[DIY] Minimal Upgrade Options

[dark_heaven]

Hi, hope i can get some help here, been wanting to upgrade my desktop. Setup is around 5 years now i guess, hope kind ppl here will help me with my setup. with my setup now, what would be advisable for me to upgrade? or rather should i just throw everything and buy a whole new setup? TIA!

 

[Fatfool]

It's late isn't it?

But IMO, toss all except for the copy of windows. Bulldozer doesn't present a significant boost to performance. No contemporary board uses DDR2 anymore.

I just upgraded my sister's Opteron 4180 (ie hexa core Thuban) rig with a new Asus Mars 760 (2 x GTX760) and it's being badly bottlenecked.

Her previous Radeon 5870 was dying on Dragon age Inqusition and the Witcher 2 even on low @ 1280 X 1024

So I reckon it'd be better to toss your current rig.

 

[dark_heaven]

It's late isn't it?

But IMO, toss all except for the copy of windows. Bulldozer doesn't present a significant boost to performance. No contemporary board uses DDR2 anymore.

I just upgraded my sister's Opteron 4180 (ie hexa core Thuban) rig with a new Asus Mars 760 (2 x GTX760) and it's being badly bottlenecked.

Her previous Radeon 5870 was dying on Dragon age Inqusition and the Witcher 2 even on low @ 1280 X 1024

So I reckon it'd be better to toss your current rig.

Haha yea i guess so. Thanks for the reply and advice. Have a great day

 

[bermudas]

What do u use ur PC for? I lived with my C2D for 7 years before doing an upgrade last week.

 

[dark_heaven]

What do u use ur PC for? I lived with my C2D for 7 years before doing an upgrade last week.

Occasionally do some light gaming like dota2 i guess. Already out of the gaming era quite abit. But it was due to my fans and machine getting too loud that i was thinking of an upgrade.

 

[Alternative X]

Occasionally do some light gaming like dota2 i guess. Already out of the gaming era quite abit. But it was due to my fans and machine getting too loud that i was thinking of an upgrade.

Actually, if you are just going to do light gaming, your Phenom II X3 is still good, can't see why there is a need to toss out your entire rig.

Also, what do you mean by loud? Is the bearings on the fans going to spoil or something?

What PSU are you using?

 

[dark_heaven]

Actually, if you are just going to do light gaming, your Phenom II X3 is still good, can't see why there is a need to toss out your entire rig.

Also, what do you mean by loud? Is the bearings on the fans going to spoil or something?

What PSU are you using?

I am using Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W currently. dont think is the PSU though. the fan sounds are coming from the from of the case. like loud fan spinning sounds

 

[Alternative X]

I am using Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W currently. dont think is the PSU though. the fan sounds are coming from the from of the case. like loud fan spinning sounds

Your case fans, perhaps? Maybe can also download SpeedFan and use it to reduce your fan speeds if for some reason, your fans are going at full blast. Any abnormal noises like 'drrrrrrrrrrrr' etc?

Also, what do you hope to achieve from this upgrade? Budget?

 

[dark_heaven]

Your case fans, perhaps? Maybe can also download SpeedFan and use it to reduce your fan speeds if for some reason, your fans are going at full blast. Any abnormal noises like 'drrrrrrrrrrrr' etc?

Also, what do you hope to achieve from this upgrade? Budget?

ok thanks, will try to download the program and try it out.

yea sometimes it does have some weird noises, have to hit it like once for it to stop lol.

actually if its just the fans, i will be looking for a new case probably, other than that i guess i will need to change the whole system liao, since my board doesnt support ddr3. probably with a $800-1k budget

 

[Alternative X]

ok thanks, will try to download the program and try it out.

yea sometimes it does have some weird noises, have to hit it like once for it to stop lol.

actually if its just the fans, i will be looking for a new case probably, other than that i guess i will need to change the whole system liao, since my board doesnt support ddr3. probably with a $800-1k budget

You can actually still buy DDR2 RAM, you know? Costs about $20+/GB.

