Upgrade needed?

CutzEr

May be doing an upgrade on my own main machine.. Just kinda wondering would it be worth it for the money?

I use the computer.. let's say alot, mostly gaming however I do use Photoshop and Vegas frequently enough..

Current specs:

CPU: AMD Phenom X3 8550 (AM2+ socket.. But from what I can see, AM3 socket CPU's will work aswell) [65nm]

RAM: 3x 1GB DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz)

Was looking at the Phenom II X4 920 as an AM2+ and the Phenom II X4 945 as an AM3+..

Then perhaps 8GB of RAM and 64bit windows 7.. I mean the difference in the price of RAM is not great, so it makes sense to go 8GB and overkill instead of 4 or 6GB.. 8GB is the max the motherboard supports.

tl;dr.. Worth the upgrade, and if so what new parts.

EDIT:

Also, the graphics card is an nVidia GeForce 9500GS.. Yeahhh, I know I'm pretty sure an upgrade is needed there.

requiem1

well if you're a gamer then you know your money is best spent on a new card.

I wouldn't be jumping to upgrade if i was you but you will see some benefits in photoshop with the additional memory, but not the same increase in performance in gaming with all that extra RAM.

Upgrading can become an addiction and tbh your system doesn't seem that old. Maybe start with some more ram and a new gpu and see how it goes. If you really feel you need that extra performance overclock that puppy:D

Solitaire

What's the maximum resolution of your monitor and what's your current PSU like? If you have enough grunt there then upgrade the graphics and just tweak the CPU and RAM speeds to give yourself a bit more oomph. After that you should be fine for a while - tri-core CPUs are only just coming into their own and should remain serviceable for a while as many newer games will be able to offload some of the number-crunching to the third core

CutzEr

Tbh, the computer was unfortunatly bought and not built, which means alot of the stuff in it is ****e, which is why I want to upgrade it..

The PSU appears to be a stock one and at a measly 300w so uhh

I only have one monitor currently, and it's at 1680x1050 (22").

TerrorFirmer

With that combo, it could only be a machine from PC World...:p

New PSU and a card decent enough to outstrip the 9500GS by a huge margain wouldn't break the bank.

Corsair 400w

4830 512MB

If you're really on a budget this'll also do and be a major improvement.

AXP 500w

HD4670 512MB

Solitaire

Not all 300W PSUs are poo. What about OEM HiPro/Seasonic/Enermax/Deltas? Those could run a HD4830 and a 95W CPU with room to spare!

Of course, this means CutzEr will have to go carpet-diving and open up the machine to see what the label on the PSU has to say about matters

CutzEr

The case opens easily enough, I'll have a look at it tomorrow.. However I doubt it will be any good :P

CutzEr

Aye it is a bit awkward to get into, besides I do have quite a few bob spare so getting a new PSU is no issue.

So really, we are talking in the region of €300 I have to spend, maybe more, so go nuts..

Effluo

We kinda need to know what resolution your gaming at and maybe if it's only specific games what games you actually play

CutzEr

Sorry I thought I said that already... hmm..

I'm playing at 1680x1050 (22").

The game I play most is Team Fortress 2, and other valve games in general. May have a go at running arma 2, however it is unlikely my 3 core cpu will be any good at it..

Effluo

CutzEr wrote: »

Sorry I thought I said that already... hmm..

I'm playing at 1680x1050 (22").

The game I play most is Team Fortress 2, and other valve games in general. May have a go at running arma 2, however it is unlikely my 3 core cpu will be any good at it..

Oops, ends up you did already say it...
soz

Anywho, TF2 isn't gonna be much of a challenge to any graphics card we point you in the direction of.

The 4870 is fine for that res, but you may be tempted to go for the 4890! Both would run ARMA II nicely but as you said the tri-core would suffer, not in a mad way but it would.

I'm not uber confident however that the psu you have right now would have the necessary connectors to run either of those cards.
for both the 4890 and psu it'd prob come to 220-230 delivered

CutzEr

Effluo wrote: »

Oops, ends up you did already say it...
soz

Anywho, TF2 isn't gonna be much of a challenge to any graphics card we point you in the direction of.

The 4870 is fine for that res, but you may be tempted to go for the 4890! Both would run ARMA II nicely but as you said the tri-core would suffer, not in a mad way but it would.

I'm not uber confident however that the psu you have right now would have the necessary connectors to run either of those cards.
for both the 4890 and psu it'd prob come to 220-230 delivered

I thought a 4870 or a 4890 would do me, just wanted a second opinion

Thanks all.