Updating my PC. Mobo, GFX, CPU & CPU Cooler. Help!

[shazzam66]

Hi all!

 

Been watching Linus Tech Tips for a while and finally decided to join up and do my first topic so here it goes!

 

I'm looking at updating my pc (been roughly 2 years or so) with a budget of around $1000. (keep in mind im in Australia)

 

I'm happy with the rest of my setup (16 gig ram, good hdds, storm scout 2 case) just looking to update the motherboard, graphics card, cpu and cpu cooler.

 

My current setup is: MSI 890FXA-GD70 / AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460

 

Any suggestions? Saw only the latest live steam that the guys have a real love of the 7950.

 

EDIT: Settled on:

 

Corsair Hydro Series H100i CPU Cooler - $145

AMD FX-8350 8 Core Processor - $209

Sapphire Radeon HD7950 3GB with Boost - $299

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Motherboard - $155

[WhatARoaster]

Well haswell is coming out soon, that could be a fair option.

[GeneralBear]

i would keep your mobo as it suports the 8350 9amazing cpu got one in my girlfriends rig) she has a 7850 little on the low end but great for her 7950 great deal sadly just cant aford one my self but 8350 and 7950 great combo and dono what cpu coolers fit in ur case or what you currently have

[mgsstar]

I would wait before you upgrade because new Nvidia gpu is releasing and Intel Haswell cpus are releasing in a couple of weeks.

[cYRoN]

I would save that budget for later or simply do something like:

Mobo: No upgrade necessary, if you were to stay with AMD.

GPU: If you could get your hands on a 7870 with the 'Tahiti LE' GPU, go for that one.

It's 100$ cheaper and performs better than the 7950 in most cases almost similiar to a 7970.

CPU: You could get yourself the 8Core-beast 'AMD FX 8350' and be fine.

 

Cooler: Something like Corsair H110/H100, Swifttechs H220 or NZXT Kraken X60

 

As for pricing: (Mobo) + 200$ + 180$ + 100$ = (Mobo) + 480$

[shazzam66]

i would keep your mobo as it suports the 8350 9amazing cpu got one in my girlfriends rig) she has a 7850 little on the low end but great for her 7950 great deal sadly just cant aford one my self but 8350 and 7950 great combo and dono what cpu coolers fit in ur case or what you currently have

Currently using a CoolerMaster Storm Scout 2.

 

 

I would wait before you upgrade because new Nvidia gpu is releasing and Intel Haswell cpus are releasing in a couple of weeks.

Wait because these new arrivals will drive the prices down again? Keep in mind my budget is $1000.

 

I would save that budget for later or simply do something like:

Mobo: No upgrade necessary, if you were to stay with AMD.

GPU: If you could get your hands on a 7870 with the 'Tahiti LE' GPU, go for that one.

It's 100$ cheaper and performs better than the 7950 in most cases almost similiar to a 7970.

CPU: You could get yourself the 8Core-beast 'AMD FX 8350' and be fine.

 

Cooler: Something like Corsair H110/H100, Swifttechs H220 or NZXT Kraken X60

 

As for pricing: (Mobo) + 200$ + 180$ + 100$ = (Mobo) + 480$

Any idea where I could get a 'Tahiti LE"?

 

Thanks very much to everyone for the speedy replies! And no Mobo upgrade really?

[GeneralBear]

personly no mobo upgrade it suports all the current amd so why put more money in then you need to? sorry for my bad spelling

[shazzam66]

personly no mobo upgrade it suports all the current amd so why put more money in then you need to? sorry for my bad spelling

 

Haha all good! Aside from the performance its an ugly looking board (Just saying) and doesnt really suit my case. Is this stupid? (i'm guessing probably)

[GeneralBear]

no my old gig board 780 seariece was like neon colur looked ugly now my backup rig with a 955 mf has the 990fxaud3 love it black and grey color scheem

[shazzam66]

So the real question then is 7950 or 7970?

