Advice with upgrading RAM, GPU and possibly PSU (£350ish budget)

dariune · Jan 19, 2014

Hi all

I have been having problems where my computer turns itself off from time to time, when playing games. The graphics card is always really hot so I assume it is GPU over heating.

As it is about time to upgrade my machine anyway I did a few tests to make sure there was nothing obviously wrong and then decided to upgrade.

My specs currently are as follows:

Win7
MotherBoard: MSI MS-7522
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 @2.80GHz (8cpu's)
RAM: 6gig Corsair
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6900
PSU: 950W ATX
3 harddrives including a 1 solid state

I am thinking of changing my GPU and RAM to speed the machine up.

My budget is around £350 - £400

The advice I am seeking is:

1) Am I right in thinking the GPU and the RAM are the most important things to change? I was wondering if the CPU is a priority but my gut says probably not.

2) If so do you think my PSU is okay? (I am pretty sure 950w is fine but I'm not 100% sure)

3) What graphics card would you reccomend? I was looking at the HD 970 or 980?

4) I'm not sure what RAM to get. I was thinking 8 gig Corsair?

Thanks in advance for any help. It will be genuinely appreciated

Whammy · Jan 19, 2014

6Gb of RAM is plenty fine and more won't speed up your machine overall. Could you specify what you want to do with the PC and what games specifically you play?

whitecat · Jan 19, 2014

Which HD 6900 do you exactly have - 6930,6950,6970 ,6990.
HD 6990 = HD 7970
HD 6930 = GTX 650 ti
A lot of people are still buying GTX 650 ti .

dariune · Jan 20, 2014

Hi Whammy

I use my PC for web development with two monitors and for games.
The games I play ae quite varied. I tend to play more RPG's and strategy games (EU4, Two Worlds 2, Skyrim, Never Winter Nights 2, Supreme Commander etc) but I do play the occasional action game (Sleeping Dogs, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron etc)

So you think my RAM is fine?

Hiya Whitecat
It's a 6970. (Sorry should have said that) Recently my games have been getting low framerates and the card itself is overheating.

I could just put copper paste into it to give it a longer life but I figured it was time or an upgrade anyway.

Thanks for your replies

whitecat · Jan 20, 2014

dariune :

Hi ,

HD 6970 is on par with HD 7790 ,3D Mark 11 Physics .In fact HD 7790 is the video card of PS4/XBox1

dariune · Jan 20, 2014

Hi Wildcat

I'm not sure I understand. Are you recommending I stay with my current Graphics Card?

And surely it is only on a par with the 7790 if I overclock it ... which I havent and don't want to do because it is already overheating.

whitecat · Jan 20, 2014

dariune :

The processor is I7 with 4 cores/ 8 threads but are somehow weak . You might try GPU Z to see whether the video card load is reaching 100% or not . If not , this would be a sign of bottleneck .

dariune · Jan 20, 2014

So your suggesting it might be the processor which needs upgrading?

I am downloading GPU Z to do a test now.

dariune · Jan 20, 2014

Hmmmm after doing a quick test I only got up to 45% GPU Load.

So do you have any advice? Perhaps a new processor and GPU?

whitecat · Jan 21, 2014

dariune :

cpu i5 4670 ,i5 467K ,i7 4770
mobo Asus Z87-A , Asus H87 Plus ATX
ram 2x4 1.5 V 240 pin DDR3 1600MHz
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9b

later on , get GTX 770 or GTX 780 ,
GTX 770 is 2x faster than HD 6970

i5 4670 has 4 cores/4 threads 3.4/3.8GHz
i5 4670 has 2x better result than i7 930 in single core test ,Pass Mark
i5 4670 is 44% faster than i7 930 multi core test ,Pass Mark
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-930-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4670
btw, i5 4670 is 84W but i7 930 130W

i5 4679K - K means for overclocking , i m not a fanboy of it
i7 4770 is future proof , but not necessary , i5 4670 is enough

mobo Asus Z87-A has SLI and Crossfire support ,but Asus H87 Plus ,for one video card , is fine

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£158.34 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.78 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£63.50 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£239.90 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £567.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-21 13:40 GMT+0000)

dariune · Feb 12, 2014

Hi Sorry for the late reply.

I had to have an operation so am only now well enough to get to my computer.

Thankyou for the answer. Very helpful.

Last question:

I will buy the stuff in parts ... do I need the motherboard? CHanging motherboards is a hassle and at the moment my main concern is getting my PC healthy again. I am thinking of just buying the processor this month.

Thanksagain

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