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Upgrade advice - what can this rig support and what would you buy?

Gringo2005
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Posted July 18, 2012 at 1:22PM

Hi all, hoping I can get some tech advice along with some opinions on upgrade options. I built this rig a couple of years ago and it's now struggling slightly with some software/games.

I am thinking about a last upgrade for it before it's retired/replaced but would appreciate your opinions. I don't want to spend a fortune and just looking at CPU/GPU upgrades, anything more I feel warrants a new board!

Spec; Case - NZXT Lexa Board - Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe WIFI 790FX AM2+ CPU - AMD Athlon 64 x2 5600+ (2.8GHZ) AM2 2mb L2 cache PSU - Enermax Galaxy 850w Crossfire ATX GPU - 2 x Sapphire X1950pro 256mb GDDR3 in Crossfire RAM - 4 x Crucial 2GB DDR2 800MHZ/PC2-6400 HDD - 1 x WD Raptor 74GB, 1 x WD 1TB OS - Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise I look forward to your advices and views!

Many thanks

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KRONOS the First

Likes # 1

Posted July 18, 2012 at 1:32PM

Would help if your mentioned what the main use of your PC is? What sort of games do you play for instance? What if any is your budget?

Plenty of upgrade choice for CPU Here.

As for GPU I would suggest 1 decent card as opposed to 2 not so good.

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Gringo2005

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Posted July 18, 2012 at 1:47PM

Hi Chronus Thanks for your swift reply

The PC these days is primarily used as a multimedia hub for music/photo's/videos and office/email/internet. I stopped using it for gaming a while ago as the GPU's weren't up to the job.

I have recently been given a copy of minecraft, which it struggles with on anything but the lowest settings, made me consider a final upgrade to proof this machine for a few more years.

I don't really want to spend much but assumed that the board would restrict my upgrade options to the older chips/cards so the question is whats the best options for processor and graphics that my board will support? I am thinking no more than £200 but cheaper the better...

thanks

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KRONOS the First

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Posted July 18, 2012 at 2:34PM

Get yourself a HD7750 for around £85 or a HD4850 for around £65. Have a look at the CPU link and look at the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ which can be had for around £117.

Not sure that this is much to gain by upgrading the CPU, here is a bench mark between yours and the 6400. bench.

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Gringo2005

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Posted July 18, 2012 at 2:57PM

Thanks for the links, makes it really easy to see the possibilities

is it worth going for a quad core like the Phenom 9500? how much of an improvement would it actually make to operations, like minecraft rendering for example? My current CPU usage goes through the roof...

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KRONOS the First

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Posted July 18, 2012 at 3:20PM

His a comparison benchbut using the 9550 as I think you might struggle to buy the 9500. Not playing Minecraft I could not tell you anything about it's rendering. I am more of a Dead Space Max Payne FPS type of gamer.

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Gringo2005

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Posted July 18, 2012 at 3:20PM

sorry, meant a 9950 or similiar not the 9500 which is slower than the one you recommended!

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