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RooSalad

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Feb 24, 2015
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One of my current system's specs (as of right now):
CPU: AMD 8320 OC@ 4.2ghz
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr 7950 (on the 7970 PCB) (not OC'd)
MOBO: Some old Biostar Crap (I think AMD 970?)
RAM: 8GB (4x2) 1866 CL9
STORAGE: 3x 1TB WD Blue HDD
Hyper 212 Heatsink/Cooling
EVGA 750w 80+

I have a 490 dollar budget to -begin- purchasing upgrades.

Which item should I upgrade first?
Is moving to Z97 + i7 4790k worth it?
Is the GTX 970 a large/valuable upgrade?
What is the weakest part of my system?
SSDs?
Thoughts? Ideas? DISCUSS!

Edit:
In order of priority; my machine duties:
1. Live streaming with OBS
2. Recording/Rendering 1080p 30-60fps videos in Sony Vegas
3. Photoshop work
4. Hardcore gaming.
 
Solution
Wisecracker
67919.png
From Anandtech

There is simply something about the HD 7950 ... it takes some fiddlin' but it should be within a second or 2 to the HD 7970. That's the way the R9 290 / 280X fall.

The R9 270X and HD 7850 score 26 and 29. There is just something uck-fupped with the HD 7950 and Vegas compute for some unknown bizarre reason THOUGH I've seen some available work-arounds out there on the Internets.

Keep an eye on your VCore. Mobos are really bad to needlessly over-volt FX- chips. Keeping the volts down can really help you boost the clock speeds -- be sure to disable Turbo and any core-management functions.

Today at 1080p and a typical monitor, going beyond the R8...
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0x1eef

0x1eef

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Jan 16, 2015
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4790k is newer worth it (unless you have a lot of money burning your pocket)
1st is more CPU dependent task, 2-3 support GPU acceleration, 4th is more GPU dependent.
You have to ask yourself "what am I lacking the most?" If it's "everything", then obtain some more money, leave RAM, storage, cooler, case, probably PSU (though I don't think you have a good one), sell the rest, buy a new rig.
 
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Wisecracker

Wisecracker

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Jan 15, 2007
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... Is moving to Z97 + i7 4790k worth it?
Click to expand...
Nope.

You're not in bad shape. I'm not sure what issues you may be having with the *old Biostar Crap* but if you are running a stable 4.2GHz it can't be all that bad.

The Radeon should cut through Vegas like a hot knife through buttah, though I seem to recall some set-up issues with the HD7950 config and GPU compute. You might want to search for that.

An SSD is a must-have these days --- there is no better upgrade for faster boot times and overall system 'snappiness'

Define hardcore gaming? You will certainly get a boost in frames from an R9 390 (a 390X is actually within your budget). A GTX 970, too, but it will lose-out big-time to the Radeon in Vegas GPU compute.

If your motherboard is really bugging you and on the cusp of failing, you could upgrade to the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P for around $90. It should have no issue with your cooling taking the FX-8320 up another 10% or so (unless you lost the CPU chip lottery).

The other advantage of the -UD3P upgrade for 'maintenance purposes' is being that is a 970-chipset, you would not need a new Windows OS license.

 
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R

RooSalad

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Feb 24, 2015
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Please... Re-read the entire concept of my post before posting this dribble response.

Also, there is no need to make negative assumptions about my PSU. My PSU is actually a very solid one, thanks.

I'm not going to dump a lump sum into an entire new rig. That's not the way I work. I do incremental upgrades.
Us adults (especially those of us with families, and bills) tend to have budgets- and it just so happens that -my- version of a budget is not dropping a huge lump sum of money on a "new rig".

Thanks for the response, anyway. I suppose I did ask for "thoughts" (I didn't specify thoughts of which caliber, my mistake).
 
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Reyaz123

Reyaz123

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May 8, 2015
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Z97 is overclockable and is a great combo with the i7 4790k (both can OC) The GTX 970 is one of the top gpus currently available

The weakest part of your system is the wd blue. Sell about 1 or 2 of those hard drives and get a Samsung evo 850 SSD. It will improve game loading times and system boot up times.
 
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J

jackspeed

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Jun 29, 2011
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Lets try and be respectful. What is the power supply. EVGA 750 can be anywhere from a fire hazard to Tier 1 PSU. Without listing it people usually assume closer to the fire hazard mark. Incremental upgrades will always leave the machine lacking and is usually a worse investment then setting the money aside and getting a new machine less often.

I would upgrade the GPU, memory and possibly power supply as you have an 8 core cpu which excels in non gaming areas. My $.02.
 
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R

RooSalad

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Feb 24, 2015
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It's not that it's causing issues, it's just that I paid like 50 dollars for it- and that fact alone worries me.
I actually brought my AMD8-core from another computer to this one- on the old motherboard it was in (a much higher end one) I could only get 4.2ghz out of it. I'm pretty sure I lost the lottery on this chip :(


Yea, I've not seen the stellar performance everyone claims comes with the Radeon. Maybe I should look into that- however.. I hear the GTX 970 is on-par if not better than my current 7950 (on a 7970 pcb) in all cases?


High end games, while recording/streaming. BF4, Massive Open worlds, high res textures, stupid amounts of antialias/shaders, etc. So I take it the R9 390X ALONE would be a smart 1st step upgrade with my budget? I mean think of it this way, I could upgrade to 16gb ram, AND get a decent SSD instead. What do you think?

 
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Wisecracker

Wisecracker

Splendid
Jan 15, 2007
8,106
17
31,965
67919.png
From Anandtech

There is simply something about the HD 7950 ... it takes some fiddlin' but it should be within a second or 2 to the HD 7970. That's the way the R9 290 / 280X fall.

The R9 270X and HD 7850 score 26 and 29. There is just something uck-fupped with the HD 7950 and Vegas compute for some unknown bizarre reason THOUGH I've seen some available work-arounds out there on the Internets.

Keep an eye on your VCore. Mobos are really bad to needlessly over-volt FX- chips. Keeping the volts down can really help you boost the clock speeds -- be sure to disable Turbo and any core-management functions.

Today at 1080p and a typical monitor, going beyond the R8 390 / GTX 970 is pretty much over-kill. That said :lol: here is the MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Gaming for $434.98 and the SanDisk Ultra II 120GB SSD for $61.98.

Sorry about bustin' your budget :D



 
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Solution
0x1eef

0x1eef

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Jan 16, 2015
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My barn door doesn't swing that way, bro. You've asked for my opinion, not for the echo of your own one.

Anyway, I think you've missed my point.
Xeon 1231 + H97 mobo + GTX 970 / R9 390 sums up to ~$640; it'll add to every duty you've listed here. I offered you to sold some old parts to cover the difference, not to build the new rig from scratch.

To muddy the issue more:
- SSD is the cheapest way to increase performance
- AMD would probably be better in SV, while NV will rule Adobe & gaming
- video rendering still heavily depends on the CPU
- you'll probably need 16GB of RAM at some point

Which brings us back to the question: where do you feel your current setup limits you most?

P.S. I'm with jackspeed on this one: incremental updates of the old hardware isn't the best way.
 
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0x1eef

0x1eef

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Because double precision performance is strong with Tahiti.
 
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