Upgrading my current 'gaming' PC

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pidge123

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Nov 4, 2013
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I'm quite new to all this computer part stuff and was wondering if some of you friendly people could give me a hand.
My current PC can run games fairly decently, but I was hoping to upgrade in the future so that it could keep up with/ be ahead of the next gen consoles.
I currently have:
Motherboard: MSI 880GMA - E45
Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5770
Ram: 4GB DDR3
PSU: Corsair GS700
With about a £300-£450 budget what sort of upgrades could I get to make it any better?
(New to all this stuff any help would be great) :)
 
Solution
lunyone
Well you can upgrade the Mobo is you like, but that will cost you more $. It will allow you newer CPU's too, so that is a benefit. I would consider the AM3+ or FM2+ Mobo's if your considering upgrading the CPU. The FM2+ Mobo's are limited in options, but it's up to you what you want. The FX chips will only run on AM3 or AM3+ Mobo's, so keep that in mind. If you want to have an iGPU (AMD calls them APU's - CPU & GPU on one chip) than the FM2+ is the way to go. The APU chips for the FM2+ Mobo's are not the fastest, but for most people needs they will do.

Here's an example of an FM2+ based system (just add your current HD, Case, PSU to the build below):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks...
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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Well if you want better gaming experience you will need a better GPU and possibly a better CPU.
* CPU I'd look for the Phenom II x4 955 or 965 Black Editions, since your Mobo is limited to Phenom II CPU's & Athlon II CPU's.
* GPU I'd look at the R9 270x/280x, which ever fits your budget.
* If you have room for more RAM, I'd up it to 8 gb's (preferably 2 x 4 gb sets, but that depends on your budget).
 
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pidge123

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Nov 4, 2013
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Would these parts last or would they need replacing fairly soon? I'm on 32bit windows so I can only use 4gb of ram right?
 
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lunyone

lunyone

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Feb 22, 2006
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Well it depends on what you consider lasting? These parts should last for quite some time, it depends on if you deem them usuable after 3-5 years or more. The Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition is about as high you could probably go on that Mobo. The GPU is definitely going to be the part that you would probably transfer over to your next build, along with probably your PSU/Case, so keep that in mind.
 
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pidge123

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Nov 4, 2013
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Would it be wise to upgrade/ get a different motherboard aswell then or should I perhaps leave that?
Also could I just get the graphics card as that seems like a big step up or do I sort of need to buy the pair?
 
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lunyone

lunyone

Splendid
Feb 22, 2006
6,517
0
26,960
Well you can upgrade the Mobo is you like, but that will cost you more $. It will allow you newer CPU's too, so that is a benefit. I would consider the AM3+ or FM2+ Mobo's if your considering upgrading the CPU. The FM2+ Mobo's are limited in options, but it's up to you what you want. The FX chips will only run on AM3 or AM3+ Mobo's, so keep that in mind. If you want to have an iGPU (AMD calls them APU's - CPU & GPU on one chip) than the FM2+ is the way to go. The APU chips for the FM2+ Mobo's are not the fastest, but for most people needs they will do.

Here's an example of an FM2+ based system (just add your current HD, Case, PSU to the build below):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($77.00 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus A88XM-A Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($85.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($65.70 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $337.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 22:14 EST-0500)

An AM3+ Based build, same idea of just adding your current parts to this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($65.70 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $370.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-04 22:15 EST-0500)

You can also sell off your current GPU, if you like and use that $ towards this upgrade. Or you can do what I do and keep the GPU for Troubleshooting later for building another basic computer.
 
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