Advice for Rig Upgrade (From 2011)

[Bezarius]

Hi guys,

I would like to upgrade my rig as its been lately giving me problems after attempting to play BF4 (on the lowest settings!). Seems like my rig has reached the end of its lifespan and I am looking to upgrade the rig.

Off the top of my head, here are the current specs:
Windows Vista 32bit
Intel Core(TM)2 Quad CPU, Q9550 @ 2.83 Ghz
4gb of RAM (I think DDR2)
ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
500GB HD
PSU: Corsair MX1000

I'm not really a tech kind of guy, so I am quite lost as to what I should buy and upgrade. I think my PSU is possible to reuse, as well as the CoolerMaster casing.

Usage of comp: I'm quite an enthusiastic gamer, play most of the latest games whenever I can. Watch some vids and stuff, but generally I just need the rig to have enough juice to play the next-gen games at a decent level, no need for ultra settings or whatsnot.

Thank you in advance for the advice, and if there's any other info that y'all would require so as to give better advice, feel free to let me know!

THANK YOU!

 

[GrimaH]

A non-K Core i5 + mobo, 4GB DDR3 RAM and a 280X should be enough for your needs. The rest of your setup should be fine unless you want to get a new HDD/SSD.

I'll leave it to the other HWCers to put together a rough pricelist

 

[xRenol]

Any budget?

You can consider Intel i5-4570 with 8GB DDR3 RAM.

 

[xRenol]

A non-K Core i5 + mobo, 4GB DDR3 RAM and a 280X should be enough for your needs. The rest of your setup should be fine unless you want to get a new HDD/SSD.

I'll leave it to the other HWCers to put together a rough pricelist

I doubt 4GB DDR3 RAM is sufficient for gaming.

 

[zenniz]

I'm playing BF4 at medium setting and are able to get 80fps easily. 4GB 1333mhz in dual channel is sufficient if you aren't playing at high setting.

I having seen a youtube video showing that at highest setting, BF4 only consumes around 4GB of ram INCLUSIVE of OS ram usage.

 

[Maverick_83]

A non-K Core i5 + mobo, 4GB DDR3 RAM and a 280X should be enough for your needs. The rest of your setup should be fine unless you want to get a new HDD/SSD.

I'll leave it to the other HWCers to put together a rough pricelist

I second GrimaH's suggestion, as you can see my rig on the right --->
I've the same CPU, and that's the upgrade route I plan to go, alternatively I may buy the GTX 770 if I need PhysX (currently waiting for further drop in prices and discussing wif my younger bro)

 

[xRenol]

I'm playing BF4 at medium setting and are able to get 80fps easily. 4GB 1333mhz in dual channel is sufficient if you aren't playing at high setting.

I having seen a youtube video showing that at highest setting, BF4 only consumes around 4GB of ram INCLUSIVE of OS ram usage.

TS also mentioned next-gen games and not just BF4.

 

[garfield82]

Hi guys,

I would like to upgrade my rig as its been lately giving me problems after attempting to play BF4 (on the lowest settings!). Seems like my rig has reached the end of its lifespan and I am looking to upgrade the rig.

Off the top of my head, here are the current specs:
Windows Vista 32bit
Intel Core(TM)2 Quad CPU, Q9550 @ 2.83 Ghz
4gb of RAM (I think DDR2)
ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
500GB HD
PSU: Corsair MX1000

I'm not really a tech kind of guy, so I am quite lost as to what I should buy and upgrade. I think my PSU is possible to reuse, as well as the CoolerMaster casing.

Usage of comp: I'm quite an enthusiastic gamer, play most of the latest games whenever I can. Watch some vids and stuff, but generally I just need the rig to have enough juice to play the next-gen games at a decent level, no need for ultra settings or whatsnot.

Thank you in advance for the advice, and if there's any other info that y'all would require so as to give better advice, feel free to let me know!

THANK YOU!

I see you intend to keep certain parts of your old rig, so I wont go against your wishes and come up with something.

You prolly just need the following.

Motherboard + CPU
RAM
Graphics Card optional*
SSD optional*
CASING optional* (depends old casing size and new motherboard compatible or not.

You mentioned you are a gaming ethu, so I guess hardwarez chio or not is not an issue to you right? Best Bang for your buck?

MB, H87M-G43 + Intel 4440/4570, your pick? < $400
RAM, G.Skill RipjawX 1600 or Corsair Vengence 1600 Low Profile 8gb kit, your pick? <$120
Graphics Card, AMD 270/280x? MSI/Sapphire/Gigabyte? < $480
SSD, Plextor/Crucial/Samsung? If you planning to install alot of games, get a 256gb $300 +/-

Sorry I didnt specify what graphics card or ssd for you to choose, I like for you to search the pricelist a bit and research yourself alittle so you get to know your parts abit more rather than narrowing you down to 1 option.

I doubt 4GB DDR3 RAM is sufficient for gaming.

TS also mentioned next-gen games and not just BF4.

4gb ram is enough for gaming, especially not in high detail.
However 8gb of ram normally comes in kit now, so when you purchase your probably just buy them together.

He also mentioned that he just need enough juice for next gen gaming,
though i'm not sure how to explain the above because its hard to see whats coming in the future.

 

[Bezarius]

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the various suggestions. After reviewing the possible options, and doing some of my own research, I was thinking of getting the following:
Windows 7 Home Premium
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengence 1600C9
MB: MSI H87M-G43 w/ i7 4770
HDD: WD Black Caviar 1TB (Extra Storage space for Vids)
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD
GPU: Sapphire R9 270X OC / 280X OC Vapor-X (I'm not sure which due to budget constraints)

Will these provide enough juice for most of the next-gen games? By next-gen I mean probably able to play games about 1-2years down the road without much difficulties, notwithstanding some leap in technology.

Once again thanks!

 

[Jian19]

i5-4570 + Msi b85m g43 ~ $368 (Gaming wise i5-i7 not much diff)
Crucial 8gb ddr3 ~ $90 (value ram)
Wd blue 1tb ~ $78 (fast enough as a storage )
Plextor m5s 256gb ssd ~ $245
Msi 280x tf ~ $460 (much better then sapphire, 3 year warranty)

$1241 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount....

 

[xRenol]

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the various suggestions. After reviewing the possible options, and doing some of my own research, I was thinking of getting the following:
Windows 7 Home Premium
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengence 1600C9
MB: MSI H87M-G43 w/ i7 4770
HDD: WD Black Caviar 1TB (Extra Storage space for Vids)
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD
GPU: Sapphire R9 270X OC / 280X OC Vapor-X (I'm not sure which due to budget constraints)

Will these provide enough juice for most of the next-gen games? By next-gen I mean probably able to play games about 1-2years down the road without much difficulties, notwithstanding some leap in technology.

Once again thanks!

I think you can try to get the Samsung 840 Evo 250GB from Amazon at a much cheaper price.