Rejuvenating my old game PC. Need some help with the configuration :)

RMK · Nov 13, 2013

Hi guys,

I want to rebuild my old gaming PC. So far i've made a selection wich I think will suffice. Most of the time I will use it for gaming, with medium/good settings.

Components I will re-use from my old PC:

- Thermaltake Shark Midi Tower
- 2 x HDD 250 GB (1 max dator, can't remember the other )
- 2 Optical drivers. 1 DVDRW 16X and 1 DVDR 32X both LG

The parts (that I want to renew) I have selected so far:

- Processor: AMD FX-6300 'Vishera' 3.5GHZ
- Motherboard: ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0
Boxed cooling
- Memory: 8GB Kingston DDR3 1600 (2x4 or 4x2?)
- PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W

And here is the thing. I have a new Sapphire HD5450 1GB DDR3. I was actually planning on buying another one (there about €30,- in Holland which is very cheap) and run it in a crossfireX setting.

Do you guys think this budget setup will give me a good gaming performance and is the crossfire setup a good idea?

Some advice on my motherboard choice would be nice aswell, still not sure about that.

Last question is about my RAM memory. Is it better to fill all the slots rather than 2 slots, with the same capacity?

All help is appreciated !

Rammy · Nov 13, 2013

Generally speaking, the parts are decent.
Processor is a good pick for a medium cost gaming PC.
Motherboard is a very sensibly priced but decent quality board, and a good pairing for the processor.
The PSU I have big questions over. You haven't included prices, so I don't know this for sure, but where I am, that PSU costs more than double what I think you should be spending on a PSU. It's great quality, but I think it's probably too big a chunk of your budget.

The graphics situation is really something you need to reconsider. For a gaming PC, regardless of budget, your most expensive component should almost always be graphics. A HD5450 is a 3 generations old entry level card, and it wasn't really for gaming in the first place. Crossfiring two of them isn't going to make much of a difference, it's got DDR3 memory (any decent card has GDDR5 now). To put it in perspective, a lot of integrated graphics are now superior to it. I can't really make a specific suggestion but something in the range of a HD7770, HD7790 or R7 260X is a nice place to start off in proper entry level gaming cards (for around the price of your CPU).

To cover your other question about RAM. Ideally you occupy 2/4 sockets, as this uses the least power and enables dual channel RAM. If you use a single 8Gb stick, it operates entirely in single channel mode. This honestly doesn't make a massive performance difference, but as its effectively free, you might as well have it. Leaving 2 slots free also means you can double up on RAM in the future if your needs change.

RMK · Nov 13, 2013

Rammy :

Generally speaking, the parts are decent.
Processor is a good pick for a medium cost gaming PC.
Motherboard is a very sensibly priced but decent quality board, and a good pairing for the processor.
The PSU I have big questions over. You haven't included prices, so I don't know this for sure, but where I am, that PSU costs more than double what I think you should be spending on a PSU. It's great quality, but I think it's probably too big a chunk of your budget.

The graphics situation is really something you need to reconsider. For a gaming PC, regardless of budget, your most expensive component should almost always be graphics. A HD5450 is a 3 generations old entry level card, and it wasn't really for gaming in the first place. Crossfiring two of them isn't going to make much of a difference, it's got DDR3 memory (any decent card has GDDR5 now). To put it in perspective, a lot of integrated graphics are now superior to it. I can't really make a specific suggestion but something in the range of a HD7770, HD7790 or R7 260X is a nice place to start off in proper entry level gaming cards (for around the price of your CPU).

To cover your other question about RAM. Ideally you occupy 2/4 sockets, as this uses the least power and enables dual channel RAM. If you use a single 8Gb stick, it operates entirely in single channel mode. This honestly doesn't make a massive performance difference, but as its effectively free, you might as well have it. Leaving 2 slots free also means you can double up on RAM in the future if your needs change.

Thnx! Hmm the price of the card was to good to be true

. And about the PSU you were right, did some more searching and went with a Be Quiet! Pure Power CM L8 530W which is almost half the 550W's price.

Anyway, I will follow up on your advice. I will take this board and search for a better vidcard.

Greetz!

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Rejuvenating my old game PC. Need some help with the configuration :)

RMK

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Rammy

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RMK

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