Upgrade Path

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Zip.Doo

n00b
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
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Hello All! I'm looking for help on deciding upgrades for my current system. Deciding priority on items is my main issue. Would more ram (then a new processor) be the progression to go, or what would be most beneficial? I'm limited to upgrading a single item at the moment (~$100) due to summer classes being expensive as hell :( Perhaps the next in a few months or less depending on work. Mostly I listen to music, school stuff, some gaming. My thoughts are leaning towards: Phenom 2 720, 4 gig ram upgrade, perhaps Xonar DX for my Swan M10 speakers... something else? Anwyays here's my current specs:

Biostar TA770 a2+
5000+ BE (OC to 3.1)
2 gig G.skill
GeForce 9600 GT
500 gig hdd

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Always try upgrading the memory first, especially since memory is so cheap. More memory always helps alot with multi-tasking and gaming.

What comes next depends on what games you play and what resolution your monitor runs at. If you're currently running a monitor at 1680 x 1050 or lower, I'd start saving my money for a 1920 x 1200 monitor. After which I'd invest in a more powerful GPU like the GTX260-216 (or even a GTX285 if you wanted to go all out). An HD4870 or an HD4870X2 would the AMD equivalents, price-wise.

Once that's done, I'd take advantage of forward compatibility and upgrade to a Phenom II triple or quad core.

I'm assuming you're using your onboard analog out to your Swans? I think the last thing I would do is upgrade to a sound card. The M10s should definitely be good enough to let you hear a difference.
 
Thanks for the quick response, I went ahead and ordered 4 gigs of ram now, 6 gigs will be fun! :) (and give me a reason to use a 64 bit OS, yay)

I have only a 22" monitor at the moment, so I didn't consider getting a new GPU before a processor. It is indeed a viable option! A 2nd 22" has crossed my mind, as well as a 24" which I suppose would justify that purchase for sure. Darnit, that would be nice! Games -- Warsow, which will run on a netbook so yeaaah, otherwise Mass Effect, Bioshock, normal newish/oldish games :>

Analog onboard for the swans atm, this seems like a more interesting upgrade. Well, at least more fruitful considering percent of time using speakers (for just music) in relation to more intensive applications. Would this improve performance of the CPU, in terms of removing burden/load during games, or would it be trivial?
 
You all ready ordered memory, but I would have said you should change out your motherboard to a board that could take any of the AM2 or AM3 CPUs. That would have allowed you to re-use all of your current components as well as providing a future upgrade path. The increased memory may help with some things, but you really can't upgrade anything else and are probably looking at needing to start from scratch in the near future.

A discrete audio card may offer some benefits, but onboard audio has reached a point where it is good enough for most people and no longer burdens the CPU.
 
I should be alright upgrading cpu with just a new bios, at least that seems to be the impression if I use the newest from Rebels Haven. I do have version 5.2 of the board so I'm unsure of what would result. Seems to work fine though according to other posts. Perhaps I'd be stuck with a 940 instead of the 720? Is AM2+ with AM3 cpu not a total guarantee? Video card is fine with anything.
 
Zip.Doo said:
I should be alright upgrading cpu with just a new bios, at least that seems to be the impression if I use the newest from Rebels Haven. I do have version 5.2 of the board so I'm unsure of what would result. Seems to work fine though according to other posts. Perhaps I'd be stuck with a 940 instead of the 720? Is AM2+ with AM3 cpu not a total guarantee? Video card is fine with anything.
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Biostar's product page for your motherboard doesn't list Phenom II chips as being compatible, so that is what I based my original post off of. AM3 support depends entirely on if the BIOS has been upgraded to accept them. I've never owned a Biostar motherboard so I don't know how good they are about BIOS updates. If the BIOS is updated to use the AM3 chips than you should have no trouble with that.
 
His board is Socket AM2+ and uses HT 3.0, so there's really no reason why it can't accept AM3 chips. It doesn't make any sense that Biostar hasn't released a compatible BIOS, unless they want to force users to upgrade?

Zip.Doo said:
I should be alright upgrading cpu with just a new bios, at least that seems to be the impression if I use the newest from Rebels Haven. I do have version 5.2 of the board so I'm unsure of what would result. Seems to work fine though according to other posts. Perhaps I'd be stuck with a 940 instead of the 720? Is AM2+ with AM3 cpu not a total guarantee? Video card is fine with anything.
Click to expand...

I would be extra careful about using an unofficial BIOS though. Like I said, an AM2+ board should be able to take an AM3 chip with no issues, but with an unofficial BIOS even the slightest mistake can lead to a bricked board.

I would call Biostar first and see if a BIOS update for AM3 compatibility is upcoming. If they have no plans to do that, then give the unofficial BIOS a shot, but make sure to set some money aside first in case you need to replace your board.
 
I guess it'll take a bit more research to confirm which processors are working with my board (and respective scary bios upgrades! :p). The ram was the least expensive choice and there's a chance I'll stick with it through a mobo upgrade anyways... if necessary. Thanks for the suggestions folks.

Edit: I found a few posts of my board with a 920 and other cpus using a Biostar bios, so not all hope is lost :)
 
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I think RAM was the best choice. 4 gigs seems to be the sweet spot for a lot of people's typical usage patterns right now. 6 may be excessive, but RAM will definitely not be your bottleneck now unless you are doing some serious video editing or the like.
 
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