- Feb 12, 2014
- 2
- 0
- 10,510
Hey there, first time poster, be gentle 
Anyway, with my tax returns coming in a couple of days I really want to upgrade my current gaming rig. This build was put together on about an $800 budget, and it's really served me well so far. However, I'm noticing some glaring problems lately, which I think are primarily due to my motherboard being a bit on the cheap side of the spectrum. Anyway, I'll give a parts list, then explain some more.
Motherboard - ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
CPU - AMD FX-8350 Black Edition
RAM - Patriot Signature 8GB (2x4gb) DDR3-1600
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3gb
Case - BitFenix Merc Alpha Black
PSU - XFX 550w 80+ Bronze
Single LG 1080p monitor
Now, for the most part this build will play games fine, but with this motherboard overclocking is just completely not an option. No matter what I do, I can't change the voltage on my CPU, and it runs stock at 1.4888 volts. No matter if I change it in BIOS or use another program to do it, it will not go any lower without complete instability in the system.
Anyway, what I would really like to do is keep the FX-8350 around, and maybe add another 7950 in Crossfire. Of course, this would mean upgrading not only the motherboard, but the power supply as well. I estimate my budget to be around $600~ for this upgrade, but I wouldn't want to go any higher than $700. Alternatively, if there is a better suggestion to fix my unstable gaming issues, feel free to suggest fixes. Would it be plausible to just upgrade to one of the newer AMD cards without causing some sort of bottleneck? Or am I safer moving over to the Intel side of things and picking up an i5 and new motherboard and just work from there? I'm really not sure what to do here, as the temperatures and volts on this 8350 make me fear for its life. I'm almost positive the motherboard is crap, rookie mistake in picking that one up to save a little cash.
Oh, and I do not need any peripherals (monitors, mice, etc), so that's not factored into the price. The parts I'd like to keep from above for sure are:
Case - BitFenix Merc Alpha Black
RAM - Patriot Signature 8GB (2x4gb) DDR3-1600
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
Everything else is interchangeable, whatever would be the best upgrade for the price. Thanks for reading, hope to get some good answers soon
Anyway, with my tax returns coming in a couple of days I really want to upgrade my current gaming rig. This build was put together on about an $800 budget, and it's really served me well so far. However, I'm noticing some glaring problems lately, which I think are primarily due to my motherboard being a bit on the cheap side of the spectrum. Anyway, I'll give a parts list, then explain some more.
Motherboard - ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
CPU - AMD FX-8350 Black Edition
RAM - Patriot Signature 8GB (2x4gb) DDR3-1600
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3gb
Case - BitFenix Merc Alpha Black
PSU - XFX 550w 80+ Bronze
Single LG 1080p monitor
Now, for the most part this build will play games fine, but with this motherboard overclocking is just completely not an option. No matter what I do, I can't change the voltage on my CPU, and it runs stock at 1.4888 volts. No matter if I change it in BIOS or use another program to do it, it will not go any lower without complete instability in the system.
Anyway, what I would really like to do is keep the FX-8350 around, and maybe add another 7950 in Crossfire. Of course, this would mean upgrading not only the motherboard, but the power supply as well. I estimate my budget to be around $600~ for this upgrade, but I wouldn't want to go any higher than $700. Alternatively, if there is a better suggestion to fix my unstable gaming issues, feel free to suggest fixes. Would it be plausible to just upgrade to one of the newer AMD cards without causing some sort of bottleneck? Or am I safer moving over to the Intel side of things and picking up an i5 and new motherboard and just work from there? I'm really not sure what to do here, as the temperatures and volts on this 8350 make me fear for its life. I'm almost positive the motherboard is crap, rookie mistake in picking that one up to save a little cash.
Oh, and I do not need any peripherals (monitors, mice, etc), so that's not factored into the price. The parts I'd like to keep from above for sure are:
Case - BitFenix Merc Alpha Black
RAM - Patriot Signature 8GB (2x4gb) DDR3-1600
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
Everything else is interchangeable, whatever would be the best upgrade for the price. Thanks for reading, hope to get some good answers soon
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