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+---- Thread: Hardware updating.. (/showthread.php?tid=135364)
Hardware updating.. - Explorer487 - 01-24-2016
Alrighty so i have some cash laying around and seeing as how i've been neglecting my PC by spending it all on the car, i decided it's time to update this thing a bit.
Currently it has an Asus mobo with an Intel 1155 socket. On said socket is an Intel i3 3240 @3.4Ghz. I'm not noticing any performance problems but this CPU has done a fair amount of work in the time i've had it (Nearly 3 years) and i bought the thing second hand from Ebay for £35. Which back then was a steal for the performance it dishes out. However it is getting kinda old now and i'd like to replace it with something more powerful and hopefully future proof this thing for a couple years.
I was considering replacing the whole board with an AMD setup. However i'd prefer to not replace my RAM as that's just more expenses and i really don't want to then let this thing turn into a money pit. The other factor is i know absolutely nothing about AMD. I've spent years using Intel/Nvidia combinations, so my knowledge ends there. My PC currently runs 8GB of RAM DDR-3 at (I think) 3400 Mhz, i could be wrong about the clock, been a while since i looked at the spec of my own PC seeing as how it's handled things flawlessly since it was built. But i'm certain about the type.
The main reason for this idea was i'm planning on getting Arma 3, the new Tomb Raider etc. I'm pretty certain my EVGA-Nvidia 750Ti FTW Edition will deal with these games to my satisfaction so i'm not looking to replace the card, as honestly, as long it gets more than 38FPS on high-V High settings i'm happy. (There's still a decent headroom for overlocking it by another 300 Mhz core and 150-200Mhz Memory. At least thats as far as i got it on the test with my i3) But the CPU i feel is going to seriously struggle with Arma and Tomb Raider. It's managed to handle games designed for quad core machines but i honestly think it's going to be out of it's depth now. So along with this does a Nvidia card work with an AMD based board? i honestly have no idea and i know it seems like a noobish question.
Cheers for any input folks as always!
RE: Hardware updating.. - sindroms - 01-24-2016
Your CPU is fine. Invest in a X70 series GTX and you will have a good increase in gaming performance.
No game currently takes advantage of more than four cores and as long as you have turbo boost on your current CPU, you do not have to worry about it.
EDIT: Oh, okay, you do not have turbo boost on the 3240. Just upgrade to and i5 that has it and sink the rest into a GPU.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Explorer487 - 01-24-2016
Yeah. The thing pretty much runs flat out at 3.4 GHz. (I disabled the Speed-Step. It just causes problems performance wise). But i'll take that and get myself an i5. 3550 would probably do the trick. No point going mad but meh. A 3550 would probably be a significant improvement. I was tempted to go for a higher spec than this one however it's got a bad rating for compatability with my board.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Mickk - 01-27-2016
If you want to upgrade your CPU, see if you can find an i5, although you will probably have to look pretty hard to find one for your MB.
I'm currently running a i5 2.4Ghz (Lynnfield) 45 nm Tech (according to Speccy) and it works pretty well despite it's age. I have heard this CPU is an easy overclock, but I don't see the point.....well, not right now.
Ooops..... I just saw you are thinking about that anyway.... D'oh!
Seems like you aren't one of those people who insist on having 60FPS or better playing any game, good for you, I can't tell the difference between anything over 40FPS myself.
As for my stuff, well I've always had good a good experience with Intel/ATi (video) myself, although I have heard AMD is currently turning out some pretty nice CPU's.
Not super fond of nVidia cards, they used to have a different driver for every video card, but that might have changed.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Explorer487 - 01-28-2016
Yes, it seems getting 'anything' for my board is turning into a real pain with it's H2 socket. (Of the i5 class anyway). The ones i can find are extortionate to buy also. However no, i honestly believe as long i get 40 FPS or above then that's perfectly okay with me. My 750Ti gets anywhere between 40-70FPS on most games (depending on the game of course) at 1920x1080 and it didn't cost me a whole lot. Not to mention i can quite easily bump up the power a bit because the "For the win" edition card is pretty much designed to be hammered to the limit according to EVGA. Not that i need to at the moment.
I might end up replacing the whole board at this rate. I'm not really willing to spend £150+ on an i5 for a board that's three nearly four years old. Not to mention it only has two slots for RAM. Single channel this thing runs in (Even though both slots have 4GB DDR3 each) I could replace the entire Mobo AND get a CPU of a higher spec for that money. The question at this point is AMD or Intel? all i'm really looking for is a solid quad core at 3GHz or above (Would be nice) that supports new games with a bit of headroom so when i upgrade the GPU in the future it's still more than capable.
The reason for this at the minute is the current i3 3240 i'm running is really starting to get out of it's depth with a few games. Battlefield Hardline runs it at virtually 95-100% which is causing it to lag and crash. Even Battlefield Bad Company 2 pushes it up to 85-90% on Max settings. The 750Ti is still only at 65% load and taking things in its stride at this point. So eh. Kinda want this sorted before i buy the new Tomb Raider. Since if it's anything like the previous game, that pushed it to 95% and i was just able to run it on Ultra (But not Ultimate) at around 35-40 FPS.
RE: Hardware updating.. - sindroms - 01-28-2016
I am almost tempted to just suggest you grab yourself an AMD FX 6300 with a board, then OC the frik out of it.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Explorer487 - 01-28-2016
Oooh roasty toasty time! xD.
But i'll look at the one you're suggesting and see what options around that CPU there is. Seems to be a lot more choice of AMD CPUs on a larger variety of boards than Intel from a simple search on Amazon i've noticed.
But on a serious note i am looking into various AMD CPUs. Years ago i would never have considered it but they've come leaps and bounds since then, or so i've been told. In the instance an AMD (The only one i had ever bought) was an Athlon of some description and it literally melted one day when i tried to fire up a game on it after owning it about 6 months and opted to never touch them with a 15 ft barge pole again. But eh. I've heard some good things, however i still insist my friend who has an A8 Vision to upgrade that thing. It produces more heat than it does processing power.
RE: Hardware updating.. - sindroms - 01-28-2016
Not really.
A i5 will still outperform my FX-8350 in gaming due to a much better single-core performance.
The only thing I can do is submerge the damn thing under a waterblock and keep my fingers crossed that the cheap allinone does not fail me at some point.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Mao - 01-28-2016
Do not buy AMD FX series if you plan on playing Mass Effect 1 or DeusEx: (Forgot which one). They cause graphics glitches, making portions of the game unplayable.
RE: Hardware updating.. - Explorer487 - 01-28-2016
I wouldn't have thought my CPU choice would influence graphics though..I'm still going to be using my GTX 750Ti
-Not that i play Mass Effect anyway.