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gaming/light room build.

Z

Zenprophet

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
80
Hello,

I need help with a budget build, and if possible I want it to be better than my previous PC. I plan to use it for gaming Wolfenstien, Diablo 3 Rocksmith 2014 (possibly streaming it on twitch). I also like to take RAW photos and want to edit them in light room/photoshop. I plan to purchase the same case I use with my previous build outside of the budget.I have a keyboard, mouse, and the same monitor as used with my old build. My budget is to try and stay under $780 and I will be purchasing parts over the next two to four weeks. So I have time if there are sales i should wait for.

The previous build is
Intel Core i5 3470
MSI B75MA-P45
Corsair XMS3 2x4GB DDR3 1333 kit
Lite-On IHAS124-04 SATA DVD burner
NZXT Source 210 Elite
Themaltake TR2 600w PSU
Asus VE247H (23.6 inch, 1920x1080, 2ms response time, LED backlighting, built-in speakers, TN panel) monitor.
Radeon HD6850 graphics card.

The current build works fine and i will keep using it but I've noticed it loads a little slow and some games seem to perform poorly.

Thanks for any help you can give.
 
Just upgrade your GPU and up your ram to 32GB. Your CPU is still fine.
 
Notice you didn't say what your system drive was. If it is a hard drive, consider moving to a suitably sized SSD too.
 
I'm going to agree with the others there here and say your platform is solid. No need to upgrade the CPU/MB (or even the PSU for that matter although I'm not a huge fan of the tr2) and with the budget you have in mind I don't think a CPU/MB upgrade would be very noticeable anyways.

I'd upgrade the ram to 32gb since you do some editing, add a solid state hard drive for fast loading times and spend the majority of the rest of the budget on a GPU and call it good (you should see huge performance gains).

If you're wanting to keep the old system and build a second... I think you're going to have to step up your budget if you want to see a noticeable improvement over your current setup.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I am using a 1 TB HDD, a 1 TB External drive, and a 500 GB external drive the larger external drive holds most of my steam games, the smaller is for photos.

I was considering a second build, but I'm open to upgrading my current build. I've never had a SSD but, they seem mostly small so I assume I would only load the games/programs with the longest load times to it. I'm thinking if i just upgrade my current PC I would also benefit from a larger internal HDD.

So if we fall back to just upgrading my current system, which I am leaning towards more. Let's drop the budget down a bit, say #300 for the ram/gpu? What would be the cheapest GPU upgrade that would give me a performance boost?

Also what SSD do you suggest?

Thanks again guys.
 
Okay, you're playing off an external drive? USB2 I'm betting? If so it's no wonder your system seems to be slowing down...

USB is a nice interface and all, but it just isn't meant for that kind of use.

A 500GB Samsung Evo SSD will run you about $150. Use something like that as a boot drive. It'll speed up system loads fairly dramatically.

www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/

Then repurpose your 1TB INTERNAL HDD for game loads. And/or buy another internal HDD, like a 4TB HGST.

http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Deskstar-3-5-Inch-Internal-0S03664/dp/B00HHAJRU0/

Having the drives on SATA, rather than USB will speed up game loads dramatically.

And for the ones you want loading as quickly as possible, you can put a few on your SSD.
 
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Sorry, let me clear this up a bit. My original 1TB HDD held everything, but photos. I load my photos to the HDD, edit them, then move them to the 500 GB external. Even with that my HDD was starting to run out of space. So I got the 1TB external to put my games on. I only moved games to it that I am not currently playing.

So right now the games I play run from the HDD. Mostly rocksmith 2014, Diablo 3, Heroes of the storm, the forest, and wolfenstien. I have tried a game or two on the external, but the load times seem about the same. With the advice I've gotten so far and taking a better look at things... Maybe I just need to upgrade ram and the GPU? My GPU doesn't perform as well as my brother's build.

If it helps an example is if we both play diablo on the same internet connection and I go into a rift or new area then he clicks in after me, when I load in I notice he has already killed a few things and moved on. Had I to venture a guess I would say if I click just one second before he does, he still seems to be loaded up about 3 or 4 seconds faster than me. That doesn't seem too bad, but it's enough to feel the load screen. I will likely get the SSD, not sure I want to get a 4TB HDD just yet because the externals though not ideal work fine for me because I play games in phases. So If I am not playing the game it is simple enough to toss it on an external, also that's useful for moving the photos or games pc to pc.

