Someone please answer

caseycole645

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My specs are...

amd athlon 64 x2 4200+ at 2.2 ghz
6 gb ddr2 ram
geforce 8400 gs
two 250 gb hard drives 7200 rpm
apevia java 500w power supply, 24a on the 12v rail


obviously its time for a upgrade, so for budget (around $200) i want to upgrade either the gpu or cpu not both.
what i want to know is which upgrade will i see the most performance out of for gaming on 1360x720 rez

for the gpu i would go with msi r6850 cyclone pe/oc which is about $180

for cpu i would upgrade to a amd phenom ii x4 840 3.2ghz (including new mobo/ram) which is about $200

so tell me what you think it would be much appreciated
 

Zenthar

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Mmm, AGP or PCI-e? I remember the 8400GS being sold in both version so I cannot guess from that alone and you didn't specify the motherboard.

Assuming PCI-e, I wouldn't invest 200$ in a GPU as it will probably be held back by the CPU anyway. If you want to strike a balance I wold suggest you look more around the 100$ mark for the GPU, something like a Radeon 6670 might do just the trick and should be more than enough for 720p gaming in most games.
 

caseycole645

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im gonna upgrade both eventually but i wanna get some use out of my psu cuz i havent had it for a long time so maybe i will go with the gpu then get new psu, mobo, cpu and ram around christmas time. will the MSI r6850 cyclone pe/oc run on 26 amps? if not ill upgrade my cpu first.
 

4745454b

Titan
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The problem is Apevia is crap. Junk. Fire hazard waiting to happen. If your budget is $200 you can probably get a $50 quality PSU, $50 CPU, and a $100 GPU. An Antec 380W green is usually <$50. You should be able to get a GTS450 or 5770/6770 for $100ish, leaving you ~$50 for a CPU. This is doable as well, but only if you have an AM2 or AM2+ motherboard. If you're still on S939 then its not.
 

Zenthar

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The Radeon 6670 isn't as powerfull as the 6850 (but still probably 10x the 8400 GS), but I think it would be more than enough for 720p, it's about half the price and is powered through the PCI-e slot so probably not that power-hungry to start with for the 500W PSU. Run your build through a PSU calculator to make sure, but I guess it's your best bet.
 

caseycole645

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How does this one look?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=419877&sku=T925-3083
 

caseycole645

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hmm.. what brand of 6670 would you prefer?
 

waffle911

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If you were going to get a 6670, I'd go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150545
At $80 ($70 with rebate) it's a pretty good deal. But it's important to note that the 6670 is available with either GDDR3 or GDDR5, but both sell for similar prices!

But yeah, there's a reason why everyone is "suggesting" you replace the Apevia PSU IMMEDIATELY. It really IS a fire hazard. It CAN and WILL kill the rest of your system even if it doesn't burst into flames. It's power output is so irregular that a sudden voltage spike (through no fault of your surge protector) on any one of the rails could be catastrophic.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Thermaltake TR2?

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermaltake-TR2-RX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/902/9

Thermaltake TR2 RX 750 W is, according to our methodology, a flawed product that must be avoided at all costs. It can’t deliver its labeled wattage at high temperatures, but this is not the worst of it: ripple and noise level are way above the maximum allowed when you pull 80% or more from the unit’s labeled capacity (i.e., 600 W and above), overloading your components (especially electrolytic capacitors from the motherboard and video cards), which can cause your PC to present an erratic behavior (crashes and random resets) and, under extreme conditions, damage components.

It's better then your apevia, and would handle a 5670, 5750, 5770 just fine because you won't be drawing that much power from your system. But I see no reason to buy a PSU that you know has issues.
 

caseycole645

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Dam, thanks for the heads up ill get it replaced asap. any good brands you would recommend?
 

caseycole645

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ok everyone is saying corsair is a good psu brand so how about this one

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6256814&sku=C13-9912
 

caseycole645

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that one is awsome im deffinatly getting it. i like the single 12v rail too, the multiple rails confuse me. thanks man
 

caseycole645

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but i might also be looking to crossfire or sli in the future