$480 Budget to Upgrade my PC


  1. Posts : 20
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #1

    $480 Budget to Upgrade my PC


    So I have $480 to spend to upgrade my pc, I prefer if they're on amazon.

    AMD Quad-Core A6-3600 (2.1GHz), 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, AMD Radeon HD 6530D are my specs.


    I want to upgrade my cpu or gpu, would I need a new motherboard and power supply?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,261
    Windows 7 Professional X64
       #2

    One of the biggest improvements is an SSD.

    This is IMHO the best.

    Amazon.com: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM): Electronics

    I just keep my OS and games on it.

    Everything else on a separate hdd.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #3

    $480 should allow you to do quite a bit.

    You could change platforms entirely:

    New motherboard 110

    New CPU: 200

    New graphics card: 170

    Something like that.

    Probably continue to use existing RAM.

    I'd probably do that rather than just get an SSD. You've got fairly weak CPU by today's standards--it scores 2795 on the Passmark CPU benchmark.

    Scores of other CPUs for comparison:

    PassMark - AMD A6-3600 APU - Price performance comparison

    The Radeon 6530D video card scores 517 on the Passmark video benchmark. That's a pretty low score, but we don't know if more powerful graphics would help you. It depends on what you do with the PC.

    Is gaming a primary purpose for this PC?
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  4. Posts : 1,261
    Windows 7 Professional X64
       #4

    I'd probably do that rather than just get an SSD
    That suggestion was just a starting point.
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  5. Posts : 20
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    ignatzatsonic said:
    Is gaming a primary purpose for this PC?
    Yes it is.
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  6. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #6

    Typically, for a gaming PC the best bang for the buck is to improve the graphics capability, rather than CPU or hard drives. 8 GB of RAM should be enough.

    I don't game, but if you list what games, resolution, and settings you want to use, maybe someone with gaming experience can make suggestions.

    For $480, my guess would be that you'd want to upgrade more than just the graphics--perhaps the CPU as well. I don't know how much of a CPU upgrade you can make on that AMD socket.

    For general purposes, an SSD would be the first upgrade I'd make, but I have heard that it has only a small impact on gaming. If this is ONLY a gaming PC, maybe an SSD upgrade would be wasted. We don't know how much non-gaming stuff you do. Or if you can adjust that $480 to maybe $550.

    I'll let others with more gaming and AMD knowledge take over.

    Give as much more detail as you can about how you use the PC.
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  7. Posts : 7,466
    Windows 10 Home Premium 64bit sp1
       #7

    Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-7TE120BW)


    Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Gigabyte AMD Radeon R9 280 OC 3GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/2Mini Display Port PCI-Express Video Card GV-R928WF3OC-3GD

    this should be around your budget keep your current cpu or upgrade i would do that you have a APU it's pretty solid i would actually get a SSD and a new GPU possibly a new PSU

    Also this is the Highest APU you can upgrade too after that it's Athlons series i would just stick with A8 3870K Amazon.com: AMD A8-3870K APU with AMD Radeon 6550 HD Graphics 3.0GHz Unlocked Socket FM1 100W Quad-Core Processor - Retail - AD3870WNGXBOX: Computers & Accessories


    So I would upgrade the CPU

    A8-3870K

    Samsung 840 EVO

    GPU-R9280

    New Psu maybe unless you already have a 500watt then you should be good and you can overclock the A8 unlocked Multiplier

    So far with just this your Budget is $363.97 add about $50 in tax and shipping you could upgrade to a 250GB SSD and still be under $480 by just keeping the motherboard and ram and just installing a new CPU
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 13,576
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #8

    New board and cpu, stay with AMD and it will be cheaper, you just might have enough left for an SSD.

    SSD 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 120GB | Samsung Solid State Drives

    A good graphics card and PSU are gonna cost some bucks, so I would start saving for that after you upgrade.

    I recommend EVGA or Corsair PSU`s at least 750 Watts.

    EVGA - Products - EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 Power Supply - 220-G2-0750-XR

    HX Series HX750 Power Supply â

    And stick with an AMD card as Tommy recommends.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 20
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Would it be possible for me to include two r90x if I had enough money? What about a fx 8350 CPU? Let me know all the parts I would need for this.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 7,466
    Windows 10 Home Premium 64bit sp1
       #10

    Durdy said:
    Would it be possible for me to include two r90x if I had enough money? What about a fx 8350 CPU? Let me know all the parts I would need for this.

    If you are looking towards that kind of bang for the buck then give me a Number and will make a rig that will be up to what you are looking for if you could afford 2 R9290X then i would just go and build a 8370 FX sabertooth MB 16GB RAM 1x 980 or even 970 because a 970 will kill a 290x easily

    By the way if you are curious why i said 8370 because they redid the L1 L2 Cache and better all around than a 8350 a little faster in much respects but pretty much the same chip different name
      My Computer


 

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