Which setup is better???

clondicke

New Member
I currently have my computer really well for gaming, but have $1,000 coming that I am wanting to spend on upgrading the system.
Which Setup Would you prefer and Why. Asking for some opinions.

My current setup is:
Powersuply: RAID-MAX RX-1000AE 1000W 80+Gold
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+
Processor/CPU: AMD FX-8120 3.1ghz / I believe 3.6ghz Turbo
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 16GB (4 x 4GB) 1333 (PC3 10666)
Video Card: 2x EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX560 2GB with 336 Cuda Cores
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM HDD
CD/DVD/BluRay: Bay1 - LiteON DVD Rom, Bay2 - LiteON DVD/RW Drive
Operating System: Microsoft OEM Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Sound Card: Standard Motherboard Sound. I believe it is AC'97 Sound.

Wanting to upgrade to:
Powersuply: Same as above
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-UP4 FM2
Processor/CPU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo)
Memory: Same as above
Video Card: 1x EVGA 04G-P4-2686-KR GeForce GTX680 4GB with 1536 Cuda Cores
Hard Drive: Same as above
CD/DVD/BluRay: Same as above
Operating System: Same as above
Sound Card: Same as above

Would you consider this an Upgrade or Downgrade to my Current System.
What System Upgrade would you prefer for $1,000?

I Have personally never been an Intel Fan. Am Sticking with AMD as I have had great luck with them before and they are I.M.O. better Buy for the Buck.
 
other than 680 that's a downgrade, go to a 3570k with a ga-z77x-d3h or something and you could prob change to a corsair tx650 psu (raidmax is junk afaik)
 
Personally for $1000, here is what I would do.

1. Get a better power supply. Something from Seasonic, Silverstone, XFX, or PCpower and cool, or maybe corsair and antec. But in that budget, XFX, SS, and SST are pretty much the top ones (based on third hand knowledge only).

2. Upgrade RAM to 1866MHz, or maybe 2133 if it is cheap enough. You will not see a big gain, but it can give you an edge in some programs, and somestimes a frame or 2 in games (rarely)

3. HD7970. NO use in going for a 680 when you can get the same power for less with the 7970. If you have it left over, go CF.

4. Consider an SSD. They can be good for boot time (though you are somewhat OS limited there), and fast opening of programs on it. Consider the Samsung 840 series.

5. Anything left, treat yourself to a nice dinner to celebrate the newish computer.


Reasons why this is better:
1. Your current CPU is faster, better, and more powerful (just covering all base)
2. Your motherboard is much much better than the FM2 motherboards.
3. The replacement you proposed is a low end CPU meant for low power builds. Not a performance build.

Also, you can overclock your CPU if you have a good cooler, and get a good gain just by altering settings.
 
really with a nice overclock, the graphics is the only thing i'd do right away, the psu should be changed but with that much overhead it isn't stressing so it should be fine for a while. and i'd go for a 7970 GHz edition, stock 7970 is slower than the 680, and they have 3gb standard instead of paying an extra 100 or whatever to go to 4gb's which would only be needed if you plan to play on multiple monitors, 1080p is fine with 1.5gb, 1440p should be fine with 2gbs or less, so 3gbs will have you set for a while. otherwise it's like i said before, go for the i5-3570k and a z77 mobo.
 
Personally for $1000, here is what I would do.

1. Get a better power supply. Something from Seasonic, Silverstone, XFX, or PCpower and cool, or maybe corsair and antec. But in that budget, XFX, SS, and SST are pretty much the top ones (based on third hand knowledge only).

2. Upgrade RAM to 1866MHz, or maybe 2133 if it is cheap enough. You will not see a big gain, but it can give you an edge in some programs, and somestimes a frame or 2 in games (rarely)

3. HD7970. NO use in going for a 680 when you can get the same power for less with the 7970. If you have it left over, go CF.

4. Consider an SSD. They can be good for boot time (though you are somewhat OS limited there), and fast opening of programs on it. Consider the Samsung 840 series.

5. Anything left, treat yourself to a nice dinner to celebrate the newish computer.


Reasons why this is better:
1. Your current CPU is faster, better, and more powerful (just covering all base)
2. Your motherboard is much much better than the FM2 motherboards.
3. The replacement you proposed is a low end CPU meant for low power builds. Not a performance build.

Also, you can overclock your CPU if you have a good cooler, and get a good gain just by altering settings.

Is the 7970 better than my Cards in SLI. I get aroun 80fps with my setup on BF3 right now.
 
