This is my system. Does anyone have recommendations for upgrades?

F

Francois Van Der Merwe

New member
<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : ECS A740GM-M
> Chipset : AMD RS690/RS690M
> Processor : AMD Phenom II X2 550 @ 3100MHz
> Physical Memory : 2048MB (1 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series
> Hard Disk : SAMSUNG HD103SI ATA Device (1000GB)
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3250310AS ATA Device (250GB)
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3500418AS ATA Device (500GB)
> CD-Rom Drive : EDCD E3WX2RWX6 SCSI CdRom Device
> CD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS40 ATA Device
> Monitor Type : Samsung SyncMaster - 23 inches
> Network Card : Attansic (Now owned by Atheros) L1 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Controller
> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8139/810x Fast Ethernet Adapter
> Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7600 (32-bit)
> DirectX : Version 11.00
> Windows Performance Index : 5.5 on 7.9
 
- more ram: another 2GB or 6GB
- new graphics card: GTX560ti will work well and not cost too much.
- hard drive: 2tb HDD

That will put a lot more performance in your rig. I cant comment on the CPU as i dont know much about AMD CPUs but would recommend quad core.
 
I would recommend also upgrading the cpu but only problem i see is since thats an am2+ board, u would probably be only able to use am3 cpu's with a max TDP of 95 Watt which might be a problem since most high performance am3 cpu's are 140watt processors.
 
Depending on your needs:
More RAM would give your machine a boost overall
Better GFX card would increase your Performance in games
Better CPU would improve your System Performance in general

So the bottom line is what you use it for....
 
Xero said:
It's always time for an upgrade
Click to expand...

whats that saying Xero?

upgradingapcisalifestyle


oh a side note check what ur mx cpu watts are, keep in mind to put in something like an X6 prob will be possible but the BIOS may need to be flashed depending on the date of the board

i had to do the same, tho ti was pointless cause i didnt upgrade in the end.....
 
I would recommend getting an SSD. It will speed up your system insanely. There are good 30-60GB ones available for under R1500. Make sure they're faster than 250GB/s read & write. And the best part is that you can keep using them, even after you upgrade.
 
I agree with the SSD upgrade but not with that rig. CPU and ram could cause the SSD to bottle neck. I have just upgraded 2 laptops with SSDs. 1. was an i7 with 8GB ram and 2 harddrive slots put in a 64GB ssd and the other drive is a 500GB 7200rpm drive. You cant imagine the difference in all of the performance. the 2nd. was a core2duo with 2GB ram and you can see a difference in performance from 5400rpm drive but it is not as quick to open applications as the i7. Bottlenecks really suck especially if you are gonna spend R1700 on a 64GB SSD. Granted if he upgrades the rest of his rig and then adds a SSD to top it off it will be a great idea. I know cause i have 2x intel SSDs in raid0 in my machine and i wont be able to go back, really its that big a performance difference.
 
+1 for the SSD. Best upgrade I did.
Next would be RAM, after that GPU, then CPU.

Depending on what GPU you'll be getting you might want to upgrade all of it at once. Maybe move to Intel? ;)

I was a hardcore AMD fan before I finally upgraded to my Intel Core i5-760. Never been happier! (Although I still have my AMD system which runs constantly)
 
Would more RAM make a noticeable difference?

I just want to run all my games at MAX graphics settings!

A graphics card that would make a real difference>?
Is there really such a big difference between ATI and Nvidia graphics cards?
 
More ram would make a noticeable difference but if you wanna max all your games you will also have to tell us what games you are playing cause it does not take much to max out Half Life 2 but Metro 2033 you are gonna need some big guns. You might have to also tell us what your budget is cause if you had endless supply we can recommend all top of the range goods. So please more info.
 
Is there really such a big difference between ATI and Nvidia graphics cards?
Click to expand...

subject to hot debate

IMO Nvidia much like Intel, Intel better than AMD in terms of perfromance

ATI AKA now AMD is AMD and we all know their products add bang for your buck

IMO if your abit on budget go AMD way

no budget? then NVIDIA and Intel is the way
 
Go Intel and Nvidia. You will spend less on upgrades and will last a lot longer before the upgrade. That is my opinion.
 
Nvidia drivers are much easier to deal with and the Physx addition to their GPU's can be a game changer.
 
Francois Van Der Merwe said:
R1000 loose for a new graphics card?

Should I wait and save a bit more?
Click to expand...

in all honesty rather save up another R1500, have atleast R2500 to spend

just remember getting a card int he higher to mid range will require a PSU of atleast 500 watts, depending on the card

i would actually go the AMD way with both CPU and graphics card

i just brought the HD 6870 and what a performer it is!
 
Francois Van Der Merwe said:
R1000 loose for a new graphics card?

Should I wait and save a bit more?
Click to expand...

i would wait till you have about R2000. You can pick up a GTX460 for about that much. that will be the best card on a budget. Later on you could get another GTX460 and double your performance. Get more ram as well at least another 2GB!
 
Ram would be the first to increase in my opinion... but ddr2 is expensive these days so watch out.

I would honestly look into waiting a little bit (saving) and doing a complete upgrade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top