4:48:11 AM

Hey everyone, just wanted to write in and thank you all so much for your help. My new pc is up and running and I feel incredible having built it myself. I couldn't have done it without your advice and help so I want to make sure you all know how grateful I am. The finished specs are -

CPU - Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core £153.59
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Motherboard - ASRock Z77 extreme 6
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 £45.88
Storage - Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM £44.99
Samsung 120GB SSD
Video Card - Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB £206.99
Case - Corsair something or other from amazon
Optical Drive - Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer £15.75
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) £67.19

and I'm off to buy a game today to see what it's capable of. Thanks guys!
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!