Looking for advice on my next upgrade.

[rvg90]

Current Setup:

PSU: XFX Pro 550w
Mobo: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
CPU: AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0ghz
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Plus
GPU: AMD R9 280x Sapphire Toxic 3gb
Ram: 2x 2gb + 1x 4gb Kingston 1333mhz DDR3
Storage: 1x 1TB Seagate Barracuda + 1x 1TB WD Caviar Green
Case: No brand mid tower case with 1 back fan.

Now i know there is not much i can do to see a major improvement in games unless i jump to a 290x\390x\280x CF\Fury or whatever the next upgrade is but it's also good to hear ideas and suggestions from others.

I have around $320 budget and i was going shopping on Tuseday mainly for a case(nzxt phantom in mind) and a cpu cooler(not quiet sure which one yet). The idea was to be able to OC the CPU and GPU even if i am gonna see as little as 5-10 fps gain however there is every chance that my PSU won't take the extra power consumption and i'll have to either change it or stick to the stock clocks and in that case a cooler won't be needed because my 212 is doing a great job as things stand.

I'd like to hear from more experienced people than me who think there is a better way to allocate my budget.

 

[fudgecakes99]

going from 280 to a 390 isn't going to be nearly as massive as going from a 280 to a 390x or a 980. Personally i say 980 will be slightly better then a 390x, but a 390x will cost considerably less and their almost identical in benchmarks. so meh. If you're comparing a lower end card like a 970 it compares well with a 390. then 290 is slightly worse then a 970. 280x is not worth it at all.

If you're going to go fury x then you're better off going with a 980 ti hands down the better card.

If you do want to overclock a gpu know the gains aren't going to be close to getting a brand new gpu with new architecture theirs just no comparison.

In my opinion theirs no point in spending money on a quality cooler and o.c.ing a non high end gpu or cpu. All that money to me is wasted, it's like putting tuning a honda accord. No matter what you do it's still going to be a honda accord, and whatever performance gains you can get won't come even close to say a ferrari. Granted kind of a bad example because you can shove some pretty insane engines into tiny bodied cars point is.

Spend more money on ocing when you have the best and you want to push it forward otherwise. Spend money on getting the best. But this only applies to gpu coolers, not cpu coolers. As cpu coolers for the most part are usually interchangeable.

 

[rvg90]

I never mentioned the 390 for that reason, the improvement ain't worth the price and the rest are all out of my budget even a 280x CF is out of my budget because then i'll invest in an expensive PSU too.

Oh and btw i never said i'll invest in a GPU cooler, i won't but there is no harm of pushing my current card to it's limits, heard the 280x max safe voltage is around 1.4? might give that a try there is no harm of gaining 5 extra fps out of this but first i need a case with good airflow.

 

[fudgecakes99]

the a 970 is within your budget and should work with that psu, plus it's a pretty big jump from a 280 about 20fps increase on average.

 

[rvg90]

Just looked it up at the local stores and the 970 is way too over priced here as it's around 3.4k ($440).

 

[fudgecakes99]

Ah, my bad. Didn't realize you weren't in the u.s. I really hate how theirs some sort of stupidly high price diff. in foreign countries. Darn tariffs i guess.

Well if you're trying to budget for a case how big do you want it Ultra tower/ Full tower?

 

[rvg90]

Ah, my bad. Didn't realize you weren't in the u.s. I really hate how theirs some sort of stupidly high price diff. in foreign countries. Darn tariffs i guess.

Well if you're trying to budget for a case how big do you want it Ultra tower/ Full tower?

I was thinking mid tower(not sure if i have a need for an oversized case atm 😛) and had this http://www.egprices.com/en/product/nzxt-phantom-410-mid-sized-tower-black--high-end in mind.

 

[fudgecakes99]

I do like the design of nzxt the pseudo alien ware logo. But if you're looking for more functionality then aesthetics, i'd look at the Phanteks enthoo luxe/pro. also theirs Corsair's 450D/750D/750D airflow edition and fractal design r5 all good cases.

But if you want to spend some more money and get a more "premium" case in my opinion, the phanteks enthoo primoo is the best price v performance case on the market. It comes with a ton of rad space/a lot of premium fans/a fan controller/and theirs a ton of color schemes to choose for custom builds.

luxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854006

pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854003

r5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352048

750D AF edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139060&cm_re=obsidian_750D-_-11-139-060-_-Product

750D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139024&cm_re=obsidian_750D-_-11-139-024-_-Product

450D
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139042&cm_re=obsidian_450D-_-11-139-042-_-Product

 

[rvg90]

I'll take a look into all of them thanks a lot for the help.

Btw i just realized that my card is still under warranty till May 2016 which means it would have a decent resell price (it's 1 year 2 months old). If i get a good price there i might be able to get out of this with the case and the 970.

 

[fudgecakes99]

gl if you can resell it for enough.

 

[rvg90]

Sold it for $150 and got an extra $150 from an old phenom 2 and a couple of 5770s then picked up the 970 and the nzxt 410(couldn't find any of the Cases you listed all i found was NZXTs and Cooler Master).

 

[fudgecakes99]

Where do you live? You should be able to order them. Even if you're not located in the u.s.

 

[rvg90]

Egypt, if i order them from amazon i pay even more (i checked on the GTX 970 and they charge an extra $80 customs & taxes).

 

[fudgecakes99]

Ah man thats a bummer, I know some people are doing a service for foreign countries where they ship it from the u.s. to negate the extra tariffs. I don't know anyone particularly if you're willing to give it a shot i imagine, you'd be able to find a few people.

 

[rvg90]

Most of the services i find here charge as much if not more than what Amazon would regularly charge you though they save you any hassle as they get it to your door step.

The best way is to order when you have a friend\family member in the US and he can bring it to you.

I have ordered a few things directly in the past but never electronics, stuff that can be sent directly in an envelope like joystick parts, screen protectors etc...