Help/Opinions with Upgrade

By f0rk_b0mb
in Hardware Hangout

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

f0rk_b0mb

Posted
Posted

So I currently have an Asrock motherboard and 4GB of Adata DDR2-800 ram in my gaming machine. I'm going to pass it these down to my Linux machine. I'll use an old 4200+ in it.

For my gaming machine, I was looking into getting this motherboard and using it with my Athlon X3 OC @ B50 processor. The best part is it comes with 8GB of DDR3 ram! The reason why I'm upgrading is:

1. I don't want my wallet to get raped on ram prices.

2. In the future I want to do SLI. My current ASrock only supports X-fire.

3. UEFI BIOS

4. I can always upgrade to an AMD 8350 in the future.

5. 6 gb/s SATA (Currently have SATA 2)

6. Lossless Audio never hurt anyone.

What do you guys think? Good quality Mobo? Got another (better) suggestion? Let me know.

Thanks!

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1133770-helpopinions-with-upgrade/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

tsupersonic

Posted
Posted

1. RAM prices are dirt cheap! If you're buying a motherboard because it comes with 'free' RAM, you could be making a big mistake.

Why upgrade? I'd wait till you actually buy a motherboard + RAM + new CPU. If all you're doing is upgrading the motherboard and RAM but not CPU (it's not very clear in your post), then why bother? Yes, you get SLI, UEFI BIOS (really? not a huge deal), SATA3, but you're not getting much out of it. Also, since this is your gaming rig, get yourself a decent GPU and CPU - the FX-8350 should be decent.

Grand Master

f0rk_b0mb

Posted
  • Author
Posted

1. RAM prices are dirt cheap! If you're buying a motherboard because it comes with 'free' RAM, you could be making a big mistake.

Why upgrade? I'd wait till you actually buy a motherboard + RAM + new CPU. If all you're doing is upgrading the motherboard and RAM but not CPU (it's not very clear in your post), then why bother? Yes, you get SLI, UEFI BIOS (really? not a huge deal), SATA3, but you're not getting much out of it. Also, since this is your gaming rig, get yourself a decent GPU and CPU - the FX-8350 should be decent.

I have DDR2, currently. 50 dollars for 4gb of ram is a little expensive. I want to go to DDR3 so it's cheap to upgrade. I currently have a 550TI. I can't use an 8350 because I currently have an AM2+ board.

LOL! It's my birthday and everybody gave me money. What should I upgrade? I've been going back and forth with myself about this all day.

Will you want to SLI with the card you have now, or is this just a plan for the future?

Maybe. I have a 550TI currently.

Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

I also agree that this will be a mostly worthless upgrade. You won't see any sort of performance gain unless you are doing something that utilizes the extra RAM.

I think it would be a much better idea to save that money until you can buy a new CPU at least. RAM is super cheap and will probably continue getting cheaper.

Perhaps just buy a SSD now, which will give you a really nice performance upgrade from what you have now. Then in the future, upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and RAM all at once, and then a new GPU down the line.

Grand Master

tsupersonic

Posted
Posted

I have DDR2, currently. 50 dollars for 4gb of ram is a little expensive. I want to go to DDR3 so it's cheap to upgrade. I currently have a 550TI. I can't use an 8350 because I currently have an AM2+ board.

LOL! It's my birthday and everybody gave me money. What should I upgrade? I've been going back and forth with myself about this all day.

To actually get a noticeable upgrade, get new CPU (your FX-8350), new motherboard, and RAM. If you have extra money, get an SSD. The SSD will be a huge improvement, since the slowest part in most computers is the spinning hard drive.
Grand Master

f0rk_b0mb

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I also agree that this will be a mostly worthless upgrade. You won't see any sort of performance gain unless you are doing something that utilizes the extra RAM.

I think it would be a much better idea to save that money until you can buy a new CPU at least. RAM is super cheap and will probably continue getting cheaper.

