Personal computing discussed
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l33t-g4m3r wrote:His cpu isn't that outdated and should give acceptable performance, provided it's overclocked. There isn't any reason to not upgrade the video card first either, since this isn't an old AGP board that you can't use the card once you upgrade the board. I don't see any downside to upgrading the card at all. The biggest problem here is that the cards listed are possibly too slow even for a fast cpu. The PCI-E slot shouldn't be a problem. I'd recommend a 7850 or 570 for BF3. You can get some of nvidia's older dx11 cards at a decent price if memory isn't an issue.
l33t-g4m3r wrote:His cpu isn't that outdated and should give acceptable performance, provided it's overclocked. There isn't any reason to not upgrade the video card first either, since this isn't an old AGP board that you can't use the card once you upgrade the board. I don't see any downside to upgrading the card at all. The biggest problem here is that the cards listed are possibly too slow even for a fast cpu. The PCI-E slot shouldn't be a problem. I'd recommend a 7850 or 570 for BF3. You can get some of nvidia's older dx11 cards at a decent price if memory isn't an issue.
Walkintarget wrote:That Asrock is my absolute all-time favorite board, as it was so accommodating to upgraders.
Upgradable CPU socket ? Check
Upgradable RAM from DDR1 to DDR2 (via riser card)? Check
Upgradable GPU from AGP to PCIe? Check
No one but Asrock ever made anything close to this board in that regard, and I am still rocking my Asrock 939Dual SATAII with an AMD 5000+ BE @ 3.1 and a 7950gx2 card. I have faster cards to pop into it (8800GTS, GT450, GTX260) but the uniqueness of the Asrock board itself makes me want to pair it with the also unique 7950gx2.
You are definitely going to be stretching it as far as the PSU goes, as any faster gamer card will demand more than your PSU will safely supply. I have a 500w PSU with 32a on the +12 rail and that's the bare minimum I'd want to run on my setup.
Walkintarget wrote:OP is still using the s939 on that Asrock board. It isn't available now, but Asrock offered a riser card and special CPU upgrade slot that allowed you to use an AM2 CPU and DDR2 RAM on the same daughter card. That's the setup I am using for my Asrock rig which was used as a workbench rig (since retired but pressed into service here and there).
http://www.wtslair.com/ProjectBlackEdition/sideview.jpg
http://www.wtslair.com/ProjectBlackEdition/sideview.jpg
The 939 CPUs are bringing a good bit of money on Ebay, so its more involved than you want to get into, but you could sell your current chip there to recoup some $$.
If you could find an AM2 riser card (HUGE if, as these are rare as hen's teeth now) and pair that with an AMD X2 5000+ Black Edition chip you would at least have more CPU to play, but I'd be leaning towards a cheap i3/mATX build at this point. I'm with DPete on this one .. he supplied some links to just what you need if you can scrape up the $$.
Only riser card I could find available -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-ASRock-AM2CPU-Board-ASRock-Future-Port-upgrade-expansion-card-/280929728660?pt=Motherboards&hash=item4168b77894
I found AMD X2 5000's on Ebay for $32, but they are not Black Edition chips, which would allow you to keep RAM and PCIe in spec and just up your multiplier to achieve 3+ghz speeds.
DPete27 wrote:1) It's time for a system upgrade. Dropping in a new GPU will get you some performance increase, but the full potential will never be realized until you get a better CPU. See here for example. A Sandy Bridge Pentium G630 is a great place to start if you're strapped for cash at the moment. And/or as Chrispy said, your end-goal would be to upgrade to an i5 when you've got enough money.
2) CPU upgrades are very simple, although I was also nervous before doing my first changeout also. Nothing to be afraid of. You can google a guide for your specific socket, otherwise any new processor comes with an instruction manual. I just don't think it's worth dropping more money into ancient hardware. Save for a new system.
3) I would say a 7770 would fit your needs pretty well unless you want to wait a couple months and see where the GTX 650Ti falls. The 7770 performance is more-or-less on par with a 6850 while consuming less power. They cost roughly the same so get the newer card.
4) Use a Power Supply Calculator, 450W is fine.
TheEmrys wrote:l33t-g4m3r wrote:His cpu isn't that outdated and should give acceptable performance, provided it's overclocked. There isn't any reason to not upgrade the video card first either, since this isn't an old AGP board that you can't use the card once you upgrade the board. I don't see any downside to upgrading the card at all. The biggest problem here is that the cards listed are possibly too slow even for a fast cpu. The PCI-E slot shouldn't be a problem. I'd recommend a 7850 or 570 for BF3. You can get some of nvidia's older dx11 cards at a decent price if memory isn't an issue.
Gotta disagree. That single-core cpu will be absolutely crippling on any game from the last 2 years. Maybe even three. Your GPU is actually a better performer than your cpu at this point. $200 for a Z67 mobo and a Core i3, while not a flashy upgrade, would be greatly beneficial. Core i5 if you can swing the money.
