Need Upgrade advice (i3 vs i5 etc)

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Half Dead

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Jan 22, 2016
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Hey guys, I need some advice :)
My old PC is starting to show it's age and original budgetness, as such I've been having some trouble even playing new games lately. The latest issue is CoD Black Ops 3, which barely pulls 30-40 fps with everything on minimum settings (and it looks terrible lol).

Currently I am running:
CPU: Pentium Dualcore G3220
RAM: 8GB DDR3
MBoard: Gigabyte B85M-D3H
GPU: Radeon 6850

I've looked up some prices for a new CPU And GPU for my motherboard and found the following in my budget (Max A$500 atm)
--Yes we pay more for everything in Australia :(

Intel Core i5 4460 Quad Core LGA 1150-----$285.00
Sapphire R7 370 Dual-X OC 2GB--------------$199.00
Total-----------------------------------------------$484

Intel Core i3 4170 LGA 1150 3.7GHz------- $169.00
Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC 2GB------$289.00
Total---------------------------------------------- $458

Intel Core i3 4170 LGA 1150 3.7GHz--------$169.00
Sapphire Radeon R9 380 Nitro OC 4GB------$325.00
Total----------------------------------------------$494

** Alternative to the R9 280 ::: Gigabyte GTX 960 WindForce OC 4GB $315 ??

My main questions are;
- Is the i5 cpu worth the extra over the i3?
- How much better is the R9 380 vs the R7 370?
- Is it worth paying more for the 4GB version?

Thanks for the help :)
 
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SkyMembrane

SkyMembrane

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Dec 23, 2015
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I feel you pain, here in Canada we also pay more than the US does, though slightly less than you (An I5-4460 is about C$260). The I5 has some serious advantages over the I3, though maybe not for gaming, where the GPU is more important. I would definitely choose the 4gb version over the 2gb though.
 
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Half Dead

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Jan 22, 2016
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After a little more looking, it seems my GPU choice has been made for me.
The R9 280 needs at least a 500w PSU with 2x6pin Power connectors, however the GTX 960 only needs a 400w PSU with a single 6pin connector... After quickly opening up my case to check, it seems my PSU is 500w, but only has 1x6pin connector.

I guess I could either get the GTX960 and the i3 GPU together.
Or buy the GPU now, and get the i5 in 2-3 months, which means pairing the GTX960 with my Pentium G3220 CPU for now.
 
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SkyMembrane

SkyMembrane

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Dec 23, 2015
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The Pentium will be bottlenecking it, but I always favor waiting for an upgrade rather than getting a cheap one that won't last as long.
 
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xxxhomie21

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Dec 9, 2015
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Ok then Here is Ur fix
4170 will work Gud with 960 and 380 both
I Personally prefer 380 as it is better than 960 both 4 & 2 gig ver whichever fits in Ur budget
i5 will unless U were planning to buy 970 or want to do editing or some higher cpu tasks

The thing which should be considered is Ur psu
Tell Ur psu model or see that the +12V rail is more than 30A
And 500w is sufficient,
ALso for that single 6 pin connector there are spare molar to 6pin adapter are available in the market U can go for them
 
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Half Dead

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Jan 22, 2016
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Ah yeah... it doesn't. After some digging I've found that "500w" may be a little generous for this PSU.
It is an Aywun A1-5000 500w MAX PSU, the 12v rail is only 15A..

So, it looks like a PSU upgrade is also in order.
I can get a Corsair VS550 for $69, which has a 42A +12v rail, which should do the job... just means the CPU upgrade will have to wait.
 
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xxxhomie21

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Dec 9, 2015
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30A is sufficient for ur build 42A will be overkill. get a vs 450 as that rig will require 430 w at its max load and 28 A on 12+ rail
U can also go with evga or antec psu as they cheaper good as corsair ones
 
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Half Dead

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Jan 22, 2016
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Thanks. I had a quick look at the PSUs in that price range, which would you suggest from the following?

- Corsair VS Series 550W ---- (12v = 42A)
- Zalman ZM600-GV 600W ---- (12v = 46A)
- Corsair CX-430 430W V3 80+ Bronze ---- (12v = 32A)
- Antec Basiq Series VP500P 500W ---- (12v = 2x18A)
- Silverstone Strider Essential 80+ 500W ---- (12v = 34A)
- FSP HEXA+ 500 - 500W ---- (12v = 2x18A)

There were also a few from brands like Mars Gaming, Aerocool, Powercase, Cougar and Thermaltake that all looked to be sub-par.

 
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xxxhomie21

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Dec 9, 2015
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Follow this thread http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
whichever falls on better tier go for that one
I personally prefer Antec, and Evga ones they better and cheaper
Note: Be little serious while choosing psu's as weaker ones can damage any expensive components Mainly the mobo or gpu
If U get gud psu little bit expensive it will last very long may be U won't have upgrade it for long time, Its a one time investment

choosing a psu is not only about watts and amp's
Build quality matters too much
 
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Half Dead

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Jan 22, 2016
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Cool, by that logic the Silverstone one seems to be the best bet as it's the only one that is at least a t3+ and the cheapest t2 one I could find was a "Seasonic G series 450w" for $119
 
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