Need some advice :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 2:59pm

Need some advice

Evening all, i recently set up a dual monitor for my PC 1 screen being a BenQ GL2450 which i use for CS and then just a normal AOC monitor for the other stuff. When i had just the one monitor set up for games (Using the AOC) i had no frame issues so obviously the issue is because of the dual monitor however im not sure why.. the graphics card i use is a Nvidia GeForce GT 740 2GB which is a good card imo however my CPU is real trash, it is a MSI A55M-P33 so is it that which is causing the problem? seeing my CPU is trying to take a load of 2 screens?

on the topic of CPU i am looking to get one and here is something that ive enquired on PC forums but with no luck so far so ill copy it in (may not make sense with this post but youll see what im getting at)

"Hi, im looking to buy a new CPU and for my PC suitable for the higher end of gaming and live streaming and the one i had in mind was the (http://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-FD8370FRHKBOX-FX-8370-125W-CPU/dp/B00MUTWELC) this one to be exact, however this isnt compatible with my current motherboard which is an MSI A55M-P33 so im going to need a new one, however im not sure which one to get to meet the specs of my PC. The board i found on your website was this one (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/amdsocketam3plus/760gchipset/ga-78lmt-usb3.html) now what i need to know is:

A) Will this board be ok for the CPU i have said i was intending to get.
B) I currently have DDR3 RAM cards, will they be ok with it?
C) i have a GeForce GT 740 graphics card, will that be ok as i think it requires a minimum PSU of 400w?
D) Will it fit into my PC if its a straight swap for my old board?
E) Will this motherboard plus the CPU i said be a real upgrade from my current rig.

if you could get back to me with the answers then ill be really greatful, as ive had no luck from other companies that ive asked for advice from.

Thanks"

if you have any advice then please do post on here or message me directly if you wish, Thanks in advance, MasoN :)

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Showing 1-15 of 31 comments

Rumpelcrutchskin Sep 9, 2015 @ 4:21pm

760 chipset motherboards are trash and really not suited for CPU you have in mind, you would want 970 or 990 chipset motherboard for this.
GT 740 is also very weak graphics card, especially for two monitors.
Considering you have the old FM1 motherboard and most likely some small crap quality PSU and case it would be better to just build a new PC, especially if you want to get into higher end gaming. GT 740 is basicly office PC graphics card, for modern games you would want at least GTX 960, R9 380 level card, GTX 970 would be better.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/cw8fzy

Or at least something like this:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pKx73C

MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 4:27pm

it seems to be the more people i speak too the more the budget seems to rise... would that motherboard you suggested be ok with these http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox or http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox

Rumpelcrutchskin Sep 9, 2015 @ 4:38pm

Originally posted by MasoN:
it seems to be the more people i speak too the more the budget seems to rise... would that motherboard you suggested be ok with these http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox or http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd8320frhkbox

No the one in my builds is LGA 1150 socket Intel motherboard, it's not compatible with FX-series AMD CPUs.
If you want to use FX-series CPU then I would get this motherboard:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F5R9O46/?tag=pcp0f-21

It's ATX size so if you have small micro-ATX case of some office bundle PC then it would not fit, you need to make sure your case is ATX.
Plus you would need to swap out your PSU anyway if it's some generic 300W rubbish that judging from your low power GT 740 you have.
And I would really get a minimum GTX 750 Ti graphics card instead of that junk GT 740.

MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 4:50pm

i did actually upgrade my PSU when i bought the GPU, do you have twitter so that i can send you a photo of the sticker on it so you can see if its suitable? as my next question to you would be that from that website if you could put together a rig with a new and exsisting stuff i have to try keep the cost down.

Rumpelcrutchskin Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:03pm

No, I dont use Twitter.
You can write the info on the label here, name and number of the PSU, watts and amps on 12V rail.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/qLKfzy

This, provided your case is ATX-size and you have 8 Gb DDR3 RAM and at least 430-500W PSU.

_I_ Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:06pm

if you want to build a pc for gaming, go with an i5
or i3 if on a budget then you can atleast upgrade to an i5 when you want

Rove Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:07pm

A) Not really ok for the CPU. Technically it will work but it's a nice CPU and not a very nice motherboard. It may also not support that CPU though I'm not sure. The minimum you should go for is a 970 chipset motherboard and a 990X or 990FX would not be bad since like I say that's a top end AMD FX so getting a nice high end motherboard is a nice pair also.

B) DDR3 RAM is what the AMD FX needs and so do all the motherboards for it.

C) You said this GT 740 was "a good card" but really it's a low end card, fairly poor. It is compatible. You haven't however stated what your PSU is? So it's hard to answer that part.

D) If your old board is Micro-ATX then your case may only fit Micro-ATX but it actually depends on the size of your case not on your old board. If your case is smaller than Micro-ATX then not it won't fit, it will fit only if it is Micro-ATX or above.

E) That motherboard is crappy like your current one. What is your current CPU though? The CPU you picked is good. Just a bad match for teh motherboard you picked since it's crappy.

I don't know what CPU you currently have or how much RAM but I have a feeling your graphics card may be the weak link in your PC unless you have a A4 dual core or something.

I'd like to know to offer updated advice:
1. What's your current CPU?
2. Your current PSU?
3. Your current RAM speed amount and model?
4. Your current case and case size?

