I need your help with upgrades please!

[xr4v3nx]

Hello everyone! I am planning on upgrading my current rig. Here are the specs:

Mobo: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
PSU: Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE

I want to upgrade my CPU, GPU, PSU and maybe RAM. I need your suggestions please. My budget is around $500-700. If I do upgrade, should I also add more cooling?

EDIT: I primarily use this rig for lots of stuff, including heavy gaming!

Thank you everyone!

 

[vin20]

960T is around 125$ + entry level cooler should be equal to 200$?

gtx 550 is about 110$. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

so another 200$ would be more than sufficient for an effective PSU and Ram?

 

[xr4v3nx]

Thanks for your reply vin20! I was hoping to get an ATI video card instead of Nvidia.

 

[vin20]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131397 around 130$

 

[vin20]

your board supports crossfire, so get a 750w PSU and use both the radeons.

 

[GI_JONES]

AM3 processors are pretty much out of production..I would get the fastest phenomII x4 you can afford, because they will be hard to find new in the near future. Right now the 965 @ 3.4Ghz is the same price as the 3Ghz 960t
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

 

[vin20]

965 black edition's TDP is 140W, so it isn't advised unless you have a good cooler. 960T can be unlocked to 6 cores and overclocked to 3.4 ghz with a good cooler.

a better option would be x6 1055T at 150$. http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=52066&vpn=HDT55TFBGRBOX&manufacture=AMD

 

[xr4v3nx]

Thanks again guys! But with a good cooler, would the 965 and/or 960 outperform (without OC, etc) the x6 1055T? I'm guessing not since it's 6-core?

 

[wr6133]

The 960T is the same 6 core as the 1055T just 2 cores disabled. They may unlock but even as a 4 core its all good. And it OC's FAR more than the 3.4 GHZ previously quoted.Mine is unlocked now to 6 core at 3.89GHZ. As a 4 core it hits 4.0GHZ with a decent cooler.

965 will reach 4GHZ too but it will suck more power doing it.

960T and cooler should leave enough in your budget to push your RAM to 8GB (just get another 2gbX2 and keep using the 4GB you have) and either crossfire that card or get a new single card solution (either way you will likely need a beefier PSU).

Pile the old leftovers on ebay and make a few $ back.

 

[xr4v3nx]

The 960T is the same 6 core as the 1055T just 2 cores disabled. They may unlock but even as a 4 core its all good. And it OC's FAR more than the 3.4 GHZ previously quoted.Mine is unlocked now to 6 core at 3.89GHZ. As a 4 core it hits 4.0GHZ with a decent cooler.

965 will reach 4GHZ too but it will suck more power doing it.

960T and cooler should leave enough in your budget to push your RAM to 8GB (just get another 2gbX2 and keep using the 4GB you have) and either crossfire that card or get a new single card solution (either way you will likely need a beefier PSU).

Pile the old leftovers on ebay and make a few $ back.

Cool. Another question would be, can my mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198) unlock the 2 cores? I've read some threads that some of them weren't able to unlock it. And I can't find anything to confirm my mobo.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Your board supports core unlocking.
I Just upgraded from a X2 250 Rana core to a 960T with a 212 EVO heatsink.
Unlocked to 6 cores and overcloced to 3,6ghz at 1.42v.
Temperatures 50C running prime 95 torture test. 43% auto fan speed.
My 3dmark06 scores increased 5000 points with same GTX460 1gb video card.

 

[eklerus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 130$ MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$ CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044 60$ PSU
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051 70$ PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102967 150$ GPU
560$ Total or 570$ depends which PSU you chose OR 410-420$ without the GPU for now so bascially 300$ left for a really good gpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190 add more ram when you want very cheap 27$ this is optional
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 Cpu fan optional 35$
632$ with fan and more ram which you can buy later if you really need them

so you are left with 78-140$ to spare or upgrade to a AMD 7850-7870 later this month till then you could wait with the intel hd graphics .

do not recomend 550ti AMD 6790 which is mentioned in here same like performance like the 5770 or the 7770 i mentioned, you should really go for the 7850 at least .
Good luck

 

[xr4v3nx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 130$ MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 220$ CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044 60$ PSU
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051 70$ PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102967 150$ GPU
560$ Total or 570$ depends which PSU you chose OR 410-420$ without the GPU for now so bascially 300$ left for a really good gpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190 add more ram when you want very cheap 27$ this is optional
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 Cpu fan optional 35$
632$ with fan and more ram which you can buy later if you really need them

so you are left with 78-140$ to spare or upgrade to a AMD 7850-7870 later this month till then you could wait with the intel hd graphics .

do not recomend 550ti AMD 6790 which is mentioned in here same like performance like the 5770 or the 7770 i mentioned, you should really go for the 7850 at least .
Good luck

Do you currently own the the 750W right now? I'm kind of worried because of some of the bad reviews on it. As for your suggestions on the MB and CPU, thank you, but I'll stick to my current MB and go for an AMD CPU for now xD

EDIT: Typo, PSU to CPU

Your board supports core unlocking.
I Just upgraded from a X2 250 Rana core to a 960T with a 212 EVO heatsink.
Unlocked to 6 cores and overcloced to 3,6ghz at 1.42v.
Temperatures 50C running prime 95 torture test. 43% auto fan speed.
My 3dmark06 scores increased 5000 points with same GTX460 1gb video card.

Awesome! Thank you for the confirmation.

----------

Okay, here's what I am planning to buy based on all of your input.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051
COOLING: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
RAM: same as my old one, just going to add 2 more - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231274

What do you guys think? And hopefully, one last question:

As for the GPU, I found that 6770 or 6750 are compatible for CrossFire with my old 5770. Should I get another 5770 or 6770? Or a 7XXX series?

 

[wr6133]

Good choices that should keep you running a good while.

I cant comment alot on the GPU's as I'm an unshamed Nvidia fanboy but i would have thought your best option maybe the higher single card. That would avoid any of the irritations assosiated sometimes with crossfire/sli. Or maybe just use your single 5770 for the next few weeks and when Nvidia release the 600 series cards you may see price drops on current AMD & Nvidia cards so might be able to snag yourself a bargain.

 

[eklerus]

Your budget is 500-700$ but you only mention buying for 250$ without a GPU, 7870-7850 will be in stores on the 19 March
Do not CF any 5770 6790

 

[xr4v3nx]

Good choices that should keep you running a good while.

I cant comment alot on the GPU's as I'm an unshamed Nvidia fanboy but i would have thought your best option maybe the higher single card. That would avoid any of the irritations assosiated sometimes with crossfire/sli. Or maybe just use your single 5770 for the next few weeks and when Nvidia release the 600 series cards you may see price drops on current AMD & Nvidia cards so might be able to snag yourself a bargain.

Good points. I'll be using my current 5770 and wait for the newer ones or the priced-down GPUs.

Your budget is 500-700$ but you only mention buying for 250$ without a GPU, 7870-7850 will be in stores on the 19 March
Do not CF any 5770 6790

Yeah, I'll wait for now.

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Thank you so much to everyone who helped. I learned some new stuff from this. I really appreciate it

 

[xr4v3nx]

Best answer selected by xr4v3nx.