Just looking for some recommendations for upgrades

[Squall88uk]

Hi all,

I have used these forums for a long time to find information that I have needed. It has always been very helpful, but until now I have never needed to post.

I am looking for recommendations for upgrades for my current PC. I am on a bit of a budget so I'm not looking for a world-beating PC just something that I can play games from the last 3 or 4 years with and newer games (possibly) at lower res and settings. I'll list my current specs below so you know what I currently have:

Motherboard: ASrock N68C-S UCC
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 605e (Quad core, 2.3GHz per core)
RAM: 8GB DDR2-800
GPU: Palit nVidia GeForce GT-240 with 1GB VRAM
PSU: ACE A-750BR 750W
HDD1: Seagate ST316081 2AS 150GB (System Drive)
HDD2: Western Digital Caviar Green (WDC WD10 EADS-114BB1) 1TB

If there's anything I missed just let me know. Also just so you know I'm currently using a Dell 1908FP monitor with a maximum res of 1280x1024 so unless I also upgrade the monitor I'm not expecting to be playing anything in HD.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[rollgg]

The Graphics card would be the one upgrade that would boost your system the most.
The GPU can also be used by a future system.
I would look for something like:
Nvidia GTX 750 Ti (great, quiet card and great for gaming)
a used AMD R7 260x or similar.
Generally used would be a great option, you can get a 1 year old gaming card and it will make a huge difference in your system.
You already seem to have a good idea of the limitation of this current setup.

 

[Squall88uk]

The Graphics card would be the one upgrade that would boost your system the most.
The GPU can also be used by a future system.
I would look for something like:
Nvidia GTX 750 Ti (great, quiet card and great for gaming)
a used AMD R7 260x or similar.
Generally used would be a great option, you can get a 1 year old gaming card and it will make a huge difference in your system.
You already seem to have a good idea of the limitation of this current setup.

Thanks.

Would it be worth upgrading the RAM to DDR3 also? I have been trying to decide if its worth it or not.

Is it also worth upgrading the CPU? Or perhaps try to overclock (not something I've ever done but the mobo supports it)?

 

[rollgg]

I wouldn't bother with the CPU unless you can find something for negligible cost that your motherboard supports. New CPUs have different sockets so they won't fit your motherboard. Check ebay for 2nd hand CPUs and compare their benchmark to yours, but unless you can get more cores it won't do much.
You can O/C the current CPU.

Don't think you stand to gain much by going to DDR3. If you're looking to upgrade memory + CPU + GPU then you can just as well look into a low budget gaming build. Do you have a budget?

 

[Squall88uk]

I wouldn't bother with the CPU unless you can find something for negligible cost that your motherboard supports. New CPUs have different sockets so they won't fit your motherboard. Check ebay for 2nd hand CPUs and compare their benchmark to yours, but unless you can get more cores it won't do much.
You can O/C the current CPU.

Don't think you stand to gain much by going to DDR3. If you're looking to upgrade memory + CPU + GPU then you can just as well look into a low budget gaming build. Do you have a budget?

Thanks.

I wan't necessarily planning on upgrading RAM+CPU+GPU unless it was definitely worth doing. Even then if I was to upgrade all 3 it wouldn't be at the same time. I will have around £150 to spend at the end of the month, so I will probably put that into a decent card. Like you said, I can always use it in a future system.

The highest supported CPU for my mobo is an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T but I dont know if they're worth getting for this board as its one of those transition boards and according to ASrock's site "If you use AM3 / AM2+ CPU on AM2 chipset motherboard, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0 (5200 MT/s) to HT1.0 (2000 MT/s), but the CPU frequency will not be influenced", not to mention that a second hand one on ebay is in the £60-£80 region.

The only reason I asked about RAM was because I wasn't sure if the DDR2 RAM that I have would be acting as a bottleneck for my current setup.

Going back to the GPU you recommended, the Nvidia GTX 750 Ti, which version would you recommend? I was looking at http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-750-ti/buy-gpu and there's quite a few variations with a £65 difference between the cheapest and the most expensive.

