300$ Upgrade budget for gaming pc

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XxSliminemxX

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Feb 15, 2014
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Purchase Date: I want to upgrade sometime in the next couple of days
Budget:300$

My Build:
I already had this ram laying around, i think i need to upgrade it.. But if i upgrade it, then i need another motherboard because it support and ram faster than 1333mhz and it is a mini-atx which can't fit my wifi-card, it was irritating. But also, i heard if you get a new MB you need a new windows copy?

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Memory: Kingston 2GB (1 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (X4)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-N15 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans (X4)
 
Solution
quilciri
Don't change your RAM. I think Hotshot misread your post. You have 8GB in dual channel mode. That's just fine. It doesn't matter if it's 2x4GB or 4x2GB, you will get the same performance either way. By the time you need more than that, the entire AM3+ platform will need replacing anyway.

For $300, you'll get the best game performance boost with a new video card and an overclock on the 6300.

My humble suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB Direct CU II Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $296.97
Prices include...
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anti-duck

anti-duck

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Feb 18, 2014
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8GB of RAM even at 1333MHz isn't too bad to be fair, there are other things I would look at upgrading first personally, like adding an SSD, or you could go with an R9 280X, GTX 960, R9 290, R9 290X, or maybe a GTX 970.

With the version of Windows you have, you would need a new copy if you were to upgrade the motherboard. Saying that though, there are ways of getting your Windows key transferred.
 
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DasHotShot

DasHotShot

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Feb 17, 2015
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I mean your first and top priority here is to get at least 2x2GB of dual channel paired ram installed. Means taking out the single stick.

8GB in 2x4 is the ideal situation for today and tomorrow.

This comes at a cost of 30-60 dollars. You should consider selling the 270 and stepping up as far as possible when you know your budget then. amd 290 or nvid 970 could be in reach and will give a true upgrade.
 
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quilciri

quilciri

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Mar 16, 2012
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Don't change your RAM. I think Hotshot misread your post. You have 8GB in dual channel mode. That's just fine. It doesn't matter if it's 2x4GB or 4x2GB, you will get the same performance either way. By the time you need more than that, the entire AM3+ platform will need replacing anyway.

For $300, you'll get the best game performance boost with a new video card and an overclock on the 6300.

My humble suggestion:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290X 4GB Direct CU II Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $296.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-08 16:11 EDT-0400

Cheers!
 
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Solution
quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
4,104
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23,965
You can't go wrong either way, but here are the main benefits in each card

970: uses less power, runs cooler, performs slightly better at 1080p

290X: performs slightly better at 4k, is $40 cheaper. If you plan on a new monitor, freesync monitors are cheaper than gsync.

Cheers!
 
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quilciri

quilciri

Splendid
Mar 16, 2012
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There's a third option: a used 780ti.

You can get a used 780ti from Asus, Gigabyte, or EVGA and still have 1-2 years left on the warranty (The warranties are 3 years, fully transferable, no action necessary). It goes for about $300 on ebay, and it's stronger than both the 970 and the 290X at all resolutions.

I plan on buying a pair of 780ti's myself as my next upgrade in anticipation of DirectX 12, which will be fabulous for multi-GPU systems.
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Jan 1, 2013
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^ ignore the website -- believe it or not its wrong - while at default it will run 1600mhz ram at 1333mhz to get 1600mhz running properly you just have to set timings manually in bios.

The board is a decent overclocker for the 6300.
4.3/4.4ghz is easily achievable.
 
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anti-duck

anti-duck

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Feb 18, 2014
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That board isn't an overclocking board, it does have a low power phase but the VRM's are covered with a heatsink and you should be able to get a reasonable overclock on it, just don't push it hard and definitely get an aftermarket CPU heatsink if you are going to be overclocking.

Personally, I wouldn't touch the RAM, you have 8gb already (which you may be able to clock to 1600MHz anyway).

For overclocking, get yourself OCCT and CPU-Z for monitoring and stress testing and I personally don't use software for overclocking and instead, do it all in the BIOS, but Gigabyte have their own utility called Easy Tune6, it's probably not the best, but it'll get the job done.
 
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