PC Upgrade Ideas

My current rig is about 5 or 6 years old now (aside from the GPU). Because my motherboard is such an antique, I’m stuck running my SSD on a SATA II port since there aren't any SATA III connectors available 😵

I’m looking to upgrade soon—any advice or bright ideas?
I’m thinking a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM. In my book, Intel beats AMD every single time 🎉

Look, I don't even game that much, so I don't need some massive, high-end graphics card. I only picked this one up because it had an HDMI port so I could hook it up to my TV and watch movies in HD. Once I finally get a proper Full HD monitor, then maybe I'll look for a card with more HDMI outputs, but for right now, I'm good.
Also, just to be clear, I have zero interest in overclocking anything if that matters

I'm planning to drop somewhere between 2000 and $1000.

What kind of PSU are you running, and how old is it? Regarding the picture quality, there isn't actually any difference between HDMI and digital DVI (DVI-D/DVI-I)... the main thing is that HDMI carries audio while DVI doesn't. There are also a few minor headaches involving Blu-ray copy protection, though I doubt you'll run into those. Just some food for thought for the future: you can use DVI-to-HDMI adapters without losing any quality at all since the signal is digital either way.

Intel Core i5-4460 $460
Asrock B85M-HDS $150
Crucial DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) $193

CNET

amberotter19 said:What kind of PSU are you running, and how old is it? Regarding the picture quality, there isn't actually any difference between HDMI and digital DVI (DVI-D/DVI-I)... the main thing is that HDMI carries audio while DVI doesn't. There are also a few minor headaches involving Blu-ray copy protection, though I doubt you'll run into those. Just some food for thought for the future: you can use DVI-to-HDMI adapters without losing any quality at all since the signal is digital either way.

Thanks for the info, looks like I have zero reason to mess with my GPU then. 🙂
The PSU is just some generic 500W unit—hasn't even been a year since I swapped it out along with the graphics card.

If you’re going this route, I’d suggest picking up a reputable brand-name power supply. Personally, I suspect 4GB of RAM should be plenty since you aren't tackling anything particularly demanding. It's also pretty easy to upgrade later on if things change. You could even ditch the dedicated graphics card entirely; Intel's integrated graphics shouldn't have any issues handling HD video playback. An NVIDIA card might just end up being an unnecessary drain on your power consumption

1 x Intel Core i5-4460 1381 Processor (3.20GHz, 1MB, 6MB, 84 W, 1150) Box
1 x ASRock H97-PRO4, s1150, Intel ® H97, 4 x DDR3, 1 x PCI Express
1 x XFX TS Series 550W PSU -P1550S-GREEN
1 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingston, 1866MHz, CL10, HyperX Fury, HX318C10F

$932
adm

I just tracked down an Intel s1150 Core i5-4570 at a local supplier for $457, and honestly, I’m pretty much sold on grabbing it. For the RAM, I’m leaning toward 8 GB. As for the motherboard, I’m looking at this H97Pro model because it actually has two extra memory slots compared to others—is that extra expansion really worth the price difference $100?

Thanks for the input, everyone.

The H97 chipset actually gives you the option to upgrade to those next-gen Intel Broadwell processors later on. I guess if you aren't really worried about having that kind of headroom, you could probably just go with a cheaper motherboard instead.

Links has graciously extended an offer allowing me to select whatever I desire for $500.

I have decided to secure both a processor and a motherboard;

The motherboard is an ASUS Z97-A

Specifically, the ASUS Z97-A motherboard

As for the processor;

Thread:

If you're tired of waiting on this one, maybe just grab the Z97-A instead.

Also, you might want to pick up some extra stuff for those $58/$67—maybe two case fans 😛.

I wouldn't bother getting the CPU at Best Buy because they mark them up way too much... CPUs rarely die anyway, so I'd just order with shipping if you aren't shopping at Micro Center:

Brian Campbell36 said:Links has graciously extended an offer allowing me to select whatever I desire for $500.

I have decided to secure both a processor and a motherboard;

The motherboard is an ASUS Z97-A

Specifically, the ASUS Z97-A motherboard

As for the processor;

How much would you sell that old i5 for? Would you take $267 for it, and does it still have any warranty left? Just asking because a buddy might be interested.

Solid choices here. You could always grab a decent cooler to overclock the CPU if you don't have enough left over for anything else Have you even thought about just selling those two GPUs and picking up a GTX 970 instead of a new CPU Your FPS would be way better than trying to run a new CPU paired with that Crossfire
setup.