Time to upgrade!!

[Nuit Rouge]

Hello world!

I have a few questions. It's been a while since I built my PC and a lot has changed.

I am running an Intel Core i5 3300 and an ATI HD 7950 (I know, ATI?!?!) with plans to upgrade.
The cost of upgrading my CPU will unfortunately have to include the mobo, so that's a further project. The Ryzen 5 looks appealing atm...

My main question for today is about my GPU. As mentioned, I have an ATI HD 7950 that's almost ready to be decommissioned in favour of newer, faster and energy efficient GPUs, but I just don't know where to start.

The newer budget cards run faster on lesser power, but doesn't have the beef. I have a mini-ITX case that I have no plans to change, and I'm in the market for mid-tier cards within the $200-300 CAD.

All thoughts are appreciated.

PS: do DDR3 memories work with AM4 boards?

Thank you for all your answers!! I look forward to many insights.

 

[gussrtk]

first off, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with having an ATI-GPU. Yes, they create more heat, yes, they have their issues, but overall they are great for the price you pay, especially now, for DX12.



If you will stay with i5-3300, then I'd suggest to take the RX580

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 580 8GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($316.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $316.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-30 23:25 EDT-0400

you could get an RX570-4gb (nice one) for around 280-300 or take that e8gb one above but it's a bit more of a budget GPU. Or you could also look into RX570-8gb for a bit less (the RX570 may actually be a lot better fit for your budget though, have a look. But I think the RX570/580 should be your choice). it would really depend more on the game titles you wish to play, some require more than 4gb vram. (personally, I think you would be good to go with a
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 580 4GB PULSE Video Card ($278.95 @ Vuugo)
Total: $278.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-30 23:28 EDT-0400

but I wanted to just give you best overall option first.

If you are serious about upgrading your CPU and so on, really take the Intel CPU, that's my first bit of advice. Yes the Ryzen can offer more cores and so on, but the Intel line offers stronger single core processors which will be much better for gaming. Second, using DDR3 with newer systems would only be possible with something like DDR3L memories, which are not the same as DDR3, if you were trying to plan to reuse your DDR3

 

[maxalge]

Hello world!

I have a few questions. It's been a while since I built my PC and a lot has changed.

I am running an Intel Core i5 3300 and an ATI HD 7950 (I know, ATI?!?!) with plans to upgrade.
The cost of upgrading my CPU will unfortunately have to include the mobo, so that's a further project. The Ryzen 5 looks appealing atm...

My main question for today is about my GPU. As mentioned, I have an ATI HD 7950 that's almost ready to be decommissioned in favour of newer, faster and energy efficient GPUs, but I just don't know where to start.

The newer budget cards run faster on lesser power, but doesn't have the beef. I have a mini-ITX case that I have no plans to change, and I'm in the market for mid-tier cards within the $200-300 CAD.

All thoughts are appreciated.

PS: do DDR3 memories work with AM4 boards?

Thank you for all your answers!! I look forward to many insights.

you dont need to upgrade the mobo if you want to upgrade the cpu only

ddr3 does not work with am4

ryzen 5 would be a sidegrade, downgrade compared to a i7 for gaming

you are better off saving the money towards a better gpu + cpu only


post back with mobo make and model, so we can see which is the best cpu upgrade



you need to be looking at the rx 580 or gtx 1060 6gb



also post back with make and model of your psu

 

[Geekwad]

I think the RX 480/580 would be great in the price range.

An r5 is certainly worth considering when looking at the Intel price counterparts too. No problems driving more GPU with it either:

The longevity of 2c/4t or 4c/4t would likely turn out like the Sandy Bridge i5 vs i7 test of time......especially if you plan on keeping for 6yrs+ as-is.

No DDR3 for AM4 boards though.

 

[Nuit Rouge]

first off, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with having an ATI-GPU. Yes, they create more heat, yes, they have their issues, but overall they are great for the price you pay, especially now, for DX12.

If you will stay with i5-3300, then I'd suggest to take the RX580

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 580 8GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($316.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $316.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-30 23:25 EDT-0400

you could get an RX570-4gb (nice one) for around 280-300 or take that e8gb one above but it's a bit more of a budget GPU. Or you could also look into RX570-8gb for a bit less (the RX570 may actually be a lot better fit for your budget though, have a look. But I think the RX570/580 should be your choice). it would really depend more on the game titles you wish to play, some require more than 4gb vram. (personally, I think you would be good to go with a
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 580 4GB PULSE Video Card ($278.95 @ Vuugo)
Total: $278.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-30 23:28 EDT-0400

but I wanted to just give you best overall option first.

If you are serious about upgrading your CPU and so on, really take the Intel CPU, that's my first bit of advice. Yes the Ryzen can offer more cores and so on, but the Intel line offers stronger single core processors which will be much better for gaming. Second, using DDR3 with newer systems would only be possible with something like DDR3L memories, which are not the same as DDR3, if you were trying to plan to reuse your DDR3

Oh no, nothing wrong with ATI, I meant it in a "remember that name?" perspective. I've been using them since Radeon 9800 Pro and X1800 (but I was with nVidia's TNT2 Riva before all that).

