Thread: Upgrade Time!

Its been a good long while and well its time to look into beefing up the PC.

This is the current build

MSI 990FXA-GD80V2
MSI USA 990FXA-GD80V2

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 3.6Ghz OC from 3.2
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Desktop Processor HDT90ZFBGRBOX - Newegg.com

Gskill Memory (2x4gb) 8gb DDR3 1600

ATI 5870 HIS

Air cooling thermaltake nic c4 cooler
Thermaltake NiC C4 (CLP0607) 120mm CPU Cooler - Newegg.com

Thermaltake Commander craptacular shit box supreme case of doom.


Ok now this is what I was thinking for upgrades.

FX-9590, I can price match the microcenter price at frys and get this CPU for $280
AMD FX-9590 Vishera 4.7GHz Socket AM3+ 220W Desktop Processor - Black Edition FD9590FHHKWOF - Newegg.com

Ok now for the eye candy
ATI R9 280x price match at frys and get it for $280
XFX Double D R9-280X-TDFD Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

And if I am feeling spicy
Thermaltake Urban T81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-245-_-Product



Issue is I have seen articles and forum posts about the Fx heating up and melting peoples faces off.

Thoughts?

Honestly, Intel over AMD at this point, unless if you're exclusively working with programs optimized for AMD processors. Much better performance/wattage. Either way, you'll want a new air cooler. Maybe something like a closed loop water cooler if going with the FX.

For video card, honestly, look at the games that are out right now and that are coming out. Find out which ones are optimized for which brand. Ignoring that brand wars bit, the video card market is much more competitive than the processor market.

I think I remember you having a HAF-X? If so and unless that case is broken, spend that $180 on something else. If you can't think of something else, the Steam sale is coming up soon.

I'm with white there... There is NO reason to get an AMD processor at this point. They've given up trying to be competitive. Their BEST can't compete with intel chips that are 2-3 years old at this point. If you are trying to save money and your current motherboard supports the FX chip... well.... I suppose that's a reason to stick with AMD. But otherwise, switch to intel.

I'm an NVIDIA guy but the AMD video cards are pretty competitive price per performance so whatever you want to do there you are going to have a good card.

Product Loyalty, lol I've always been a AMD/ATI fan. I did though sport the intel q6600 on a ROG mobo awhile back with dual 3870's. Now that I have a AMD board and do not want to buy a new mobo I wanted to see what was the best FX chip. I am just concerned about the heat.

Well, if you do currently have a good case already, you could just spend the money for the new case on a mobo. If you do go with the FX though, definitely water cooling (closed loop for ease of use). The case you're looking at is ~$180. For that, you could get a good standard sized mobo and a good air cooler.

I've use the Corsair line. My H100 lasted a long while until the pump gave out. There are other brands out there now after the success Corsair had.
Probably avoid any OCing for now. Unless if with whatever cooler you end up with, temps stay low.

Another thing to consider would be SSDs for games/bulkier programs/OS. The load times are fantastic. I seem to recall a lot of people playing BF4 here saying it's especially nice for map changes.

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

Another thing to consider would be SSDs for games/bulkier programs/OS. The load times are fantastic. I seem to recall a lot of people playing BF4 here saying it's especially nice for map changes.

This, definitely. I had a 10,000 rpm HD and was usually one of the last to load into BF4 after map changes. Upgraded to a Samsung SSD, and now I'm one of the first to load in. Also, reboots are blindingly fast. Get the SSD.

Also, Windows 8.1.

It doesn't appear the processor you chose is compatible with your board:

MSI USA 990FXA-GD80V2

Product loyalty is important. Sometimes you go with what has always worked for you. My issue is the 220w TDP is going to be challenging to keep cool, even with that Thermaltake cooler. It almost seems like a liquid cooler would be the way to go for this CPU. What kind of PSU do you have?

Oh, and I literally just sold the exact same XFX 280x card that you want to get. It works great, but there was no audio from the DVI port (a feature that is supposed to be on every AMD card since the 2900 series). This wasn't a HUGE deal as we just ran an adapter, but we already had a 25ft DVI to HDMI cable from his previous card (GTX 660), which passed audio fine. The AMD card actually had a pop-up that said an independent audio out will need to be run either via HDMI, or through our sound card. It was stupid.

My other complaint about that card, as well as the other XFX Double Dissipation cards is that they don't exhaust heat out the back, but instead it just dumps the heat back into the case. When I temporarily changed out my Titans for some 290x cards, the heat difference was so bad that the chipset cooler on my motherboard had to run the fan at 100%. With the Titans, the fan would never even turn on.

Snagged a open box Asus R9 280x from microcenter for $202. Still has 30 day store warranty along with manufacture warranty. 3dmarked the hell out of the card and double my scores in all tests.

Very pleased