Also do you know where I can find info on specific o/c settings for my CPU? When I have looked before I haven't been able to see anything for this specific CPU.

Thanks again for all the help

 

[rollgg]

Asus and Gigabyte would get my vote.
I actually own a Phenom II 1055T. I am typing from this system now, GPU card is Asus 750 Ti. I'm very happy with it, like you I bought it to upgrade an older system and the difference was well worth it.
The Phenom II X6 1055T is a very powerful CPU, but bear in mind its very power hungry (125Watts) and if you want to overclock you'll need an after market cooler. I am using the Cooler Master 212 for a mild overclock and this machine works great for its age. I am not sure of what the bus downgrade means...maybe it isn't worth the trouble. See what can you get out of the Athlon with some overclocking.


I can help you with the overclocking but basically if you check a couple of guides by googling or youtube videos and don't push it too much you can get a decent performance boost. My benchmarks on the 1055T went up by 20% by pushing it to 3.5 GHz from the stock 2.8.

 

[Squall88uk]

Asus and Gigabyte would get my vote.
I actually own a Phenom II 1055T. I am typing from this system now, GPU card is Asus 750 Ti. I'm very happy with it, like you I bought it to upgrade an older system and the difference was well worth it.
The Phenom II X6 1055T is a very powerful CPU, but bear in mind its very power hungry (125Watts) and if you want to overclock you'll need an after market cooler. I am using the Cooler Master 212 for a mild overclock and this machine works great for its age. I am not sure of what the bus downgrade means...maybe it isn't worth the trouble. See what can you get out of the Athlon with some overclocking.


I can help you with the overclocking but basically if you check a couple of guides by googling or youtube videos and don't push it too much you can get a decent performance boost. My benchmarks on the 1055T went up by 20% by pushing it to 3.5 GHz from the stock 2.8.

Ok. I think I'll get the GPU for now and then if I want the CPU I'll get it a later date. I keep hearing different things about the Phenom II X6 1055T, some people say its 125w like you but cpu-world (CPU-World - 1055T) say it's 95w also the max TDP on my mobo is 95W and the 1055T is listed as the highest supported CPU and 95w also (ASrock N68C-S supported CPUs).

I'll have a look at some guides for overclocking my CPU. Should be an experience as it's something I've never done before. Will I need an aftermarket cooler for overclocking my 605e? It has the stock AMD cooler at present.

Thanks again

 

[rollgg]

The 95W was an OEM version and from what I understand is nearly impossible to find. I also don't know how it compares with the 125w, meaning it might not worth the trouble. The over clocking guides I've seen are all for the 125w.


It's very likely that you'll need a cooler, yes. However, something like the cooler master 212 which i own and strongly recommend is cheap and future proof, as it can migrate to a modern system later on.

Those coolers are huge though, you'll want to check what can fit in your case.

 

[Squall88uk]

The 95W was an OEM version and from what I understand is nearly impossible to find. I also don't know how it compares with the 125w, meaning it might not worth the trouble. The over clocking guides I've seen are all for the 125w.

Ah ok. Well that's that out then since ASRock say that the HDT55TWFK6DGR version is supported, which is the 95w version, but don't mention that the 125w version is. Although the ones I found on eBay earlier forfor £60-£80 were found when I searched for HDT55TWFK6DGRHDT55TWFK6DGR which is the 95w version.

My case is a standard size ATX case. Do you think that the cooler you mentioned will fit?

Either way for the time being I'm gonna get the GPU first and then I'll look into the possiblepossible CPU upgrade or overclock. I might find that once I've upgraded the GPU everything is fine and not bother messing with an overclock or new CPU.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[rollgg]

It's worth measuring your available space before buying the 750 ti, measures for each model can be found in the manufacturers' pages.

The cooler needs I think almost 16 or 18 cm clearance above the CPU, might be a challenge for your case. But start with the GPU and see how things are.

 

[Squall88uk]

It's worth measuring your available space before buying the 750 ti, measures for each model can be found in the manufacturers' pages.

The cooler needs I think almost 16 or 18 cm clearance above the CPU, might be a challenge for your case. But start with the GPU and see how things are.

