Upgrading Computer

[Blaze]

Old Post

So, we don't have the money now, but it's always good to price things out and in general think ahead.
So that when I do go to buy things to upgrade it, I'll already know what to go for.

I was thinking on upgrading my computer, not total overhaul, just get it better then what it is now, without costing a fortune.
The upgrades I have in mind are mouse/mousepad, keyboard, graphics card and possibly the processor.

However, aside from the mouse, keyboard and mousepad, I'm not sure if the items I want/decide to go with would be compatible either virtually, or physically.
They should be physically as I have a pretty decently sized case.

Anyhow, the items I was looking at.

Graphics Card.

Keyboard.

Mouse. (Not from the website, the nearby Best Buy has it for around 40$.)

Mousepad.

I'm not sure on the processor, I want something better, but I have no idea what to get, or even how to install it! :D
I pretty much know how to install a graphics card, since I removed one, so it's the just same steps in reverse.
Of course I'm going to find help on these when I go to do it, I do not want to break my only computer.

Currently as it is, it's a decently well rounded computer, able to run most games I play at med-low to med-high with average frame-rate, but it could be better.
Such as I run CoH on low at 20-25 fps a normal match, not one of my crazy mod-induced 4 hour matches, I get around 8-13 on those.
And on Vindictus/TF2/L4D2/all source engine games everywhere, I run at med to med-high and get 30-40 frames.
I'm not looking to run stuff like Call of Duty or Battlefield 3, in fact the most game I have trouble with would be Company of Heros, or Planetside 2 if you count being able to run it at 5-10 fps. ::)
I think my end goal would be to run CoH on high and get 30-40 fps, and Planetside 2 at med-low with 30+ fps.

So what I'm asking is does anybody have any thoughts/suggestions on what I should go after?
I'm pretty much dead-set on the keyboard/mouse/mousepad, but will still accept thoughts/suggestions.

Now of course I'm not going to ask this question without providing information on my computer, that will be at the end of the post in a spoiler.
As will any other information that I might provide/be requested to provide.
If any other information is required, say so with instructions on how to access and copy said information.

Sniped a lot of information I thought would be unnecessary.

Info from DxDiag

         Processor: AMD A6-3650 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics (4 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
   DirectX Version: DirectX 11

         Card name: AMD Radeon HD 6530D
    Display Memory: 4070 MB
  Dedicated Memory: 493 MB
     Shared Memory: 3577 MB

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Windows Experience Index

Processor AMD A6-3650 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 7.2
Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB 7.4
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6530D 5.9
Gaming graphics 4089 MB Total available graphics memory 6.5
Primary hard disk 683GB Free (915GB Total) 5.9
Windows 7 Home Premium

System  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
 Model p7-1234
 Total amount of system memory 8.00 GB RAM
 System type 64-bit operating system
 Number of processor cores 4

Storage  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Total size of hard disk(s) 931 GB
 Disk partition (C:) 683 GB Free (915 GB Total)
 Disk partition (D:) 2 GB Free (17 GB Total)
 Media drive (E:) CD/DVD

Graphics  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Display adapter type AMD Radeon HD 6530D
 Total available graphics memory 4089 MB
       Dedicated graphics memory 512 MB
       Dedicated system memory 0 MB
       Shared system memory 3577 MB
 Display adapter driver version 9.2.0.0
 Primary monitor resolution 1920x1080
 DirectX version DirectX 10

Network  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Network Adapter Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
 Network Adapter 802.11n Wireless LAN Card
 Network Adapter Hamachi Network Interface
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport
 Network Adapter GFI Software Firewall NDIS IM Filter Miniport

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[close]

I've got a birthday coming up (July 5th for those wondering), and since I don't really want any games this year, I've decided to gun for a new graphics card to get rid of this low performance integrated card that is my current bottle neck.
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Is the card I'm looking at, not sure if it's the best so I figured I'd ask here.
I have a 300W supply, I'm pretty sure I'll have to upgrade this, however I don't know where to start with that, but I did read that around 500-600W is a good area to hit.

I'll attach some pictures of the inside of my computer so everyone can give more solid advice.
I'm not taking any risks with this which is why I'll get pictures to post here.
Last thing I want is to buy a card or power supply that won't fit my computer.

Bear in mind my computer is OEM, I don't know if this will have any effect on upgrading it, hoping it won't though.
It was hard enough just to overclock my processor from 2.6 GHz to 4.0 GHz...

