Thread: Suggestions for Small (i.e. Budget) Upgrade

You know, I was thinking. Should they actually decide to drive down to Micro Center to save money on the CPU, that actually leaves just enough left of the budget to throw at the GPU.

As such, in that case, I'm thinking of asking for just 4GB of RAM - with the additional 4GB coming from out of my own pocket - and a HD 6850. Thoughts? Will the 2x6 pin instead of a 1x6 pin be an issue?

Here's a comparison chart for these 2 cards; it will show you relative performance, temps, noise, etc.: Tom's Hardware - Benchmark Enthusiast Index

Here's another comparison: Radeon HD 5770 vs Radeon HD 6850 – Performance Comparison Benchmarks @ Hardware Compare


My prejudice is to put as much as you can afford to into the GPU. Given the older games you say you'll be playing you might not see a significant difference in quality at a given resolution, but the more powerful card should run better at higher resolutions. That could be important if you move up to a larger monitor, for example.

The more powerful card will, obviously, draw more power, hence the 2 PCI-E connectors. Your proposed PSU has 4 PCI-E cables, so no, that won't be an issue.

By the way, why don't you offer to run to your nearby Micro Center, and let them reimburse you? Or maybe they could call and put it on a credit card. Just a thought.

I actually looked at both of those comparisons before making that post. I also looked at 6790 vs 5770 and 6790 vs 6850 comparisons, decided the 6790 wasn't worth it and it would be better just to go with a 6850.

I plan on moving up to a larger monitor this upcoming July or next Christmas, so that's good to hear.

I'll see if I can figure out something with them instead of them having to drive all the way down here to get the i5 2500k. It's just a bit unorthodox for me to pick up my own Christmas present. If we're able to figure something out, or they say they'll just pick it up (there are other multitudes of other stores they may want to go to near it), then I'll ask for the HD 6850 and 4GB of RAM instead of the original list I sent them.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for all of the help, Vicktor. I really appreciate it!

Glad to help. Good luck with the re-build!

Originally Posted by Viktor_Olin

By the way, why don't you offer to run to your nearby Micro Center, and let them reimburse you? Or maybe they could call and put it on a credit card. Just a thought.

You have to have the card in hand to pick up any merchandise paid for by phone or online at Micro Center.