Upgrades - that old chestnut

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BiggusDoggus

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#207500 29-Dec-2016 10:37

Hey all

So, there are three areas that need upgrading, and I only have the budget (at this point in time) to upgrade one of them - $250-$275 (which includes a decent PB Tech gift card, as an aside).

The current setup:

8gb DDR3 RAM

G3258 CPU (3.2ghz, dual core, 2 threads, LGA1150)

AMD Radeon R7 360 2Gb video card.

The RAM I can probably live with for the time being.

Which leaves the CPU and video card.

One of the options for the video card is a GTX 1050 Ti - https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/VGAGBV11055/Gigabyte-GTX1050Ti-4GB-OC-Version-Gaming-Video-Car

And I really have no real idea what would be a decent upgrade for the CPU within my price range - if any.

I'm currently playing No Man's Sky and Battlefield 1 - both of which are running ok, albeit at pretty low settings.

Any advice greatly appreciated thanks!

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

Jase2985

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#1696091 29-Dec-2016 10:55

i would probably go with the 1050 you linked

Brumfondl

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#1696092 29-Dec-2016 10:58

Looks like the 1050ti is about 50% faster than that R7. I would guess that any other upgrade would require and new CPU and motherboard and blow away your budget.

Batman

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#1696106 29-Dec-2016 11:45

is 50% GPU faster worth $270? esp the bottlenecks of the cpu and hdd? who knows.

best to save up for a new motherboard/ram/cpu/gpu combo?

Batman

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#1696107 29-Dec-2016 11:45

in terms of upgrading CPU the limitation is your motherboard. it needs to be compatible with the CPU you want to upgrade to. What's your motherboard?

BiggusDoggus

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#1696109 29-Dec-2016 11:55

joker97:

in terms of upgrading CPU the limitation is your motherboard. it needs to be compatible with the CPU you want to upgrade to. What's your motherboard?

It's a Gigabyte B85M-D3H. So the CPU needs to be 1150.

And I have a 500gb Samsung SSD, btw.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries

PANiCnz

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#1696150 29-Dec-2016 12:44

See if you can pick up a second hand CPU off eBay. An entry level i5 would make a good improvement. I think the 8gb is more than enough. 1050 looks like a reasonable improvement too.

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#1696419 30-Dec-2016 08:33

You'd need new motherboard to suit any recent CPU and usually RAM.... Ive got similar system so in same boat for upgrade. Im looking at one of the newer entry level Nvidia cards but aware of bottlenecks as well..... until I win Lotto it'll do :)

XPD / Gavin

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#1696463 30-Dec-2016 11:40

If i were OP and on a budget I'd pick up a second hand 1060 (presumably people wanted more and went and bought a 1080 or 1070), and skylake 6600k cpu-mobo (from those upgrading to kaby lake and z200). And some ddr-4 2400mhz ram pair from those updating to denser sticks.

Jase2985

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#1696466 30-Dec-2016 11:46

joker97: If i were OP and on a budget I'd pick up a second hand 1060 (presumably people wanted more and went and bought a 1080 or 1070), and skylake 6600k cpu-mobo (from those upgrading to kaby lake and z200). And some ddr-4 2400mhz ram pair from those updating to denser sticks.

because those = >$275? even with second hand parts it will still be a bit more. there are currently 1 SH 1060 on trademe going for about 100 less than the new price of $550

dont over complicate things

the CPU will more than likely be fine for the gaming, its the GFX card holding it back on the low settings, and if the budget is that low then an upgraded GFX card will be the way to go for their budget.

maybe if the budget was bigger then you could upgrade the CPU/motherboard

BiggusDoggus

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#1696610 30-Dec-2016 21:23

Jase2985:

joker97: If i were OP and on a budget I'd pick up a second hand 1060 (presumably people wanted more and went and bought a 1080 or 1070), and skylake 6600k cpu-mobo (from those upgrading to kaby lake and z200). And some ddr-4 2400mhz ram pair from those updating to denser sticks.

because those = >$275? even with second hand parts it will still be a bit more. there are currently 1 SH 1060 on trademe going for about 100 less than the new price of $550

dont over complicate things

the CPU will more than likely be fine for the gaming, its the GFX card holding it back on the low settings, and if the budget is that low then an upgraded GFX card will be the way to go for their budget.

maybe if the budget was bigger then you could upgrade the CPU/motherboard

Thanks for all the advice, guys. And yeah, as Jase says, $250-$275 is the budget (unless I sell one of the kids, which may get me some extra RAM, if I'm lucky...) - so the (kind of) theme coming through is if I have to pick one thing (which I do) then go with the video card, and the 1050 is as good as any.

Thanks again.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries