Viable Upgrade?

[reccy]

Hey Everyone, new to the forums. I was just looking for a little advice in my future upgrading plans whilst i have the time and money.

Currently i have a "Gaming" system i have built myself (ie not from dell, hp etc) and i upgrade things here and now as i see fit.

MY Computer Spec:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Asus M2N4-SLI DDR2 Mobo (I have never updated the fireware/bios)
4x 1GB DDR2 800Mhz PC2-6400 Gold XTC CL5 Ram
**Recently upgraded to**
PALIT GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 Graphics Card
Huntkey Titan 650W PSU

Now my question is regarding the CPU, I know the memory and Mobo need upgrading aswell, but 4gb is "Acceptable" for Gaming and the such for me for now, it will be upgraded to 8gb shortly after the CPU

Ive been looking along the lines of either
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ 2.90GHz or
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7550 2.5 GHz

Both of the above are around 40 GBP, but have researched as much as i could and both seem to be the same but would need a little advice onto which is the better of the two, or would pose the better upgrade.

ORRR Do i go for something like this below (If it will be supported by my Mobo) but thats around 80GBP
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9850 2.50GHz Black Edition

The CPU's above all suggest they are AM2 Compatabile.

ALso, if there are any other CPU suggestions which are viable as upgrades then please by all means pass them over.


Anyways thanks for any advice or help, its muchly apprecaited

 

[unknown_13]

It will be better if you save your money for a complete upgrade (graphics card put aside) The first Phenom series 9xxx were a true s**t, and those Athlons are old and the GTX470 really need a mighty CPU like Phenom II 955 or Core i5-760, i7-930 to unleash it's full power.

As for the RAM yes 4GB will be enough but you will need to buy new RAM (DDR3) if you do a complete upgrade.

As i said, start saving money for a complete upgrade without the GPU and the PSU.

 

[reccy]

I was hoping to upgrade this Mobo to the max on a cheap state CPU, and then when it is really necessery to upgrade the Mobo and RAM in a years or mores time

 

[rohn_avni]

and don't go for x2... go for a quad.....

 

[flaminggerbil]

I'd agree with uknown_13, you've got a great GPU there but you'd get the most out of it if stick it out for a bit longer, saved your cash and did a full rebuild.
From a quick google it would seem that your motherboard cant take the Phenom's anyway.

New motherboard with a Phenom II / i5 760 / i7 would work wonders, might want to get a new PSU as well, never heard of huntkey.

 

[rohn_avni]

i7 would be overkill for him....

 

[flaminggerbil]

Eh, why?

 

[rohn_avni]

i don't think he is gonna play heavy games or do any vid editing or rendering or ripping... so with i5/x4 he can save money for other things... (my thought's).....

 

[reccy]

I play games, and Internet Surf (High end games, you mean the latest games out?) And i try to play all my games with the MAX settings possible.

Been looking at my next upgrade system and its just shy of 600 GBP

 

[rohn_avni]

I play games, and Internet Surf (High end games, you mean the latest games out?) And i try to play all my games with the MAX settings possible.

Been looking at my next upgrade system and its just shy of 600 GBP

well but still a phenom x4 or i5 would be enough for u..... and for playing on max u need a highend GPU as well(u already have it).....with minimum 4 gig(DDR 3 1600 Mhz) of ram...

 

[reccy]

I ment "Possible" meaning the highest my GPU would easily accomplish..

Looking at the:
Asus CROSSHAIR IV FORMULA 890FX Socket AM3 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1090T 3.2GHz 9MB Cache 125W Retail Box Processor
OCZ 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1866MHz/PC3-15000 Reaper HPC Triple Channel Memory Kit CL9 1.65V

 

[flaminggerbil]

Skip the 6 core AMD's for gaming, you'll not benefit from it.

Either go for a quad core Phenom II, i5 750/760 or i7 920/930.

well but still a phenom x4 or i5 would be enough for u..... and for playing on max u need a highend GPU as well(u already have it).....with minimum 4 gig(DDR 3 1600 Mhz) of ram...

Why DDR3 1600Mhz? It has little to no benefit for gaming over 1333Mhz which is slightly cheaper.

 

[reccy]

I was thinking ahead to the late future.. I will be needed at some point or will come better eventually... Or am i thinking wrong :S

 

[flaminggerbil]

The Hex core Phenom's are not really that great for gaming, also developers are only just starting to properly use 4 cores instead of 2 so there's really very little point in buying one.
As said before, stick with Quad core CPU's such as the i5 760, i7 930 or quad Phenom II's.

 

[reccy]

Suggestions on Motherboard, CPU and RAM then for a decent build which will run games at high to very high settings? No MAxing out over the 500GBP Mark?

AMD only though

 

[flaminggerbil]

Any particular reason for AMD only?

 

[reccy]

Becuase i used Intel in my previous professtion and ther Realibility and service was extremtly poor to be polite.

Just always stuck with AMD back to the old K5 Series,,

 

[rohn_avni]

if u really want a 6 core then leave AMD and go for i7 980x..... far superior than AMD x6....

 

[rohn_avni]

Skip the 6 core AMD's for gaming, you'll not benefit from it.

Either go for a quad core Phenom II, i5 750/760 or i7 920/930.



Why DDR3 1600Mhz? It has little to no benefit for gaming over 1333Mhz which is slightly cheaper.

because there r 2200Mhz DDR3 already on the horizons.... so why not go for atleast 1600 Mhz...

 

[unknown_13]

Allright then, if you really don't like Intel:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955
MB: Some 890GX, probably ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333/1600MHz
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3

And yeah you don't want to use AMD's 6-core for gaming.

 

[rohn_avni]

Allright then, if you really don't like Intel:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955
MB: Some 890GX, probably ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333/1600MHz
HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3

And yeah you don't want to use AMD's 6-core for gaming.

A WD cavier Blue would be better than Samsung...
and why not x4 965, it's a flagship processor of AMD at mighty 3.4 Ghz.....

 

[unknown_13]

A WD cavier Blue would be better than Samsung...
and why not x4 965, it's a flagship processor of AMD at mighty 3.4 Ghz.....

LOL

There is soo little difference between 955 and 965. They both OC very well. And no, Caviar Blue would be slower than the spinpoint f3, the f3 it's equal to wd black

 

[rohn_avni]

LOL

There is soo little difference between 955 and 965. They both OC very well. And no, Caviar Blue would be slower than the spinpoint f3, the f3 it's equal to wd black

little difference.... well 965 has reduced TDP and does OP really want to overclock??
i suggest WD to save some of his bucks....

 

[unknown_13]

little difference.... well 965 has reduced TDP and does OP really want to overclock??
i suggest WD to save some of his bucks....

The difference IS small.

Please post a link of WD Black 1TB to confirm that it's cheaper than the f3.

 

[rohn_avni]

The difference IS small.

Please post a link of WD Black 1TB to confirm that it's cheaper than the f3.

LOL
i was suggesting cavier blue not black.....

and 965 will be more overclockeble than 955.... plus a native 3.4....if he don't want to overclock..