I looked at ram and dialed back my budget considering I won't likely need to update my whole build. 32Gigs seems too much at once, so maybe I should get another 16 gigs in addition to the 8 I have if that's possible. Someone did mention a Geforce graphics card as an upgrade for around $200 that would be much faster than mine.

Any suggestions on Ram/GPU? I have amazon Prime so I can get free shipping on most things from them.

Thanks for any help you can give.
 
I looked at ram and dialed back my budget considering I won't likely need to update my whole build. 32Gigs seems too much at once, so maybe I should get another 16 gigs in addition to the 8 I have if that's possible. Someone did mention a Geforce graphics card as an upgrade for around $200 that would be much faster than mine.
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as too much at once when it comes to ram. Especially with Adobe. Max out what you have.

DDR3 1600 32GB Kit: $140

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231569

Someone did mention a Geforce graphics card as an upgrade for around $200 that would be much faster than mine.
Click to expand...

That would be virtually any card on the market. You have an old-ass card there.

Your motherboard supports PCIe 3.0, so you don't even need to upgrade that.

Your HD6850 is about on par with a GeForce GT 645.

A GTX 760 would pretty much kick the snot out of it. You could get those used. However, new and for the price point of $200, the R9 380 is probably the best way to go if you continue gaming at FHD resolution.

However, since you said GeForce... It'd be hard to say no to this:

EVGA GTX GeForce 960 with 4GB Ram $205

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487224

But if you're willing to go with a non-GeForce card...

Sapphire R9 380 4GB $190 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166

Tradeoffs between both cards are effectively a wash from what I can tell. Each are better in about as many games as the other and only by single digit framerates.

No need to upgrade your CPU, motherboard or PSU with all this. Seriously. You have a good CPU. Stick with it for another 5 years. The rest will last at least that long.
 
Thanks for the reply, I'm not stuck on Geforce at all. Just want the best value, and a performance boost that I can notice. I only mentioned Geforce because that was the brand that was suggested to me. Also do you have any amazon links? I'm trying to make use of my prime membership and free shipping.
 
Zenprophet said:
Sorry, let me clear this up a bit. My original 1TB HDD held everything, but photos. I load my photos to the HDD, edit them, then move them to the 500 GB external. Even with that my HDD was starting to run out of space. So I got the 1TB external to put my games on. I only moved games to it that I am not currently playing.

So right now the games I play run from the HDD. Mostly rocksmith 2014, Diablo 3, Heroes of the storm, the forest, and wolfenstien. I have tried a game or two on the external, but the load times seem about the same. With the advice I've gotten so far and taking a better look at things... Maybe I just need to upgrade ram and the GPU? My GPU doesn't perform as well as my brother's build.

If it helps an example is if we both play diablo on the same internet connection and I go into a rift or new area then he clicks in after me, when I load in I notice he has already killed a few things and moved on. Had I to venture a guess I would say if I click just one second before he does, he still seems to be loaded up about 3 or 4 seconds faster than me. That doesn't seem too bad, but it's enough to feel the load screen. I will likely get the SSD, not sure I want to get a 4TB HDD just yet because the externals though not ideal work fine for me because I play games in phases. So If I am not playing the game it is simple enough to toss it on an external, also that's useful for moving the photos or games pc to pc.

I looked at ram and dialed back my budget considering I won't likely need to update my whole build. 32Gigs seems too much at once, so maybe I should get another 16 gigs in addition to the 8 I have if that's possible. Someone did mention a Geforce graphics card as an upgrade for around $200 that would be much faster than mine.

Any suggestions on Ram/GPU? I have amazon Prime so I can get free shipping on most things from them.

Thanks for any help you can give.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay... It's hang with the lady day, lol.

