A small upgrade - need some help!!

crybaby

Hello,

Well my PC will be two years old by the time October arrives. Solitaire basically gave me the entire build list on a plate which was especially decent of him as i needed to source stuff in Bangkok and still do. It has been a very sold and dependable machine for me, and it has given me no real hassle at all. I'm still playing all the latest games - Witcher 2 ran grand for the most part on low settings.

Now I'm looking at some of the games coming up that I want to play


FIFA 12
Skyrim
Arkham City
Battlefield 3
Mass Effect 3


I was considering ditching the PC for gaming and moving to the PS3 but after a bit of research it seems gaming is far from dying on the PC. So i was thinking to just give it a bit of a shot in the arm and see what I can do to improve it for these games that are coming up.

My current build is


Intel Pentium E6300 LGA775 2.8GHz
Asus P5QPL-AM LGA775
Kingston DDR-II 800 MHz 4 GB
512/ATI 4770 ASUS PCI-E DDR5 Core:750/Mem:3200 128Bit DVI
Cooler Master Elite 330
Cooler Master 460W PSU
WD SATA II 500 GB ( Buffers 16 MB )

I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on this little upgrade. Really just want to spend maybe 200-300 quid tops.

Any ideas on where I should be looking to upgrade?

Thanks for any help you can throw my way.

Jonny7

Is that the old e6300, what is the clock speed?

Here is a quick example with German prices

AMD x4 955 processor - 90 euros
4 gigs of ram - 35 euros
motherboard - 50 to 75 euros

with the change you could choose the graphics card
e.g. ATI 6850 - 130 euros

It would be a hell of a lot faster than your current machine

The AMD 955 is a bit long in the tooth now, but the price/performance is excellent, the next chip we'd all recommend is the i5 2500k from intel, which is incredible but outside your budget

However selling the e6300, motherboard, ram and 4770 on ebay could yield you over 100 euros

crybaby

Thanks for the reply Jonny. Your suggestions seem cool, what would you suggest in terms of a motherboard?

The E6300 has clock speed of 2.8 GHz.

The idea of selling the hardware on ebay is an interesting one I hadn't really considered that at all. Could I get about 100 quid or so plus shipping for them?

Anyone else have any ideas?

Jonny7

ebay is brilliant, because once you have an account, you can use 'completed listings' to see what the parts sell for

Then you have a good idea of what you'll get for them (as long as you advertise well and sale doesn't end at 3am in the morning etc)

well motherboard is up to you - you can squeeze one into your budget for 55 euros or get a usb3 one for around 70 to 80 euros

Moon54

I'd consider upgrading the graphics card first as that seems to be the main bottleneck atm.
The move from a 128-bit card to a 256-bit card for you would make a big difference to your gaming experience.
The 256-bit cards, like the 5850,6850, are usually a lot bigger and consume more power, usually 150 watts, so you'd have to consider that too.

Of course a new build would be ideal, but it may be worth getting the best graphics card you can now, for your current machine, and see how that goes.

crybaby

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=46207&agid=1004&apop=2

If I got this would my 460W power supply hold up OK do you think?

crybaby

Bumping this up because I really need the help if possible please!

Monotype

There's 6850s a lot cheaper than that one. You could even get a 6870 for €1 more. 460W would be enough if it's a good model - which coolermaster is it?

crybaby

Thanks for the reply Monotype

That's great if I can get the card cheaper than that.

Why is there such a difference in price between the models?

For instance looking at the Sapphire 6870 for 170 and then the Asus for 144.

And for the 6850 there is one there for 132 euro and then the one i linked to above in my previous post.

How are they different?


I opened up the case and had a peek inside and the Coolmaster PSU 460W appears to be this model

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3686

Thanks again.

Monotype

That's not a good PSU, I suggest you upgrade.

The brands make a little difference in warranty and cooling. Asus are big brand and are widespread so that's good if you're returning items. Sapphire have been in graphics cards for quite a while and are expanding so they'd be reliable too. If it's just a euro or two, I'd fork out for the bigger brands but price is a bigger influence with larger gaps.

crybaby

Thanks for the reply

From looking at the other build threads everyone seems to be going for those Super Flower Amazon PSUs.

If I got one of them at 550W would I be sorted out as I want to upgrade GFX card and RAM before November and then CPU/motherboard/case after the new year.


Or is there any other PSU brands you would recommend.

Monotype

Where are you ordering from? The SF amazons are not available from many places outside Germany/hardwareverdand.de. Their postage is €30 - which is good for large orders but not worth it for two items.

crybaby

I had a bad feeling that would be the case. I had a quick look today at one of the big hardware stores but couldn't see any SF Amazons there.

Think my choice would be for the following brands - this is the shop where I bought most of the parts for my current build

http://www.pansonicsthai.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=48:power-supply&Itemid=29&layout=default


Also just out of interest are there any nice cases you could recommend outside of the Fractal Design range because I can imagine that will be a hard one to find in Thailand.

Thanks

Monotype

That's a very poor selection. Most of those are terrible. In the cases where details on the models are scant, the whole company has a lineup are below par.

The best one see is the Silverstone ST60F. At ฿3200 = €74, it's relatively expensive. You don't really need a 600W PSU but with the limited options, it's hard to recommend any others.

Jonny7

crybaby wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Monotype

That's great if I can get the card cheaper than that.

Why is there such a difference in price between the models?

For instance looking at the Sapphire 6870 for 170 and then the Asus for 144.

And for the 6850 there is one there for 132 euro and then the one i linked to above in my previous post.

How are they different?


I opened up the case and had a peek inside and the Coolmaster PSU 460W appears to be this model

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=3686

Thanks again.

