Long term Upgrade Advice

[eliezer_kt]

Hey everyone, I am a college student who's a little short on cash. I Most frequently use my pc for games, watching movies and encoding media usually movies and music in HD. Occasionally some Photoshop and video editing for my home collection, nothing professional though.

I built this pc about 4 years ago

MOBO- Asus m4a78 em
Amd mobo supporting upto phenom II but not the new FX series. ddr2 upto 1200Mhz
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 x2 5200+
Its a dual core at 2.7GHZ, currently OCed to 3.1GHZ

RAM - 3GB ddr2 666 MHz Latency 5555
Currently Oced to 800 MHz latency 6655

GPU - Nvidia GTS 250 1GB Gddr3. Oced to 765/1868/1135

Power Supply - Cooler Master 600 watt

Display- Samsung 21" 1600x900

I build this Pc when I was a complete noob! the only thing I knew about hardware were the names of the components! took me 2 days trying to put the damn thing together reading the Motherboard manual!

Currently I can play BF3 at high and I get min 20 fps in graphic intensive areas, up to 45 in close quarters.
I play all my games at 1600x900

I convert my videos using badaboom, whew!! otherwise imagine encoding a full length HD movie with the processor I mentioned above.

Right now I have 180$ to spend on my PC. I am somehow convinced that I should upgrade my processor to a AMD phenom II x4 970 ( quad core, 3.5GHz, Black edition, 6mb L3 cache) and get up to 6gb ddr2 ram by selling the ones I got(ie sell 3 Gb of 666 MHZ and buy 6gb 0f 800 MHZ with good latency) then overclock both of then when I need more performance and maybe get a better GPU next year with dx 11/12 support around 200$ My goal after this upgrade is to wait for ddr4 without compromising too much on gaming( min 30 fps on mid-high setting is good enough for me)

I cant get ddr3 cuz my mobo doesn't support it, after this upgrades I am planing to wait till DDR4 comes out and then do a complete built with intel i7 processors(Or maybe AMD if they are convincing enough) and 64gb DDR4 Ram

What do you guys think about my plan? is this feasible?

I cant think of a better plan myself but, being a newbie maybe I am completely wrong. everyone around here says to get a ddr3 MOBO and do by subsequent upgrades on it. But I dont wanna sell everything out and then after 2 years DDR4 comes around with SOC processors and PCIE SDDs and I have to sellout everything again. Or am I underestimating the time ddr3 will still be around and are SOC processors still just a theory?

I am completely confused I cant even sleep from the past 2 days LOL!

Anyways what you you think guys? Is there any processor better then this at the same budget( around 130$)? And please advice me about the RAM, I am completely ignorant about it. And if you got any better ideas pls say so. I have followed this forum for years and has helped me many times and it has never been wrong for me so I am gonna do what you guys say is the best. thanks for reading and hope to hear form you guys soon.

 

[smorizio]

ddr-4 is just now hitting vendors like intel. it be 2-3 years before it takes off if it does. it have to work fine in server space before mb vendors and intel to make retail chipsets and ram. what ever pc parts you buy now are already end of life as intel has there haswel chips and amd as there new fm2 cpu coming out there also the new 8000 line of video cards sometime this year or the first q of next year. what i do with my pc builds is only replace them if they dies or become to slow. I have some parts on order for my new z77 rig the pc i have right now is an old 775. what save you some cash is if you can reuse the hard drive..cd-rom and video card till you can replace them. I was lucky that my dvd and hard drives are sata. I would look into getting new amd mb and cpu and ram. then look into replacing the gpu.

 

[aviral]

Currently I can play BF3 at high and I get min 20 fps in graphic intensive areas, up to 45 in close quarters.
I play all my games at 1600x900.

Right now I have 180$ to spend on my PC. I am somehow convinced that I should upgrade my processor to a AMD phenom II x4 970 ( quad core, 3.5GHz, Black edition, 6mb L3 cache) and get up to 6gb ddr2 ram by selling the ones I got(ie sell 3 Gb of 666 MHZ and buy 6gb 0f 800 MHZ with good latency) then overclock both of then when I need more performance and maybe get a better GPU next year with dx 11/12 support around 200$ My goal after this upgrade is to wait for ddr4 without compromising too much on gaming( min 30 fps on mid-high setting is good enough for me)

If you can play BF3 at high then I say don't upgrade right now because upgrading any of the components will make a bottleneck for your components.

Let's take an example,If you upgrade your processor to Quad Core then the RAM frequency will give you a quite amount of difference in performance(or say will not support your processor).

You are using a DDR2 setup and spending $$ on it will not at all a good idea as you can see by yourself that the technology is advancing with months and very soon you will be having a scarcity of the components for your setup as well as right now you will get RAM at costly price then DDR3(which I have noticed) is not at all a good idea.