I never suggest mixing unmatched RAM, so I can't recommend you pick up a pair of 8gb sticks to add to your existing RAM. The chances of instability from mismatched RAM is low, but why even take the chance? Since you do some work with Photoshop, I really think you would get the most use out of a 32gb setup. How about one of these (if you don't like the blue you can get a set of your color choice with timings that are only slightly sloppier). Both sets are the same price, one set is 2133 and one is 2400 but because of the timings, they should perform roughly the same. I used to just suggest going with 1600mhz RAM, but in some cases you do get a small benefit from the faster speeds. And for an extra $5, why the hell not?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231712

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231714

Here's my strategy when it comes to storage. I use an SSD for the operating system, programs and any flavor of the week games that can be improved by super fast load times. A regular high capacity mechanical drive for any the rest of my games and mass storage I want to keep locally on the computer (pictures, backup, files, etc) and then I use an external drive for movies (so I can connect it to the TV easily) and extra backup. That works out pretty well for me.

As far as an SSD goes... The Samsung Evo Chas linked is really solid. You could also get similar performance out of a Crucial BX200 and save a bit of cash.

The 240gb is $65 and would probably get you by if you don't juggle more than a couple AAA game titles at a time. With SSD prices being as low as they are however, I REALLY suggest you bump it up to the 480gb for $130.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...66&cm_re=crucial_bx200-_-20-156-066-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...67&cm_re=crucial_bx200-_-20-156-067-_-Product


On the GPU side of things... I haven't been very happy with AMD for the last few years so I'll only be talking about Nvidia GPUs (I don't really like AMD's offerings at this price point anyways).

For $180 (after $10 rebate) you can get a GTX 960, which is a solid little card. If you are comfortable buying a used card (if you go with a company with a transferable warranty, you should have 0 issues here and it's a great way to save some money and get more horsepower) you can probably find a GTX 780ti on the forums here for $230 - $250. Personally... If I were you... I would try to bump my GPU budget up just a bit (maybe by selling your old RAM and GPU?) and try for a GTX 970. I really feel that would be the sweet spot for your setup. They start at anywhere from $250 (if you buy from Jet.com) or $290 if you buy from Amazon/Newegg.

GTX 960 for $180 after ($10 rebate).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487091

A used GTX 780 here on the forums for $200.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1888584

There was a 780ti for $230 and another for $240 that sold on the forums in the past couple days. I would hunt for one of those if you're ok going used and don't want to bump up your budget for a GTX 970.
 
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Thanks for the reply, no worries about the delay I'm in no hurry and today is the day to spoil them, or try to behave as much as possible. Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you suggested I mix ram, it was my own thought.

I'm trying to order from amazon because of prime so I can get the parts faster, and free shipping. I'm probably over thinking a few things, but I'm not really sure what I'm doing when looking at parts for example what is the difference between a
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0, 26% Cooler and 36% Quieter Cooling Graphics Card 04G-P4-2974-KR

And a
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC Gaming ACX 2.0+ Cooling Graphics Card (04G-P4-3975-KR)

Besides one claiming to be 26% cooler and 26% quieter and the ssc/sc differences?

As for the Ram color doesn't matter to me I will hopefully only see it once.
 
That RAM is rated at 1.6V. Not a good choice considering an Intel Rep here on the forums specifically stated before that anything over 1.5v could damage the CPU. I'd stick with a 1.5v kit or less. You can currently get some low voltage 1.35v RAM 32GB for $135.

Also you linked a GTX 960, not a 760. Though I am sure you just hit 760 by accident and meant to type 960. Which I too recommend.


However, unless the OIP is doing something that take advantage of GPU acceleration in Lightroom/Photoshop a GPU upgrade wont make much of a difference anyway. I imagine since the OP mentioned RAW images he is just post-processing large images from his DSLR or other digital camera and editing white balance, exposure and possibly light/dark levels. I doubt he'll be using much filters which takes more advantage of GPU acceleration. Possibly even using the image processor to resize images for "Internet" use which doesn't use GPU acceleration either. If this is the case, then don't bother with a GPU upgrade yet. Non of the games he mentioned are GPU extensive anyway.

However, the OP did mention wanting to stream twich. This is where I would suggest an upgrade to an i7 Skylake, DDR4 + SSD upgrade for his system. The i7's really help with Twitch streaming. That is, only if he really intends to do this a lot and wants good quality on the streams. Otherwise, don't bother. The i5 he has now is more than adequate for what he is doing. So stick with what others suggested. Max out his RAM, add an SSD and go ahead and upgrade that GPU.
 