First picture is the left half illuminated.
Second picture is the right half illuminated.
Third picture is where I believe the card would be placed, but I am running on around four hours of sleep so I'm not sure.

I tried to take a picture of the label on my power supply, but they came out too blurry every time.
If any other pictures are needed, let me know and I'll get them.

[Creeperkingpin]

Well if your going to upgrade all of that, throw in some high quality RAM as well or youll just bevlimited by lack of that instead.

[Grauniad]

Hi Blaze.
  I'm a pretty keen amateur computer builder and I spend a lot of time building computers for my family.

Here are some of my observations:

Graphics card. The one you linked is a previous-generation card. You can find  better performance at lower power utilization in the Radeon HD 7000 series. I think I've seen Radeon HD 7750 cards in that price range and they smoke the 6000 series.

I have no opinion on mice or keyboards - I mostly use the cheapest one that suits my needs. If I have to spend money on these, then for keyboards I'd look for a lighted, CherryMX type keyboard. Most modern mice doesn't really need a mousepad, if you do buy one, I guess it's a matter of personal taste, so whatever suits you would be fine.

When upgrading the processor, make sure you get one that is slot-compatible with your existing motherboard and processor, otherwise things will get expensive.

Also investigate your power supply and make sure it has adequate capacity for both the graphics card and the processor.

On the motherboard, you should have a PCIe-x16 2.0 (or 3.0 on newer boards) slot for the graphics card. Not many  cards use or support older slots.

You didn't mention how much memory you have, but generally, if you have little, the best and easiest upgrade is to upgrade memory. If you run a 32-bit OS, then 4GB of memory is nice. If you run a 64-bit OS, then depending on your processor and motherboard, between 8 and 16 is pretty good (and affordable). Make sure once again you investigate your motherboard/processor. Some AMD processors requires triple-channel memory, which means you will install memory in increment of 3. Most Intel boards uses dual-channel, which means you install in increments of 2. A few high-end Intel boards use quad-channel which of course requires increments of 4.

What would be nice is if you could run your Windows Experience Index and post it here. From that we can see which upgrades might give you the best bang for your buck.

[Blaze]

Well, as far as memory goes, I have 1tb for the Hard Disk, and 8gb of RAM, which I do plan on upgrading to 16gb, which my computer is capable of.
As for processor upgrades having to be compatible, that is my main concern, as I do not know how to find out what would be compatible.

And as for the Windows Experience Index, I'll update the top post with that, I'll just copy up the whole thing.

[Grauniad]

From the WEI info you posted, you can see that you have an AMD A6-3650 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 7.2  which is a pretty decent processor.  It has built-in graphics to a fairly high standard as well. http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Detail/Processor/AD3650WNGXBOX?SearchFacets=category%3AProcessor

Here you can compare the relative performance of other AMD processors having the same socket type: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/socketType.html#id13

If you have 8GB, unless you have a reason to *now* that you are memory constrained, there is no need to upgrade your RAM (which is memory) the 1TB is the hard drive.

[Blaze]

I was planning on upgrading my RAM under the assumption that more RAM is always better, that and it's not too expensive to upgrade it.
As my RAM stands now, using the pre-installed gadget for the desktop that shows CPU and RAM memory use, it shows RAM being around 20-30% when idle.

As for my current processor, yes it is very nice, in fact it's one of the reasons I bought this computer, possibly best 500$ I've ever spent with it being fairly powerful for a cheaper price and able to be upgraded, but I want something that is at least 3.00 GHz to exceed the recommended for most/all of the games I play, using the link you provided that have the same socket type, it looks like I'll have to spend around 200$ to get something that is pretty current and meets my standards...

I'll have to keep looking through that list when I have a little bit more time to do so.
I do see that quite a few of them have integrated graphics on them, am I right when I think that installing a separate graphics card will overwrite the integrated one?

Also I want to say thanks for helping me out, I'm apparently the computer person of the house, when really I just know how to use Google, when it comes to stuff like this I don't have the best knowledge on what to look at. :D

[Echo51]

8GB ram is enough as is, and you won't notice it in a real world scenario if you get some much faster. The graphics card is just fine, and a friends 6870 still smoke my newer 7770. A 7750 is too small if you want to game at a high-ultra-ish level graphics, even then a 7770 is scraping the bottom. You could go for a 7870, or find a 660TI from nvidia, make sure it's the Ti, or else it's the older/slower card.

The quad core CPU at 2.6ghz is a tad faster then what i currently have, and mine runs most games on high+ just fine, so you'll get a nice pc out of that update :) Just make sure your power supply has the required PCI-E graphics card connectors before buying a card.

