PC Update Help

primagen102 said:
Thermaltake Armor Case (old style from circa 2006) it will hold EATX, Atx etc. everything else I'm replacing.
MB Asus M5A99FX Pro R2.0
CPU Amd FX-4350
Ram Kingston Hyper X Fury 8 GB (2x4) 1600 MHz ddr3
PSU Corsair CX Series 600Watt
Video Card gigabyte Ge Force GT 610 2Gb DDR3
HD currently have 2 can't recall what they are 1.5 tb total
Don't really have a budget. Don't want to spend a fortune on it tho
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Alright, so this is about your current PC:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-4350 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($113.94 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.48 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GT 610 2GB Video Card ($41.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Armor Revo Gene ATX Mid Tower Case ($91.60 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($62.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $598.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 20:09 EST-0500

This is my recommended upgrade path since you won't be spending a ton upgrading your motherboard AND cpu:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($126.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.03 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($204.24 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $428.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 20:11 EST-0500

...making your final PC:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($126.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.03 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($114.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.48 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($204.24 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Armor Revo Gene ATX Mid Tower Case ($91.60 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $809.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 20:12 EST-0500

A newer 8-core AMD cpu, a CPU cooler for overclocking (or just to keep it cooler), a much better graphics card, and a beefier power supply better for overclocking and future upgrades (as a perk it's semi-modular). If you're not an overclocker, you could probably drop the PSU and CPU Cooler upgrade and put that toward switching to Intel or getting a better graphics card.
 
The hardware listed is the hardware I haven't purchased yet. My current hardware is so old I'm ashamed to post it lol. Opteron dual core 2.3 ghz socket 939 and an Msi neo2 digital or something board. The psu or motherboard has died and I don't feel like figuring out which one when I need to upgrade anyway. I plan on keeping my Thermaltake armor full tower.
 
primagen102 said:
My current hardware is so old I'm ashamed to post it lol.
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Don't worry, we're not gonna say "lol his computer is so old it can't even run crysis" no matter if it's true. To make you feel better, all I really need to know is your case's motherboard compatibility (unless it's the same or you're not planning on keeping it) and... that's it, really. Pretty sure it'd be good to upgrade your PSU, and if your hardware is so old then modern CPUs won't be compatible, and you'll want a new GPU anyway, and if your current build has 1.5TB then you can keep it but it might be good to migrate your data to a new HDD just in case, and that's every part, really.
 
Current motherboard compatibility is all of them I believe. I have large hands so the larger boards (ATX) are easier for me to mess with jumpers etc. the old psu I have is aspire 650w(think they went out of business). I'm not sure if it or the mb has gone out but as they are ancient I might as well update. Wouldn't 4 cores at 4.2 stock be better than 8 at 3.5? I may be wrong on that
 
primagen102 said:
Current motherboard compatibility is all of them I believe. I have large hands so the larger boards (ATX) are easier for me to mess with jumpers etc. the old psu I have is aspire 650w(think they went out of business). I'm not sure if it or the mb has gone out but as they are ancient I might as well update.
Click to expand...

Alright, since you already have storage and case taken care of (mostly), here would be a nice upgrade:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.99 @ Mwave)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB Video Card ($123.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CSM 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $458.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-07 20:50 EST-0500

CPU can handle gaming and most other tasks, motherboard is good for the price, ram works and is good, video card is good price : performance, power supply is enough wattage and then some for upgradeability and is semi-modular.
 
Kris19642 said:
Also, if you decide to go with the SSD, I'd be careful not to put TOO many things on it, as SSDs have a finite number of writes that they're capable of before they die.

Just your OS, and maybe a game or two that you won't be updating often, or at all.
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you will literally never hit the point on an SSD where you have to worry about that outside of server environments. The drive will be obsolete long before you start getting write fails. (decades).
 
