Upgrading 3 year old build after sluggish performace

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thehunt23

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Hi guys,

I'm looking to upgrade my PC system after building in the back end of 2011. I used to game quite heavily but now i dabble in and out of steam games while also using the PC for photo editing.

I've found it's struggling to run a few applications at once and i am considering upgrading the CPU. After some research it looks like Intel leads the line i was looking at Intel Core i5-4690K, however I believe my motherboard only supports AMD CPUs.

My questions are:
Will upgrading the CPU be worth it?
What's an AMD processor on par with the i5-4690k (is there one?)
Will the PCU handle the upgrade of CPU?
Are there any other upgrades you think i should make while i'm at it?

My current build looks like this:

Motherboard: Asus M4A785TD-M EVO
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 555
Graphics: Novatech ATI Radeon 5750
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB
HDD: 750GB Western Digital Caviar Black
PCU: 450W Corsair VX450W
OS: Windows 7


Any feedback is welcome.
 
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Math Geek
you will have to get a new mobo since the one you have won't support a new cpu by either amd or intel. a decent midrange z97 board paired with an i5-4690k will be an awesome machine for you for years to come and will allow you to do what you want. of course the gpu can bust any budget and i reccomend a quick read of the monthly gpu recommendations here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html to give you an idea what kind of performance to expect from each price point.

i would seriously consider adding another 4 gb of ram. multitasking/photoshop is ram heavy and 8gb will ensure you won't be slowed down due to lack of ram. your psu might be ok if it has the right pcie connectors and you stick with a mid...
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random5

random5

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there's no AMD gaming CPU on part with i5-4690k, high end AMD CPUs are octo-cores designed for rendering/video editing/multitasking etc, while they're also capable at games,quite a bit far fro mthe i5-4690k.
Yes upgrading your CPU is worth it if you're a gamer.
PSU will handle,but you're going to need new GFX card too so if you'll pick too high TDP one it might not.
 
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random5

random5

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If i'd were you ,then I'd get some core gamer set at as low cost as possible:

Buy a 2nd 4GB ripjaws RAM stick.
Get cheap H97 or H87 motherboard with i5-4460, they will handle mostly anything flawlessly and doesnt cost premium.
Get a low TDP video card,I'd reccomend GTX 750 or GTX 750 Ti.
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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Of course there are a hundered ways you can go with an upgrade but a major factor is budget. the i5-4690k is a very capable cpu and would do most anyone nicely paired with the proper gpu and such. however, the amd fx series is a lot cheaper and paired with a midline gpu will give you a lot of performace as well.

it sounds like your not going to go crazy gaming anymore and this will impact the options available to you. what kind of budget are you looking into? What types of apps are you planning on using to edit with? Any rendering or video creation now or in the future?

the good news is most of your system can be reused so an upgrade would be cpu/mobo/gpu and maybe another 4 gb ram to help with the multitasking. your psu should be able to handle this so long as the gpu stays mid range. what to go with mostly depends on budget.
 
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thehunt23

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Cheers both for the feedback.

To be honest budget isn't really a factor, obviously as you rightly pointed out Math Geek i'm not going to be going gaming crazy. I throw Skyrim on every now and again but would still like to be able to play new things coming out without having to worry about performance. I don't want or need the top end parts, just something that will give good performance for price. Not planning on spending £400 on a CPU, but £200/250 fits with me fine.

As for apps, i use paintshop pro and have photoshop, no real video creation is planned but couldn't hurt to have the capability. I tend to have a few things running at once, maybe paintshop pro, Football Manager and a movie running. I also remote desktop into work on occasion and that really can effect performance, but that may well be down to connections.

Sounds like you've both recommended a Mobo upgrade - which i didn't really think about. From there i suppose i can factor in a i5-4690k and a good graphics card and upgrade the PSU as well. Bit of a whole hog upgrade but i suppose it'll be worth it to keep it going for a few more years. This curren build has done me well so far.



 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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you will have to get a new mobo since the one you have won't support a new cpu by either amd or intel. a decent midrange z97 board paired with an i5-4690k will be an awesome machine for you for years to come and will allow you to do what you want. of course the gpu can bust any budget and i reccomend a quick read of the monthly gpu recommendations here http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html to give you an idea what kind of performance to expect from each price point.

i would seriously consider adding another 4 gb of ram. multitasking/photoshop is ram heavy and 8gb will ensure you won't be slowed down due to lack of ram. your psu might be ok if it has the right pcie connectors and you stick with a mid range gpu. otherwise you will want a few more watts to run a better card.
 
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