Also, you aware that you are using an AM3 CPU with an AM2+ mobo? Can always just buy an AM3+ mobo and use it with your AM3 CPU.

Also, what do you hope to achieve with this upgrade? Play DOTA 2 at max settings in 1080p? What other games are you playing?

Also, if it is just the case fans going bad, do you know that you can just buy new case fans and swap out the ones on the casing with the new ones?

 

[dark_heaven]

You can actually still buy DDR2 RAM, you know? Costs about $20+/GB.

Also, you aware that you are using an AM3 CPU with an AM2+ mobo? Can always just buy an AM3+ mobo and use it with your AM3 CPU.

Also, what do you hope to achieve with this upgrade? Play DOTA 2 at max settings in 1080p? What other games are you playing?

Also, if it is just the case fans going bad, do you know that you can just buy new case fans and swap out the ones on the casing with the new ones?

Am aware about the getting of ddr2 rams and changing out of fans to swap it as i did fix my led fans before.

However if lets say i change out my board for a am3+ one, will it really make any difference? Any new features or stuff? Am a total noob with mobo and chips.

Probably some other games i play may be like battlefield, COD and upcoming batman arkham knights. On high settings preferred of course

 

[dark_heaven]

You can actually still buy DDR2 RAM, you know? Costs about $20+/GB.

Also, you aware that you are using an AM3 CPU with an AM2+ mobo? Can always just buy an AM3+ mobo and use it with your AM3 CPU.

Also, what do you hope to achieve with this upgrade? Play DOTA 2 at max settings in 1080p? What other games are you playing?

Also, if it is just the case fans going bad, do you know that you can just buy new case fans and swap out the ones on the casing with the new ones?

Btw thanks for the help thus far, u have been of help much and for replying so promptly

 

[Alternative X]

Am aware about the getting of ddr2 rams and changing out of fans to swap it as i did fix my led fans before.

However if lets say i change out my board for a am3+ one, will it really make any difference? Any new features or stuff? Am a total noob with mobo and chips.

Probably some other games i play may be like battlefield, COD and upcoming batman arkham knights. On high settings preferred of course

Changing your AM2+ mobo for an AM3+ mobo will not do anything to your performance except to allow you to use DDR3 RAM.

Also, if you are seriously planning to play Battlefield, COD and Batman: Arkham Knights, might want to also change your CPU as well. A Phenom II X3 is not going to have a good performance in these games. If you are brave enough, can also attempt to unlock the locked core on the Phenom II X3 720 and turn it into a Phenom II X4, but results are not guaranteed and even if you succeed in unlocking the 4th core, you are likely to be able to play at High settings at best when paired with a high end GPU. Might be a better idea to get a new CPU unless you do not mind playing your games at lower settings. (You did say that you are not gaming as often as you used to.)

 

[bermudas]

Occasionally do some light gaming like dota2 i guess. Already out of the gaming era quite abit. But it was due to my fans and machine getting too loud that i was thinking of an upgrade.

As suggested above, take a look at those fans first. Else, ur specs are good to go for light usage still.

 

[dark_heaven]

Okay thanks guys. Will check on my fans first before deciding what to do. I dont game alot now but i am a person who minds alot about graphics in game haha.

I have tried to unlock the 4th core before in my chip but i guess mine was a later batch therefore to no avail.

 

[dark_heaven]

As suggested above, take a look at those fans first. Else, ur specs are good to go for light usage still.

finally got some time at my pc. just wondering, how much should i set my speed of my fans to be?

i actually found out that the loud sounds were coming from my fans and when i lowered it, it was much quieter. it was previously at 100%

 

[Alternative X]

finally got some time at my pc. just wondering, how much should i set my speed of my fans to be?

i actually found out that the loud sounds were coming from my fans and when i lowered it, it was much quieter. it was previously at 100%

Set your fans to a speed that you do not find noisy and yet is fast enough to provide sufficient airflow to your casing.