need help with upgrade choices for my pc

[sonicdude]

Hi i dont know alot about computers so i have no idea what is completable and the updatability of my pc the pc i have is Zoostorm Desktop PC - Desktops | Ebuyer.com its got a foxconn a55mx motherboard, i would like pointing in the direction of a graphics card also a good cpu which is compatible and im assuming ill need a new psu as its 300w any help with this would be appreciated
thanks in advance

 

[Oats]

depends what games and such you plan on doing with it and what your budget is.

 

[sonicdude]

Thanks for the reply. Well planing on upgrading it to play the latest games if that's possible budget not really being to much of a problem.

 

[BikerEcho]

throw in a 7850 2GB and a Corsair CX 600W. it's not gonna cost too much. i think around 280$.
for a better CPU you might want to look at the A8 APU's from AMD.

 

[sonicdude]

Thanks alto echo appreciate the help

 

[BikerEcho]

no problem.
it looks like a fairly small case, make sure the graphics card will fit.

---------- Post added at 11:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 PM ----------

if you are changing the CPU then remember to buy cooler paste aswll. you need to reapply it after the heatsink has been removed.

 

[sonicdude]

yeah the case will have enough room im pretty sure of that would any a8 with a fm1 socket work?

 

[Oats]

I believe the best FM1 is the A8-3870K which might cause a problem for some multiplayer games because it's individual cores are still weak, although, it is a significantly better CPU than the A4-3300. It will bottleneck the GPU but most of the time you should still have acceptable frame rates.

It looks like you have 2 options. Buy the GPU, power supply, and the A8-3870K and hope it doesn't cause any problems during the games you play (especially during multiplayer), or basically just build an entirely new system and go with a socket that is actually good for more intense games like the LGA 1155 or AM3+.

If you mean the latest High End games and you aren't on much of a budget, I'd get at least the 7850 but if money isn't really that big of an issue at all and you want to max out their graphics or get rather close to it, I'd take it up a notch or two and go with a 660 Ti, 7870, 7950, 670, or 7970.

If you mean mainly MMO's, you won't need anything more than a 660 Ti or 7870 (as they should have 60+ FPS in most situations with maxed out graphics) if you didn't want to spend extra for something better. The cheapest I'd go is the 7770.

 

[sonicdude]

thanks for ur advice would a A8-3870K deferentially work on my motherboard? i did try look on the manufactures site but doesnt give me a list just that its a fm1 socket pretty much :/

think ill go for the upgrade of the cpu, psu and graphics card for now and upgrade the motherboard & cpu together again at a latter date sounds like it would be good enough for what i need without changing the motherboard for the moment, as to the graphics card would any card work so long as it fits the case?

 

[Oats]

if you currently have the A4-3300 then your motherboard is an FM1 socket which means the A8-3870K will fit since it also has an FM1 socket.

for the Graphics Card to work all you need is one PCI-E 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 slot on the motherboard and a power supply with a high enough watt limit and the correct PCI-E connectors to power the GPU (at least one 6pin will due for most 7850 and less powerful GPUs but I prefer having two 6+2pins for versatility since they are pretty easy to get just in case I ever make a big upgrade in the future).

PCI-E 1.0, 2.0, or 3.0 is the longest slot in the picture here if you are not aware of what it exactly looks like. PCI | FinitPC

but according to the MB specs, it looks like you have one of each size that currently exists so no problem there.