GPU, CPU, PSU, RAM - upgrade order for gaming PC

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billybizarre

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Aug 27, 2014
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Long-time listener, first time poster here.

Upgrade-itis has set in and I want to give my gaming-lite PC a bit more welly. At present the configuration is:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-870a-USB3L
CPU: Athlon II X3 455
GPU: HD6870
PSU: OCZ 500W CoreXStream
RAM: 4GB 1600MHz
Boot drive: OCZ Vertex2 100GB SSD
Storage drive: 1TB
Optical drive: LiteOn Blu-Ray reader

I'd like to keep the budget to c.£400. Would the following slip into my present set-up or will I have to pony up for a more powerful PSU? Am I better off going for an FX8320 and holding off on increasing the RAM?
R9 280x / ATX 770
AMD FX 6300
Additional 4GB RAM

Keeping noise levels to a minimum is a priority.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
NiCoM
Your mobo is probably too old to support it, and being chipset 870 it's the old mid-end boards, i've had a chipset 970 and didn't impress me.

Here's a list of supported CPU's on your current mobo:
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3801

The FX81xx and FX61xx are there, no FX83xx or FX63xx, though if you don't mind overclocking, want to make a BIOS update and take the chance to buy a CPU that might not fit your motherboard, then it might work for you on chipset 870, though i wouldn't personally even care about trying this out, would rather go the safe route.
That's why i included the mobo.

Yes your board is AM3+ but it's some of the earlier versions (chipset 870).

So would get a 990FX to squeeze the...
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NiCoM

NiCoM

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Feb 8, 2014
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Hello, i've made this upgrade for ya!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£146.64 @ YoYoTech)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£47.84 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£161.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £402.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-27 15:46 BST+0100


You SHOULD include the extra 4GB ram even though it goes over budget..
This should beat the FX series anytime, you'll need the FX8350 to bring any competition to this.
The MSI cooler should keep the GPU at a decent noise level, the CPU is though going to make some noise with the stock cooler..

Would pick up the 4GB ram right away and then get a CPU cooler down the road. This upgrade is made to bring the highest possible performance from your £400 upgrade.
 
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Hawkshot

Hawkshot

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Aug 19, 2014
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The I5 will beat out the AMD FX-8320 on single processing power I agree but if you are on that strict of a budget go for the FX-8320 you can over clock it really easily and it works just fine, you can even use the FX-6300 to run games fine with a good GPU, a system with the FX-6300 and R9 280X can run watchdogs on ultra with a decent fps when I tested it was getting like 50 fps, with the R9 series get a Sapphire one they are amazing also upgrading to 8gb ram will be good my suggestion in conculsion,
PSU first anything over 550W 80+ Gold will do you fine
GPU 2nd most important thing while gaming, CPU at the same time is possible, then finally upgrade your ram
 
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NiCoM

NiCoM

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Feb 8, 2014
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£400 isn't a strict budget for a i5...
Single-core performance is almost all that matters in games. all those 8 cores will have nothing to do.

I'm not saying the FX8320 is a bad choice, nono, going for that, a AM3+ 990X mobo is also a decent choice, though..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor (£96.40 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.28 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AM3+/AM3 Motherboard (£74.98 @ More Computers)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card (£161.14 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£46.93 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £404.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-27 16:29 BST+0100

This is the exact same build with the 8320 and AM3+ mobo, the only addition is that changing for a budget AMD 8-core to the high-end of i5 will only cost him the same as a budget cooler, like the 212 EVO.

And i wouldn't consider the FX6300, my cousin owns this and really wants a upgrade, it will run most titles without a bottleneck, though i've owned the FX6100 overclocked to 4GHz (which is better than the same chip 3,6Ghz which the FX6300 does), and i upgraded mine for the i5 because i didn't like it's performance output...


And you can't measure psu's in which 80+ rating they have, though it's normally the easy way to see it, always use a PSU tier list like this one, the 80+ Bronze i recommended is Tier one:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

EDIT: And the R9 280 is the budget version of the 280X, it's pretty equal in performance but at a very nice price cut.

Just to make it clear for billybizarre. ;)
 
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B

billybizarre

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Aug 27, 2014
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Thanks both for taking the time to reply.

@speed demon How come I'd have to upgrade my mobo if I went down the AMD route? My current one is an AM3+ one as far as I'm aware.

Thanks again







 
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NiCoM

NiCoM

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Feb 8, 2014
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Your mobo is probably too old to support it, and being chipset 870 it's the old mid-end boards, i've had a chipset 970 and didn't impress me.

Here's a list of supported CPU's on your current mobo:
http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3801

The FX81xx and FX61xx are there, no FX83xx or FX63xx, though if you don't mind overclocking, want to make a BIOS update and take the chance to buy a CPU that might not fit your motherboard, then it might work for you on chipset 870, though i wouldn't personally even care about trying this out, would rather go the safe route.
That's why i included the mobo.

