Is this a good upgrade?

huze5 · May 5, 2011

Hi guys. This will be my first time doing an upgrade unless you count the graphics card. My computer must be about 4 years old right now and the only thing i've upgraded is the graphics card. But i only got it because the stock graphics card was overheating a lot. It would read 60 degrees on idle.

The specs are:
HP Pavillion A1619.uk
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ @2.88ghz
Asus A8M2N-LA mobo
Palit ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2
1.5GB DDR2 RAM
3x 160GB HDD

I was wanting to upgrade it a bit for overclocking but i'm on a very tight budget. It has to be under £200.
I was thinking of getting an AMD Phenom II x2 555 and unlocking the 3rd and 4th core. This means i'd have to upgrade the mobo. Any ideas which one would be good? I also want to install a Corsair H50 Closed Loop Liquid Cooler. And i defos need to upgrade the RAM. Since i am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit I wanna get 4GB DDR3.
Can you guys advise me on any good deals lying about?
Thanks.
Huzi

lowjack989 · May 5, 2011

Heres a good board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138290

Heres the CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846

And the Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015

Heres some good cheap RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748

$250.00 USD...I don't know the conversion rate is that symbol British Pounds or Euros

Zenthar · May 5, 2011

Unless you have space constraints, any good air cooler would be cheaper and cool as well as those close loops. Put the $$$ you will save toward a better CPU like the Phenom X4 840 3.2GHz; you never know if you will be able to unlock those extra cores, how stable they will be and/or how much it might limit your OC.

megamanx00 · May 5, 2011

lowjack989 · May 5, 2011

I beg to differ Zenthar on that....the Corsair H50 does a damn good job on my rig and it costs on par with Giant engine block style coolers......personally I would spring the extra money and get the X4 955 since its on sale for $130.00 at the egg.....and get a CM 212+ for $30.00....but OP wanted the Corsair so I suggested the H60 since it is a revision of the H50 and only $2 more

lowjack989 · May 5, 2011

Do either one of the last two poster own an H50, H60, or H70...or are you strictly basing your opinions on reviews?????????????

simon12 · May 5, 2011

How about:
AM3+ board (support for bulldozer in future) £46.94 https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/AMD+AM3%2B+Ready/MSI+870-C45+AMD+870+%28Socket+AM3%2B%29+DDR3+ATX+Motherboard+?productId=43833#rqc
4Gb DDR3 RAM £32.45 https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1333MHz/4GB+Hypertec+Hyperam+PC3-10666+1333Mhz+%282X2GB%29+DDR3+Dual+Channel+Kit?productId=41814
Phenom x4 955BE £93.59 https://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/AMD+Phenom+II+X4+Quad+Core+955+Black+Edition+125W+C3+%28Socket+AM3%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39930
Coolmaster Hyper 212+ £17.10 https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Fans%2C+Heatsinks%2C+Coolers/CPU+Coolers/Coolermaster+Hyper+212+Plus+CPU+Cooler+?productId=39577
Including delivery it comes to £199.62
If you want you can ditch the 212+ and get a H50 but you would need to lower the CPU down to a Phenom x2 or Athlon x3 or x4 t stay within budget. I agree with the above posts saying the H50 is not as good as high end air coolers and costs more the H70 is better than the H50 but is still beaten by good air coolers.

Zenthar · May 5, 2011

I'd like to see Corsair release double radiator models of their coolers, I think this is the main reason why they don't cool as well as they could.

lowjack989 · May 5, 2011

+1^----Call it the H240 and include two noctua fans

huze5 · May 10, 2011

simon12 :

Can i ask, what is bulldozer?

huze5 · May 10, 2011

lowjack989 :

Thing about NewEgg is they don't ship to the UK. And i can bump the budget up to £300. I'm gonna buy a new case and psu.

simon12 · May 10, 2011

huze5 :

A new line of AMD CPUs that will launch in around a month, noone has a clue about its performance or pricing at the moment but it should be at least significantly better than any CPUs AMD currently sell..

huze5 · May 10, 2011

I see. Pair one of those up with a Radeon HD 6770 in SLI and you have the new ultimate gaming computer.

simon12 · May 11, 2011

huze5 :

Like I said performance is currently unknown. A 6770 is just a rebranded 5770 and it would be crossfire not SLi.

huze5 · May 11, 2011

That one.

huze5 · May 11, 2011

But is the HD 6770 still not one of the most powerful desktop graphics cards out there?

huze5 · May 11, 2011

Soz, i ment HD 6990

simon12 · May 11, 2011

Yes a 6990 is the most powerful gaming card out there and 2 of them is overkill for anyone unless they are running 3 big monitors.

ajcroteau · May 11, 2011

huze5 :

Is this a custom case... i'm wondering if your going to be able to put a new motherboard into this case... you might want to also look into a new case... I've seen some custom system with funky motherboard configurations...

I did look this case up online and it looks like a Mini-Tower and if it did support a standard ATX/Mini-ATX motherboard, heat might be an issue seeing as how your planning to do some overclocking as well...

AJ

huze5 · May 16, 2011

ajcroteau :

This isn't a custom case. It is a pre-built computer we got straight from the shops a while back.

The case has very little ventilation and space. I want one which could have a fan attached to the front too.

ajcroteau · May 16, 2011

This is the case i went with...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=Thermaltake_Armor+-_-11-133-056-_-Product

Obviously, there are cases with just as good ventilation for less money but here's something for you to at least start looking at...

AJ

Is this a good upgrade?

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