Perhaps just buy a SSD now, which will give you a really nice performance upgrade from what you have now. Then in the future, upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and RAM all at once, and then a new GPU down the line.

I currently have an OCZ 128 GB drive that I use for my OS. Maybe I should update my app data drive.

To actually get a noticeable upgrade, get new CPU (your FX-8350), new motherboard, and RAM. If you have extra money, get an SSD. The SSD will be a huge improvement, since the slowest part in most computers is the spinning hard drive.

If I'm going to replace everything, I'll probably go with a lower end i7. :) See above for ssd .

Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Maybe. I have a 550TI currently.

Not worth it. 99% of the time it's better to just get a newer, better single card, unless you can get another 550Ti for dirt cheap and you're not expecting a huge improvement.

An 8350 would be a great upgrade... if you could put it on the mobo you have now. Since you can't, if you're going to upgrade the CPU, you should do the motherboard at the same time.

Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

I currently have an OCZ 128 GB drive that I use for my OS. Maybe I should update my app data drive.

Oh nice! You don't need a SSD for anything except your OS and select programs you want to run quicker. So since you already have one, then you should be set in that regards. I would just check to see if the firmware is up-to-date since OCZ is really good with boosting performance in those updates.

For a CPU, I'd recommend an i5. It's cheaper and is basically the same as an i7 except for the extra 4 hyper-threading cores on the i7 which aren't beneficial to much.

And the i5 "k" version can usually be overclocked really well, if that interests you.

Grand Master

f0rk_b0mb

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Oh nice! You don't need a SSD for anything except your OS and select programs you want to run quicker. So since you already have one, then you should be set in that regards. I would just check to see if the firmware is up-to-date since OCZ is really good with boosting performance in those updates.

For a CPU, I'd recommend an i5. It's cheaper and is basically the same as an i7 except for the extra 4 hyper-threading cores on the i7 which aren't beneficial to much.

And the i5 "k" version can usually be overclocked really well, if that interests you.

I'll probably do a full rebuild next year, and by that time, they'll probably have something new. I'm thinking about getting a USB3 add in card and a usb 3 external back up hdd.

Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

I'll probably do a full rebuild next year, and by that time, they'll probably have something new. I'm thinking about getting a USB3 add in card and a usb 3 external back up hdd.

I don't think they'll be doing away with i5 and i7 for a while. They just seem to do generation upgrades (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, etc) and sometimes change the socket type.

By next year, you will probably be able to get a Sandy Bridge i5 for really cheap. Nothing really earth-shattering has been updated in Ivy Bridge and I doubt much will change when Haswell comes out. Power consumption goes down and each generation gets about 10% faster, but CPUs are already overpowered for almost every application out there.

Grand Master

f0rk_b0mb

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I don't think they'll be doing away with i5 and i7 for a while. They just seem to do generation upgrades (Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, etc) and sometimes change the socket type.

By next year, you will probably be able to get a Sandy Bridge i5 for really cheap. Nothing really earth-shattering has been updated in Ivy Bridge and I doubt much will change when Haswell comes out. Power consumption goes down and each generation gets about 10% faster, but CPUs are already overpowered for almost every application out there.

True. We'll see what happen. :) Thanks for your help!

