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m/board and cpu upgrade?

  • 14-08-2014 4:28pm
    #1
    Einstein
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭


    Howdy!

    I currently have http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A88TMUSB3/ in my tower, and i would like to upgrade. My question being, is it worth just picking up a new processor and an extra 4gb RAM to give it some new life, or would I be better off getting a new m/board and cpu bundle?

    Not looking to break the bank, just cant afford it right now. but my pc needs a new lease of life.

    Its purely gonna be for some college work, light gaming etc....no insane overclocking or huge power required...

    Any advice appreciated

    :)


Comments

  • #2
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    What's the current CPU?


  • #3
    Einstein
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Einstein


    TerrorFirmer wrote: »
    What's the current CPU?

    AMD Athlon II x3 440 3Ghz


  • #4
    Monotype
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,710 ✭✭✭Monotype


    The motherboard supports Phenom X6s. But these aren't that easy to come by anymore.
    There's a few more Phenom II X4s around, but I don't think it's worth the upgrade looking at the prices of them online.

    If you want to keep things on the cheap, then how about:
    1) Overclocking. You should be able to get 3.7-3.8GHz without too much effort.
    2) Getting an SSD. Even a smallish one for the OS can boost productivity incredibly.
    3) Reinstall windows, which is advisable with an SSD anyway.

    You could carry an SSD over to a new system anyway if you want to upgrade in a year or two.

    You mention light gaming... have you got a graphics card in there?


  • #5
    Einstein
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Einstein


    literally just gave a fresh install of Win 7 x64 the other day.

    gfx card is amd radeon hd5670.

    I've never overclocked before tbh. I'm more than comfortable pulling pcs apart etc, but never looked at the overclocking route. SSD might be a good call too.


  • #6
    Monotype
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,710 ✭✭✭Monotype


    Also, some of those X3s have cores which are switched off. A lot of the time they're unstable/need more voltage/won't support higher speeds, but now and again you can get a free core. There's settings in the BIOS menu which allow you to try and unlock.

    Maybe a new midrange card so if you feel that you'd like more games. Something around the €100 like a 260X or 270X wouldn't be too mismatched with that system.

    Overclocking isn't too hard. A 20% speed improvement to 3.6 wouldn't be too bad either. Just set your RAM to a lower speed, raise the HTT a bit, voltage a tiny bit if you detect instabilities and run stability tests. 3.6 should be very possible with minimal voltage change.


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