Next Upgrade?

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

Hi guys, I have a custom-built computer here and I’m wishing to upgrade it for more performance as I feel it lags a bit in games like F1 2010 and Fable 3. Specs are as follows:

Windows Vista Basic 32-bit SP2
AMD Phenom X3 8400 AM2+ @ 2.1ghz
Foxconn A74ML-K
ATI Radeon HD 5850 OC’d @ 775mhz
2gb DDR2 Ram @ 800mhz
Maxtor SATA-II 250gb HDD @ 7200rpm
400w Antec Power Supply

I am wondering what the best upgrade(s) would be to improve it, any help would be great! :smiley: (Tried OCing the processor but it is locked.)

#2

Get a new cpu

#3

Thanks for the reply, apparently my board is mainly AM2+ but is AM3 compatible and I have wondered whether I should get either an AM2+ or AM3 chip for it. :confused:

#4

The best possible upgrade you can put onto an AM2+ socket is the Phenom II X6, which is a pretty darn fast processor. However, I found out your motherboard only supports up to 95W processors, so the best possible processor I found on newegg you can stick in there is the AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz.

According to this: https://www.foxconnsupport.com/cpusupportlist.aspx?type=mb&model=A74ML-K&cputype=
If you can find the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 95W (NOT 125W VERSION) that would also be a good choice.

The 960T runs at a higher clock speed while the 1055T has six cores. I’d personally go with the 960T for gaming.

#5

I would personally ditch Vista for Win7 64-bit, up the RAM to at least 8gb. As for CPU you should, like TrantaLocked pointed out, get a x4…there will be a shitload of games in the future that will support 6-8cores but hey…you can always wait for better stuff to come along…and in the PC business shit happens so fast so you will be waiting forever.

However, there is an odd chance that your processor could get x4 by unlocking the 4th core. This is very risky and is not recommended, but hell, you feel lucky? Thing is that instead of wasting the defective x4’s AMD simply deactivates the 4th core and sell them as x3’s for less money…but it’s still a x4 :wink:

#6

if I was going to upgrade, and i had what you have, i would get a board with PCI-e 3 on it. It’s already out, so it’s only a matter of time before all the fast gpu’s will need pci-e 3 to really perform to their potential.

if you can wait until april, intel has the Z77 chipset coming out which will have everything new you could possibly want and that will last you longer than anything you can buy today. (this is assuming you will want to keep playing new games as time goes by)
if you can’t wait, then there is the X79 chipset, which has PCI-e 3.0, but it’s expensive, and it can only do usb 3.0 with an add-on controller.

if you don’t want to switch to intel, and you can’t wait until AMD’s new chipset comes out (trinity), then I agree with the other posts, buy that new phenom chip, and get yourself more RAM. However, I don’t think you need to spend $$ on a new copy of win 7, and I think that your setup will only really need 4 GB of RAM before the RAM is not your problem anymore.
Win 7 is nice, but as long as you are not running into compatibly issues, that’s $$$ you don’t have to spend.

Also, you may want to invest in a modest SSD. I’ve seen the 128GB samsung 830 for $170 on some etailers, and you can always put that in your next rig when it’s time for a bigger upgrade.

#7

I thought all vista users had a free license to upgrade to some basic edition of win7

#8

I agree Windows 7 is better than Vista, but it wouldn’t or shouldn’t be your #1 pick for upgrade. I dual boot both Win 7 32-bit and Vista 32-bit and do see a slight increase in gaming performance with Win 7, but every thing else is similar. Once Vista SP1 was released it became a stable OS, but people’s impression of it stayed negative for some reason. It works fine and will be supported by studios and software developers for a few more years at the very least.

2GB is a small amount of RAM these days and I suggest buying at least 4GB, but the CPU upgrade would help you more.

If you buy a a new motherboard definitely make sure it has PCIE3 like 7F20 says, but with the support for Phenom II you would still be ok with your current motherboard. If you don’t upgrade the processor I agree that the motherboard would be the next best upgrade. Go AM3+ or one of the countless new Intel motherboards.

#9

If you want to upgrade anything … first look at your power supply… 400W isn’t going to be able to handle a much better setup. (to compare i had a 500W power supply die on a system that draws less power than your current setup)

after that you can look for a CPU, GPU (maybe 5800 series is still not that bad) and RAM upgrade as well.

#10

Radeon HD 5870 is an amazing card. I haven’t had any problems playing anything, with a few exceptions, at max or near max settings. Metro 2033 is really the only game that gives me trouble and that’s the game’s fault. They don’t sell it on Newegg anymore but you can get a 6870 which is nearly identical for $150-$200.

#11

An upgrade to a 5870 or 6870 wouldn’t be worth the 15% difference over the 5850. I would say wait for the 7800 series at this point.

#12

There is no need for a gpu upgrade. The 7800 series will be as fast as the 6900series.

#13

Thanks guys!

I’ve decided that as I am on a budget I’ll get a new processor and maybe some more memory because even games like Portal and HL2 can’t fully manage ~60fps properly.

Any recommendations for a new power supply as well?

#14

Corsair, Antec, Seasonic and Cool Master come to mind when I think of the best and most reliable brands. A 500W or more PSU from any of those brands would be a good choice, however I don’t recommend the CX series from Corsair (my CX500 failed in 6 months).

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