2 year fix. Upgrade or rebuild?

[Aerillious]

I am looking to make an upgrade:

Processor: AMD 2 core 3.2. ghz (The model number escapes me)

Board; Asrock N68C-S UCC

Memory: 8GB DDR2

GPU: 550ti

I am not certain what power supply I'm running, so I'll have to crack the case and have a look.

I'd like to make an upgrade that will cover me for the next two years. I am a videographer, so I regularly push the adobe suite pretty hard, including After Effects and Premiere.

I am also looking to (for many reasons, but particularly cost effectiveness) consolidate my gaming into entirely PC.

I would like to know if jumping to an Phenom 1055t and maybe a GTX 660 would cover me in that time period, or am I just going to be spending money that won't do me very much good?

I am on a very limited budget, so I'd like to avoid a rebuild if I can help it, although I'm knowledgable enough to know that might simply be the reality.

Thanks

 

[kirilmatthew]

Your CPU for sure needs a change. It mostly depends on your PSU. The phenom will consume a lot of energy and so will a new GPU. its hard to say which one to do. It depends on how much money you want to spend.

 

[Aerillious]

I'd say I'd cap out at about $500.

For context, I'm hoping this build can get me through my last year at school at which point i'll be getting married and moving to a new city for work, so I imagine I won't have the budget to get a brand new build for about another year afterwards.

I understand that in some cases spending $500 might not do me much good vs putting together a large budget in favour of a rebuild, which is why I've asked for some second opinions.

 

[Aerillious]

I'd also like to add that, in my reading, some people have said getting anything below a 700 series is a waste of time. Is this true? Would a 700 series card run on a board as old as mine? I'm willing to upgrade the PSU and push to a 700 series if it avoids a total rebuild.

 

[kirilmatthew]

I'd say I'd cap out at about $500.

For context, I'm hoping this build can get me through my last year at school at which point i'll be getting married and moving to a new city for work, so I imagine I won't have the budget to get a brand new build for about another year afterwards.

I understand that in some cases spending $500 might not do me much good vs putting together a large budget in favour of a rebuild, which is why I've asked for some second opinions.

Save yourself some money then and upgrade only the CPU and GPU. I recommend phenom II x4 for around $90. As for GPU its up to you. I don't know if I'd spend $500 on an upgrade I'd use for a year but you could get a GTX 770 for around $400 or a GTX 760 for around $250

 

[Aerillious]

Thank you for the advice.

I'm putting up the $500 because I do not intend to hop on board with the next generation of consoles, and would like to game entirely on my PC going forward. However, if I can get away with spending less, I'm all for it.

My only concern with an x4 would be for video processing. Would I find the missing 2 cores noticeable? Or am I still far enough behind that it won't make much difference either way?

Finally, If I were to go with an x4 and a 660, would I be comfortable running games like Battlefield 4 until I rebuild in 2015? I am content with a graphics compromise so long as my FPS is near 60 at a higher resolution.

 

[kirilmatthew]

Thank you for the advice.

I'm putting up the $500 because I do not intend to hop on board with the next generation of consoles, and would like to game entirely on my PC going forward. However, if I can get away with spending less, I'm all for it.

My only concern with an x4 would be for video processing. Would I find the missing 2 cores noticeable? Or am I still far enough behind that it won't make much difference either way?

Finally, If I were to go with an x4 and a 660, would I be comfortable running games like Battlefield 4 until I rebuild in 2015? I am content with a graphics compromise so long as my FPS is near 60 at a higher resolution.

For gaming the x4 should beat the phenom, but in video processing the x6 will certainly win. I would consider buying a new motherboard and getting an FX-6300 or 8320/50. That will give you the best of both worlds. I think the x4 is a better option for gaming though. It is one of the best gaming CPUs AMD ever made and it still holds its ground today. It won't be bad for video processing, just not as good. It will also be cheaper.