Best upgrades budget-mid rigs-one has failing disk

[ThyTempest]

Hi all,

Looking for advice for the best upgrades for our two rigs. Mine has been showing signs of disk failure with corrupt files, preferences/files not being saved, load times increasingly slow. Both rigs are used primarily for gaming, nothing cutting edge, but is slowing down enough that we are ready for upgrades. World of Warcraft, League of Legends, D3, Hearthstone and Netflix/Hulu etc. Trying to keep upgrades in the budget-mid level range, but want noticeable performance improvements.

We are hoping to only need to upgrade GPU's, one disk (replacing the 500 WD), and an OS if I need to.

Components as follows, mine first, with disk replacement in mind. I'm running unlicensed Win 7 now, and I'm not entirely convinced some of the profile/data management issues I'm having are entirely the hard drive's age showing. I'm not sure if I will need to buy a new retail or OEM OS, or if I can do an upgrade somehow. Mobo and CPU replaced in early 2013, GPU in 2010, rest 2009.

Mine

MOBO: ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AM
CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-Core 3.5GHz
GPU: GTS450 Fermi 1GB 128b GDDR5 PCIe 2x16 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261080
RAM- 8GB GSkill Ripjaw 2x4GB DDR3 1333
Disk-WD Green WD5000AADS 500gb/32 cache Sata 3.0gb/s
PSU- Antec BP550 Plus--550W Cont. Power ATX12v
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

Also have dvd-rw disc drive, all in an Antec 900 case.

Hers: Built 2010, no changes from original build below.

Mobo: MSI 890FXA-GD70--http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE Deneb--3.2Ghz AM3-125W--HDZ955FBGMBOX
GPU: GeForce GTS 450 Fermi 1GB 128bit GDDR5--GV-4500C-1GI
RAM: 8GB GSkill Ripjaw 2x4GB DDR3 1333
Disk-- WD Black 1TB 7200/64 cache Sata 6.0gbs
PSU: Antect EarthWatts EA750W--SLI/Crossfire cert.
Antec three hundred case--running warm, finding mod to track temps today, may upgrade to 900, but would really rather spend the money on other parts


Looking for advice on specific parts to replace. I think the GPU's are probably the priority, but open to ideas. In either event, I need to replace the 500gb drive as it is starting to fail, and potentially a new OS depending on any other resolutions available.

Thanks, and please ask if you need any more info.

 

[Barney6262]

Hi,
For the first build (Yours) See the link below for suggested part replacements.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ssQjnQ

You get a new 1TB WD drive (much faster than a WD Green), a new GPU and a new OEM of Win 7 (incase you have issues with your current version)

For hers it looks like just the GPU needs replacing.
This depends on your budget... You could get a 750, 760 or 970. $100, $200 or $340 respectively.
The sweet spot would be the 760 as that is considered one of the better cards for price/performance. But all 3 are good cards and will run your games fine. A higher costing card will bring higher graphics settings and a higher FPS, but the 760 should be a good choice.

 

[ThyTempest]

That is more or less what we had in mind. Do you have any further discussion on the 750 vs 760 or Win 7 vs 8?

 

[Barney6262]

For the OS I would strongly recommend windows 7 (home premium). Windows 8 has been nothing but trouble since it's launch and I know people are constantly having issues with 8.1 aswell.

For the graphics card I would compare the Gtx 750Ti vs the Gtx 760. Have a look at the video linked below and notice the FPS difference (counter in top corners) between the cards. I would go with the 760 if you can afford it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVnN0gle8z0

 

[ThyTempest]

Were you suggesting the 750 for my rig over the 760 because of the lower power supply, or would the 760 be ok too? From specs it seems like it would be fine, but double checking. We are probably going to be buying Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so price could be a big difference, but the benchmark definitely makes the 760 seem worth it, I just don't know if it might be overkill for League and WoW.

 

[Barney6262]

Were you suggesting the 750 for my rig over the 760 because of the lower power supply, or would the 760 be ok too? From specs it seems like it would be fine, but double checking. We are probably going to be buying Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so price could be a big difference, but the benchmark definitely makes the 760 seem worth it, I just don't know if it might be overkill for League and WoW.

If you were to go with a GTX 760 you need a minimum of 400W PSU. Basically power isn't the issue, I suggested it based on cost. With the 760 you would get 100+ fps with 4xAA and at 1080p. Whether this is overkill is dependent on whether it is worth the extra money to you. Personally I would save up for the 760 as it is a real sweet spot for GPU's.

 

[ThyTempest]

To throw another wrench into the mix, I've seen other threads regarding the various configs of the gtx 760, is there a certain brand/model or configuration thats best? I tried finding just a 760vs760vs760 benchmark and came up empty handed.

Edit: Also, I'm sure it is capable, but I'm expecting to run Dual monitors for both systems, as we have currently. Mine is currently using two DVI to DVI connections, but I would have to check if they are DVI-I or DVI-D. Seems like my current cables/connections will work with either of the DVI set-ups. I can also run one in HDMI if necessary, but we sometimes run one port HDMI to the TV for League LCS matches, football and hockey games, etc.

 

[Barney6262]

To throw another wrench into the mix, I've seen other threads regarding the various configs of the gtx 760, is there a certain brand/model or configuration thats best? I tried finding just a 760vs760vs760 benchmark and came up empty handed.

Edit: Also, I'm sure it is capable, but I'm expecting to run Dual monitors for both systems, as we have currently. Mine is currently using two DVI to DVI connections, but I would have to check if they are DVI-I or DVI-D. Seems like my current cables/connections will work with either of the DVI set-ups. I can also run one in HDMI if necessary, but we sometimes run one port HDMI to the TV for League LCS matches, football and hockey games, etc.

When you say best configs of 760, I assume you mean brand. In which case there really isn't a lot between them. I personally like the gigabyte windforce version as it is clocked slightly higher and has a nice cooler on it.
Here is a half-decent video on the subject : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKQhyMMCr2o

As for two screens, what resolution would you be running at? the main issue here is Vram but for only two screens at 1080p a 2gb card should be JUST enough. Maybe look into a 3 or 4GB card.

 

[ThyTempest]

I've been running two 1080p on my current card. By config, I meant I noticed variances in Ram and bit structure. I can't seem to find it again, but when I do I'll post. The tl;dr of it was that the 128 bit card(s) had better benchmarks due to better clock speed than the 256 versions. I'm pretty sure this was for the 760, but I may be confusing it with the 750ti

Edit: 1080 on Both, but usually only one doing grunt work at a time-ie chrome, spotify, etc open on secondary while playing a game, watching netflix or something on the primary.

 

[ThyTempest]

After researching more, I think it was based on the 750, which I think we have narrowed down to not doing, and going 760. Also considering a small ish SSD and 500g HDD to hybrid.

 

[Barney6262]

I wouldn't suggest hybrid drives as they offer little performance gain.
If you were to get an SSD I would suggest 250GB or more as that allows the OS and some games to be on it.