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Upgrading my PC

M

MokaOnly

n00b
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
14
Hi,

I have been upgrading my PC lately since I swapped out my ATI HD4650 (1gb gddr2) to Nvidia GTX 550Ti (1.5gb gddr3) and added 4gb ram to my previous 4gb's. Also changed my 400W Psu to a 550W PSU

Now this month I want to upgrade my CPU as I think it's getting in the way, currently it is: AMD Phenom 9650 Quad @ 2.3

And want to upgrade it to AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma.

Now the problem is I'm not sure if it fits my mobo, as much as I did my research they both have the same amount of pins, both are the same voltage levels etc.

My mobo is quite old already to be honest but please don't tell me "ohhh buy a new one and you are good to go" I just want to know if it would fit this one first.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9426/mobosz.jpg <- that is my mobo.

Any adive besides "Your pc suckzzz" is welcome.
 
I would highly recommend getting a new motherboard instead.
 
Any suggestions that wouldn't be too pricy? Still need to think about paying my rent, buying food and upgrading at the same time so I doubt I can afford a top-notch mobo in that case. (Preferably an AMD one)
 
Well that depends on your budget, where you live and what you do with the computer you're upgrading.
 
Based on what you've told us already, I agree with Skillz: You're better off looking for a new motherboard.

If you really want our help, please answer the questions listed in the "Asking for Build Help?" sticky.
 
Skillz said:
Well that depends on your budget, where you live and what you do with the computer you're upgrading.
Click to expand...

Well around 200 euros ($280) would be good. I live in Estonia (EU) and mostly gaming.

1) Gaming mostly + 1080p movies
2) Since at the moment I just want to change my CPU (and mobo then?) Around 200-250 euros
3) Estonia (EU)
4) Mobo, CPU (Well I have an CPU already looked out (AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma and an FX series on a later date somewhere in the future)
5) ?
6) I don't think so
7) 19" Widescreen 1440x900
8) In the start of November
9) SLI mostly, not even too sure about anything else.
10) 2x Vista Home Premium 32bit (lol)

There You go :)

Edit once more: The CPU (Zosma) is on sale on tigerdirect I'm not too sure if they even ship it to Estonia so I'm still on a question on that.
 
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DDR2 RAM or DDR3?

Can you also give us some links/sites that you plan to order parts from?
 
Skillz said:
DDR2 RAM or DDR3?

Can you also give us some links/sites that you plan to order parts from?
Click to expand...

At the moment I got DDR2 but as it's an "old" technology already then I guess DDR3 on the next build.

I've looked at tigerdirect and newegg altho Im not too sure if they ship to Estonia. If not then I'm pretty much effed as I really don't want to buy things from here as they cost almost double what they cost over-seas.

Thats the CPU tho http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995&Tpk=960T

Even if they don't ship to here there's always a possobility for me to pay for them and let them send the parts to my friend in US and he can ship em to me so I doubt that will be a big problem.
 
We need you to answer sticky question #5. Please list out what you currently have (brand/model of each component) as well as the age of everything (or, how long you've had each part for).
 
Answer to 5.

I'll be reusing the PSU, it's an Inter Tech SL-500A PSU (Sorry thought it was 550 -.- )

If the new mobo supports both ddr2 and ddr3 RAM then I will be also reusing the RAM but not too sure if any mobo even does that. ( RAM List 2x2GB Kingston DDR2 800 and 2x2GB *Unknown* DDR2 800)

Also will reuse my graphics card: Club3D GTX 550Ti 1,5gb gddr3

And ofcourse my Western Digital 1TB Hard drive (WDC WD10EAVS-00D7B1) (And probably my Seagate 200GB from stonage, still a sata drive tho)

And well everything else is integrated on the mobo so doubt I'll be using anything then those.

Like I said I hope the mobo aint too expensive and also I don't want a mobo that I need to upgrade next month again. If it's really a more expensive one I guess I can buy a mobo this month and rest parts the next month but that would be plan B for me.
 
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MokaOnly said:
I'll be reusing the PSU, it's an Inter Tech SL-500A PSU (Sorry thought it was 550 -.- )
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend reusing that PSU at all: It is likely a really shitty unit to begin with (indeed, I am surprised that your current PC's components lasted this long with that PSU, which could only put out about 250W to 300W maximum under realistic conditions based on professional testing on a unit very similar to that one). And even if it weren't so shitty, it is of an extremely old, low-efficiency design that puts way too much power on the +3.3V and +5V rails but too little power on the +12V rail. It has only 30A on the +12V rail, making this the equivalent of a 400W PSU at best (since most good 500W PSUs have 40A on the +12V rail).
 
E4g1e said:
I wouldn't recommend reusing that PSU at all: It is likely a really shitty unit to begin with (indeed, I am surprised that your current PC's components lasted this long with that PSU, which could only put out about 250W to 300W maximum under realistic conditions based on professional testing on a unit very similar to that one). And even if it weren't so shitty, it is of an extremely old, low-efficiency design that puts way too much power on the +3.3V and +5V rails but too little power on the +12V rail. It has only 30A on the +12V rail, making this the equivalent of a 400W PSU at best (since most good 500W PSUs have 40A on the +12V rail).
Click to expand...

