Need Some upgrade Help.

Powerbrew

Member
Mar 23, 2002
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Just some info I have been out of the PC gaming world since about 2011-2012. So my current comp reflects that.

fx-8150 @4.6
16gb of some generic ram
ATI HD6950 2GB
Asus crosshair V formula

Basically its time for a much need upgrade to get current. Since I have been out of the game for so long I am not even sure where to start. I was pretty much a AMD fan boy back in the day. I don't really have a budget but I would like to keep it sub 1500 if possoble. Any help would be appreciated.
 

Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
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Is this going to be for a Christmas Present? If not and you can wait another month till January, all the newer next gen stuff will be out or start popping up.Otherwise if you have to have a upgrade right this second, there is nothing new from AMD so you would have to go Intel Skylake Socket 1151.So your upgrade will look something along these lines : Z170 motherboard, i7 6700k CPU, RX-480 or GTX-1060 GPU And DDR4 3200.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,699
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Is this going to be for a Christmas Present? If not and you can wait another month till January, all the newer next gen stuff will be out or start popping up.Otherwise if you have to have a upgrade right this second, there is nothing new from AMD so you would have to go Intel Skylake Socket 1151.So your upgrade will look something along these lines : Z170 motherboard, i7 6700k CPU, RX-480 or GTX-1060 GPU And DDR4 3200.

That seems to be a proven recipe as common as corn-bread. And who doesn't like corn-bread?

If I thought I loved my Sandy Bridge, I worship my Skylake system.
 

AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
14,000
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At this time, I would really really wait for January to see ZEN and Kabylake and then decide.
 
Mar 10, 2006
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Just some info I have been out of the PC gaming world since about 2011-2012. So my current comp reflects that.

fx-8150 @4.6
16gb of some generic ram
ATI HD6950 2GB
Asus crosshair V formula

Basically its time for a much need upgrade to get current. Since I have been out of the game for so long I am not even sure where to start. I was pretty much a AMD fan boy back in the day. I don't really have a budget but I would like to keep it sub 1500 if possoble. Any help would be appreciated.

All right here's what I would do.

I'd upgrade your graphics processor now so you can enjoy some modern games over the holidays, because that venerable HD 6950 is just not gonna cut it. The FX 8150 is not great for gaming these days, but it will hold you over until the new generation of CPUs come out early next year (Intel's Core i7 7700K will be coming out in early January; AMD's Summit Ridge should be out sometime in the first quarter).

Then when the new processors are out, upgrade to one of them.

As far as the graphics cards go, AMD currently has nothing for high-end gaming, so...your choices are GeForce GTX 1070, GeForce GTX 1080, and the NVIDIA Titan X.

I'd say GTX 1070 is your best bet on bang-for-the-buck, so go with something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4125875&cm_re=gtx_1070-_-14-125-875-_-Product), for $379 (+ free game).

This will be a huge upgrade from your HD 6950. And when you get to upgrading your CPU+memory+mobo, you can still stay well under your $1500 budget target.
 

Powerbrew

Member
Mar 23, 2002
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All right here's what I would do.

I'd upgrade your graphics processor now so you can enjoy some modern games over the holidays, because that venerable HD 6950 is just not gonna cut it. The FX 8150 is not great for gaming these days, but it will hold you over until the new generation of CPUs come out early next year (Intel's Core i7 7700K will be coming out in early January; AMD's Summit Ridge should be out sometime in the first quarter).

Then when the new processors are out, upgrade to one of them.

As far as the graphics cards go, AMD currently has nothing for high-end gaming, so...your choices are GeForce GTX 1070, GeForce GTX 1080, and the NVIDIA Titan X.

I'd say GTX 1070 is your best bet on bang-for-the-buck, so go with something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4125875&cm_re=gtx_1070-_-14-125-875-_-Product), for $379 (+ free game).

This will be a huge upgrade from your HD 6950. And when you get to upgrading your CPU+memory+mobo, you can still stay well under your $1500 budget target.

I like this idea. Thx for the input. Are the next gen of CPUs going to be a huge improvement to what is out now?
 
Mar 10, 2006
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I like this idea. Thx for the input. Are the next gen of CPUs going to be a huge improvement to what is out now?

Not really, no. You can buy an Intel Core i7 6700K + cheap Z170 board today and be comfortable in knowing that you have a processor + motherboard that will last you for many years. Intel's next CPU is the 7700K which is basically just a higher-clocked 6700K (with potentially more overclocking headroom).

Here's a sample setup that you can buy now:

CPU: Core i7 6700K ($328) https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Unlock...&ie=UTF8&qid=1480268988&sr=1-1&keywords=6700k

6700K does not come with a cooling fan, so you will need a cooler. Your FX 8150 is overclocked so I assume that you know what you're doing with regard to aftermarket cooling. You should be able to recycle whatever you're currently using if you can get ahold of the mounting brackets for LGA 115x, though.

Motherboard: MSI Z170 SLI Plus ($110) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130900&cm_re=z170-_-13-130-900-_-Product

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3200 ($93) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&cm_re=16gb_ddr4_3200-_-20-233-859-_-Product

You can probably recycle your PSU, storage, etc.

Upgrading to something way better than what you have now will not even come close to maxing out your $1500 budget, so you could throw a GTX 1080 in there and still come in under budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4127945&cm_re=gtx_1080-_-14-127-945-_-Product

Oh, and one more thing...your old parts will have decent resale value, especially the CPU, so make sure to dump those parts in order to lower your total upgrade cost. Use the FS/FT forums to get rid of your parts if you want to avoid paying eBay fees (but do use eBay to figure out what these parts are generally worth).
 
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Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
1,980
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I like this idea. Thx for the input. Are the next gen of CPUs going to be a huge improvement to what is out now?

No not really,the i7 6700k is the best you can get right now and the 7700k is going to be the same thing only with a 200Mhz speed bump from 6700k at 4.0Ghz to 7700k at 4.2Ghz.It is going to be on the same socket as well socket 1151. Although there will be a Motherboard refresh to Z270 which is not needed as the 7700k will work on the current Z170 motherboards.Hence my reasoning for just buying now.

Plus a 6700k at stock would be twice if not three times fast and stronger then your fx-8150 @4.6.
 
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Mar 10, 2006
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Plus a 6700k at stock would be twice if not three times fast and stronger then your fx-8150 @4.6.

Yeah, pretty much twice as fast, with more headroom if the 6700K overclocked to 4.5GHz+. The meat of the performance gain will come from moving to a 6700k, waiting for 7700k in this case probably isn't worth it.
 

Powerbrew

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Mar 23, 2002
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On a side note apparently I had a i7 3820 and a Asus formula iv in the closest. Thought I sold that long ago.