Aging rig. Need a few tips.

[wilsontech]

What's up guys, I have the following setup:

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T (Stock)
ASRock 870 Extreme 3 Mobo
12GB DDR3 RAM
AMD HD 6850

Up until this month I've been satisfied with this computer, but with the release of FarCry 3 and my desire to play games like Rift and Planetside 2 at a higher framerate than 40-50 on medium to high settings, I've been considering upgrades.

I did some research and I really want to build a new Intel rig, but the setup I want is pretty unaffordable right now.

Is there anything I can do to salvage the machine I've got? I feel like I'm maxed out with this 1090t and non-AM3+ motherboard. I hear that the AMD FX series isn't even worth looking at anyway.

What can I do to get a little more performance out of this thing before I take it out back and pull the plug??

 

[payturr]

Whats your budget friend? I'll try to help you out

 

[wilsontech]

That's exactly it lol. I don't really have a budget. I could probably go as high as maybe 4-500 for an upgrade to this machine but I don't think it's worth it.

I'm thinking of saving some money to maybe throw in a new GPU but I'm afraid this CPU will just bottleneck any upgrade I do.

 

[djangoringo]

The cpu you have is not worth of changing for any amd fx bulldozer or piledriver.
Now the GPU you can change for a 7870 AMD 2GB or 7950 3GB and you'll see a enormous difference, and there will be no bottleneck by the cpu.
Also what is your psu ? if it's a crappy one, you can also change it for a xfx,seasonic,cosair brand with ~500-600w,

 

[payturr]

I think you should buy a Hyper 212 Plus & overclock it, because an X6 is impossible to find these days, meanwhile it had great stock performance + it'll gain better performance from an OC, then buy maybe a 7770 or 7870 GHz edition to reuse in your next build!

 

[wilsontech]

Hey thanks guys. That's good to know that the GPU will help regardless of the CPU. I think that's where I'll start.

I'm running a Corsair TX 650. Is that enough to run a 7 series card?

I actually run a Corsair H50 cooler so I think that should be good enough to perform a CPU overclock on but I've never done one before, haha. Too afraid to try. Know any good guides off the top of your head?

 

[djangoringo]

Yes, you have enough juice on that quality psu for a 7950/7970.
So if you can pay about ~280$-300$ get a 7950 3GB, it's the best card bang for the buck.

 

[wilsontech]

Thanks a lot. You guys both have been a huge help.

 

[payturr]

650 is good, and Corsair is the best! And don't be scared to overclock If anything, I'd maybe apply some fresh Arctic Silver (I don't know when was the last time you did it) and just get to it! So long as you're slow and smart, and are aware of it's limits you will be fine! You have quite the system there Wilson :3

 

[wilsontech]

Thanks. Yeah it's served me well for a while now so I'd hate to see it be done so early in its life.

 

[payturr]

Trust me, if you take your time over clocking, monitor the temperatures and all, it'll be fine. Besides, if it stops booting because clock is too high, just pull the CMOS battery, it'll reset it, you'll be safe. :3 Good luck and happy computing!

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

As said the 1090 is a very fast cpu (I run 1100T`s)

You NEED a much better graphics card though, and your gaming will as said improve dramatically.... 7970 for preference... if you could afford it a 7990...

The rest of the machine is fine...

All the best Brett