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Looking to upgrade my computerFollow

#1 Oct 10 2014 at 2:05 AM Rating: Good
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It's been about 3 years since I built this rig, and I am starting to feel like it could use an upgrade.

Stats:
Pretty sure I have a 750 watt corsair power supply
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5850 1 GB Video Card
A gigabyte 333 motherboard (pretty sure there is more info needed than that but don't know it offhand)
Currently chugging away with just 2GB of Ram since the other 2GB fried (ripjaw something or other)
AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor
Running windows 7 64 bit (pretty sure I have no clue where the disc/reg code is so if I had to reinstall I'd have to re-buy, though I could look for it, I don't really throw discs out)
Some ****** hardrive that is under 1 TB (and a back up external harddrive to help protect my media)
CD rom drive, peripherals etc

I think I could scrape together 500 bucks or so in the next couple months. Would I be able to buy anything with that to make this noticeably better other than the obvious RAM? I mainly use it for surfing and FFXI and some more current games like Civ5 etc - before the RAM kicked the bucket most everything ran pretty fine, but I'm wondering if 500 or so would make a difference. I also wouldn't mind getting a new case and/or liquid cooling because this thing sounds like an airplane sometimes.
#2 Oct 10 2014 at 8:47 AM Rating: Excellent
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Definitely start with RAM. Windows 7 needs 2GB by itself just to operate well, leaving you with nothing for other applications. It's the cheapest upgrade that will have the biggest impact for the cost. I'd recommend 8GB.

New Nvidia cards are being released soon which are supposed to deliver great performance for the price. Even if you don't pick one of them, you can profit by the inevitable price drop on older cards. Wait until the holidays and see how the pricing goes and bump this thread to ask about recommendations. If you want to remotely future proof your purchase, look for a card with 3GB VRAM or better since the most recent games are requiring it for High graphic settings.
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#3 Oct 11 2014 at 10:44 AM Rating: Excellent
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Yeah, immediate ram upgrade is your main priority. The video card is decent, but a newer one with more ram as Jophiel mentioned would be a definite improvement. You may also want to consider picking up a solid state hard drive, but that would mean a windows reload. If you go that route, grab a Samsung 850 series around 256gb or larger, and at the same time a second larger rotational drive for data storage if you have the room inside the case (or better yet 2 of the larger drives in raid 1 mode if your motherboard will support it. )

If you only have 2GB in your system, I'd also be worried about the power supply size. Make sure your power supply is at least 550 watts before you consider any video card upgrades.

For $500, you could also consider doing the motherboard, ram and a new processor if you stuck to the AMD side of things. That would give you an immidiate boost just due to the ram more than the processor, but would also prepare you for future upgrades on the video card side.
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#4 Oct 30 2014 at 1:34 PM Rating: Good
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Thanks all you, now it has been a really long time since I built my computer so I have forgotten everything - do I need to pick a specific type of ram to match my motherboard or anything? I think the original reason I only went for 4GB RAM is cause my motherboard only fully supports 4GB even though it has 4 slots...

Edited, Oct 30th 2014 12:35pm by Olorinus
#5 Oct 30 2014 at 2:31 PM Rating: Excellent
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Do you know what your motherboard is? As in brand/model, I assume you know what it physically is Smiley: grin
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#6 Oct 31 2014 at 11:28 AM Rating: Good
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Thanks to the Zam I do:

Quote:
-GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
#7 Oct 31 2014 at 12:07 PM Rating: Excellent
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By the power vested in me by Google, I can report back:
Quote:

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory (Note 1)
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 1866(OC)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules (Note 2)

Something like this or like this would work for you. 8GB memory is a good place to be at, plus the extra 2GB just 'cause you already own it.

See how it goes and how you want to allocate your remaining upgrade funds.

Edited, Oct 31st 2014 1:12pm by Jophiel
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
#8 Oct 31 2014 at 2:40 PM Rating: Good
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Jophiel wrote:
By the power vested in me by Google, I can report back:
Quote:

4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory (Note 1)
Dual channel memory architecture
Support for DDR3 1866(OC)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules (Note 2)

Something like this or like this would work for you. 8GB memory is a good place to be at, plus the extra 2GB just 'cause you already own it.

See how it goes and how you want to allocate your remaining upgrade funds.

Edited, Oct 31st 2014 1:12pm by Jophiel


Thanks. So going to order on newegg tonight.

So I read the reviews of the ripjaws (cause that's what I had) then I saw this email posted by someone... which interests me because the ram that failed was the same brand... thinking I might see if I can get it replaced.

Quote:
Dear Customer

Don't worry! They can fail in 5 years, we will still send you a brand new kit! You purchased G.Skill and all G.Skill memory kits are backed by a manufacturer lifetime warranty. NewEgg covers you for 30 days, but we cover you for life. Your computer will always have good working RAM, so you never have to buy more. Visit the G.Skill website for complete RMA procedure. The RMA process is quick and hassle free, so a replacement can be out to you shortly. Getting your computer back up and running is our main concern because we know how much of a hassle it can be without one. For any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

Quality and customer service are our top priorities.

Tech Support Email: ustech@gskillusa.com
RMA Dept Email: rma@gskillusa.com
G.Skill Forum: http://www.gskill.us/forum/

External Link(s):
G.Skill RMA procedure


Then again the proceedure seems like a PITA so yeah probably won't.

Eh... we will see.

Edited, Oct 31st 2014 1:46pm by Olorinus
#9 Oct 31 2014 at 3:03 PM Rating: Good
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Thanks for the help! Bought the 8GB of RAM. I can't actually wait, my computer has been so bad for so long that it just hurts to remember that I've been so lazy about fixing it.
#10 Nov 06 2014 at 12:18 PM Rating: Good
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Computer is happy. I am happy. Yay RAM.

Now just need to find my windows disc/key so I can buy a SSD

Edited, Nov 6th 2014 10:18am by Olorinus
#11 Nov 06 2014 at 2:31 PM Rating: Excellent
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Awesome. Glad it helped so much. Like I said, Win7 practically uses 2GB just to run so you really weren't leaving yourself with anything for actual programs. I'm sure that's obvious now though Smiley: smile
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Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
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