Skillz,

You are right about my photo editing, I have a couple of DSLR's and take landscape/moon/milkyway photos. I will eventually be getting into filters for HDR photos. Wolfenstien seems to be the biggest challenge for my current set up. After I first installed and started playing the game it would always crash at a specific point until I updated the driver for my GPU.

I'm not in a hurry to get anything done so I'm thinking maybe I should stick with expanding ram now and maybe a SSD. Then in a few weeks get the GTX 960.
 
Skillz said:
That RAM is rated at 1.6V. Not a good choice considering an Intel Rep here on the forums specifically stated before that anything over 1.5v could damage the CPU. I'd stick with a 1.5v kit or less. You can currently get some low voltage 1.35v RAM 32GB for $135.

Also you linked a GTX 960, not a 760. Though I am sure you just hit 760 by accident and meant to type 960. Which I too recommend.


However, unless the OIP is doing something that take advantage of GPU acceleration in Lightroom/Photoshop a GPU upgrade wont make much of a difference anyway. I imagine since the OP mentioned RAW images he is just post-processing large images from his DSLR or other digital camera and editing white balance, exposure and possibly light/dark levels. I doubt he'll be using much filters which takes more advantage of GPU acceleration. Possibly even using the image processor to resize images for "Internet" use which doesn't use GPU acceleration either. If this is the case, then don't bother with a GPU upgrade yet. Non of the games he mentioned are GPU extensive anyway.

However, the OP did mention wanting to stream twich. This is where I would suggest an upgrade to an i7 Skylake, DDR4 + SSD upgrade for his system. The i7's really help with Twitch streaming. That is, only if he really intends to do this a lot and wants good quality on the streams. Otherwise, don't bother. The i5 he has now is more than adequate for what he is doing. So stick with what others suggested. Max out his RAM, add an SSD and go ahead and upgrade that GPU.
Click to expand...

Good catch on the RAM being 1.6v instead of 1.5v. I was really just trying to show how affordable a 32gb set of ddr3 could be these days. That Muskin RAM is great stuff and was actually what I was going link originally until I found the 2133/2400 for $5 more. :)

Haha, yea I just fat fingered and wrote 760 when I was talking about and linking the 960. The GPU won't have a huge effect on his editing... But I figured since he likes to game and wants to stream on Twitch, it would be a great idea. A 960 would be such a HUGE leap over a 6850.

I concur about an i7 being an excellent choice if he wants to get heavy into streaming... But man, that that can become a pretty speedy upgrade if you're not careful (that damn upgrade bug).
 
Zenprophet said:
I Think I will start with the ram, then the GPU, then SSD. But, on the thought of the SSD, I found this on amazon and can't see how it can be legit.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...id=1455552391&ref_=sr_1_10&s=software&sr=1-10

This claims to be all versions of windows 7 pre activated, is this really a full install, is it legal?
Click to expand...

No reviews on the seller and only one available. I wouldn't trust it. Question for ya... Is your current system a pre-built machine or or was it built by you/a friend/etc? If it's a pre-built, it likely has a non-transferable copy of Windows. If it's a homebuilt system you can probably transfer the Windows key to your new system with a little help from Microsoft.

I'd probably purchase the components in the same order as you plan on doing so I could avoid reinstalling Windows as long as possible, lol. However... I will say, you'll get the most noticeable day to day performance out of upgrading to an SSD. The difference is night and day.
 
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Yeah I've walked away from that I can't see how that would be legit, and I question why amazon would even allow it on there. But, my system is home built and I can transfer windows over. Just wondering if I should get a windows OS for the future because of windows 10. I can upgrade to 10, so can everyone from what I understand. But, I worry that there will be issues/crashes/ect. And windows 10 is supposed to have tons of information gathering software on it. Not sure if I really care about that at all. But, it does feel kind of big brotherish.

I was also looking at the windows OS purchase for the SSD because it just seems like less of a mess than calling microsoft. And if something went wrong the the install, or the ssd (never had one) then I'd still have my os on my HDD.
 