Given what I know and what you are asking I also want to try and give a few helpful tips:

If your PC case is full sized ATX and you have a 500W 80 Plus or better PSU or are willing to upgrade to one in the future and you want a really fast CPU with a good motherboard:

AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/T4Lxcf
Total: £193.59

That's the same price, the CPU is *almost the same with just a slightly slower maximum Turbo. The motherboard is just so much better though and on this motherboard you can overclocked the (fully unlocked for overclocking) FX 8350 higher than the FX 8370 will likely ever go on that crappier motherboard. Though this may require custom CPU cooling if you want to get crazy about it like 5+ GHz and is reacommended for any overclock at all. It can be added later at any time. Overclocking a little on the stock cooler is not impossible but not recommended. You would increase the risk of overheating and breaking it if you did.

If your PC case is Micro-ATX and you have a weak 400W uncertified or 80 Plus PSU:

ASRock 970M Pro3 - motherboard - micro ATX - Socket AM3+ - AMD 970
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00TOBQQTK%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJGZZEZH27SCMC24Q%26tag%3Dpcp0f-21%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D12734%26creativeASIN%3DB00TOBQQTK
Price: $60-$70~ (wouldn't show price on PC Part Picker so had to use Amazon)

AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd832ewmhkbox
Aria PC £96.96 £96.96+S&H
Scan.co.uk £96.98 £96.98+S&H
Ebuyer £102.38 £102.38+S&H
Dabs £99.68 +£4.00 s/h £103.68
Amazon UK £108.48 +FREE s/h Out of stock £108.48

Total Price for both: $160~ to $180~

This motherboard is currently the only 970 chipset motherboard to fit Micro-ATX sized cases, all the rest of them are full ATX sized as are all the 990X and 990FX chipset motherboards. It's got the 970 chipset though and the minimum 5 VRM heatsink that is the lowest I recommend for a AMD FX CPU. In comparison the other ATX sized motherboard above has 10 VRM with heatsink so it's power delivery to the CPU can handle more overclocking.

The AMD FX 8320E CPU is only 95W at stock speeds. This does come at the cost of reduced base clock speed of only 3.2 GHz down from 4GHz but the Turbo still goes up to 4GHz and the Turbo on the FX 8350 meanwhile is only 200 MHz faster at 4.2 GHz total. So I think it will be more than enough for your needs and it totally overmatches the GT 740.

With either of these CPUs you probably want to look into getting a GPU (graphics processing unit) upgrade as soon as possible cause these are fairly powerful CPUs. You may also need to upgrade your PSU and or or your case to upgrade your GPU so keep that in mind.

One last option would be a more modest CPU upgrade and a better GPU right now. If I knew for sure what CPU you currently have I could suggest a upgrade that might fit your motherboard unless you already have a 4 core CPU in which case I think you just need a better GPU since yours is low performance. As-is I will recommend another motherboard as well but understand this is just a example and if you can tell me your current CPU we could do something like this for even cheaper:

AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor
MSI A78M-E45 V2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard
Zotac GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Ytb73C
Total: £211.19

The GTX 950 would be at least a 50% improvement on your GT 740. The GTX 960 would probably be over twice as good but is a bit out of your price range unless you already have a good 4 core CPU and don't really need a upgrade at all. I'm not 100% sure either of them would work with your current PSU though you did mention 400W and the GTX 950 recommends 350W minimum while the GTX 960 recommends 400W minimum.

If we can at least re-use your motherboard we can shave a little over 40GBP of teh above quoted price right there and depending on if it is socket FM1, FM2 or FM2+ we will see what a quadcore CPU for it would cost. If you already have a 4 core CPU then you could go for a GTX 960 and probably slip that in under 200 GBP just by itself.

Last edited by Rove; Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:12pm

MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:07pm

ok this is my PSU: https://gyazo.com/fbc9f55c6b796170ba038c868b932222 (G7 Power extreme 680W)

i have DDR3 RAM (12 GB)

and i have no idea about the case? how do i find out the size?

Rumpelcrutchskin Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:13pm

Do you know the name of your case?

Your PSU is really rubbish quality, it says 680W but you are lucky if this thing can pull 400W in reality. It could run GTX 750 Ti though.

Last edited by Rumpelcrutchskin; Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:13pm

MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:13pm

Wow Rove, thanks for given such an indepth analysis! to answer what you asked:

1) My Current CPU is an MSI A55m-P33
2) my PSU is this one here: https://gyazo.com/fbc9f55c6b796170ba038c868b932222
3) the ram is DDR3 and i have 12 GB
4) im not sure how to find out the size of the case? i think it is this one: http://www.ebuyer.com/zoostorm but not 100% sure

#10

MasoN Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:17pm

"t says 680W but you are lucky if this thing can pull 400W in reality" why is this?

#11

Rumpelcrutchskin Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:17pm

Originally posted by MasoN:
http://www.ebuyer.com/zoostorm but not 100% sure

If it's the same case then this is micro-ATX.

#12

_I_ Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:18pm

1. thats your board
2. cooler master psus are trash
3. ram may be ok

to check if your ram is compatible with intel 1150 builds
use cpuz
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
cpuz -> spd tab
select each dimm and look voltage for all profiles
if any profile is over 1.55v that dimm should not be used on newer intel builds

4. look at the back of the case
http://techreport.com/r.x/buildguide/gfx-backplate.jpg
if it has 4-5 slot covers its m-atx, 7 = atx, 8+ = e-atx

if the case is not oem, dell, hp, ect.. you can use another board in it
but there are no good m-atx or itx amd boards for fx 125w cpus

Last edited by _I_; Sep 9, 2015 @ 5:20pm

#13