Upgrading My Current Set-Up

[ffxiimaniac]

Hello fellow youtubers. As most of you probably found this forum through Linus' youtube channel like I did, I thought I'd make my first real post here. I've made a few others, but those were just more general questions. This hopefully will be a longer, more meaningful conversation. This is both a personal blog story, as well as a build that I'm upgrading, and would like some input on.

 

Onto the main topic! The build. Well let's just say I made my first build January 2014. I had ordered the parts in December of the previous year, and while I did successfully do this, I made tons of mistakes. (It's obviously still running today, as this is what I am typing this blog post on) Why is this relevant? Well as the title states, I'm looking to make some upgrades! Recently in January I upgraded my GPU with input from this very forum. Just about everything else needs upgrading! This is only about a few of them however.

 

The original build was as follows:

• CPU: AMD-A8-6600K
• RAM: 8GB DDR3-1600mhZ Adata (2 channels of 4gb)
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A55M-HD2 FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) (HDMI Micro ATX) - Sata II
• Cooler: Stock Cooler
• PSU: Antec 450Watt
• Case: NZXT Source 220
• GPU: GT640 4GB GDDR3
• HDD: 7200rpm hdds (x2) 5400rpm hdds (x2)

Now for what I want to upgrade, and the parts I have in mind! My budget is a strict 150$ US Dollars amount. As such, the Case, PSU, GPU, CPU, RAM will all be staying the same. I have upgraded the PSU and GPU recently. (500Watt, R9 270x 2GB) I wish to upgrade the HDD, Motherboard, and CPU Cooler. The parts I have in mind are as follows.

• HDD: Samsung 840EVO 120GBs (x1) 58$ Used. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-840-EVO-120-GB-Internal-2-5-MZ-7TE120KW-SSD-Solid-State-Drive-/331494323567?pt=US_Solid_State_Drives&hash=item4d2e99f56f
• Motherboard: Gigabyte FM2+/FM2 AMD A78 Crossfire mATX (GA-F2A78M-D3H) Sata III - 67$ New. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I6DLJHQ/?tag=pcpapi-20
• Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 (RR-910-HTX3-G1) 19$ New. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0028Y4S9K/?tag=pcpapi-20

My questions are simple. What are your thoughts on the part choices? Are their any incompatibilities I haven't noticed? I've tried to use pcpartpicker to help cross check. Better deals for these items that are reliably competitive? (Non fluctuating prices - I wont have the money for a few weeks) For those that are curious, I'm upgrading my motherboard to go sata III. I want to be able to take full advantage of an SSD.

 

Thank you for your time reading this! I hope we all enjoyed our computer building experiences! -Game³

[Brawhammer]

In my opinion it may be better just to sink that $150 straight on a GPU.

 

The GT 640 is not a good card. It is very low end. Your PSU is a 450 Watt that should be great for the GTX 750ti.

 

Personally, I'd work on that GPU ASAP.

[david cassar]

In my opinion it may be better just to sink that $150 straight on a GPU.

 

The GT 640 is not a good card. It is very low end. Your PSU is a 450 Watt that should be great for the GTX 750ti.

 

Personally, I'd work on that GPU ASAP.

' I have upgraded the PSU and GPU recently. (500Watt, R9 270x 2GB)'

Honestly If I were you I would get a hyper 212 instead of the tx3. Its much better at cooling and only costs a few bucks more.

[ffxiimaniac]

In my opinion it may be better just to sink that $150 straight on a GPU.

 

The GT 640 is not a good card. It is very low end. Your PSU is a 450 Watt that should be great for the GTX 750ti.

 

Personally, I'd work on that GPU ASAP.

I've already upgraded that. As you'll notice it says "Original Build" I know what you meant. GT640 was slow as all heck.

 

' I have upgraded the PSU and GPU recently. (500Watt, R9 270x 2GB)'

Honestly If I were you I would get a hyper 212 instead of the tx3. Its much better at cooling and only costs a few bucks more.

Is it worth it? Honestly the only reason I didn't pick it, is I hadn't checked it on pcpartpicker yet. Wanted to make sure the socket was correct.

[Brawhammer]

I've already upgraded that. As you'll notice it says "Original Build" I know what you meant. GT640 was slow as all heck.

 

Is it worth it? Honestly the only reason I didn't pick it, is I hadn't checked it on pcpartpicker yet. Wanted to make sure the socket was correct.

Whoops! That's what I get for posting in work hah!

 

Okay, Eh those parts all look decent. I always have one piece of advice for everyone.

 

If your computer is running fine, No problems why not save up for cosmetic differences with added performance boosts.

 

For example, I am currently running a decent machine but I always want better parts, I want a better mobo with angled Sata ports, Instead of me wasting money buying that then a x99 computer later on I'm saving that money and putting it away for that x99 machine, so instead of buying very cheap x99 parts I can get the best of stuff that looks pretty too!

