So yea, a little while ago I decided I wanted more from my computer and decided to rebuild it as a med-high range gamer. So far I'm running the following: AZZA Solano 1000 GigaByte GA-MA-785G-UD3H AMD X2 5000+ BE @ 3.0GHZ CoolerMaster Vortex 752 HSF 4GB (2x2GB)Crucial 5400 - 667mhz - 5-5-5-15-20-2T Sapphire 512MB HD3850 WD Green 500GB HDD RoseWill Stallion 500W PSU Acer 22" LCD 1050 max res -------------------------------------- So yea, I'm looking at going up to a HD4890 as its under $200 and outperforms the most expensive 5000 series card I can afford, the 5770. I'm also planning on going up to a modular PSU in the 650 to 800 watt range to save on power. So the main idea is to upgrade my PSU, CPU, GPU and ram. But first thing first, I was thinking about ditching this board for a newer USB 3.0 DDR3 board if I can keep my price down. I'm hoping to keep my budget like this: $200 - GPU $200 - CPU $120 - Ram $80 - PSU $150 - Mobo (if replaced now) I'm thinking the mobo might go later but I really want to get higher speed DDR3 ram, but I am trying to keep the costs down. Any suggestions on parts? I currently am checking newegg.ca, tigerdirect.ca and ncix.com for deals. Oh and the prices need to be in CAD and try to keep the prices in the ranges including shipping. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
Possibly the best bang for buck gaming cpu on the market is a Core i5 750. This would require a new mobo obviously. Heres the problem I see though, the 4890s on TigerDirect.ca are Refurb. Dont waste your money. Newegg.ca doesnt have any 4890, only the 4850. NCIX has 4890s, brand new, in stock for $249 while a 5770 wont outperform the 5770, its only $168 at NewEgg. Personally I question if the extra $60 is worth an end of life card thats hard to find anymore, even if its a bit more powerful then the 5770.The 5770 will draw less power,run cooler,support DX11, and support eyefinity(the 4890 may support eyfinity, cant recall of hand).. Assuming your current ram is DDR3(you said you were considering faster DDR3 RAM implying you have DDR3 already), you can get by with a Core i5. Rather then breaking up the budget by part, a grand total of $650 was much easier to work with and would get you much further the limiting yourself to a price for numerous parts. Your PSU does need to go, so a Corsair 550 is your best bet as it can power 1 powerful gpu, or two weaker gpus. Also, keep in mind your running a WD 1 TB Caviar GREEN. These are fantastic drives for storing large amounts of data, like music and movies, but these drives are not really designed for being your primary OS drive. For about $10 more, maybe $15, maybe less on sale, you could have gotten the 1 TB Caviar BLACK which is a much better drive when using in conjunction for storing lots of data, and running your OS off of. Mobo: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412 CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215 GPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161317 PSU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004
The HD4890 is discontinued, which is why you'll have trouble finding it. Its successors are the HD5770 (slower) and the HD5830 (faster, but more expensive). http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102878 The HD5830 is $250, but a massively powerful card, strongly recommended. The Core i5 750 is by far the best CPU for the money: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215 Unless overclocking, you don't need a fancy motherboard, so a P55-UD3L will do: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128406 To use the i5 though, you do need to replace the board immediately. Some decent RAM: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260 You don't need anywhere near 650-800W of power for the system we're specifying, in fact less than 300. You do, however, need a good brand. Rosewill is a terrible brand, dangerous in fact. Here's a suitable replacement unit: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004 This upgrade is about $815, so slightly over the $750 budget listed, but a very powerful system upgrade indeed, with high quality parts. If you really want USB3, you can spend an extra $20 and get this board instead: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412 These boards are also much better overclockers, which will allow you to gain a lot of extra performance. Also heed Xplorer's warning about the eco hard drive. They are designed for data, not running windows. You should really be using a 7200rpm drive at least for your operating system.