  • 4 months later...
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute

      By Karthik Mudaliar · Posted

      Google reportedly limited Meta's Gemini access over limited AI compute by Karthik Mudaliar Google is reportedly limiting Meta's use of its Gemini AI models after Meta tried buying more computing capacity than even Google could supply. According to the Financial Times, Google told Meta in March that it could not provide the full Gemini capacity that Meta had requested. This shortfall even disrupted and delayed some of Meta's internal projects. Due to this, Meta even told its employees internally to use AI tokens more efficiently. Meta wasn't the only one to get hit by this sudden refusal by Google; even other customers were affected. But Meta was hit harder because of its unusually high demand for Google's models. The move from Google makes it evident that companies all over are in limited supply of both infrastructure and compute. Alphabet said in April that Google Cloud revenue grew 63% year-over-year to $20 billion in the first quarter, helped by enterprise AI infrastructure and AI solutions. In pursuit of more compute, Meta had earlier signed a multi-billion-dollar AWS agreement as well as a large AMD GPU deal for AI data centers. But the crunch would be short-lived as both Meta and Google have also ramped up infrastructure investments heavily. Meta said in November that it was committing more than $600 billion in the U.S. by 2028 for AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion. In the first quarter of this year, Meta also raised its expected capital expenditure for 2026 to a range of $125 billion to $145 billion, citing higher component pricing and additional data center costs for future capacity. However, this doesn't make the company immune to the current dependence on outside suppliers. Meta has also spent many years promoting Llama as an open-weight alternative to closed models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. But if the reported reliance on Google's Gemini models is severe enough for internal work to get impacted, then it looks like even frontier labs and Big Tech aren't fully self-sufficient. Source: Financial Times
    • Samsung, Amazon extend 990 PRO 2TB NVMe SSD deal beyond Prime Day 2026

      By seeprime · Posted

      I like to reminisce about the good old days, way back in autumn 2025 when building a gaming machine was fun and the drives were about $150 when you caught a deal. Yes duh, back in the day we had it gone. Then baby Skynet came along, hiding in AI datacenters demanding more processing power until it reached singularity. End of a not totally fictional story.
    • Bypassed Windows 11 shows surprising stability on ancient, completely unsupported hardware

      By +Spark99 · Posted

      My experience in the past with older Windows 11 builds was not great on unsupported machines but I recently used Rufus to put the latest build on a older 5th Gen Core Thinkpad T that we upgraded with a SATA SSD and 8GB of RAM four years ago when hardware was reasonable and it seemed pretty fast and solid. Customer is very happy with the performance and will probably get four more years out of that venerable laptop that he loves so much. Another customer just retired his Dell Studio laptop from 2009 running Windows 10. It got an SSD over 10 years ago and did everything he needed it to for 17 years but he also retired last year and is happy doing everything on his iPad now.
    • Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Apple's newest AirTag 2 gets first big discount by Taras Buria In late January 2026, Apple introduced its second-generation AirTag trackers, bringing a refresh to the old model that has been on the market for half a decade. Now, you can get these new trackers at an all-time low price, thanks to the first big discount that brought the price down by 17% on Amazon. While the second-generation AirTag looks identical to its predecessor, it packs meaningful upgrades inside. The second-gen ultrawideband chip works 50% farther than the original AirTag, allowing you to detect lost items in a wider range. In addition, the second-generation AirTag features an upgraded Bluetooth chip for extended range and a significantly louder speaker (up to 50%) so that you can hear it better when locating a lost item. Note that the second-gen AirTag only works with iPhones and iPads that run iOS/iPadOS 26 and newer, so you need a compatible device to use the tracker. Like the original AirTag, the AirTag 2 is available in two packs: one and four pieces. Both are now available at a notable discount on Amazon, and you can purchase them using the links below. Apple AirTag 2 tracker - $24 | 17% off on Amazon Apple AirTag 2 tracker (four-pack) - $89 | 10% off on Amazon Good to know This Amazon deal is U.S.- specific and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Tidal won't monetize AI slop music, company says

      By monterxz · Posted

      I've been on Deezer for over a decade, but glad that Tidal joined them in fighting AI slop. Can't stand such takes as Spotify's: "Spotify's CEO recently pushed back against listeners who call AI music "slop," urging people to stop using the term and instead embrace the creative potential of AI music."

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Week One Done
      NovaEdgeX earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      BA the Curmudgeon earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Conversation Starter
      rosiecharles earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      KMilenkoski1202 earned a badge
      First Post

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      536
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      266
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      98
    5. 5
      macoman
      66
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!