Need advice before buying hardware

ViciousClone

ViciousClone

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Hi all,oky so i want to upgrade my system next week..

But this meant it will only be Mboard and CPU only,

i Have a core2quade 2.5GHZ ,6GB DDR3(cheap value ram) ,HD7850 radeon,i play Bf3 and bf4.so it does at least do a good job..

Though my HD is crap,slow as hell..So now im thinking what about rather getting a SSHD or SSD and ram?

What would you guys rather upgrade 1st?

Thanks guys
 
djbrendan said:
Hi all,oky so i want to upgrade my system next week..

But this meant it will only be Mboard and CPU only,

i Have a core2quade 2.5GHZ ,6GB DDR3(cheap value ram) ,HD7850 radeon,i play Bf3 and bf4.so it does at least do a good job..

Though my HD is crap,slow as hell..So now im thinking what about rather getting a SSHD or SSD and ram?

What would you guys rather upgrade 1st?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Just bought a 120GB Seagate SSD for my 6 year old Core 2 Duo system and it's running like a beast now!

Definitely go for a SSD and RAM. A quad core is fast enough. Your hard drive is the slowest part in your system.
 
Calvin22580 said:
Just bought a 120GB Seagate SSD for my 6 year old Core 2 Duo system and it's running like a beast now!

Definitely go for a SSD and RAM. A quad core is fast enough. Your hard drive is the slowest part in your system.
Click to expand...

Agree.

Recently upgraded mobo, ram, CPU and I can feel how the hard drive is bottle necking my system
 
Hmmm true,i've done some checking on ssd and a sshd ,to be fair the sshd seems like a bettet buy atm than ssd,they are still way expensive
 
Getting a SSD or SSHD will ONLY decrease load times and will NOT improve performance (FPS), your CPU is bottle necking your GPU.

I would invest in a full system upgrade, which in you case would mean upgrading the CPU and motherboard. This will improve your performance in Battlefield.

If load times is what you want to improve then go for the SSD or SSHD first.
 
NomNom said:
Getting a SSD or SSHD will ONLY decrease load times and will NOT improve performance (FPS), your CPU is bottle necking your GPU.

I would invest in a full system upgrade, which in you case would mean upgrading the CPU and motherboard. This will improve your performance in Battlefield.

If load times is what you want to improve then go for the SSD or SSHD first.
Click to expand...
Why do you say the cpu is bottlenecking?how do i confirm this..or why do you think so?
 
djbrendan said:
Why do you say the cpu is bottlenecking?how do i confirm this..or why do you think so?
Click to expand...

Because it's a old generation system, the new i processors are faster and more efficient, I have come to notice that Battlefield 3 and 4 are very CPU intensive, so getting a quad core i5 is highly recommended.

My i5 760 2.8GHz struggles quite a lot and this new PC I am currently using has a i3-2120 3.30GHz and it struggles much more than my i5 760 did.

What I'm saying is you need a nice strong i5 3rd or 4th generation preferably to get nice decent performance while playing Battlefield.

What FPS do you currently get and at what quality?

At the end of the day it's what you want to get, faster loading times, or better performance.


There are 2 things you need to know if you decide on getting a SSD.

1. NEVER EVER DEFRAGMENT THE SSD.

2. Make sure AHCI is selected in your BIOS under SATA controller mode.
 
Last edited:
NomNom said:
Getting a SSD or SSHD will ONLY decrease load times and will NOT improve performance (FPS), your CPU is bottle necking your GPU.

I would invest in a full system upgrade, which in you case would mean upgrading the CPU and motherboard. This will improve your performance in Battlefield.

If load times is what you want to improve then go for the SSD or SSHD first.
Click to expand...

Best advice right here.

Upgrade the CPU and Mobo to newer tech.
Maybe even check out Carbonite for a nice second hand deal.

The SSD will only help with the load times. I have one and they are nice but I also have a nice CPU and mobo so can afford to go for something like a ssd.

I think even the CPU's before the Haswell ones will be a nice upgrade for you.

Go for a i5. Best value for money.
 
NomNom said:
Because it's a old generation system, the new i processors are faster and more efficient, I have come to notice that Battlefield 3 and 4 are very CPU intensive, so getting a quad core i5 is highly recommended.

My i5 760 2.8GHz struggles quite a lot and this new PC I am currently using has a i3-2120 3.30GHz and it struggles much more than my i5 760 did.

What I'm saying is you need a nice strong i5 3rd or 4th generation preferably to get nice decent performance while playing Battlefield.

What FPS do you currently get and at what quality?

At the end of the day it's what you want to get, faster loading times, or better performance.


There are 2 things you need to know if you decide on getting a SSD.

1. NEVER EVER DEFRAGMENT THE SSD.

2. Make sure AHCI is selected in your BIOS under SATA controller mode.
Click to expand...

I agree with Noms. For gaming i5 all the way if you can afford it. DDR3 1333 is fine if you are on a budget, so don't worry upgrading your RAM yet if you don't need to.

http://wccftech.com/intel-sandy-bridge-ivy-bridge-haswell-graphics-compared-10-difference-average/

Even second gen i5 is sufficient for gaming. Check Carbonite as mentioned for good deals on Sandy/Ivybridge combos as they offer excellent value.

goofball said:
Best advice right here.

Upgrade the CPU and Mobo to newer tech.
Maybe even check out Carbonite for a nice second hand deal.

The SSD will only help with the load times. I have one and they are nice but I also have a nice CPU and mobo so can afford to go for something like a ssd.

I think even the CPU's before the Haswell ones will be a nice upgrade for you.

Go for a i5. Best value for money.
Click to expand...

I would also go CPU + Mobo combo first as your system is a bit outdated for modern games. Then your system would let you be able to utilise the SSD to it's full capacity once you get it as Sandy/Ivy/Haswell have very good onboard SATA controllers (also support native SATAIII 6Gb/s). :D
 
I would say go with SSD to see if it helps. If you find you need mobo/CPU, money you spent on SSD is not wasted.
 
djbrendan said:
So i guess a intel core i5 4430 would be good? Kinda on a budget
Click to expand...

Yes, I can't really recommend you a motherboard as it's up to you what features you want, just make sure the motherboard you decide on is for Socket 1150.

The cheapest one you can get though is this one: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=11341


NAG Wesley recommends this one for a R6500 budget build: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=10102

http://www.nag.co.za/2013/12/10/system-builders-guide-december-r4500-r9000/
 
Last edited:
NomNom said:
Yes, I can't really recommend you a motherboard as it's up to you what features you want, just make sure the motherboard you decide on is for Socket 1150.

The cheapest one you can get though is this one: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=11341


NAG Wesley recommends this one for a R6500 budget build: http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=10102

http://www.nag.co.za/2013/12/10/system-builders-guide-december-r4500-r9000/
Click to expand...

Thanks :) ,i guess any cheapy would work for now,seeing that im coming from a socket 775 ..
 
gregmcc said:
I just got a 120gb ssd and put BF4 on it. Load times went from 2-3 mins, down to 20secs!
Click to expand...

Very true. But only the load times. Not worth it for you. With what you have you have to upgrade first.
 
any AMD people out there to assist? i need more option ,i know a core i5 is a worthy upgrade from my core 2 quad,but which amd processor would be the worthy upgrade?
 
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