Oh god. Seems I'll be doing a full change then exept the graphics card and hdd. (btw, are the dimm's different on ddr2 and ddr3 ram's?)

And as much as I understood from You then the current PSU I have is actually harming my PC at the moment?
 
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MokaOnly said:
Oh god. Seems I'll be doing a full change then exept the graphics card and hdd. (btw, are the dimm's different on ddr2 and ddr3 ram's?)

And as much as I understood from You then the current PSU I have is actually harming my PC at the moment?
Click to expand...

DDR2 and DDR3 DIMMs are not compatible at all with one another (both physically and electrically). The notches on the slots are different between the two.

And not all Inter-Tech branded PSUs are equally bad. Yours just happens to be part of that brand's absolute shittiest (bottom-level) line. Some of the Inter-Tech PSUs are manufactured by CWT (generally a good manufacturer). Yours, based on the UL numbers, came up as "invalid" or "unknown" - which means that it might very well have been manufactured by a company that just doesn't care. As such, your PSU could have been doing serious damage to your system's components even though the damage has not yet become noticeable.
 
E4g1e said:
DDR2 and DDR3 DIMMs are not compatible at all with one another (both physically and electrically). The notches on the slots are different between the two.

And not all Inter-Tech branded PSUs are equally bad. Yours just happens to be part of that brand's absolute shittiest (bottom-level) line. Some of the Inter-Tech PSUs are manufactured by CWT (generally a good manufacturer). Yours, based on the UL numbers, came up as "invalid" or "unknown" - which means that it might very well have been manufactured by a company that just doesn't care. As such, your PSU could have been doing serious damage to your system's components even though the damage has not yet become noticeable.
Click to expand...

http://www.inter-tech.de/index.php?...500&catid=49:atx-netzteile&Itemid=153&lang=de

Well it's the exact same one, not any idea if thats any consolation to me lol.

alright, guess im gonna switch to a Chieftec CTG-550-80P asap then. Still the mobo question remains. What would be the best preformance/price ratio one (am3+) aswell with the new FX series support.

Meh just saw the HI-POT OK sign on the PSU, hell.. I'll take this PSU to my work and I'll do it myself again just to see how f*cked it really is :p
 
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MokaOnly said:
http://www.inter-tech.de/index.php?...500&catid=49:atx-netzteile&Itemid=153&lang=de

Well it's the exact same one, not any idea if thats any consolation to me lol.

alright, guess im gonna switch to a Chieftec CTG-550-80P asap then.
Click to expand...

That's still not much of an upgrade: That (Chieftec) PSU is made by Sirfa, which manufactures the OCZ-branded PSUs that we dismiss as "poor values" as well as some of the lower-end Enermax- and Lepa-branded PSUs.

MokaOnly said:
Still the mobo question remains. What would be the best preformance/price ratio one (am3+) aswell with the new FX series support.
Click to expand...

At this point the FX series CPUs are poor buys: They are actually slower in many applications than the Phenom II CPUs they replace, and crash often on certain games.
 
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E4g1e said:
That's still not much of an upgrade: That PSU is made by Sirfa, which manufactures the OCZ-branded PSUs that we dismiss as "poor values" as well as some of the lower-end Enermax- and Lepa-branded PSUs.



At this point the FX series CPUs are poor buys: They are actually slower in many applications than the Phenom II CPUs they replace, and crash often on certain games.
Click to expand...

Well I'm not planing to buy any FX series cpu before the second gen. anyway, seen the reviews myself aswell that they are a bit crappy.

So what PSU would You reccomend?
 
MokaOnly said:
So what PSU would You reccomend?
Click to expand...
Are there any online stores that delivers to Estonia that we can check? Kinda hard to make a PSU recommendation if we don't know if it's for sale in your country.

But just in case: See if the Antec Neo Eco 620C or Antec High Current Gamer 620W PSUs are available in your country. The 520W versions of those PSUs are also acceptable.

And you're looking at new CPU, mobo, and RAM correct? You still have a 250 euros budget for those three parts + a new PSU?
 
Yes I found the Antec Current gamer 520W one, it costs &#8364;87 so I guess that aint too bad?

(http://www.ox.ee/est/product/268149) sorry the page is all in Estonian but most of the part I guess You can understand :)

Well I was planing to buy the CPU on a later date because I highly doubt I can fit all those in 250 range, so currently Im planing to buy a mobo + ram but if there really is a chance in hell that I can get mobo+ram+cpu for that money I'd go for it (As long as it aint no low end parts)

edit: or I'd drop the ram part for now and go for mobo+cpu in that case but still think i wont fit in the budget that way if I want a decent setup.