[cYRoN]

PowerColor and VTX3D 7870s are still listed to be powered by a Tahiti LE GPU.

However, there should be the 8000 series around the corner - since nVidia already announced their 700 series.

On the other hand, its 'just' 200$ for an awesome graphicscard.

If I were in your shoes, I would just buy the FX8350.

Maybe 2 additional RAM Sticks to go up to 16GB RAM and leave everything else as is - for another month at least.

The pricing might fall alot, once AMDs 8000 or NVidias 700 series reaches the market.

Edit:

As I just recalled, I'd seen a spreadsheet somewhere on the webz, showing the 780 with a Titan GPU at ~600$.

That's worth checking out.

[shazzam66]

PowerColor and VTX3D 7870s are still listed to be powered by a Tahiti LE GPU.

However, there should be the 8000 series around the corner - since nVidia already announced their 700 series.

On the other hand, its 'just' 200$ for an awesome graphicscard.

If I were in your shoes, I would just buy the FX8350.

Maybe 2 additional RAM Sticks to go up to 16GB RAM and leave everything else as is - for another month at least.

The pricing might fall alot, once AMDs 8000 or NVidias 700 series reaches the market.

Edit:

As I just recalled, I'd seen a spreadsheet somewhere on the webz, showing the 780 with a Titan GPU at ~600$.

That's worth checking out.

 

FX8350 it is then, also I have already bought another 8gig of RAM

 

Also i'm thinking http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1311&products_id=22337

[cYRoN]

Nah, wait for the 700series to launch.

NVidia already stated its due to launch within May.

Thats a mere two weeks window. Wait for it and hopefully see some prices sink like the titanic.

Or even go with a brandnew GTX770 that is said to be ~350$

Here's a link (in german tho) stating that GTX770 & 780 are to be launchen in May 2013.

And the 760 Ti shall arrive to be shown at Computex in June.

http://www.3dcenter.org/artikel/der-lange-weg-zu-den-ersten-20nm-grafikkarten

[shazzam66]

Thanks so much for the feedback cYRoN.

 

I'll take your advice and wait and hope that prices come down (although it might not be much)

 

edit: So as far as value for money goes, 7950? or hope that the prices of 7970's come down enough to make paying the extra comparable to the 7950?

[tk421]

Honestly, the 7970 doesn't have a huge performance gain over the 7950.  You'd be fine to go with the 7950 or a 670 (or wait for a new card).  You've got a nice mobo though (I actually like the color scheme on that board).  For the $1000 you could buy the 8350, put an H100i on it an overclock the.heck out of it, and STILL get just about any GPU you wanted.

[shazzam66]

Honestly, the 7970 doesn't have a huge performance gain over the 7950.  You'd be fine to go with the 7950 or a 670 (or wait for a new card).  You've got a nice mobo though (I actually like the color scheme on that board).  For the $1000 you could buy the 8350, put an H100i on it an overclock the.heck out of it, and STILL get just about any GPU you wanted.

 

I really hate the colour scheme on my mobo hahaha, glad to see someone likes it. Wanna buy it when I get rid of it? I doubt I will overclock the 8350. Time to decide on Motherboard now I guess!

[JAKEBAB]

I would wait for haswell its going to be more power efficient and better than an 8350 and Australia's power is going up again why not save money on your power bill and get more performance?

[tk421]

I really hate the colour scheme on my mobo hahaha, glad to see someone likes it. Wanna buy it when I get rid of it? I doubt I will overclock the 8350. Time to decide on Motherboard now I guess!

LOL the shipping charges to the US would make it totally not worth it but selling it isnt a bad idea...

[cYRoN]

Depends if shazzam66 is running his PC 24/7, an Intel Core-i5 or even i7 will be beneficial to his powerbills..

On the other hand, getting an Z77 or even a Z87 board and the corresponding CPU adds up to like 400-600$ depends on the board and the CPU.
The 3570k isn't faster as the FX8350. Single tasks its neck to neck. Multitasks and CPU intensive tasks (like rendering) the AMD wins.