Ok great. Thanks. I'll get it all sorted and post to say how it goes. Which particular asus version of the 750 do you have? There's a few different versions that I can see.Have you got a link to the particular card or something?

 

[rollgg]

My card is this one:

https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/GTX750TIOC2GD5/

Tbh I would just get the one priced better, amazon uk right now has the MSI branded one (750 TI, 2GB, OC) for £89 which is £10 less than Asus. Shop around and don´t exclude used.
I recently got a used R9 270 on ebay for less than I paid for the 750 Ti.

Edit to say that it does seem there are ebay listings for the 95W version of the 1055T (TWFK part number) - less than the TFBK version which I own, but they're there.
Seems they cost around £70 including shipping from China. You'd need to add the cost of a fan and still see if you can o/c with your motherboard and how far you can take it.

 

[Squall88uk]

My card is this one:

https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/GTX750TIOC2GD5/

Tbh I would just get the one priced better, amazon uk right now has the MSI branded one (750 TI, 2GB, OC) for £89 which is £10 less than Asus. Shop around and don´t exclude used.
I recently got a used R9 270 on ebay for less than I paid for the 750 Ti.

Edit to say that it does seem there are ebay listings for the 95W version of the 1055T (TWFK part number) - less than the TFBK version which I own, but they're there.
Seems they cost around £70 including shipping from China. You'd need to add the cost of a fan and still see if you can o/c with your motherboard and how far you can take it.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the help you gave me. Since I posted originally I have since upgraded my OS to Windows 10 and I ended up getting a MSI Radeon R9 280X for £120. Very happy with it. Had to get a new case so it would fit but its a better case anyway. I think this card is a bit overkill for my system to be honest but when I finally upgrade other parts it will still be good for me. Thanks again

 

[rollgg]

You're welcome, glad it worked out well. 280x is one of the top performing cards at the moment so while it might be an overkill for your current CPU it will likely stay with you when you upgrade board+CPU, yes.
If you mark my reply as solution I get brownie points 😉

 

[Squall88uk]

You're welcome, glad it worked out well. 280x is one of the top performing cards at the moment so while it might be an overkill for your current CPU it will likely stay with you when you upgrade board+CPU, yes.
If you mark my reply as solution I get brownie points 😉

I will glady mark it as solution if I can actually work out how lol. I can't seem to see the option to do so.

 

[rollgg]

Heh - You should be seeing a green button labelled "Pick as Solution" under the text in each post (exception being your own posts afaik).

Hope you enjoy your system, my own 1055T + R9 270x runs so well it made me question my decision to build a new gaming PC!

 

[Squall88uk]

Heh - You should be seeing a green button labelled "Pick as Solution" under the text in each post (exception being your own posts afaik).

Hope you enjoy your system, my own 1055T + R9 270x runs so well it made me question my decision to build a new gaming PC!

I cant see any green buttom or pick as solution button. Perhaps its because when I started the thread I marked it as a discussion rather than an answers thread?

I too am seriously thinking about whether I actually need to build a better system anytime soon. The only part of my setup that's stopping me from playing the more recent games (witcher 3) is my CPU. I think I'll just get a better CPU soon and leave it at that for the time being.

Thanks again

 

[rollgg]

ah yes, don't worry about it.

I did build a new PC and in all honesty, while the new machine is impressively powerful, when it comes down to actual gaming there's very little the "old" PC cannot do to a satisfactory (for me) degree.
AMD's Zen is scheduled for Q4 2016. Hopefully it will stir the waters in the market and your new GPU puts you in a good position to benefit from that.

 

[Squall88uk]

ah yes, don't worry about it.

I did build a new PC and in all honesty, while the new machine is impressively powerful, when it comes down to actual gaming there's very little the "old" PC cannot do to a satisfactory (for me) degree.
AMD's Zen is scheduled for Q4 2016. Hopefully it will stir the waters in the market and your new GPU puts you in a good position to benefit from that.

Yeah. I'm thinking of a new build later this year anyway. Should have the money for it by then. In the meantime I think I might have a hunt for a better CPU for my current machine, just as a simple quick upgrade for the time being.