Advice on rig upgrade

[herzog21]

As above. I just bought Dell S2340L and am thinking of getting a 240/256GB SSD and a pair of 3tb HDD to run RAID 1 on my rig.

I am also thinking of getting 2x8GB kit. Is it wise? Anymore parts to upgrade to? I wanna it to last for another 4 yrs.

Currently what I do is
Play
-Total Wars-Shogun 2
-Football Manager
-in future some FPS games(not online)
-FIFA

-Light editing in Photoshop

My budget is ard $1k. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Alternative X]

As above. I just bought Dell S2340L and am thinking of getting a 240/256GB SSD and a pair of 3tb HDD to run RAID 1 on my rig.

I am also thinking of getting 2x8GB kit. Is it wise? Anymore parts to upgrade to? I wanna it to last for another 4 yrs.

Currently what I do is
Play
-Total Wars-Shogun 2
-Football Manager
-in future some FPS games(not online)
-FIFA

-Light editing in Photoshop

My budget is ard $1k. Any advice is much appreciated.

1) What FPS do you want to play in the future?
2) 8GB is good enough for gaming, no need 16GB RAM.

 

[herzog21]

1) What FPS do you want to play in the future?
2) 8GB is good enough for gaming, no need 16GB RAM.

not sure. perhaps something that mimic modern warfare like tom clancy or sth
must c what game catch my eye.

 

[Alternative X]

not sure. perhaps something that mimic modern warfare like tom clancy or sth
must c what game catch my eye.

Your current HD 5850 has roughly the GPU processing power of a modern R7 260X and you may have difficulty in playing modern AAA titles at max settings. (In fact, the GPU processing power in the PS4 and the X-Box One is equal to the R7 260X and hence you are likely to get console grade graphics in current AAA titles.)

If you want to play current AAA titles at max settings, you may want a Powercolor R9 280X at $418 to ensure that you can play most games in 1080p. However, if you only want to play last generation and older AAA titles, you do not need that much GPU power and can make do with a cheaper GPU. Hence, read up on performance benchmark reviews on the games that you want to play before buying a GPU that suits your needs.

 

[herzog21]

Your current HD 5850 has roughly the GPU processing power of a modern R7 260X and you may have difficulty in playing modern AAA titles at max settings. (In fact, the GPU processing power in the PS4 and the X-Box One is equal to the R7 260X and hence you are likely to get console grade graphics in current AAA titles.)

If you want to play current AAA titles at max settings, you may want a Powercolor R9 280X at $418 to ensure that you can play most games in 1080p. However, if you only want to play last generation and older AAA titles, you do not need that much GPU power and can make do with a cheaper GPU. Hence, read up on performance benchmark reviews on the games that you want to play before buying a GPU that suits your needs.

Would the R9 280X be good enough for the next 4 yrs assuming i do light gaming on modern games mostly strategy based like World in Conflict, Tom Clancy etc. I am not into online gaming.....mostly mission based.

Also as I bought a Samsung EVO 250GB SSD, I am looking for a pair of TB HDD to do Raid 1. So I have some qtns which i need your opinions on.....

1) What kind of HDD should I get for 3TB?
2)Do I need to upgrade anything else like mobo+Processor? Power supply?
Rams?

Latest update: my PC died on me. Prior to that, I just bought Dell S2340L and connected to the CPU using HDMI cable. Then suddenly, my monitor kept displaying static/freezing.

I thought rams were the cause so i swapped out the rams to test and now nothing is showing on my monitor even thou i booted up.

 

[shadow84]

Try removing your gpu. If your cpu has in built graphics, then try using that 1st, see whether your 5850 kaput or not.

 

[herzog21]

Try removing your gpu. If your cpu has in built graphics, then try using that 1st, see whether your 5850 kaput or not.

nah. dont wanna fiddle with it too much. am a total noob in this.

any advice on potential upgrades is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[shadow84]

nah. dont wanna fiddle with it too much. am a total noob in this.

any advice on potential upgrades is much appreciated. Thanks.

If u dun diagnose where is the problem, then the problem may still exist, even if u change parts.

But, for starters, you can change the gpu.

 

[herzog21]

If u dun diagnose where is the problem, then the problem may still exist, even if u change parts.

But, for starters, you can change the gpu.

will be asking a fellow forummer for help in diagnosing the problems and upgrading my rig.

Was considering either R9 270 or (X?) and GTX660 after reading tomhardware. Is it any good?

I am looking to extend the lifespan of the rig for 4-5 more yrs.

 

[shadow84]

Your most demanding game would be FPS, depending on what it is. If it consists of AAA games, i suggest at least powercolour 280x.

 

[herzog21]

Your most demanding game would be FPS, depending on what it is. If it consists of AAA games, i suggest at least powercolour 280x.

okay...will try squeeze that into my budget of 1k
anything else?

 

[shadow84]

okay...will try squeeze that into my budget of 1k
anything else?

If u need RAID, den get H97/H87 mobo along with i5 cpu, if ur photoshop editing isnt that intensive. You should be able to fit a 280x and 256gb ssd in it.

But, with $1k budget, its hard to fit in a pair of 3TB hdd.

 

[Jian19]

i5-4460 + Gigabyte h97 d3h ~ $401
Reuse ram
Msi 270x gaming ~ $308
Wd red 3tb x 2 ~ $316
reuse dvd
Reuse psu
Reuse case

$1025 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount. Hard to say whether can last 5 years anot ~

 

[shadow84]

i5-4460 + Gigabyte h97 d3h ~ $401
Reuse ram
Msi 270x gaming ~ $308
Wd red 3tb x 2 ~ $316
reuse dvd
Reuse psu
Reuse case

$1025 buy and DIY @ tradepac ask for discount. Hard to say whether can last 5 years anot ~

You missed out ssd though.

 

[Jian19]

He say he brought le wad ~

 

[Alternative X]

Would it be much cheaper to ask TS to buy a RAID card? His CPU is still very much usable and he is only doing light photoshop anyway.

 

[Jian19]

He wan it to last another 4-5 years ~

 

[Alternative X]

He wan it to last another 4-5 years ~

Games tend to emphasize on GPU processing power rather than CPU processing power and I would rather use the money to buy a R9 280X as his CPU is still pretty good for gaming. (People have been gaming away with Pentium processors and Athlon II X4 processors without problems.)

 

[shadow84]

He say he brought le wad ~

Didnt see that he bought the ssd within a few hours from his 1st post. My bad.

 

[Jian19]

It's also how long his CPU and mobo can tahan

Up to individual to decide wad they wan to upgrade, IMO a gfx is easier to upgrade should he need to game at max setting

I dun see him as a "hardcore" gamer that wan to game @ highest setting, that's why I recommend a 270x which will handle most games on 1080p high without much issue with AA off