+ The FX8350 is cheaper than the 3570k.
+ Shazzam66 already got a board for the 8350k.

+ the difference in price could better be invested in a h100/h110 or something like that. Cuz the 8350 overclocks like a friggin lord. :>

 

@ shazzam66

If you really were to go for a new board, anything with 990FX would be fine.

If that's the case, I would consider buying the MSI 990FXA-GD65 or Gigabyte's GA-990FXA-UD3.

They should both be around 100$.

... Me personally, think it would be dumb to throw a board away just for looks. You would be better off with a nice'n'easy h100i/h110 cpucooler.

... But thats just me ;)

[shazzam66]

tk421, on 13 May 2013 - 11:57 AM, said:

LOL the shipping charges to the US would make it totally not worth it but selling it isnt a bad idea...

Well let me know either way haha.

cYRoN, on 13 May 2013 - 12:01 PM, said:

Depends if shazzam66 is running his PC 24/7, an Intel Core-i5 or even i7 will be beneficial to his powerbills..

On the other hand, getting an Z77 or even a Z87 board and the corresponding CPU adds up to like 400-600$ depends on the board and the CPU.

The 3570k isn't faster as the FX8350. Single tasks its neck to neck. Multitasks and CPU intensive tasks (like rendering) the AMD wins.

+ The FX8350 is cheaper than the 3570k.

+ Shazzam66 already got a board for the 8350k.

+ the difference in price could better be invested in a h100/h110 or something like that. Cuz the 8350 overclocks like a friggin lord. :>

@ shazzam66

If you really were to go for a new board, anything with 990FX would be fine.

If that's the case, I would consider buying the MSI 990FXA-GD65 or Gigabyte's GA-990FXA-UD3.

They should both be around 100$.

... Me personally, think it would be dumb to throw a board away just for looks. You would be better off with a nice'n'easy h100i/h110 cpucooler.

... But thats just me ;)

I'm not running my PC around the clock (I have to go to work sometime haha)

I'll be going the FX8350 + Gigabyte's GA-990FXA-UD3 (about $350 total in my area)

This is the list of Graphics Cards I have to choose from.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=193_1311&vk_sort=1

Edit: Also will a H100 fit inside my case? Running a Scout 2.

[nukem]

hey just realised your from melbourne too! whatsup haha!

 

i think yes just upgrading to a 8350 and either a 7950 or 7970 would be a sufficient upgrade to your system.

personally i would spend the extra money to get the 70 over the 50 but as people say, its not a huge increase in performance

 

as for the H100 do ya google homework on your case dimensions lol

 

EDIT: also i didnt notice if u specified your hard drive but i would highly suggest getting a SSD to run your OS and games off, makes a world of difference

[tk421]

Well let me know either way haha.

 

Thanks, but I'm good.

[shazzam66]

hey just realised your from melbourne too! whatsup haha!

 

i think yes just upgrading to a 8350 and either a 7950 or 7970 would be a sufficient upgrade to your system.

personally i would spend the extra money to get the 70 over the 50 but as people say, its not a huge increase in performance

 

as for the H100 do ya google homework on your case dimensions lol

 

EDIT: also i didnt notice if u specified your hard drive but i would highly suggest getting a SSD to run your OS and games off, makes a world of difference

 

Shout out to Melbourne! Which suburb?

 

The extra $100 for the jump between 7950 > 7970 is only around 10% increase in performance.

 

Also I have an SSD for Windows then Hybrid drive for programs.

[WoodenMarker]

 

edit: So as far as value for money goes, 7950? or hope that the prices of 7970's come down enough to make paying the extra comparable to the 7950?

7950 is the better bang for buck. I'd rather get that. You pay a premium if you choose the 7970.

[nukem]

Shout out to Melbourne! Which suburb?

 

The extra $100 for the jump between 7950 > 7970 is only around 10% increase in performance.

 

Also I have an SSD for Windows then Hybrid drive for programs.

 

south east side in Berwick!