Desktop Upgrade

[Strider]

I'm thinking about upgrading my desktop as it's now 3/4 year old, however I have no clue where to start first (or any knowledge of what's good/will fit). Basically I have about £200-£250 to upgrade with and I'm after the best 'bang for my buck' in terms of better performance.

 

My spec at the mo:

 

Motherboard: GA-MA78LMT-US2H (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3375#ov)

Ram: 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 12800c9 (2x2GB i believe)

Graphics: Radeon 4800 HD 512mb

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 635

Hard Drive: 500GB

 

My first thoughts were to upgrade the ram and install a SSD. I'd have thought they'd give the most notable performance boosts?

 

Any help would be muchly appreciated

[MoogleViper]

Are you using it for gaming? If not, I'd suggest a new mobo and CPU.

 

Something like this:

 

AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz Socket AM3+ 16MB ~£131

Then an AM3+ mobo for around £60.

 

That'll leave you with £20-70 to play around with. Either put it towards a new graphics card, or get an SSD and some new RAM. Although if you're gaming, you will obviously bottleneck without a better GPU.

 

 

Personally I'm gonna hold off on getting an SSD until they come down in price. I reckon 500GB for around £80 will be here in about 2 years.

[Strider]

Are you using it for gaming? If not, I'd suggest a new mobo and CPU.

 

Something like this:

 

AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz Socket AM3+ 16MB ~£131

Then an AM3+ mobo for around £60.

 

That'll leave you with £20-70 to play around with. Either put it towards a new graphics card, or get an SSD and some new RAM. Although if you're gaming, you will obviously bottleneck without a better GPU.

 

 

Personally I'm gonna hold off on getting an SSD until they come down in price. I reckon 500GB for around £80 will be here in about 2 years.

 

I was going to ask you directly on Facebook as you seem the main go to guy for tech lately:P

 

I don't game much, although I like the idea of being able to. On the current setup I managed to play skyrim ok, so it's not drastically bad, and down the line ill probably get a PS4/720 to suite my gaming needs anyway.

 

I thought the motherboard/CPU was ok :/ shows what I know. My main reason for going with a Ssd was mainly for the OS and the odd program like photoshop. But I suppose it makes sense to upgrade the motherboard as it would allow better upgrades in the future.

 

Cheers

[MoogleViper]

The main issue with the mobo is the socket (AM3). You can only achieve minor improvements on your current CPU.

 

Skyrim isn't anywhere near as graphically intensive as people think, so it's not a great benchmark. However, on the subject of CPU vs. GPU, you can always lower a games graphics, but you can't much lower the necessary processing power.

 

Although another thought on the GPU. You could buy another 4800 series (which model is it specifically?) and crossfire them (provided your mobo will allow it). This'll cost around £50 give or take. It won't be an amazing increase, and in the long run you'd be better off buying a new card, but it will be an improvement.

 

If you don't mind risking 2nd hand you might be able to get one for £40 or less.