As far as DDR4 RAM is concerned I don't hope so that even if DDR3 RAM across the world with 2000MHz are installed on pc of present times and therefore even if it hit the market then also it won't make any difference for years.So DDR3 setup of RAM will stay for many years.

For your graphics card I would like to say to stick to it right now because you not require it at all.

In short, Wait for sometime,increase your budget, sell your old pc and enjoy a better future proof pc.

 

[eliezer_kt]

I would look into getting new amd mb and cpu and ram. then look into replacing the gpu.

A new AMD Mobo+new Cpu+ 6GB ddr3 Ram thats around 300$ is it really worth it?

I mean at 180$ I can get a phenom II x4 970 BE with 6GB ddr2 ram. Is the difference between ddr2 and ddr3 worth it?

 

[eliezer_kt]

Let's take an example,If you upgrade your processor to Quad Core then the RAM frequency will give you a quite amount of difference in performance(or say will not support your processor).

Can you please elaborate on this topic? I am completely dumbfound my this

You are using a DDR2 setup and spending $$ on it will not at all a good idea as you can see by yourself that the technology is advancing with months and very soon you will be having a scarcity of the components for your setup as well as right now you will get RAM at costly price then DDR3(which I have noticed) is not at all a good idea.

I agree with you. But upgrading to a ddr3 setup would mean at least $400 Considering a decent [strike]LGA2011[/strike] LGA1155 MOBO with the 2400 or 2500k and atleast 6Gb ram. I know this is a very good setup. But I wouldn't be able to afford this till next year. My question is, will this be feasible after that, say for another 4 years?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I agree with you. But upgrading to a ddr3 setup would mean at least $400 Considering a decent LGA2011 MOBO with the 2400 or 2500k and atleast 6Gb ram. I know this is a very good setup. But I wouldn't be able to afford this till next year. My question is, will this be feasible after that, say for another 4 years?

The 2400 and 2500K, as well as 2600K and 2700K are LGA1155 processors. And DDR3 RAM is so cheap (My 8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 Dual Channel kit was something like $45) that there's really no reason NOT to go that route, if you can.

To answer your question about longevity, an i5 2500K and 8/16GB of DDR3 RAM should absolutely be fine for many years to come. The GTS250 won't be, but you can upgrade that down the line, as needed.

 

[eliezer_kt]

The 2400 and 2500K, as well as 2600K and 2700K are LGA1155 processors. And DDR3 RAM is so cheap (My 8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 Dual Channel kit was something like $45) that there's really no reason NOT to go that route, if you can.

My mistake, i got a little confused between 2011 and 1155

To answer your question about longevity, an i5 2500K and 8/16GB of DDR3 RAM should absolutely be fine for many years to come. The GTS250 won't be, but you can upgrade that down the line, as needed.

So I should should just stay put for now and raise my $$?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

So I should should just stay put for now and raise my $$?

Honestly, if that's what you have to do, then I would say yes, but that's just my own opinion.

You wouldn't HAVE to get a 2500K right now anyway, you could just go for an i3 2120 and a Z68 mobo (basically overkill for an i3, but it gives you a better upgrade path) sooner and upgrade to any other SB or IB chip later, when funds allow it.

 

[HEXiT]

your living in fantasy land if you think ddr4 will be available on any currently named system. the first that might implement it, (but is a big might) is haswell in maybe 2014.

as for your current system its reasonably well balanced but would benefit from faster ram. getting ddr2 1066 5-5-5-15 (theres no such thing as 5-5-5-5 ram) will enable you to run the ram set as ddr2 800 and drop the latencies to maybe 4-4-4-12. 1s you do this it should then auto oc to around 900 and be stable with the lower latencies.
..
i do find it pretty amazing that you manage 20+fps minimum on the bigger maps and is a true testament to building a balance pc.
in essence all i would recommend for that system is faster ram. its pointless trying to upgrade the cpu as the faster 1s on that socket are 90nm and will max out at 3.2 (if your lucky) so your basically getting the best out of the socket already if its the 940 with your 3.1 oc...

if your motherboard will take a phenom 2 (socket 941 am3) then it would be a serious upgrade that will give much smoother gameplay and should increase your minimum fps (hopefully) to the magic 30 minimum...

 

[eliezer_kt]

your living in fantasy land if you think ddr4 will be available on any currently named system. the first that might implement it, (but is a big might) is haswell in maybe 2014.

Thanks for pointing that out mate

as for your current system its reasonably well balanced but would benefit from faster ram. getting ddr2 1066 5-5-5-15 (theres no such thing as 5-5-5-5 ram) will enable you to run the ram set as ddr2 800 and drop the latencies to maybe 4-4-4-12. 1s you do this it should then auto oc to around 900 and be stable with the lower latencies.

Honestly, I dont have any clue what latency means! I just saw it under the memory tab in CPUZ

in essence all i would recommend for that system is faster ram. its pointless trying to upgrade the cpu as the faster 1s on that socket are 90nm and will max out at 3.2 (if your lucky) so your basically getting the best out of the socket already if its the 940 with your 3.1 oc...

if your motherboard will take a phenom 2 (socket 941 am3) then it would be a serious upgrade that will give much smoother gameplay and should increase your minimum fps (hopefully) to the magic 30 minimum...

Thanks, but I have decided to change my MOBO anyway for ddr3 support since it will be sticking around much longer then I previously anticipated

 

[eliezer_kt]

You wouldn't HAVE to get a 2500K right now anyway, you could just go for an i3 2120 and a Z68 mobo (basically overkill for an i3, but it gives you a better upgrade path) sooner and upgrade to any other SB or IB chip later, when funds allow it.

Thanks, I did some research and it seems to be the best option. Unfortunately am a little short on cash so I have to be a little patient and it seems the Ivy bridge chipset has native support for USB3.0

I have decided to wait it out and once my funds permit I will go for it. Probably z77 chipset MOBO with SLI/Crossfire support with the i3 2100 and later upgrade to some IB chip

Thanks again.

 

[aviral]

Can you please elaborate on this topic? I am completely dumbfound my this

I am going to take a real life example.If you own a super-car but your house is situated at a street that is crowded with other cars.Do you think will you be able to use your speed of car at that area?

Your answer will definitely will be NO. The car was just worthless for the purchase for that area.It will be better to get something which suits that locality and is as well efficient to satisfy your needs.

Now assume super-car to be your Processor and RAM as a crowded street will have the situation for your pc setup.Your processor will handle every thing at a faster rate but your RAM will bottleneck the performance of processor by not handling the programs at a equivalent rate to processor.

Now i am hoping you got the idea what I was trying to explain you earlier in my post.

I agree with you. But upgrading to a ddr3 setup would mean at least $400 Considering a decent [strike]LGA2011[/strike] LGA1155 MOBO with the 2400 or 2500k and atleast 6Gb ram. I know this is a very good setup. But I wouldn't be able to afford this till next year. My question is, will this be feasible after that, say for another 4 years?

Yes it will be feasible and will as well last for many years.

If you keep a track on prices of the above listed components by luck you can get at discount rate can't say how much but pretty well sure about the discounts .The source of purchase can be online shopping or local vendor.

Waiting for a year is far more better plan then upgrading now and afterwards for your upgrades.

 

[eliezer_kt]

Now assume super-car to be your Processor and RAM as a crowded street will have the situation for your pc setup.Your processor will handle every thing at a faster rate but your RAM will bottleneck the performance of processor by not handling the programs at a equivalent rate to processor.

Now i am hoping you got the idea what I was trying to explain you earlier in my post.

Yup definitely got the idea But now I am more curious how to match my RAM performance with my CPU performance! there must be some thread on this topic.. now where's that GOOGLE

Waiting for a year is far more better plan then upgrading now and afterwards for your upgrades.

And that exactly what I am gonna do, I am gonna wait till I can afford a i5 2400 or another equivalent IB chip

 

[aviral]

Yup definitely got the idea But now I am more curious how to match my RAM performance with my CPU performance! there must be some thread on this topic.. now where's that GOOGLE

Best of luck for the thread search.

 

[eliezer_kt]

Best of luck for the thread search.

Found it. Read it. Got it thanks a lot.

I got my fund up now. A little short though at $280. Am getting a i5 2400(maybe a 2500k if I can ) with a h61 mobo around $50 >>Biostar H61MLC with Transcend 4Gb 1600 RAM with 8 CAS latency.
I know the Mobo sucks. But I am all out of $$ right now. Will add RAM after a month or so then get a nice mobo with a big GPU next year. i am pretty sure this is what I should do, but suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks again everyone. You guys really helped me

 

[aviral]

Found it. Read it. Got it thanks a lot.

I got my fund up now. A little short though at $280. Am getting a i5 2400(maybe a 2500k if I can ) with a h61 mobo around $50 >>Biostar H61MLC with Transcend 4Gb 1600 RAM with 8 CAS latency.
I know the Mobo sucks. But I am all out of $$ right now. Will add RAM after a month or so then get a nice mobo with a big GPU next year. i am pretty sure this is what I should do, but suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks again everyone. You guys really helped me

Now I can say it is better idea.

 

[amuffin]

Buy the best now, you will not regret it.

 

[eliezer_kt]

Ok am definitely getting the i5 2500k. will upgrade mobo next year with a z77 chipset for pcie 3.0 support and a good GPU to last another 5 years.

 

[eliezer_kt]

Best answer selected by eliezer_kt.