Ustauk wrote:How about an Asus M4A87TD EVO Motherboard
l33t-g4m3r wrote:OP has a X2. I don't see how people are saying this CPU is slow
Chrispy_ wrote:Yeah, a heavily-overclocked X2 might just about cope but I wouldn't be surprised if OP actually has the single-core. I'm sure he'll confirm one way or the other soon enough.
I jumped on a 939 board at launch and I seem to remeber the X2 not being released for at least a whole year Maybe it was even longer since I bought my first A64 when I moved to London in March '04 and I'm pretty sure I couldn't get my hands on an X2 until the autumn of the following year.
Thinking about it, if the OP is still running an original A64 3800+ then a CPU upgrade is waaaaaay at the top of the priorities list. Even the same old 8800GT will feel quicker with a modern processor to feed it.
Ustauk wrote:I think the CPU is just unable to cope with everything that is going on in that game. For the longest time, all the character models in the game would dissappear intermittnatly, with a much higher frequency in high multiplayer matches. A recent patch at least keeps my character visible, but I'm still being shot by unseen enemies. Vehicles work fine. I think my poor old CPU, even dual core, just has too much to handle in Battlefield 3.
Ustauk wrote:I've tried overclocking, but this board isn't very overclocking friendly. The highest I can get the cpu is to 2.3 ghz; after that I even have trouble posting, and was barely able to back down. I'm limited to a voltage of 1.4 ; apparently you can modify the board to handle higher voltages, but that requires some soldering that is beyond my ability.
Ustauk wrote:I may still roll the dice on the 7770, as Memory Express has a pretty good return policy if it doesn't help, and I could pull that to another system later. When I get around to making a change, I'll post back.
Thanks again for the advice, everyone.
l33t-g4m3r wrote:I seriously can't recommend that card, especially for BF3, being it's below mid-grade. That card has a 128 bit bus. The 6850 is slightly faster, and so would a 460, 560 better yet
l33t-g4m3r wrote:Ustauk wrote:I think the CPU is just unable to cope with everything that is going on in that game. For the longest time, all the character models in the game would dissappear intermittnatly, with a much higher frequency in high multiplayer matches. A recent patch at least keeps my character visible, but I'm still being shot by unseen enemies. Vehicles work fine. I think my poor old CPU, even dual core, just has too much to handle in Battlefield 3.
Sounds like a video card problem or game bug more than CPU, probably running out of memory.
Ustauk wrote:How about an Asus M4A87TD EVO Motherboard http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX28714 (has IDE controller for my older drives),AMD FX-4100 Processor 3.6GHz w/ 12MB Cache Quad Core processor http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX36558 , and 8gb of memory for an upgrade build http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX38854" ? My primary source would be the computer shop listed, Memory Express http://www.memoryexpress.com, as they have the best prices in Edmonton, and will even mount the cpu and memory on the board at no extra charge if you buy them together, so if you have any suggestions from that store, please let me know.
Thanks again.
l33t-g4m3r wrote:TheEmrys wrote:l33t-g4m3r wrote:His cpu isn't that outdated and should give acceptable performance, provided it's overclocked. There isn't any reason to not upgrade the video card first either, since this isn't an old AGP board that you can't use the card once you upgrade the board. I don't see any downside to upgrading the card at all. The biggest problem here is that the cards listed are possibly too slow even for a fast cpu. The PCI-E slot shouldn't be a problem. I'd recommend a 7850 or 570 for BF3. You can get some of nvidia's older dx11 cards at a decent price if memory isn't an issue.
Gotta disagree. That single-core cpu will be absolutely crippling on any game from the last 2 years. Maybe even three. Your GPU is actually a better performer than your cpu at this point. $200 for a Z67 mobo and a Core i3, while not a flashy upgrade, would be greatly beneficial. Core i5 if you can swing the money.
OP has a X2. I don't see how people are saying this CPU is slow, as benchmarks prove it to be capable of playing games, although there might be a few it can't handle. The 939 is a dual channel board, and the 3800+ is a dual core CPU that is very overclock friendly, even on the stock cooler. Sure it's an older CPU, but it isn't necessary to upgrade it before your video card, if that's what you were originally looking to do. Replacing the video card is an easy upgrade and can be carried over to your new system when you choose to do so. Upgrading the CPU with the riser would be pretty pointless, because if memory serves the newer dual cpus with ddr2 performed pretty similar per clock. There also are 939x2's with 1mb cache and they do help, but I'd pass unless you see a good deal. No clue if a phenom would work. (No.) You'd get more out of overclocking, which if it is possible on your board may net you an extra 400-500 Mhz, which is a decent performance boost. That should hold you over until you decide on a new system.