Because quality 1000w power does not come at a price less than 200 bucks. You don't need that much power unless your SLIing or xFiring high end graphic cards. 750W from a brand mentioned above would cover a single card well and possibly a second. Clockrate doesn't matter really, the amount of work a cpu can do per cycle does more. also the 1337 gamer ram? Don't buy that hogwash either, get 1600, you will have less headaches than trying to clock the balls off your ram and in games really it wont affect your experience. Save the dough you would spend on that snake oil and get a fast SSD and a harddrive to store games on.
 
with the dual monitors i think a dual 7950 setup may be better, will cost a little more and dual cards can have some issues but the performance of it would be killer

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

and that shouldn't even use 500w maxed.

and why raidmax is jusk? they use lower quality capacitors and parts in the circuitry of the power supply so it will not last as long as a corsair or any other aforementioned brand, and when a cap blows or whatever, it is possible for it to essentially open the wall socket up to the parts of the computer, frying one or 2 parts and occasionally a whole system. I mean you could go years without this happening, or it could happen tomorrow, that's why we always recommend high quality power supplies, is it worth spending 100 more now rather than possible replacing the whole system later, i'd say so.

and yeah, amd lied their butts off calling it the ultimate gaming processor, the thing was an utter flop at launch and is only barely viable with the current pricing which is way lower than the launch MSRP. Although if it is still AM3+, piledriver is supposed to come out around the 23rd and an 8300 series processor may be a worthy upgrade if the price is right, they are supposed to be 7% faster than the current FX processors, plus they will run 7% faster GHz wise, and they'll be more power efficient (according to AMD, wouldn't truly hold them to anything other than the 7% faster GHz)
 
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And besides, if you go with the Intel upgrade. You will have to buy windows again, since you bought a "System Builders" software or (oem). They are mated to the Motherboard and cannot be transferred.
 
^ Um. No. When it rejects due to hardware change, call MS using the provided number, list this was used on (ONE) machine because this is the lone machine that windows installation is going to be used on, and it should activate fine. You just need to get a new installation ID verified for your hardware.
 
true on the windows new reg #- they will give you one,just tell them sys failed or was upgraded, same computer , same windows, they will give you a new #, it happened to me, it was a hassle time wise but they issued me a new activation #
 
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I currently have my computer really well for gaming, but have $1,000 coming that I am wanting to spend on upgrading the system.
Which Setup Would you prefer and Why. Asking for some opinions.

My current setup is:
Powersuply: RAID-MAX RX-1000AE 1000W 80+Gold
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+
Processor/CPU: AMD FX-8120 3.1ghz / I believe 3.6ghz Turbo
Memory: GeIL Enhance CORSA 16GB (4 x 4GB) 1333 (PC3 10666)
Video Card: 2x EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX560 2GB with 336 Cuda Cores
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1TB 7200RPM HDD
CD/DVD/BluRay: Bay1 - LiteON DVD Rom, Bay2 - LiteON DVD/RW Drive
Operating System: Microsoft OEM Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Sound Card: Standard Motherboard Sound. I believe it is AC'97 Sound.

Wanting to upgrade to:
Powersuply: Same as above
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-UP4 FM2
Processor/CPU: AMD A10-5800K Trinity 3.8GHz (4.2GHz Turbo)
Memory: Same as above
Video Card: 1x EVGA 04G-P4-2686-KR GeForce GTX680 4GB with 1536 Cuda Cores
Hard Drive: Same as above
CD/DVD/BluRay: Same as above
Operating System: Same as above
Sound Card: Same as above

Would you consider this an Upgrade or Downgrade to my Current System.
What System Upgrade would you prefer for $1,000?

I Have personally never been an Intel Fan. Am Sticking with AMD as I have had great luck with them before and they are I.M.O. better Buy for the Buck.

Like said, that would be a downgrade. Instead of swapping everything out. Just get a better power supply( like said Raidmax is junk) Get a good quality 750W PC Power&Cooling/Corsair/Antec/Silverstone/Seasonic/XFX. Get a GTX 670/680 or a HD7950/7970. Wait for a week or so and the FX Vishera is coming out and get a FX 8320 or 8350. Or the processor you got isnt bad at all, with a good afermarket cooler you can get 4.2 on stock voltage. Bump the voltage up just a little and you can get 4.5/4.6 easy.
 
^ Um. No. When it rejects due to hardware change, call MS using the provided number, list this was used on (ONE) machine because this is the lone machine that windows installation is going to be used on, and it should activate fine. You just need to get a new installation ID verified for your hardware.

Correct but not technically legal.
 
Correct but not technically legal.

well he said to say that it's the only machine it's being used on, just new parts, so that would be legal, saying that the board failed and was replaced would be the illegal route wouldn't it? and really just seems like something they can do at their discression, not a legal matter, although idk what the repercussions are for lying to them
 
Is the 7970 better than my Cards in SLI. I get aroun 80fps with my setup on BF3 right now.
It would be better as you could CF later. I am not seeing a solid bench on 560SLI vs 7970, but it should be better performing right off. You could also get a 670 and be at about the same level in BF3. All depends on what brand you prefer.
 
To "jonnyp11";
The "illegal route" is if you change the motherboard, and put in a different MB. It has to be the same one you had in there for the MS license to be active.

From Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/licensing_faq.aspx#fbid=AxrhFpOzIBo?faq3

Q. If my customer asks me to upgrade a PC with new hardware components, when is a new operating system needed? When would the PC be considered "new"?

A. Generally, an end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer—except the motherboard—and still retain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required.

If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do not need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.

This is from there web site.
 
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