[Blaze]

Just make sure your power supply has the required PCI-E graphics card connectors before buying a card.

Which is another thing I do not know how to check. :D

[Echo51]

They typically look like this, but might also be 8 pins or 6 pins, the loose 2 pins are just for flexibility :)

[Blaze]

Reviving this thread for the same purpose instead of making a new one.
Top post updated with the new questions/information, old post is in a spoiler at the top if it's needed.
Pretty sure I made the right choice reviving and reusing this thread, it's the same topic after all.
Starting a new thread for the same thing seemed pointless to me.

Specs of my computer are in the old post spoiler, only thing changed since then is that my Processor is 4.0 GHz instead of 2.6 GHz like it was.

[teknotiss]

that's a good card, probably go for that myself next, but why not just go for a 750W PSU?
you know you want to add more stuff/more power hungry stuff at some point so make the step now  ;)

[Blaze]

that's a good card, probably go for that myself next, but why not just go for a 750W PSU?
you know you want to add more stuff/more power hungry stuff at some point so make the step now  ;)

Find me one that is reasonably priced and I don't see a reason not to.
Right now, looking at budget, I'll (probably) be able to get the card and a power supply.

However this appears to be the only things I'm getting for a long, long time. :D

[teknotiss]

what's reasonable?
this? http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297591/corsair-hx850
or... http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297615/silver-power-sp-s850m
niether of which i own, but i would consider them both, especially the second one £96 is really good value, so i'd have a bit more of a review search on those models.
hope that helps

[Grauniad]

what's reasonable?
this? http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297591/corsair-hx850
or... http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297615/silver-power-sp-s850m
niether of which i own, but i would consider them both, especially the second one £96 is really good value, so i'd have a bit more of a review search on those models.
hope that helps

Be very careful. I have a Corsair HX850 in a build I did in 2010 and the PSU is significantly longer than a "standard" ATX PSU, since I believe it is an EPS form factor. I had a devil of a time (cough, Dremel, cough) to make it fit.

@Blaze, rather than take pictures, which is pretty uninformative, look for and find the specifications for the motherboard and power supply. Manufacturer and model number, for a start. They should appear somewhere on both of those.

I bought a Radeon HD 7770 a while back and swapped it out for my Radeon HD 7950 so that I could use the older, more powerful card in a newer build. The HD 7770 is pretty awesome. I do believe that overall Nvidia makes the best price/performance cards lately.

I don't know in which country you are and where you source your components from, it may help with specific recommendations.

Newegg, for instance, has a PSU calculator on their site that may be useful for determining the correct size of PSU. I guess you can use it regardless of where you are located. http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html

Also, I usually compare performance of components at the Passmark website. They have sections for CPUs and GPUs. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

[Blaze]

what's reasonable?
this? http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297591/corsair-hx850
or... http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/psus/1297615/silver-power-sp-s850m
niether of which i own, but i would consider them both, especially the second one £96 is really good value, so i'd have a bit more of a review search on those models.
hope that helps

Reasonable would be under 50$ seeing as I'm on a tight budget.

@Blaze, rather than take pictures, which is pretty uninformative, look for and find the specifications for the motherboard and power supply. Manufacturer and model number, for a start. They should appear somewhere on both of those.

I bought a Radeon HD 7770 a while back and swapped it out for my Radeon HD 7950 so that I could use the older, more powerful card in a newer build. The HD 7770 is pretty awesome. I do believe that overall Nvidia makes the best price/performance cards lately.

I don't know in which country you are and where you source your components from, it may help with specific recommendations.

Newegg, for instance, has a PSU calculator on their site that may be useful for determining the correct size of PSU. I guess you can use it regardless of where you are located. http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html

Also, I usually compare performance of components at the Passmark website. They have sections for CPUs and GPUs. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

Going with the 7770 as it's right in my price range, and with summer coming up, the fact that it runs cool is very important to me seeing as I can't really afford any extra cooling.
As it stands now, this card would be a huge upgrade from what I have now.
However if you know of a card that is in the same price range and runs cool while performing better, by all means let me know.

As for the Motherboard and Power Supply specs...

Motherboard model number: aahd2-hy
Power Supply model number: E143709

Motherboard doesn't have a manufacturer printed on it, and the power supply is from HP.

I am going to need a power supply with a six pin connector for the 7770.
Since my current one does not have a spare six pin connector, I am going to need a new power supply.