Yes your board is AM3+ but it's some of the earlier versions (chipset 870).

So would get a 990FX to squeeze the overclocks out of the CPU, which is where these CPU's really shine, even on a 212 this gives a decent overclock.


But would still recommend the i5 setup unless you can't afford the 4GB stick over budget. :)
 
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Solution
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billybizarre

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Aug 27, 2014
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Okay, that makes perfect sense now! This has been hugely helpful. Thank you. I suspect I'll be able to find some extra cash for the RAM and I may even add an 'x' to the 280. A new case (one of those Silverstone full ATX HTPC ones) and low-profile after-market cooler will follow in a couple of months.



 
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X

XCalinX

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Dec 24, 2013
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much more worth it
[PCPartPicker part list](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/nBbJpg) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/nBbJpg/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [AMD FX-4350 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd4350frhkbox) | £69.95 @ Amazon UK
**Motherboard** | [Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a78lmusb3) | £49.45 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml4gx3m1a1600c9) | £34.07 @ Aria PC
**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-n770tf2gd5oc) | £219.32 @ Scan.co.uk
**Power Supply** | [Antec TruePower Classic 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply](http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/antec-power-supply-tp550c) | £55.61 @ Ebuyer
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | £428.40
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-27 20:08 BST+0100 |
 
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NiCoM

NiCoM

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Feb 8, 2014
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umm, sorry but no

The CPU is not close to the i5 4670K, the motherboard is even worse than his current (this is chipset 760G), the GTX770 is a decent card but the R9 280 easily beats it in price/performance battle, being much cheaper and only a bit slower.

PSU is good quality and 80+ Gold, though the XFX is even better quality and 80+ Bronze at a cheaper price. Here's a Tier list: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html


Compared to the i5-4670K + R9 280 your build is a little bit faster gaming machine but with a huge step down in CPU performance, which will even be a minus in some games. He could later pair up the i5 with a newer and stronger GPU for an easy upgrade whereas your build would also need a CPU + MOBO upgrade at that time because of the weaker CPU. ;)

if OP wants 80+ Gold then he should pick your recommended antec PSU at ~£10 more than the XFX. :)
 
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billybizarre

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Would it be ridiculous of me to upgrade just the PSU and GPU (to 280x or 770) and leave everything else the same for now? How much of a bottleneck would the CPU have on that set-up?
 
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NiCoM

NiCoM

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Feb 8, 2014
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The CPU scores: 2,863 on it's three cores, having a system with under 1000 score per core is pretty bad.

The HD6870 should play games at low/medium in most titles? You should do a mobo + cpu + more ram upgrade or do the full upgrade, i don't think the GPU upgrade will work that well at all, you'll have a bottleneck in almost everything i would think.
(this is also exactly why to pick the i5 too, because you CAN do this kind of upgrade later because it's pretty powerful)

I've owned a HD6850 and it did do a pretty nice job in most situations (was paired with a FX6100).

So if you can't afford the full upgrade, then i would leave out the 4GB ram, if that's not enough then leave out the GPU.
You should still buy the R9 280 not the X or 770, you'll get it at a much better price. ;)
 
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Conor17777

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Aug 23, 2014
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Right, well the GTX 770 is your best bet for performance and noise and temperatures.
FX 6300 vs FX 8350 for gaming is roughly the same, although the raw performance and future performance would push me to get you to consider the 8350.

So the GTX 770 comes in at £229.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GeForce-DirectCU-Graphics-Express-Display/dp/B00CY5GP08/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409240065&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+770

FX 6300 CPU : £73.92
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX6300-Edition-4-1GHz-Socket/dp/B009O7YORK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409240295&sr=8-1&keywords=fx+6300

FX 8350 CPU : £116.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FX8350-Edition-Processor-4-2GHz/dp/B009O7YUF6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409240094&sr=8-1&keywords=fx+8350

and finally the 4GB 1600mhz ram : £32.90
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9-1600MHz-Vengeance-Memory/dp/B004CRSM48/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1409240244&sr=8-4&keywords=4gb+1600mhz+ram

Now you wanted a new CPU, more RAM and a new GPU.
With FX 6300 this comes to £336.81
With FX 8350 it comes to £379.88

So both are within your Budget, but obviously it is up to your digression as to which option you select.
Good luck with your new build, and any hiccups or questions do not hesitate to ask :)
Also out of interest, as i assume you are British due to the £, what will you be doing with your old 6870?
 
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J

javagrand101

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Aug 26, 2014
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Id suggest Corsair RAM. It has never failed me and its what i use on all of my builds. You will be pleased with it . Take a lookhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EWUO22/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006EWUO22&linkCode=as2&tag=redrocair-20&linkId=TI7RWS2P2VIMUNDF
 
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