Upgrade My PC!

escobedoj02 · Aug 3, 2014

I am looking to upgrade my PC but I need help finding what parts to replace for a better performance. I am also looking for a better case for my PC and a better cooling system. Try your best to keep prices low please and leave your comments! Thank you!

Graphic card
• XFX Double D FX-795A-TDFC Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

OS
• Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)

CPU
• AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor 3.20 GHz

SSD
• (None at the moment)

Motherboard
• M4A89GTD PRO/USB3

HDD
• 781 GB Hard Drive Disk

Memory
• 4 GB RAM

Main games I want to play (on highest settings possible):
Company of Heroes 2
Planetary Annihilation

I would want my PC to be able to run the latest benchmark games out on the mid to high graphic range

Update*

I am looking towards over clocking my current CPU and adding more RAM. So I believe I will be keeping every part but for RAM what would be compatible? Also your comments on over cloacking my CPU please. Thank you!

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 3, 2014

What PSU do you have?

Alpha3031 · Aug 3, 2014

Get another 4 GB, same serieal.

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 3, 2014

Here is very nice AMD build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($174.98 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($86.48 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $324.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-03 23:32 EDT-0400

noahhicks · Aug 3, 2014

Is there a price limit for this system upgrade?

I love that CPU, I've had mine for about 4 years, overclocked to 4.0 ghz and it flies... I keep checking Tom's cpu lists to upgrade but my within my budget there's nothing better.

Do you know where your bottlenecks are? I'd agree with Alpha that more RAM is needed.

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 3, 2014

And here is a very high end Intel build.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $373.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-03 23:38 EDT-0400

escobedoj02 · Aug 3, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

As for my PSU i know it has to be over 600 watts but I am not sure exactly. Want me to find out?

Calnin · Aug 3, 2014

Just get the extra 4gb that alpha suggests and add on an aftermarket cooler and overclock the 955. The 955 to the fx 8350 wouldn't be a huge difference in gaming. Wait to upgrade to a i5 4690k + z97 motherboard or something.

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 3, 2014

Noahhicks has some good advice. 4 gigs more ram and overclocking that CPU should get you close to your desired settings.

escobedoj02 · Aug 3, 2014

noahhicks :

Bottlenecks? Sorry I might not know all terms haha

escobedoj02 · Aug 3, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Thank you so much and everyone else who took their time to help! I appreciate it a lot! You guys are the best!

Alpha3031 · Aug 3, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

You are suggesting a single tier upgrade, to a not too good MB, http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,review-32901-5.html
Almost no benefit http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/88?vs=697

Really, I have trouble recommending anything over his CPU.

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 4, 2014

Alpha3031 :

What's wrong with that motherboard?

It seemed to me like there was a decent margin between performance in the 955 and the 8350. I was using these charts as my basis. And those charts are showing performance at stock speeds. But you can get the 8350 to 4.7GHz at least on a majority of chips (some going over 5GHz), and the performance jumps quite a lot.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/cpu-charts-2013/benchmarks,140.html

Alpha3031 · Aug 4, 2014

No significant difference in gaming. No upgrades on AM3+ either

Calnin · Aug 4, 2014

When going with an AMD build (or any build in any matter), my suggestion would be looking for the best way to maximize your cpu for your money. Overclocking would be one aspect of that if you're looking to fully maximize everything. If your CPU can overclock, might as well try and get a decent motherboard to overclock. (clearly my personal build goes against this advice, but money is always a factor)

The 970 Extreme4 wouldn't be able to support a huge overclock like 4.7ghz or whatever without a ton of extra voltages, which leads to one part or another becoming stressed a bit too much. It's only got a 4+1 phase which if you do overclock, would require more voltages and the motherboard itself already barely supports the fx 8350 overclocking to anything past 4.2ghz I'd imagine. It'll cause more problems than its worth if you're trying to overclock to 4.7ghz on an ASRock motherboard with a 970 chipset.

The recommended 970 motherboards to support a decent overclock with a fx 8350 are the gigabyte 970a UD3P and ASUS M5a97 r2.0 (non LE).

As for your CPU compared to the fx 8350, you wouldn't have huge gains unless you're doing a lot of multithreaded works. Your motherboard right now would support a decent overclock on your CPU. Getting an aftermarket cooler and overclocking your CPU right now would probably do better than spending 300$ on an upgrade that would net a slight margin.

Alpha3031 · Aug 4, 2014

But another 4 GB ram of the same serial number is a must

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 4, 2014

Alpha3031 :

There's really no upgrade for AMD in general over the 8350. I mean you could get a 93xx, but you can just overclock the 8350 pretty close to the 93xx performance. So if he would want a better upgrade path, he should just go with Intel. But he just said he wants to run the latest benchmark games on mid to high. Now he might need to overclock his GPU some also, or get a little better one. But I would think the 7950 should get mid to high on most benchmark names out.

So again, if you overclock the 8350, in my opinion, there is a significant difference over the 955. Plus you get much better multithreaded performance.

Alpha3031 · Aug 4, 2014

RookieOfTheYear :

Alpha3031 :

There's really no upgrade for AMD in general over the 8350. I mean you could get a 93xx, but you can just overclock the 8350 pretty close to the 93xx performance. So if he would want a better upgrade path, he should just go with Intel. But he just said he wants to run the latest benchmark games on mid to high. Now he might need to overclock his GPU some also, or get a little better one. But I would think the 7950 should get mid to high on most benchmark names out.

So again, if you overclock the 8350, in my opinion, there is a significant difference over the 955. Plus you get much better multithreaded performance.

Not on that MB

Yes, he wants games on mid to high, yes, a FX 8350 can achieve that, but so can the 955. (and that is overclockable too)

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 4, 2014

Alpha3031 :

RookieOfTheYear :

Not on that MB

Yes, he wants games on mid to high, yes, a FX 8350 can achieve that, but so can the 955. (and that is overclockable too)

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/280385-29-8350-overclock#t2017935

Chase3567 seems to be able to do it.

Calnin · Aug 4, 2014

Note that his voltages are 1.5v on the CPU. The CM 212 evo wouldn't be able to cool it down fast enough. You would need a really good water cooler in order to run it the fx 8350 past 1.4v with a decent overclock. The 970 Extreme4 isn't a good board to overclock on. At the roughly the same price, you could get a gigabyte 970a ud3p which would be able to overclock it better, but less voltages to achieve the same overclock. Hell, even OPs motherboard right now would be better than the 970 extreme4.

Alpha3031 · Aug 4, 2014

Link didn't work, did he post CPUZ validation? Prime95? After all, we are looking for a stable OC. Finally, the 955 will offer adequate performance For high settings, even on watchdogs (the most CPU intensive game I know of)
http://www.techspot.com/review/827-watch-dogs-benchmarks/page5.html

RookieOfTheYear · Aug 4, 2014

Calnin :

Yea I overlooked that, thanks for pointing that out. I will remember the Gigabyte 970a as a decent budget FX overclocking board.

Upgrade My PC!

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