Just on a side note for reference, my current setup:

AMD Phenom 9650 @ 2.3 (Stock cooler)
Club3D GTX 550Ti (Keeping this one, also with stock cooler I guess?) (Also got an ATI HD4650 standing just for no reason since I switched to the GTX)
Western Digital 1TB 7200 (Keeping)
Inter Tech 500W PSU SL-500A(?) <- Switching probably as people say its kinda useless. (Got another 400W PSU what came with the Acer build but that one doesn't even have a name on it haha)
Sony DVD-RW (Keeping)
8GB DDR2 800mhz RAM (2x2gb Kingston 2x2gb Unknown?)
Mobo itself: Acer RS780HVF <- Don't ask, it's somekinda acer modified amd board, no-one has found it on google yet anyway, acer sent me the full specs of it but I'd rather not post it here.

I'm guessing when Im done with the build eventually I'd take all the old parts and make them as a home running game server, I think it should manage that?

edit2: Actually the 400W PSU I have has some name on it, FSP Group Inc. Model: FSP400-60THA(1PF), would I be better off switching that back to my system for now or is it even more useless then the inter-tech one? not sure how true that is but reading about the 400 one on google I guess I'm lucky it didn't kill off my mobo till now.
 
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Yeah, go with the Antec Current Gamer 520W.

Yes, you are looking at a mobo + RAM combo first due to your SLI requirement: Only the latest AMD mobos supports SLI. And those only use DDR3 RAM. Speaking of the motherboard, I recommend this Gigabyte mobo:
http://www.ox.ee/est/product/328005

As for the RAM, as long as the RAM is rated at 1.5V and DDR3 1333 speeds, you'll be fine.

As for the FSP PSU, I'd avoid it as well.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah, go with the Antec Current Gamer 520W.

Yes, you are looking at a mobo + RAM combo first due to your SLI requirement: Only the latest AMD mobos supports SLI. And those only use DDR3 RAM. Speaking of the motherboard, I recommend this Gigabyte mobo:
http://www.ox.ee/est/product/328005

As for the RAM, as long as the RAM is rated at 1.5V and DDR3 1333 speeds, you'll be fine.

As for the FSP PSU, I'd avoid it as well.
Click to expand...

Just one more question, is anything above the 1333 speed not good or the 1333 is the lowest you recommend?
 
MokaOnly said:
Just one more question, is anything above the 1333 speed not good or the 1333 is the lowest you recommend?
Click to expand...

The performance increase you'll most likely not see when going with faster RAM isn't worth the added costs that is usually associated with the faster RAM.
 
Okay. Thanks.

Also I was browsing trough EVGA page and saw a mobo with 2 CPU units where You can put some intel server based CPU-s I think, does AMD have something similar? Just curious nothing else :)

lol you might have noticed, I'm a bit of an amd fanboy:p
 
Yes AMD has dual CPU motherboards, but you can't afford it with your budget.
 
Well I don't know about prices where you live, but in the States here is the cheapest I could find.

$289.99 - ASUS KCMA-D8 ATX Server Motherboard Dual Socket C32 AMD SR5670 DDR3 1333/1066/800

..and here is a list of processors that it accepts.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...50001028 600061216&IsNodeId=1&name=Socket C32

Starting at $110 for the cheapest and ending with $320 for the most expensive.

Just a little bit past your budget. ;)

Server boards aren't really designed for gamers.. it's mostly just bragging rights and/or a sick folding farm setup. (outside of a server environment)
 
Urgh. Thanks Skillz and everyone else who helped me out. I'll stick with the normal build anyway was just wondering if there were any dual amd cpu boards around.

I guess this topic can be closed? :)

Again, big thanks to everyone.
 
Whoa, kemosabe. We haven't solved your primary reason (for the thread):

Besides the PSU, what are you considering at this time?
 
Besides the PSU I was looking for a CPU + Ram and a mobo, the mobo question tho was answered with an gigabyte motherboard in the previous page, it had to have SLI support which it does so thats fine with me.

Guess for Ram I'm going with some kingston 1333 DDR3 ones and with CPU I'm not too sure actually as people are saying the "Bulldozer AMD" is kinda crappy at the moment so I think I'm gonna go with an x4 for now and wait for the new generation of FX series.

Ofcourse gonna switch out the stock cooler on the CPU that I'll buy, probably gonna go with Coolermaster v6gt or better (altho an Phenom 2 x4 doesn't even need that I guess as I'm not doing any overclocking anyway).

Also will stick with my Gfx card which is Club3D GTX550Ti like i Previously stated, will buy another one of that and will run it in SLI altho then I guess I also need a bigger PSU later on.
 
After looking at the specs on your motherboard, your stuck at AM2+ socket type processors. Plus Acer doesn't have anything online about BIOS support for a AM3 type processor for your current motherboard.
1) You can go from AM2+ processor to AM3 if the motherboard supports voltage/power requirements and BIOS.
2) Normally if your stuck with AM2 type processor you can't upgrade. You can try it but chances are you'll take our your new processor, burn it up.

The PSU is fine, should not be an issue unless you upgrade MB and Processor. Then quick calculation on max peak power consumption is required.

After quick research time online, you are probably at the best situation. If you have a running PC, keep it that way until you can afford a combo deal, MB and processor.
 
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