What should I upgrade next?

[nebrethar]

Good day everyone,

I've got some christmas money coming in and I'd like to upgrade my system. And I accept the fact that my system isn't near the best in the world

But I'd like to ask what I should go for as my next upgrade, and I'm looking for suggestions for upgrades in specifics if you can give them.

So let's get this rolling. My specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon II Dual-Core processor
Xfx radeon hd4850 1gb ddr3 graphics card
6 gigs DDR2 ram
Sound Blaster Audigy SE sound card
Cooler master extreme 600w PSU
Some fan that I can't get a name on (but it is powerful as allgetout)
And I couldn't find a motherboard model for the life of me, but it is identical to this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/EMACHINES-ET1331G-05W-MOTHERBOARD-MB-NB307-001-MBNB307001-/150885166351

And this is all in an Emachines case, not a very nice one and has no side panel, but has worked fine for my Frankenstein computer

I will have about $200 to $300 to work with and I do not mind buying used/refurb.

So what should my move be this holiday? I'm thinking either case, mobo & ram, or processor, or some sort of combination.

And what should I buy for my next move? Any specific suggestions?

Oh, and I'm just looking to game and record live music like I have been with my computer.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks very much,

Neb

 

[nebrethar]

Almost forgot to mention, my hdd is a 750g Seagate sata drive. It's about mid read speed

 

[rabidraccoon]

What are you looking to do? For gaming I'd upgrade the graphics card. Going from 6 GB to 8 GB is a very cheap upgrade you could also throw in there. You could add a 7850 or GTX 660 plus RAM for around $220 with some money left over to go towards a cpu later.

 

[nebrethar]

What are you looking to do? For gaming I'd upgrade the graphics card. Going from 6 GB to 8 GB is a very cheap upgrade you could also throw in there. You could add a 7850 or GTX 660 plus RAM for around $220 with some money left over to go towards a cpu later.

Well, I can play most games on mid without lag, but mostly what lags me down when I change the settings is particle settings or anti-aliasing. In that case is it still best to go towards a graphics card to game better? Sometimes I feel like it is the CPU slowing me down.

Also, general question, how upgradable is a regular am3 slot? Is it possible to put an am3+ in the same slot an am3 standard was in?

 

[rabidraccoon]

The CPU could be slowing you down depending on which game you're playing. For CPU heavy games like turn-based strategy, the CPU upgrade would help. In most other cases the graphics upgrade would help most especially with anti-aliasing.

I really don't know alot about AMD chips but from wikipedia:

"Some manufacturers have brought AM3+ support to some of their AM3 motherboards via a simple BIOS upgrade.[11] Mechanical compatibility has been confirmed and it's possible for AM3+ CPUs to fit in AM3 boards, provided they can supply enough peak current. Another issue is the use of the sideband temperature sensor interface for reading the temperature from the CPU. Therefore, some CPU PWM fan pins may only run at full speed. Also, certain power-saving features may not work, due to lack of support for rapid VCore switching.[12] Note that use of AM3+ CPUs in AM3 boards is not officially supported by AMD."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM3#Compatibility

 

[omnimodis78]

I would go for a CPU upgrade as it seems to be the weak-link in your system. A video card upgrade will be an ineffective investment if you keep the CPU you currently have. I will also go outside of the conventional suggestions and say that if you want a real-world improvement in performance, something you would notice right off the bat, the best choice would be an SSD!

I don't think you should bother with adding more RAM (6 gigs is not only enough but will leave you with plenty of headroom). Everything else looks good (good PSU, etc.).

 

[nebrethar]

Ok, so, i've been looking at the Amd FX 6100 for my budget, and getting a card to go with it. The Processor is being sold in my area for about $100, so what card from 100 to 200 should i be looking for?

Best case and worst case? Also, is it a good processor for what I have?