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So things didn't work out and im not going to be getting a custom build anytime soon and am contemplating putting some money into what I have now to make it more usable.
https://www.asus.com/us/Tower-PCs/M11BB/overview/
have a A8-5500 APU, 12gb of RAM, haven't cracked it open yet to see if my power supply is 300w or 350w. don't want to spend more then $200. Minimal knowledge of this kind of stuff.
Gonna be tough. You'll need to find out PSU. At $200 you may be able to put the cheapest rx470 in there but I'm not sure how much headroom you have with the power supply. You'll probably gain some performance but still be held back by the CPU.
If you can scrounge up another 30-50, you can grab a decent but inexpensive PSU and upgrade it along with the video card. Should be easy to do.
Cables and connectors are standardized and the form factor for power supplies is also standardized so it should fit without any issues. Connectors only connect in one direction into ports with the exact number of pins so it's easy and pretty much fool proof.
Video card is easy too. Fits in the PCI-E slot and locks in. Power cable to it from power supply is 6/8 pin and should be very easy to connect.
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I was kinda thinking the same thing. Do you think its worth the extra money to just get a RX480? Will my case be ok with cooling? I don't mind spending more than $200 as long as im getting good value.
Hmm are there any fan mount locations that are unused? You can probably try to install a couple of case fans in there. As for getting a 480, the 470 is about 10% slower than the 480 as they're basically the same card with different bins and a couple of things disabled. It does bump up your cost again so you have to make sure you stay within budget.Quote:
Originally Posted by AOD_Rex Crater
Also, you will probably need a power supply to be able to use all of this so remember the cost of that has to be factored in as well.
In the end, everything is fairly old and you're upgrading one part. Even with the upgrade, CPU bound games will struggle as the APU doesn't really have the horsepower. I'd personally just save up some money until you can afford a complete rebuild and do everything in one go. You do end up having to put up with poor performance until then but when you do the upgrade, everything gets upgraded at once so you're not being held back by another component even after you've spent money.
The idea is that ill get parts now that will be good enough quality to put in a future rig. I have a space to mount a fan, but is it necessary? will cooling be good enough to be safe?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202229
this is the card im looking at along with getting a 600w PSU.
Unless you're planning to build your rig in under a year, it's pointless to buy things now that will be good later. The 470 will let you hit 60 fps on 1080p with mix medium/high in current games. With the upcoming releases, the card itself will become less and less powerful so when you do end up building a new rig, you'll end up with a high quality cpu/mobo but you'll be then held back by the 470.Quote:
Originally Posted by AOD_Rex Crater
Makes more sense to upgrade everything at the same time with new parts that fit your budget so that performance isn't being held back by a critical component being old.
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I think ill get the RX470 and PSU now, as I do plan on building a rig in less than a year, don't care about graphical quality outside of resolution since I mostly play FPS games where low graphic settings are more beneficial, and don't really play or have interest in any new or upcoming titles other than maybe BF1. I think It should be adequate to my needs which is mostly aging titles. Thanks for the help bro, I really appreciate it!
If you save a little, you could get a PSU and a 1060 6GB.Quote:
Originally Posted by AOD_Rex Crater
Hi there!
I would recommend:
GTX 960 - $179
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...Silent_Cooling
EVGA 500 Watt - $49
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...X_Power_Supply
If you save yourself a bit of cash. This would be great for you and medium-high graphics gaming. When I used this combo, I can perfectly well with it.
Don't worry about a "good" computer case because all I did with my NTX Phantom was put it under my desk lol, I hardly see it.
Let me know if you make a decision!
For $50 more he can get a 1060, which is x3 faster than 960.Quote:
Originally Posted by AOD_Spirit
depends. who knows how much it'll drop... its x3 more dedicated memory but like 66% faster :DQuote:
Originally Posted by AOD_ZedZedski
But agreed - the 1060 is the option if you want to cough up more $$$. The $ per performance is worth it.