I've been slightly hesitant about going away from amd (my comfort zone) due to good past experience and product knowledge. I don't think I need more than 4 cores from comments here and reviews I've read there isn't much point in anything over 4 for what I'll be doing(gaming, dvd/bluray writing, etc). Not even sure what crysis is I generally stick to minecraft, wow, Starcraft, etc. I love building! It seems that a lower ghz Intel is better than a high ghz Amd with the same core? I found am i5 that will hit 3.8 on turbo (intels name for overclocking? Or some on board feature like my last my had?) Im bad about partitioning part of a drive for a certain media(dvd images, music, etc) and then moving them around every 6 months or so but if the drive can survive that for 5 years I would consider it a sound investment. I tweaked the list a bit http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Q4KhGX Would the i5 chip be that much better then the Amd fx-4350?
 
blu35p4rr0w said:
I just don't understand why dagamer would suggest an 8 core AMD(who uses 8 cores ever?) when prima already picked a quad and then suggest a dual-core i3?
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Because I was under the assumption that primagen owned a 4350 and AM3+ board so I said an 8320 can be used as an upgrade, but then I learned that that was not the case. Also, i3s have hyperthreading so they can handle 2 threads per core making them semi-quad core processors.


primagen102 said:
It seems that a lower ghz Intel is better than a high ghz Amd with the same core?
Click to expand...
Yes, due to Intel CPUs having better performance per core than AMD CPUs.

primagen102 said:
I found am i5 that will hit 3.8 on turbo (intels name for overclocking? Or some on board feature like my last my had?)
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Turbo is just a power-saving feature that makes the CPU run at a higher clock speed while doing intensive things when temperatures permit it, then ramps down when not doing anything intensive.

primagen102 said:
I tweaked the list a bit http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Q4KhGX Would the i5 chip be that much better then the Amd fx-4350?
Click to expand...
I have a couple suggested changes to your list, if the budget allows for them:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($33.03 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($108.78 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($71.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Armor Series ATX Full Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($50.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $786.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-08 11:21 EST-0500

Newer Intel CPU, CPU cooler that works very well for the price for overclocking, a newer board that's decent at overclocking, a much better graphics card, and a cheaper, beefier, and higher-quality power supply.
 
I like that list. Is xfw pretty dependable/lasting? What thermal paste do you recommend? I see there are ceramic variants out now I'm used to attic silver
 
Sweet. I read some reviews and the board seems to have a lot of doa's. What about this one?MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
 
Yes actual partitions. I do enjoy skyrim but haven't played in ages because of pc shortcomings. I don't plan on upgrading after this for a minimum of 5 years. Gaming will be my main use of the system. With the connectivity of everything these days(apparently my tv has a processor too it crazy!) I probably won't be burning all that many discs compared to what I used to. So just some light and random encoding on occasion. So from a pure gaming performance standpoint is the extra cost of an i5 worth the $? I'll most likely just hdmi to my tv (46" 1080p 3d Samsung) and occasional use of my monitor. I'm rather partial to Amd as well my opteron has been running for just short of a decade with all sorts of abuse(I forgot to apply thermal paste for a month during one move). And kinda have the urge to support the "underdog" but not if its going to cause issues running games. The integrated graphics of some of the chips has peaked my interest. Not sure if it matters with a video card tho?
 
primagen102 said:
So from a pure gaming performance standpoint is the extra cost of an i5 worth the $?
Click to expand...
That depends. While you might get by with an i3, you say that you don't plan on upgrading after this for a minimum of 5 years. So for upgradability, I'd say stay with the i5. Unless more cores is the future of games, where AMD has their strength... but to be honest 4 cores is the sweet spot since most games currently don't use more than 1 or 2 cores.

The i5 is worth it in my opinion.
 
8 or 8.1? I've read that 8(or 8.1) had some cpu instruction requirements that not All cpu's have. i suppose the fact that 7 costs quite a bit more than 8 or 8.1 should tell me it's the better choice
 
Next question is will home premium work for everything I need? I had vista home premium and ultimate and other than dreams end there wasn't all that much everyday difference. And am I correct that 64bit is the new standard? Planning on getting oem versus retail unless something has changed with oem
 
Fun fact: Microsoft has the legal ability--I'm not sure if it's actually incorporated in the operating system, but I wouldn't take the risk--to read and remove files from any system with Windows 8 on it. I forget the details, but are they really necessary? Get some 64-bit OEM version of Windows 7.
 
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