If you're going to stick with your 3470/p45 you don't have to worry about transferring your copy of Windows (shouldn't have to call either), you can just reinstall it. If you end up changing your mind and decide to upgrade the CPU/MB like Skillz suggested, be sure to transfer Windows 7 over to the new motherboard BEFORE you upgrade to Windows 10. As far as I know Windows 10 is locked to the original motherboard.

If you're worried about not liking Windows 10 or it having issues... As long as you have your original Windows 7 key (if you can't find it, you can use a program called Magical Jelly Bean to get it, just be sure to do this BEFORE you upgrade to Windows 10) you can always "downgrade" back to Windows 7.
 
Keep the motherboard, clone your boot drive to an SSD, upgrade the ram, upgrade the GPU and leave everything else alone.
 
A friend of mine offered to sell me a EVGA GTX 960 4gb ssc acx 2.0+ card for $150 that he purchased for a build and doesn't need. Will that work for my set up? If so I'll get that and the RAM now.
 
Zenprophet said:
A friend of mine offered to sell me a EVGA GTX 960 4gb ssc acx 2.0+ card for $150 that he purchased for a build and doesn't need. Will that work for my set up? If so I'll get that and the RAM now.
Click to expand...

That 960 would be absolutely perfect. I'd jump on that.
 
Zenprophet said:
A friend of mine offered to sell me a EVGA GTX 960 4gb ssc acx 2.0+ card for $150 that he purchased for a build and doesn't need. Will that work for my set up? If so I'll get that and the RAM now.
Click to expand...

Do that!
 
That 960 will be a nice upgrade over your current GPU for sure.
 
I concur. Jump on that 960. Up your ram to 32GB and you'll have a sweet rig.
 
rat said:
I concur. Jump on that 960. Up your ram to 32GB and you'll have a sweet rig.
Click to expand...

Ok I'm looking at upgrading the RAM now and this is the last link I had Mushkin Enhanced STEALTH 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Desktop Memory Model 994110S - Newegg.com. Can anyone find it cheaper?

Side note, I started playing black desert online and my frames per second tops out at around 54 FPS when I'm just outside of town and on medium graphics/textures. 54 isn't that bad, but when I'm actually playing the game in a crowded area even with the settings toned down my FPS floats around 24-35'ish. Will the ram upgrade fix this, or is it the new GPU, or should I be looking at getting a SSD before the ram to help?

Thanks.
 
Zenprophet said:
Ok I'm looking at upgrading the RAM now and this is the last link I had Mushkin Enhanced STEALTH 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Desktop Memory Model 994110S - Newegg.com. Can anyone find it cheaper?

Side note, I started playing black desert online and my frames per second tops out at around 54 FPS when I'm just outside of town and on medium graphics/textures. 54 isn't that bad, but when I'm actually playing the game in a crowded area even with the settings toned down my FPS floats around 24-35'ish. Will the ram upgrade fix this, or is it the new GPU, or should I be looking at getting a SSD before the ram to help?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Network speed, ping time and number of players will all affect your framerate as the game has to wait for information from the server before it knows what it can draw. Load up something like EVGA Precision and you'll see that your GPU probably doesn't exceed 60% utilization even during the most graphic heavy parts of the game.
 
Well I didn't think the GPU was the issue, but I've eliminated lag/number of players.My brother has a set up on this same network and his pc is using a Radeon R9 270X 2GB GPU. WHile I was getting 12-20 FPS on high graphics he was getting 50 on medium in the same area.
 
Any other ideas? WIll the Ram upgrade make a good difference, or do I need the ssd first? IF the ram will do it, can you find it cheaper than the link I posted?
 
Well have you actually checked to see how much RAM is being used by the game/system while you're playing the game?

Though IIRC, WoW did saw noticeable performance improvements with a SSD. Does your brother's PC have a SSD? How much RAM does he have in his PC? Are you both playing at the same resolution?

And yes you can find 32GB of RAM for cheaper than that. Get two of this 2 x 8GB set and you save $7:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT8G3D1609DS1S00 - Newegg.com
 
Dangman said:
Well have you actually checked to see how much RAM is being used by the game/system while you're playing the game?