I am definitely planning to upgrade the CPU and mobo, but the GPU comes first.
The DDR3 schtick was more of a wishful thinking, but can't be running dated hardware on new platform right?
I'm running a dated Coolermaster 80Plus Bronze 700W PSU so I like to downsize the PSU whenever possible.

you dont need to upgrade the mobo if you want to upgrade the cpu only

ddr3 does not work with am4

ryzen 5 would be a sidegrade, downgrade compared to a i7 for gaming

you are better off saving the money towards a better gpu + cpu only

post back with mobo make and model, so we can see which is the best cpu upgrade

you need to be looking at the rx 580 or gtx 1060 6gb

also post back with make and model of your psu

The plan to upgrade CPU and mobo is there, I can't quite recall the mobo model now since I'm at work, but it supports 3rd gen Intel Core i-series at best with higher DDR3 speeds, I think I had my 16 GB RAM at 1600 MHz. I'm also upgrading mobo because I want more SATA 6Gb/s (only have two of those atm!!!).

I also want the future prospect of a soundcard... I miss those (used to have an ATX setup that had one). My mini-ITX supports one, but board layout is somewhat... meh.

Shame, but DDR4 isn't that ridiculous. I'll set it on my budgeting.

Can you go into more details on why the Ryzen5 and AM4 is more of a sidegrade than an upgrade? I know Intel is releasing their X models but they're way out of my range so value-wise it would seem Ryzen 5 is the way to go.

Core i7 sounds cool, but I'm vanilla with Core i5, and price point... is depressing sometimes. And if you live in Canada, all those cheap prices just get plumped up like a turkey on Thanksgiving.

I'm running a dated 700W Coolermaster PSU rated 80Plus Bronze. I don't want to touch this part until it poops out, but the long term plan is to downsize energy consumption, at least to 500-550W.

---

Generally, it looks like the RX 580 or the GTX 1060 is the card to go so that's good news, but some Canadian vendors fatten the cost so much it is slap-worthy.

GPU is changeable, but I really want to futureproof within reason for my CPU and mobo, that's why I'm not in an extreme hurry to upgrade, but with the advent all the new games, my PC is reaching the end of it's previous futureproofing. I mean, five years with the HD 7950 was not bad for futureproofing for it's time right?

CPU I really want to spend some time and wait for Intel's move as well, because for this cycle, I want to get a little more than being screwed out of an extinct socket.

Appreciate the feedback so far, keep 'em coming!! Informed buyer in the making!

 

[Nuit Rouge]

I think the RX 480/580 would be great in the price range.

An r5 is certainly worth considering when looking at the Intel price counterparts too. No problems driving more GPU with it either.

The longevity of 2c/4t or 4c/4t would likely turn out like the Sandy Bridge i5 vs i7 test of time......especially if you plan on keeping for 6yrs+ as-is.

No DDR3 for AM4 boards though.

Yeh, the DDR3 thing was more of wishful thinking, but no prob on that. Any particular speed I should take note to? I bought the second slowest speed for my last set of RAM (1600 MHz).

I'm trying to limit my Intel bottom line with 5th gen (I think Broadwell?). AMD-wise, I'm just avoiding anything not Ryzen... 'cause I hear a lot of up and down with them.

My futureproofing is another 5 years from date of upgrade... saying this however, does not factor in the release date of said hardware. I think asking for any more than that is asking too much when Moore's Law is kicking in. Who knows! We may have the first generations of commercially available quantum computers available by then!!

 

[gussrtk]

you could use the PSU for a new build. And, no, power supplies do not output their maximum rating at all times, so it actually doesn't run at peak wattage, just at what you need.

You could look at an i5-7500, it should hold up well into 2020 prolly a bit longer than that, before you start feeling the need to upgrade, or wait for next gen of intel (depending on which games you are playing, and their demand, possible to wait maybe). The thing about the current gen of processors is that they do not have a huge gap in performance from one gen to next gen (like 10 years ago lets say). Today if you look, from gen to gen, they gain below 15% and that varies per exact CPU that you look at.

 

[Nuit Rouge]

You could look at an i5-7500, it should hold up well into 2020 prolly a bit longer than that, before you start feeling the need to upgrade, or wait for next gen of intel (depending on which games you are playing, and their demand, possible to wait maybe).

And for the GPU, if I were to get RX 580, would you recommend the 8GB model if I have plans to run dual-monitors?

I'm also gathering the bits for the i5-7500 build and running it with 16 GB DDR4-2400, board-wise, I'm looking at
Asus ROG STRIX Z270i GAMING because of it's mini-ITX and USB port count.


UPDATE: ixnay on the board, just realized that SATA ports are running scarce on the board.
Will continue looking!

 

[gussrtk]

as far as montiors go, you need to be more specific. Which monitors? Free sync monitors? Resolution? Refresh Rate?
for example.. if you want to run dual monitor with 144hz refresh, you should be looking for at least a gtx1070, and even then.. it still falls short.
but other things like free-sync you should look into.

CPU, if you do get a 7500, there is 0 need for a "Z" motherboard, unless you will be looking to get an i7-7700k in 3-5 years time (used). You should stick to a B250 board, or H270. If you are looking for USB ports, you could buy a cheaper mobo and add USB port hub. When you are building your own PC from scratch, there are many options and variations, since you have time and not in a hurry, you should look over things well, and figure out the monitor idea, and what your needs are really.

it could be worth... making up a number ($$$) of what you're willing to spend, and post in the systems thread, asking for someone to build you a PC (which you would use as a model/guide for your PC direction). You can list your budget, and that you need dual monitor setup running 144hz? High/Ultra and so on.