Need some help with upgrading my computer

**KaiserJoe** · March 11, 2011, 04:12 PM

This is the first time I've ever had to do this on my own, and I'm a bit overwhelmed. The hardest part is just finding the pieces, once I get the right ones ordered, and at my house, I'm fairly sure I can piece them together. But any and all help is extremely appreciated.

So I'm upgrading both my little brothers, and my computer. I had a thread up on yahoo answers asking for what I should generally be looking for, and once I had a list I decided to come to good ol'Twcenter for the final draft. I've got a limit of about $600-650
Little brothers computer:
2.6ghz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
9800 GT
nVidia AN-M2(MCP68S) 1.x
4GB DDR2

My computer:
3ghz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
5770HD
MS-7388
4GB DDR2

Clearly my little brothers computer is in need of more of an update than mine, and it's moreso focused towards him. But it throws some trouble at me because I didn't know if I needed to upgrade the mobo and what not, which they said I did, but I was confused looking through all the am3's, and the below is what I've come up with.

Little brothers computer:
2.6ghz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core ---> AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core
9800 GT ---> GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
nVidia AN-M2(MCP68S) 1.x ---> ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
4GB DDR2 ---> *One stick of the* Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$356.74

(I found this deal with the RAM, I could order two seperate 2x2GB and get it for $89.99, or order 8GB(2x4GB) and just split up the RAM, put a 4GB stick in his, the other in mine. It has a $15 off deal which makes it cheaper. It's fine to split up the RAM like that right?)

My computer:
3ghz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core ---> AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core
5770HD
MS-7388 ---> ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
4GB Patriot ---> *The other stick of* Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
$237.48

Total= $594.22, and every product has free shipping
Does everything match up? Would it be worth the money? Should I be looking at different pieces of hardware?
And yes these upgrades are for Shogun 2

Spoiler for Links to products below:

**Devilmaypoop** · March 11, 2011, 04:29 PM

Save some money and get a 955, the difference between that and the 965 is only the clockspeed. And you can turn the 955 into the 965 by raising the multiplier by one :p

Or even better get this CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103871

You wont notice almost any difference in performance, as it's almost the same as 965 but with just no L3 cache.

And with the money saved from that, get this MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131402

Trust me, it's worth it. That BIOSTAR N68S3+ might not be able to even handle a quadcore at stock, since it seems to be a 3 phase power design, meaning it could catch fire.

**KaiserJoe** · March 11, 2011, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by Devilmaypoop

How much does that motherboard cost? You shouldnt be looking at nvidia chipset MB's for an AM3 CPU.

Also save some money and get a 955, the difference between that and the 965 is only the clockspeed. And you can turn the 955 into the 965 by raising the multiplier by one :p

It's $44.99, and that's the stuff that really confuses me. I'm not sure about all the compatibility issues and that.

So you're recommending this? And it won't knock performance that much? I'm incredibly new with finding this stuff out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103808AMD
Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX

Original post updated to go with your CPU and mobo suggestions, thanks

.

**ROFL Copter** · March 11, 2011, 04:52 PM

I'd get the hexacore. It makes you look more fancier.

**Ybbon** · March 11, 2011, 04:58 PM

The black edition can be overclocked, non blacks can't - well no that isn't strictly true, it is certainly easier to overclock a black edition.
You can find a comparison of the chips here:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...omparison.aspx

but bear in mind the Athlon II is older and it may be cheaper to get a higher spec Athlon than a more expensive Phenom and probably get slightly better performance or just a fraction less and save yourself the money now?

As regards RAM, sure you can split it, if you want to upgrade at a later date you'd need to at least match the 4gb - though it would make more sense to get the whole lot changed at that point should it come to that. Make sure the MOBO can take upgrades and you can always update things later on.
Not sure on the one you have, mine is an Asus M4A87TD EVO which seems to perform well and can take extra stuff if I want.

**KaiserJoe** · March 11, 2011, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by ybbon66

The black edition can be overclocked, non blacks can't - well no that isn't strictly true, it is certainly easier to overclock a black edition.
You can find a comparison of the chips here:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...omparison.aspx

but bear in mind the Athlon II is older and it may be cheaper to get a higher spec Athlon than a more expensive Phenom and probably get slightly better performance or just a fraction less and save yourself the money now?

As regards RAM, sure you can split it, if you want to upgrade at a later date you'd need to at least match the 4gb - though it would make more sense to get the whole lot changed at that point should it come to that. Make sure the MOBO can take upgrades and you can always update things later on.
Not sure on the one you have, mine is an Asus M4A87TD EVO which seems to perform well and can take extra stuff if I want.

ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-647-_-Product
$100

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131402
$119

Since I'd be getting two the $38 difference would be great, if the one you recommended would be as compatible with everything I listed up there. The motherboards are what confuse me the most

.
Going through the stats of the two I don't see where they're even different. O.o
And thanks for addressing that bit about the RAM

.

**Devilmaypoop** · March 12, 2011, 02:28 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-647-_-Product
That one should be all good I guess.

The difference between the Athlon II and the Phenom II are like 5%, and almost none in games, so are you willing to spend 50$ on that? Phenom II's overclock better though.

**KaiserJoe** · March 12, 2011, 12:55 PM

And will a PSU of 575W be enough to handle all his new specs?
And a PSU of 500W be enough for mine?

Because I think that's the last hurdle, just making sure the power supply is enough for all this new stuff, and then I'll be ordering

.

Thanks again for the help.

**Devilmaypoop** · March 12, 2011, 01:07 PM

Yup, easily.

I'm running a 6 core and a 5770 on a 450W power supply.

Also it would be wiser if you upgraded your brothers gpu with a 5770 instead of a 450, so when one of you upgrades their gpu the other one can crossfire 5770's.

5770 is faster than a 450 anyways.

**KaiserJoe** · March 12, 2011, 01:17 PM

My 5770 is actually defective, I have to send it back, I've had nothing but troubles with it so far. And I get all those animation shuttering problems in the Napoleon and Shogun engines with this card, and it seems to be only ATI cards that get it. I'm actually pretty put off of ATI after this card

.
I'm not sure how to do the crossfire either, what would be the nvidia equivalent to the 5770, and fit around $120-140?
But if the 5770 would be the honest best choice for this, you would know better than me and I'll find one of those instead.

That specific card got my attention because it came already overclocked and had some DirectU cooling, draws someone like me easy

.

**Devilmaypoop** · March 12, 2011, 01:20 PM

Strange, I never have any problems in games like that. Those problems could be caused by any of your hardware.

I'd recommend a 5770, but if you dont feel like going for it, it's your choice

450 would be the closest thing to a 5770, just slightly worse.

**KaiserJoe** · March 12, 2011, 01:25 PM

Well...admittedly I'm running the battles at 1.5x and above the Huge unit sizes. Which is the main reason I wanted an upgrade, to get rid of that, to have unit sizes above huge without the animation shuttering

.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447
That's the exact card that I have, there's so many different types of 5770 to choose from, I can't quite make the difference between em all.