Help me upgrade my computer Please :)

Kirtus

New Member
Hi this is my current computer I built using help from these awesome forums :)
(below)

can someone help me decide what I should do next for upgrades?

I think I could use better fans.. my computer never gets that hot tho it gets to like 60ish playing high end games but one of my fans goes like 6500rpm and the others go like 1000-2000 so that fan gets really loud..

I want more ram for the fun of it also I have a question can I have 2 of the graphic cards I have in this computer? I read of people doing that can someone explain the purpose of it to me well the benefits I guess.

I just need ideas so I know what I can do next thanks so much, I want to only purchase from http://canadacomputers.com/

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T processer

Kingston HyperX 2x 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ

Cooler Master CM 690 Advanced Black ATX Mid TowerCase

Black Sata DVD Writer

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 SATA3 6.0GB/S 1TB 32MB Cache (OEM)

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Socket AM3+ AMD 990FX+SB950 chipset Dual-Channel DDR32000(O.C.)

Corsair Enthusiast Series Modular TX650M 80PLUS Bronze Certified 650W PSU

Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5
 
your right D; so about a SSD, I just put windows 7 on it? I dont even know where that card goes into my computer D: or if its simple to set up.
 
Yeah you have a nice system,I agree with James...getting an SSD would make all the difference to your system performance and responsiveness.

As regards to you wanting two graphics cards,Yup that board supports Crossfire 2x running at two x16 bandwidth.
However you might..need a more beefy power supply,My system alone with a single 6950 2gb draws around 320W under load in gaming.

Is your 1055T processor overclocked at all and are you running a stock or aftermarket cooler?...if not an aftermarket cooler would be a good idea for overclocking for that extra free speed.
 
I would certainly make an ssd your priority as it is the only thing actually missing, most people just get one big enough for windows, say 60 to 120 gb.

but depending on your budget as stated above there are lots of upgrade options, if you are having problems with temps, i would certainly look at cooling.

Are your cpu temps alright, mainly just graphics card getting hot ?
 
As regards to you wanting two graphics cards,Yup that board supports Crossfire 2x running at two x16 bandwidth.
However you might..need a more beefy power supply,My system alone with a single 6950 2gb draws around 320W under load in gaming.

Is that your entire system wattage usage?
 
Yeah you have a nice system,I agree with James...getting an SSD would make all the difference to your system performance and responsiveness.

As regards to you wanting two graphics cards,Yup that board supports Crossfire 2x running at two x16 bandwidth.
However you might..need a more beefy power supply,My system alone with a single 6950 2gb draws around 320W under load in gaming.

Is your 1055T processor overclocked at all and are you running a stock or aftermarket cooler?...if not an aftermarket cooler would be a good idea for overclocking for that extra free speed.

thanks alot for the responses :) anyway my 1055T isnt overclocked at all, and I dont have a stock or aftermarket cooler, I really don't know much about overclocking or aftermarket coolers.. the coolers attach to the graphics card? and I heard that overclocking reduces its life so I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother.. D: and your probably right I will definitely need to get a better psu..

@jamesd1981 I will look into getting a SSD for sure and on speedfan it seems that temp3 is what gets the hottest up to like 60-65C I think max Havn't noticed it get higher but speedfan shows everything higher then 50C with a flame on it so I always think its bad but I read that it really isn't? also how can I find out what temp3 actually is ? but from what I looked up my system temps seem to be fine, I just worry about that fan I have that goes on like 6500RPM it gets pretty loud. my other fans stay around 500-1500RPM

Thanks again guys for the help.
 
Last edited:
First, I think your PSU would be fine as is if you added another 6950. It would be a different story if it was a lesser-quality 650W, but yours is a quality unit. Obviously it wouldn't hurt to get a beefier one to foolproof for the future, but it shouldn't be necessary with your current plans.

Next, I definitely second the SSD idea. That would by far be the single biggest upgrade for your system, as well as the cheapest. The ~128GB range seems to be the sweet spot for price/performance, but depending on what you plan on putting on it, 60/64GB would work too. I recommend a Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 drive. They are reliable, come at a reasonable price, and have good performance to match their price and reliability. Good all-around.

The only other upgrade I see would be adding 4GB more memory. Currently very few people would find a use for 16GB of memory over 8GB, but having 8GB rather than 4GB would be nice. Obviously you'll want to purchase the same type (as in speed/specs) of memory that you already have so they play nice together.

If you gave a budget for your upgrades, that would help us zero in on the best parts and options for you. Without a budget to go off of, personally I would recommend an SSD first and foremost, with 4GB more memory second. Third would be the additional 6950 and possible PSU.
 
First, I think your PSU would be fine as is if you added another 6950. It would be a different story if it was a lesser-quality 650W, but yours is a quality unit. Obviously it wouldn't hurt to get a beefier one to foolproof for the future, but it shouldn't be necessary with your current plans.

Next, I definitely second the SSD idea. That would by far be the single biggest upgrade for your system, as well as the cheapest. The ~128GB range seems to be the sweet spot for price/performance, but depending on what you plan on putting on it, 60/64GB would work too. I recommend a Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 drive. They are reliable, come at a reasonable price, and have good performance to match their price and reliability. Good all-around.

The only other upgrade I see would be adding 4GB more memory. Currently very few people would find a use for 16GB of memory over 8GB, but having 8GB rather than 4GB would be nice. Obviously you'll want to purchase the same type (as in speed/specs) of memory that you already have so they play nice together.

If you gave a budget for your upgrades, that would help us zero in on the best parts and options for you. Without a budget to go off of, personally I would recommend an SSD first and foremost, with 4GB more memory second. Third would be the additional 6950 and possible PSU.

I don't really have a budget atm, I'ma upgrade this thing intil I die or it dies etc.. lol but thanks alot Mishkin this is what I wanted to hear :), I also need to get a better way to cool the system too for sure if I get another card ?

I'ma try looking into the aftercoolers soon so I can see how they work :D
 
If you are looking at aftermarket coolers kirtus, look for ones with a copper base for best cooling and use a good thermal paste, being your graphics card seems to be getting hot, i would look for some nice big case fans.
 
sorry to dig up old post but i'm actually going to upgrade this computer real soon, i've been having slight problems my PSU seems to get really hot, like the max its supposed to get is 62, based on what AMD website says, mine gets a little past that 62-63 but my idle temps are like 45 if its not overclocked, and 50-52 when it is, and I'm using the overclock feature that came with it.

I also noticed that in my game sometimes my fps will drop, and stay that way intil I restart it's hard for me to say if it's my psu but since its not supposed to be getting this hot I just figured that could be why.

I am really wanting to be able to stream my video games on this computer atm I can stream on highest quality on my game at 40-45 fps.

I want it to stay at a constant 60 so i'm hoping that just upgrading my ram and getting a another of the same GPU and getting some sort of cooler will allow me to do this.., or do you guys have any other suggestions?
 
Nothing other then upgrading to a FX 8120 and overclock or waiting for the FX Vishera and doing the same. Then finding a 6950 cheap and CF or going for a 7950/7970.
 
AMD Bulldozer X8 FX-8150 - 189$
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 Chipset (900Mhz) 3GB GDDR5 (5000Mhz) 300$

What I don't understand is how is this graphics card and psu so much better then mine? will I seriously see that much of a noticeable difference?
 
Back
Top