Though IIRC, WoW did saw noticeable performance improvements with a SSD. Does your brother's PC have a SSD? How much RAM does he have in his PC? Are you both playing at the same resolution?

And yes you can find 32GB of RAM for cheaper than that. Get two of this 2 x 8GB set and you save $7:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT8G3D1609DS1S00 - Newegg.com
Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay, he does not have a SSD and his ram is 8 gigs. We are running at the same resolution. I've found a guide online to improve FPS and it had me turn off turn off ssao, AA, screen filter, blood on screen, and high end mode. Currently I have 38 FPS just outside of the town, but I'm in a fairly crowded area with water effects going. It plays much smoother now. With him having the same ram as me then Ram shouldn't be an issue. My HDD is older than his, but both are Western digital I may go ahead and grab A SSD sometime soon.
 
Hey everyone,
Just wondering if there area any sales that you know of for a SSD of 500GB/1TB or 32 gigs of Ram going on this weekend?

Thanks.
 
Hey Everyone,

I got the 500gb EVO and installed it, but my DVD drive doesn't work and hasn't for a few weeks just haven't gotten around to replacing it. Now the SSD is listed in device manager, but not in my computer and I have no means to install the software for it. But, shouldn't it still list under my computer without the software? Any ideas, or a link to download the install files I will need if I indeed do need them?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
 
Last edited:
Zenprophet said:
Hey Everyone,

I got the 500gb EVO and installed it, but my DVD drive doesn't work and hasn't for a few weeks just haven't gotten around to replacing it. Now the SSD is listed in device manager, but not in my computer and I have no means to install the software for it. But, shouldn't it still list under my computer without the software? Any ideas, or a link to download the install files I will need if I indeed do need them?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Click to expand...

There's no installing drivers or software for an SSD. It should be seen as a regular drive. Just format it.
 
Before you installed the OS to the SSD, did you change the SATA mode in BIOS from IDE to AHCI?
 
Sorry for the delayed response, I got it up and running now. It seems a little faster, but not much and I suspect my internet speed is the issue. The games I've tried are black desert online and diablo 3. BDO had a really slow load time on the old HDD. It would take up to 3 minutes to get past the map load screen. Now it takes up to two minutes. Doesn't seem like as much of a speed upgrade as I had hoped for. But, judging by the general speed of windows vs the HDD I think that slow load screen has to be my internet connection I have 20 mbps download. That's as fast as it gets around here.
 
rastaban said:
Before you installed the OS to the SSD, did you change the SATA mode in BIOS from IDE to AHCI?
Click to expand...

I didn't do anything in BIOS so the change from IDE to AHCI didn't happen. But the SSD is working now, I do see some improvement on load speeds, but the game is a mmo so it is likely my internet speed. Would the switch to AHCI be needed to improve speed/performance? And I'm considering taking the free upgrade to windows 10 from windows 7 because most seem to say that is loads faster. I'm just not sure if windows 10 is worth getting, or if it's going to cause headaches.
 
Zenprophet said:
I didn't do anything in BIOS so the change from IDE to AHCI didn't happen. But the SSD is working now, I do see some improvement on load speeds, but the game is a mmo so it is likely my internet speed. Would the switch to AHCI be needed to improve speed/performance? And I'm considering taking the free upgrade to windows 10 from windows 7 because most seem to say that is loads faster. I'm just not sure if windows 10 is worth getting, or if it's going to cause headaches.
Click to expand...

Switching from IDE to AHCI isn't that huge a deal under Windows 7. (a few registry edits apparently)

Upgrading from Windows 7 to 10, considering you're on an Ivy Bridge platform, I'd do it while it's still free. Although I would do a clean format once upgraded and install native Win10 drivers etc.

(I'm on the original i5 platform, so any drivers besides Win7 are wishful thinking)

So, I'd upgrade to Win10, then format and set AHCI in the BIOS before you do so.
 
Thanks for the information, sorry I didn't reply sooner.

Some of my games still run terrible, but I've been looking up settings and getting some success. Seems overwatch runs all on the processor.... well at least it puts a big strain on it. I have 90-96% cpu usage when playing it. Would upgrading my processor be advised? And if so what price range am I looking at for something that would be a worthwhile upgrade without changing any other parts?

Thanks.
 
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