My computer right now is getting to be old and I'm thinking about upgrading it, but I don't know if this setup is a good idea or not.
I live in the USA.
I intend on making this upgrade within a 2-3 weeks
I want to keep my budget around the current price of $450, willing to go maybe $50 dollars higher.
I'll be using this for gaming.
My mouse, keyboard, and monitor I'll be keeping.
My current monitor is 1280x1024.
Parts that I intend to buy are:
MotherBoard: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637[/url]
Eight-Core Processor 3.6GHz : [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103960[/url]
8GB DDR3 ram: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220558[/url]
Video Card: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561[/url]
And the parts that I currently have and intend to keep
6500w Power supply
7200 RPM harddrive
I'm not sure on what other specifics are needed to know so feel free to ask.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Ambox_warning_orange.svg/20px-Ambox_warning_orange.svg.png[/img] AMD's Bulldozer is a car crash in slow motion. Intel's offerings are better in terms of overall performance.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Ambox_%3F.svg/20px-Ambox_%3F.svg.png[/img] What's the brand of the PSU? If it's some generic shit, it's practically an IED waiting to go off, and it should be replaced too if this is the case.
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUKS]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUKS/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUKS/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]
[b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i33220]Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor[/url] ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77pro3]ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($94.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl]G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($24.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-hd687azhfc]XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card[/url] ($119.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Total:[/b] $354.96
[i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i]
[i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 22:38 EST-0500)[/i]
If the PSU is just a generic one, here's a replacement Corsair 650W PSU: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=[/url]
If you include that:
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUMi]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUMi/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUMi/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]
[b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i33220]Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor[/url] ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77pro3]ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($94.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl]G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($24.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-hd687azhfc]XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card[/url] ($119.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cmpsu650txv2]Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply[/url] ($49.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Total:[/b] $404.95
[i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i]
[i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 22:40 EST-0500)[/i]
You have a bit of breathing room for a better video card even if you include a replacement PSU. Assuming we're working with only $50 breathing room, you could get a Radeon 7850: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150617&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=[/url]
The Radeon 6870 gets destroyed in practically everything against the 7850: [url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/540?vs=549[/url]
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However, we could make things even better if we find out your existing PSU is a decent brand. Under the best case scenario of such things happening, you could go either of two ways:
1. Bump the CPU to an i5-3570K, and add a cooler for the possibility of overclocking it:
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUZj]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUZj/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oUZj/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]
[b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i53570k]Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
[b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2]Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler[/url] ($24.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77pro3]ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($94.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl]G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($24.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx777azdb4]XFX Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card[/url] ($117.55 @ Newegg)
[b]Total:[/b] $432.51
[i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i]
[i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 22:53 EST-0500)[/i]
+ You'd be brought up to spec in terms of the CPU
+ CPU becomes easily overclockable with the cooler
- You would need to scale back to a Radeon 7770
- Here, PCPartPicker says you'd still be within your budget, but when examining this option on the site, it says you'd be over budget by $12 without increasing your budget to the absolute maximum of $500
2. Bump the video card to a Radeon 7870:
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oV3R]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oV3R/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oV3R/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]
[b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80637i33220]Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor[/url] ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77pro3]ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($94.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbrl]G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($24.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-fx787acnfc]XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card[/url] ($209.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Total:[/b] $444.96
[i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i]
[i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 22:59 EST-0500)[/i]
+ 7870 is either neck and neck or slightly beats out the 7850: [url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=548[/url]
+ Within your soft maximum budget of $450
- CPU isn't as easily overclockable
+ Still leaves you with a future upgrade path
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Again, you'll need to find out the existing PSU's brand before considering either of the two best case scenario options.
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