Need upgrade advice

[FrogDemon]

I only want to upgrade my processor and gpu. I am running a Phenom II 970 BE and the gpu is an nVidia GTX 550ti. I am not looking to spend more then $500.

My thoughts for the processor is the FX-6200 and for the gpu the GTX 660 ti. Thoughts advice please.

Thanx

 

[clifford_cooley]

Before you decide on FX Series, does your motherboard support AM3+ CPU's?

Next question would be if your PSU will support the GTX 660Ti. What size is your PSU?

If you are good to go with those two questions, I'd say looks to be a good choice (even though I'm an Intel guy).

 

[FrogDemon]

Sorry. My mobo is an Asus M5A97. My PSU is a ThermalTake TR 800 TR2 Bronze.

Edit:
I wouldn't mind getting an i7 system. But I doubt max $1100 would get me much.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Sorry. My mobo is an Asus M5A97. My PSU is a ThermalTake TR 800 TR2 Bronze.

In that case, GO FOR IT.

I wouldn't worry about Intel unless you just wanted to build a new system. As I said I'm an Intel guy personally, but that doesn't mean I'm against AMD. It does mean I have a preference and little experience with AMD.

 

[FrogDemon]

My preference used to be Intel. But I haven't had any experience with them since the Dual core Celeron and even then, I bought off Ebay.

I want to get back to Intel and I actually wanted to build a LGA2011 system. But I don't think I need all that power when an LGA1155 would do me good. I could build an LGA1155 system for under 1k, but I don't know which mobo to get. That is the only thing hampering me from building one.

 

[clifford_cooley]

What are your preferences in motherboard tech?

• ATX or Micro-ATX?
• SATA 3.0 (6G)?
• Raid capabilities?
• USB 3.0 (5G)?
• PCIe 3.0?
• SLI or Crossfire, if so how many cards?
• Over-clocking?

 

[FrogDemon]

What are your preferences in motherboard tech?

• ATX or Micro-ATX?
• SATA 3.0 (6G)?
• Raid capabilities?
• USB 3.0 (5G)?
• PCIe 3.0?
• SLI or Crossfire, if so how many cards?
• Over-clocking?

ATX is the only clue I have about mobos. I was thinking this board. But I don't know.

 

[clifford_cooley]

ATX is the only clue I have about mobos. I was thinking this board. But I don't know.

Thats a nice board, and suits every question I mentioned above.

ASUS Wi-fi Go - nice addition
8 total USB 3.0 - 4 rear panel and 4 by the 2 internal headers
PCIe 3.0 and 3-way support - seems to be nice flexibility with SLI and Crossfire though my knowledge in this area is limited.

 

[FrogDemon]

I think I could just get the board, cpu and a gpu, pull my AMD board out and slap that mobo in and I'll be set.

 

[clifford_cooley]

You may want to look at how little performance gain you would be getting for the extra it would cost to change to Intel. Unless you go with an i7, I doubt you will see any CPU gains from changing to Intel vs getting an FX 6 or 8 core.

PassMark - CPU Mark - High End CPUs (Use the scores as a general guide line not accuracy)

• The FX-6200 seems comparable to an i5-3470.
• The FX-8140 & FX-8150 seems comparable to an i5-3570.

 

[FrogDemon]

You may want to look at how little performance gain you would be getting for the extra it would cost to change to Intel. Unless you go with an i7, I doubt you will see any CPU gains from changing to Intel vs getting an FX 6 or 8 core.

PassMark - CPU Mark - High End CPUs (Use the scores as a general guide line not accuracy)

• The FX-6200 seems comparable to an i5-3470.
• The FX-8140 & FX-8150 seems comparable to an i5-3570.

I think I might have confused you. I am going to get this mobo and slap it into my case after I pull the AMD mobo out. Then install the P8Z77 since the case is an ATX case, if everything aligns properly. Get an i7 2700k and an nVidia GTX 660 ti, install that and slap my 16gigs 1600 Mushkin DDR3 into it.

 

[clifford_cooley]

As long as you know what you want and I'm not misleading you.

Good luck on the build!!
I think you will be happy with it, I'm happy with my i7-2600k. I may have a few issues with the system but all in all it does what I need it to do.

 

[FrogDemon]

As long as you know what you want and I'm not misleading you.

Good luck on the build!!
I think you will be happy with it, I'm happy with my i7-2600k. I may have a few issues with the system but all in all it does what I need it to do.

A few issues?

 

[clifford_cooley]

A few quirks that is probably my RAM causing me grief. I get periodic freezes every other few days. Its so infrequent that its hardly worth tracing down, especially when I would have to buy new parts.

 

[FrogDemon]

A few quirks that is probably my RAM causing me grief. I get periodic freezes every other few days. Its so infrequent that its hardly worth tracing down, especially when I would have to buy new parts.

Now I think you might be in my territory. You may not have to buy new parts. Tell me the issue completely please. Maybe I can help you now.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Nothing to tell as far as I'm aware. The PC just stops functioning, no matter what I'm doing. No keyboard or mouse and if I'm doing something with sound, there is this buzzing noise that just about scares the crap out of me if I have the volume up.

Here is the kicker though, I did swap memory modules. Before the swap, I was getting BSOD's along the same periodic schedule. Occasionally and I do mean very in-frequently(been along time since my last episode) my video stops responding and refreshes itself.

And now for my final little quirk, for some reason every sixth or so boot, the Repair Menu comes up. I'm not sure why, when the PC was shut down properly the night before. All I have to do is tell it to boot normally and everything is fine. This didn't seem to start until after I purchased my 60GB Agility III SSD.

And to be honest out of all the systems I've had, I didn't seem to have BSOD's until after I purchased my GTS 450. BTW, the BSOD's spanned across two systems of which the GTS 450 and my 1TB Seagate HDD was the only common factors. I'm highly suspecting my graphics card but am puzzled why the BSOD's switched to freezing when swapping memory modules.

 

[FrogDemon]

Ok, the BSoDs were more then likely the GTS 450. The freezes didn't occur until you installed the SSD. That might be your chipset drivers.

When you installed the SSD, did you upgrade the chipset drivers or have you done so lately?

 

[clifford_cooley]

The SSD started the Repair Menu loading issue.

The BSOD's changed to freezes when I changed memory modules. I've not seen a BSOD since I started using the PNY XLR8 memory I currently have.

 

[FrogDemon]

The SSD started the Repair Menu loading issue.

The BSOD's changed to freezes when I changed memory modules. I've not seen a BSOD since I started using the PNY XLR8 memory I currently have.

Ok. But did you update your chipset drivers for your mobo?

 

[clifford_cooley]

Ok. But did you update your chipset drivers for your mobo?

It's been a month or so but yeah I did update a few times.