Balanced system?

[willster206]

Hi,

could anyone tell me if my system is balanced and if not what upgrades i need.

thanks

Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard
ModXstream Pro 500W PSU
4GB Exceleram Black
AMD Athlon II X2 270 Processor - 3.4 GHz
MSI Radeon HD 6670 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card

 

[o1die]

You need to list what you use your system for, favorite games, and a firm budget for good advice.

 

[gatekeeper_si]

Hi,

could anyone tell me if my system is balanced and if not what upgrades i need.

thanks

Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 Motherboard
ModXstream Pro 500W PSU
4GB Exceleram Black
AMD Athlon II X2 270 Processor - 3.4 GHz
MSI Radeon HD 6670 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card

A 500w psu may not be enough for any kind of cames si i would recomend at least a 650 w or 750 w
i would say have 8Gb of ram especially if you are using windows 7

o1die is right tho what are you intending to use the system for .. it makes quite a difference
Si

 

[willster206]

i would mostly use it for light gaming and surfing however i might get more into gaming over time.
erm favourite games are fairly old and low spec but maybe team fortress 2, civilisation 4+ , age of empires are the highest spec games.
budget wise, i would like to keep the price as low as possible but i would pay a fair bit if it was really worth it. under 100 for processor and around 50 for anything else.

 

[gatekeeper_si]

i would mostly use it for light gaming and surfing however i might get more into gaming over time.
erm favourite games are fairly old and low spec but maybe team fortress 2, civilisation 4+ , age of empires are the highest spec games.
budget wise, i would like to keep the price as low as possible but i would pay a fair bit if it was really worth it. under 100 for processor and around 50 for anything else.

Personally i would get a motherboard bundle from some where like novatech
the I5 3330 bundel with 8gb of ram is £229.99 at the moment ... its a lot of bundel for your money and you can play the newest games on it
The I5 2500k processor is a beast and great for over clocking it is 3.3 as standard and i have my one over clocked to 5.1 with water cooling and 4.3 with a air cooled huper 212...

if you go for a lower speck you will have to upgrade sooner and for the money its good value
Si

 

[tiny voices]

Ok, sorry Gatekeeper, I don't want to sound rude but you don't really know what you are talking about. A good quality 450w PSU will be enough to run any mid-range graphics card. Also, 4gb is plenty of RAM for a budget gaming system. Most games don't utilize all 4gb anyway.

This is something you want to look at:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nHWM

$411 and it will play modern games at medium settings/ some maybe high settings.

 

[gatekeeper_si]

Ok, sorry Gatekeeper, I don't want to sound rude but you don't really know what you are talking about. A good quality 450w PSU will be enough to run any mid-range graphics card. Also, 4gb is plenty of RAM for a budget gaming system. Most games don't utilize all 4gb anyway.

This is something you want to look at:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nHWM

$411 and it will play modern games at medium settings/ some maybe high settings.

I personally have had a HD5850 graphics card with a 450 w corsair silent power supply shut down the system because ther was not enough power to run it when playing games .. i suggested a 650w or 750 w psu to eliminate that issue and as the price diference isnt that much it give you scope for upgrade in the future rather than haveing to replace the psu which would be a waste of money

 

[tiny voices]

I have run a 7850 on my 450w antec PSU just fine. Its all about the amps on the +12v rail.

 

[gatekeeper_si]

I have run a 7850 on my 450w antec PSU just fine. Its all about the amps on the +12v rail.

A 450w will run a 7850 but under high load in gameing they some times shut down the system ... is it worth the risk for a few extra dollers ??

As for the 4 or 8 gb of ram 4 is ok but for how long ????

And i dont mean to be rude but i do know what i am talking about because i happen to be an IT systems engineer for one of the top 5 largest IT company in the world and i was messing about with computers befor you were born..

 

[tiny voices]

No need to get flustered, man. Didn't mean to pick a fight. Yes, 4gb of RAM is plenty and will be for a while. I have never had a problem with running a 7850 on a 450w. Its all about the +12v like I said before. 36amps on a split 12v rail is plenty for most cards. If you buy a different power supply, make sure to get one from one of the following brands to reduce possibility of failure: Antec, XFX, Corsair, Seasonic.

 

[ikaz]

Well I work I work IT as well for a multi billion company as well and have over 15+ years in the indursty my self and I agree with "tiny".

Looking at his PC its basically a budget type system, 4 Gigs is fine while 8 is better it probably not worth the money (even though it is cheap) because he probably won't see much a boost on his current system.

Also there is really no point to upgrading his current PC with his budget limit of 100 for CPU and 50 for other parts. So at this point I would save up until you have more money then you can take the suggestions for Gate and tiny into consideration.

 

[Onus]

The OP's original question concerned balance.
Yes, I believe your system is balanced. It is, however, as you may have realized, somewhat modest, and will not play a lot of games on high (or better) settings.
Tiny Voices is correct though; rather gatekeeper is wrong, about PSUs. A quality 450W PSU will run a HD7850 24/7 for years. A 380W Antec Earthwatts could do it. Your 500W ModXStream Pro is a decent unit, although it may have been built with questionable capacitors that will degrade more quickly than some others, especially on high loads and/or high temperatures. Assuming your case has decent airflow, running a HD7850 on it will not be a particularly high load for it.
For the best advice, we'll need to know the resolution of your monitor, the [types of] games you want to play, and your budget; I will offer the following general advice:
1. The first place to improve is the graphics card. The previously mentioned HD7850 (~$170) will allow you to play most games at 1920x1080 on "good" settings; mostly high, perhaps minus some eye candy. For around $120, a HD7770 would also be a good choice, with a mix of medium and high settings. For around $100, a HD7750 should be able to play with mostly medium settings.
2. After a graphics card upgrade, you will notice that some games (MMO in particular) will still be laggy (although they'll look a lot better). That's because your CPU will be severely taxed by such games. For $100, I believe a Phenom II 955BE will likely be a better choice for games than a $130 FX-4300. For $180, a FX-8320 would probably be a little stronger, but only you can know if it would be worth the additional $80. You'd probably also want a $30 cooler; I have and recommend the Xigmatek Gaia, which works as well and is quieter than similar offerings from Crappermaster.
3. If you have a 64bit OS, and particularly if your RAM is a single 4GB stick, getting a 2x4GB kit of DDR3-1600 might also offer a little improvement since it will be operating in dual-channel mode. This shouldn't cost any more than $40, possibly less.

 

[Onus]

Re-reading the thread, I noticed a $100 (+$50) budget was mentioned. For this amount of money, get a HD7770. Save the rest for more substantial upgrades later.