 

 

But I would deffos get the SSD... everyone needs an SSD. I would even suggest forgetting the other parts and getting a higher capacity one.

[ffxiimaniac]

Whoops! That's what I get for posting in work hah!

 

Okay, Eh those parts all look decent. I always have one piece of advice for everyone.

 

If your computer is running fine, No problems why not save up for cosmetic differences with added performance boosts.

 

For example, I am currently running a decent machine but I always want better parts, I want a better mobo with angled Sata ports, Instead of me wasting money buying that then a x99 computer later on I'm saving that money and putting it away for that x99 machine, so instead of buying very cheap x99 parts I can get the best of stuff that looks pretty too!

 

 

But I would deffos get the SSD... everyone needs an SSD. I would even suggest forgetting the other parts and getting a higher capacity one.

 

I would love too.  As you can currently see however, my motherboard only supports SATA II 3gb/s. So I need to get a new one to increase the speed that the SSD can utilize. This is the main reason I'm upgrading. As well as wanting more sata ports in general. I'm also only able to run USB2.0 on this old board. My case supports USB3.0

[david cassar]

I've already upgraded that. As you'll notice it says "Original Build" I know what you meant. GT640 was slow as all heck.

 

Is it worth it? Honestly the only reason I didn't pick it, is I hadn't checked it on pcpartpicker yet. Wanted to make sure the socket was correct.

Its worth it. It has a 120mm fan instead of the 92 mm of the tx3. Its gonna allow for better overclocks and it only costs 5-9$ more than the tx3. Its definitely worth the extra price premium

[ffxiimaniac]

Its worth it. It has a 120mm fan instead of the 92 mm of the tx3. Its gonna allow for better overclocks and it only costs 5-9$ more than the tx3. Its definitely worth the extra price premium

 

It costs 15$ more lol. I don't have that kinda wiggle room yet. I could always hold off on the cooler if that's that much better. I simply wish to eliminate noise as mine is rather ehhh.

[Brawhammer]

I would love too.  As you can currently see however, my motherboard only supports SATA II 3gb/s. So I need to get a new one to increase the speed that the SSD can utilize. This is the main reason I'm upgrading. As well as wanting more sata ports in general. I'm also only able to run USB2.0 on this old board. My case supports USB3.0

Yeah I did see that. Hmm it may be worth it then. I can't see any problems with the board. Should be good for you

 

However.. I did see this board. It is an extra $10

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Dual-Link-Monitor-Motherboard-GA-F2A88X-D3H/dp/B00F8AFLG0/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1425294447&sr=1-10&keywords=FM2%2B%2FFM2

 

But it provides better audio options, has 2 more Sata ports and more slots for expansion cards.

 

Only an extra $10

[ffxiimaniac]

Yeah I did see that. Hmm it may be worth it then. I can't see any problems with the board. Should be good for you

 

However.. I did see this board. It is an extra $10

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Dual-Link-Monitor-Motherboard-GA-F2A88X-D3H/dp/B00F8AFLG0/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1425294447&sr=1-10&keywords=FM2%2B%2FFM2

 

But it provides better audio options, has 2 more Sata ports and more slots for expansion cards.

 

Only an extra $10

 

I could do that. Then I can't get the cooler though. I've only got 150 budget. SSD and Motherboard minum are 130$. Leaving me 20$ to either get a cooler, or a better motherboard. lol. Also that has 6 sata ports. Mine does as well. My current board has just 4 haha.

[Brawhammer]

I could do that. Then I can't get the cooler though. I've only got 150 budget. SSD and Motherboard minum are 130$. Leaving me 20$ to either get a cooler, or a better motherboard. lol. Also that has 6 sata ports. Mine does as well. My current board has just 4 haha.

 

Thing is... Would you rather spend $20 on a cooler or spend another $79.99 on  upgrading your motherboard again.

 

Think End-Game here

[ffxiimaniac]

Thing is... Would you rather spend $20 on a cooler or spend another $79.99 on  upgrading your motherboard again.

 

Think End-Game here

 

I suppose that's true. Though I dont think I'll need to upgrade. This CPU is very limited as it is, so this would be the final thing for the PC outside of maybe more ram. lol. I might have to skip the cooler, though I don't have thermal compound. lol

[david cassar]

It costs 15$ more lol. I don't have that kinda wiggle room yet. I could always hold off on the cooler if that's that much better. I simply wish to eliminate noise as mine is rather ehhh.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2

no?

[ffxiimaniac]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2

no?

Yes it says 35$. The cooler I had above costs 19$ lol

[david cassar]

Yes it says 35$. The cooler I had above costs 19$ lol

After rebate it costs 28$ that is if you want to use rebates ofc