Looking for upgrade advice.

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rking12345678

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Jun 26, 2010
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I'm looking for advice on CPU and RAM upgrades for my current computer:

MB - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2
CPU - AMD Athlon X2 5000+ 2.2GHz
GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 4670
RAM - 3 GB, 2 sticks
- Apacer Technology 2 GB PC2-6400 DDR2
- Kingston 1 GB PC2-6400 DDR2
320 GB HDD, DVD burner (both SATA)
PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

After looking on MSI's website I saw the motherboard supports Athlon II, X2, X3, X4, Phenom X3, X4, Phenom II X2, X3, X4, and Sempron processors up to 95W. When I go to newegg and look for 95w processors I get 16 results:

link

I don't know where to go from there, which of these is going to be my best option price vs performance? As well, with whatever option ends up being selected will the stock cooler that comes with it be fine or will I have to upgrade that also?

As for RAM what would I want to do, find a matching 2gb stick and replace the 1gb stick or will I need to buy a matching set?

If more information's needed what do I need to include? Thanks for any advice.


edit: Read the sticky, am providing answers to questions I didn't answer before. I suppose as for what I'd be doing with this is some gaming, it already serves as my media center, and because I'd like higher specs (eh, always gotta have bigger...). No plans to overclock, and I'm not sure of budget as I'm a few weeks away from having the money to upgrade so I'm just trying to find out what I need to put away for it. In the US, and I'm not sure what else I need to add...
 
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mfenn

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Jan 17, 2010
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Without knowing your budget, it's really hard to say. Anything from the lowliest Athlon II X2 to the Phenom II X4 945 would be a decent upgrade.

As for the memory, as long as you get another 2GB stick with the same speed, timings, and voltages, you shouldn't need to worry about getting a matched set.
 
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rking12345678

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Jun 26, 2010
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I currently don't have a budget, it would be determined by how much the best upgrade for the money would cost since I'd have to save up a bit to purchase it anyway since I'm willing to spend what it's going to take to get the best improvement possible. I won't have money again to upgrade or build new for quite some time I'd like to get the best option I can now.
 
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mfenn

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Jan 17, 2010
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rking12345678 said:
I currently don't have a budget, it would be determined by how much the best upgrade for the money would cost since I'd have to save up a bit to purchase it anyway since I'm willing to spend what it's going to take to get the best improvement possible. I won't have money again to upgrade or build new for quite some time I'd like to get the best option I can now.
Click to expand...

Define "best". Nearly all of the 95W AMD chips are good bang for the buck.

The absolute best upgrade performance-wise you could do for the CPU and RAM would be a Phenom II X4 945 and 2x4GB of RAM. That would run you about $400. Of course, such an upgrade would be silly.

You've got to help us help you. You can look up the parts as well as we can. We need to know where the system is falling short and how much you're willing to spend to correct it.
 
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rking12345678

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Jun 26, 2010
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$100(ish) budget for the CPU, purpose of this system is for gaming and as a media center and I'd like to upgrade as best as I can within my above budget for increased performance in both areas.

My 2gb stick of RAM is listed in CPU-Z as having the following speed, timing, voltage.

Max bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Nominal Voltage 1.80 Volts
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 3.0-3-3-9-12 @ 200 MHz
JEDEC #2 4.0-4-4-12-16 @ 266 MHz
JEDEC #3 5.0-5-5-18-23 @ 400 MHz

I'd like to get a 2gb stick to pair with this, budget $100(max), for the same purpose as above. Brand doesn't really matter to me, as long as it does what it's intended to I'll be happy.



edit: Are these two suitable?

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704
or
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211447

As well, the difference between Athlon II x4 and Phenom II x4 appears to be $30 for a similar speed. I don't know the difference between the two so is the extra money worth what the Phenom II x4 would provide? The RAM looks to be a match to my current 2gb stick, and is easily affordable.

Sorry if I'm coming off as difficult, I'm just now getting back into PC hardware from a 5 year absence. Things have changed quite a bit...
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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OK, now that's the info we needed! :)

That RAM stick should be a good match for your existing one. Same timings and voltage at DDR2 800.

As for the CPU, the main difference between the Athlon II and Phenom II lines is that the Phenom II has 6MB of L3 cache whereas the Athlon II has none. The extra cache really helps for gaming, not so much for encoding.

However, since your GPU is relatively weak, I believe you would be GPU-bound in games. This means that the extra gaming performance of the Phenom II would be wasted. Therefore, I would say to go with the Athlon II. You should go with the Athlon II X4 635 instead of the 630 as 99 cents gets you 100 more MHz.
 
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rking12345678

Member
Jun 26, 2010
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My current video card is a placeholder since I needed something to replace an overheating GeForce 6800xt, I do intend to upgrade that as well but I'd like to get the CPU and RAM in place before then. I'm not really concerned about that because that upgrade's 3 months out and who knows what the prices on a quality card will be then.

With that assumption that I'll end the year with a gaming quality card, the Phenom II x4 would be a better bet? I'd hate to buy an Athlon II x4 now to match with my current card and find myself held back by that when I upgrade the video card, or will the Athlon IIx4 still perform admirably?

I'll bookmark the RAM, it's tempting to just get it now though since it's so cheap.

Thanks for the help, it's fun getting into this again.
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
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www.mfenn.com
What resolution do you play at? At higher resolutions, many games will still be bottlenecked by even a good GPU. At 1680x1050 (considered a moderate resolution these days), the difference is between the two is 5-15% depending on the game. Really up to you as to whether or not the ~33% price increase is worth it. I personally would go for it, but your bang for buck tolerances may be stricter.
 
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