6870 on pixmania for 145 euro
Check a review of the card before you buy
Some cards will run hotter or louder than others, some will be overclocked, but unless its a lemon should be fine

I think that coolermaster will have no probs running the 6870 with a dual core proc (460 watt model)

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/27.html

But you do need to check connectors (6870 needs two 6pin connectors)

Remember though, putting in a powerful graphics card means that some games will be bottlenecked a bit by the dual core proc (not many now, but more in the future)

Some games requires a higher balance of CPU power, but most function well on a fastish dualcore with a strong graphics card

crybaby

Thanks again for all of your help Monotype and Jonny7.

Are there any other PSUs you could recommend Monotype outside of the crap you saw on the website that are generally widely available? There doesn't seem much point in shelling out that much money for a PSU if the thing isn't a great product.

Thanks for the advice Jonny. I will check out the connectors this evening and see what I have there. I saw an Asus 6870 in the shop the other day for an obscene price(8,300 baht - 195 euro odd) so I think I might have to order it online but will do some proper shopping this weekend and see what prices I come across in Bangkok.

Does anyone know anywhere that ships worldwide for a reasonable cost?

weisses

crybaby wrote: »

Thanks for the reply

From looking at the other build threads everyone seems to be going for those Super Flower Amazon PSUs.

If I got one of them at 550W would I be sorted out as I want to upgrade GFX card and RAM before November and then CPU/motherboard/case after the new year.


Or is there any other PSU brands you would recommend.

In order to use a proper graphics card you need to upgrade your psu anyway because you have only 1 pci - e connector

second problem i see is when you upgrade your ram now and your motherboard in November your ram would be useless because a modern Motherboards require ddr3 mem

To run the new games properly you really need to upgrade the whole thing and .... imo its better to do it in one go

Monotype

crybaby wrote: »

Are there any other PSUs you could recommend Monotype outside of the crap you saw on the website that are generally widely available? There doesn't seem much point in shelling out that much money for a PSU if the thing isn't a great product.

The silverstone one is decent - now it's not excellent but it should be reliable and I'd probably use it myself. It's quite efficient (bronze 80+), it's modular and it would be capable of supporting two lighter cards in crossfire/sli (e.g., two 6850s). It's just a bit disappointing that there's no real competition or alternatives to recommend from the list.

It's hard to recommend a brand alone as most of the companies have good and bad ones- e.g., Coolermaster's high end ones are nice. One of the more reliable brands that are getting around quite a bit are corsair - their PSUs are nearly all good except their CX series. Antec are pretty strong worldwide. They've had some bad PSUs but most of their lineup are a minimum of mediocre. If you see more silverstone ones, most of them are good. A few just OK ones. Seasonic and enermax are others which come to mind.
You really need to check up on each one before you buy.

Jonny7 wrote: »

I think that coolermaster will have no probs running the 6870 with a dual core proc (460 watt model)

The extreme series are crap though and won't even make it to their advertised wattage.

Some reviews of the various PSUs of the extreme series.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/02/16/entry_level_power_supply_roundup/4
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-400-W-Power-Supply-Review/957/9
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-460-W-RS-460-PMSR-A3-Power-Supply-Review/550/7

crybaby

Cheers

Right so I'll upgrade PSU first I will have a look for the brands you mentioned this weekend and see what I can come up. I might annoy you with a list of five specific PSUs next week and see what you think is the best

I'll get the graphics card in the next couple of months.

And then motherboard, CPU and RAM in the New Year.

Thanks for your comments as well Weisses. I might just upgrade it all together at Christmas time I'll see how the money is first though.

Monotype

I should also mention that there are rebranded super flower PSUs under NZXT and Kingwin - not to say all superflowers are good, but you need to keep your eyes open.

crybaby

OK had a wee browse around the shops today, only got to spend an hour or so but think I managed to see most of what they have in terms of PSUs. I saw Raidmax and other ones there but didn't bother looking at the prices much as was in a hurry.

Corsair

TX 650W - 2,990

HX 650 - 3,500

They had the more expensive Corsair ones there as well

Coolermaster

GX550 Plus - 2,450

Random Brands

XFX 650W - 2,690

Super Flower Atlas - 550W - 2,850

Enermax

Pro 87 600W - 6,300 baht

Liberty 2 620W - 5,300

Tomahawk Silent 500W - 3,200

NRXN - I think 500W - 2,100

Seasonic

Seasonic S12 II 520W - 2,550


I also saw the Silverstone one there that you mentioned for 3,600 baht. Din't see any cheaper ones.

What do you think? (please dont't say they are all ****e )

Monotype

TX 650W - non modular, pretty good. Comes in two version with different OEM builders. Both are good.
HX 650W - modular, good

Coolermaster GX - not great, avoid this

XFX 650W. These are usually quite good value. They're rebranded Seasonic PSUs. There's been some complaints on how the handle their warranties, so check that out first. If that looks OK, it could be the one to go for.

Super Flower Atlas - okish, maybe but not as good as their other lines

Pro 87 - This is a top quality PSU and the price reflects it
Liberty Eco 2 - Good PSU, bit over priced relative to the others though.
Tomahawk - decent budget PSU
NAXN AKA Tomahawk 2 looks OK, there's about 3 different lines of them though although the 600W gets a good review.

Seasonic - Good PSU, perhaps the one to go for.

I think the seasonic one if you're planning just a few upgrades - You'd also be able to take it to a new system - and the XFX if you need a bit more room. Go for the top enermax if you want a luxury PSU.

crybaby

Brilliant.

Well considering there's only a 100 baht in the difference that I can probably haggle down anyway since I have to buy an XBOX 360 controller for Windows as well I think I will go with the XFX.

So the XFX 650W and a 6870 it is so. With new motherboard, CPU and RAM for Christmas.

Thanks again for all of your help Monotype. I will bring this thread back to life later in the year.