I think I need an upgrade...Can you guys help?

[kris77]

So here is my situation. I built a system in 2010. Core i7-860 paired with a gigabyte p55a mother board and a Radeon 5570 video card. non ssd drive. Win 7. OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W PSU

I just got a new GoPro and my videos are tough to edit. They dont play right, they are choppy, etc. I know my video card is crappy and needs updating.

My questions are this. Do you guys think I need an upgrade of proc/mobo? Or can i get by with this one i have now and just beef up the video card/ram/and get a nice SSD?

I've been looking at a AMD FX 8350 with a ASUS Sabertooth 990FX and a samsung EVO 256 SSD. I came across a AMD Firepro W7100 recently and would like to use it if i could. i know its a workstation video card, but i dont game, just edit videos and play around in CAD. I think i could use it and be good.

Opinions? I'd like to save some money if i could and just upgrade to a nice SSD and some more RAM, but i'm not sure if my proc is worth trying to OC to get above 3.2Ghz.

Thoughts?

 

[profoundnoah]

Given that core i7's generation, unfortunately it appears that you should definitely upgrade Proc and Board, along with your GPU. I would recommend the 8320 as it is a little less expensive and performs around the same. I wouldn't recommend getting an ASUS Sabertooth board atm, given your specified tasks. The Firepro will most likely work with your upgraded system, and is definitely viable for your uses, as long as your monitor supports its output. My recommended course of action would be to get an 8320, pair it with an MSI 970 Gaming Board (still good even if you're not gaming), and try and find a 256 GB from A-Data. The i7 860 is unfortunately growing obsolete, but that's what happens with technology.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

Are you just doing the go pro stuff or gaming as well etc? Since overlclocking is basically free, you could try to overclock and see what that does. Also, if you do decide to go for the amd, I'd say don't get the sabertooth. It's a great board to be sure, but later this year they are supposed to release their zen cpus. So if you are thinking of upgrading to that later, then the sabertooth seems like overkill for something you may not use a year. You could also look at the FX 6300 to save money. 6 cores, but still overclockable.

But I would consider if you've got the board and cooling, go ahead and see what you can get out of your current setup if you don't want to spend a lot. Also may look at the new skylake cpus and boards. Though some guys are still opting for haswell if they already have ddr3 ram so they don't have to re buy that.

 

[kris77]

Given that core i7's generation, unfortunately it appears that you should definitely upgrade Proc and Board, along with your GPU. Good news is, you can reuse your RAM. I would recommend the 8320 as it is a little less expensive and performs around the same. I wouldn't recommend getting an ASUS Sabertooth board atm, given your specified tasks. The Firepro will most likely work with your upgraded system, and is definitely viable for your uses, as long as your monitor supports its output. My recommended course of action would be to reuse your RAM, get an 8320, pair it with an MSI 970 Gaming Board (still good even if you're not gaming), and try and find a 256 GB from A-Data. The i7 860 is unfortunately growing obsolete, but that's what happens with technology.

Why do you guys not recommend the ASUS Sabertooth? Also, the 6300 is a good deal right now. Its only 6 core, but looks to be a nice proc.
If i'm going to upgrade, i dont want to go $50 cheaper when i can spend the extra $50 and get a much nicer setup. If I dont need to spend the $50, then so be it.

The MSI board doesnt get very good reviews on newegg if you can believe them. Any reason you recommended that board?

So if i wanted a CPU/mobo/ssd/16gb ram. For around $500. What would be your optimum setup? I have a case, a PSU, a couple of 1tb 7200 drives, video card, etc.

I'm not partial to AMD, I could go i5 if it might be a tad better for me.

 

[ohiou_grad_2006]

This is just my opinion. But the reason I'm not recommending the sabertooth is because of the fact that in october or november this year supposedly, if all is on track, AMD is set to release a new line of FX chips, code named zen. If you google it you'll find a little more info. But rumors are it will be more on par with Intel's haswell line of processors. My thinking is if you are getting something to hold you over, great, but don't sink a lot of money into a setup now in case you will want to upgrade again at that time.

Sabertooth might be a great board, but when you can get like the MSI gaming board mentioned above that's not bad. Another option would be a gigabyte 970a-ud3p.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128651

But either of those should handle an 8320 or 8350 fine. Also, as I said, if you wanted to go cheaper, you could look at the FX 6300 6 core, or if you really want 8, maybe look at the 8320E and a good cooler and overclock it as high as you can and pocket the rest of your money until later and see if you want to switch when the new stuff is out.

 

[profoundnoah]

My apologies, for my previous post, unfortunately you won't be able to reuse your RAM. This setup should suffice for the best price http://pcpartpicker.com/p/FCDYvK , but if you're looking for the higher end of the budget , I'd recommend getting a 990FX Pro Board from Asus, along with a 8320/50. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BPnCP6 You may also need a different cooler, as the one you use now may not be compatible with the AM3+.