Need suggestions for upgrading my PC

[Crow846]

Hi to everyone,
I wish to upgrade my PC a little.
It is an old build but as I don't play new video games, I don't need to buy a new high tech rig.
My only requirement is for it to work as it should and run older video games well.

So here is the build.
GPU nVidia GTX 560Tix2 SLI, 2x4=8GB RAM, AMD FX8350, Asus Sabertooth 990FX MB, HDD :/.
I wish to upgrade the RAM, GPU and buy SSD

GPU- Is the 1050Ti will be a good choice?
Won't it be bottlenecked by the CPU?

RAM- as I read on Asus website the motherboard supports only DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 Hz.
but it is also saying that the CPU only support DDR3 1066Hz.
Is this correct? Or shoud I buy 1600 DDR3 16GB?

SSD- What is the best and cheapest SSD that I can buy?
I read the Linus (techtips) that cheap SSDs don't have flash memory and as such will stop working after 3-4 years.
While more expensive will work for +5 years.
Which one should I buy for running windows?

Will be grateful for your tips.
Thanks,

 

[caddi daddi]

the 1050TI will be fine with the 8350.
pick any ssd, any ssd is faster than any hdd, I use a lot of sandisk, cheap, reliable, just what ever is on sale, 500 gig is good enough, 240 gig will do, with a 1 tb hdd for storage. ssd life has come a long way.
ram, 1866-2133 should be fine, amount depends on how much you use, modern games I use 16 gigs.

 

[Crow846]

the 1050TI will be fine with the 8350.
pick any ssd, any ssd is faster than any hdd, I use a lot of sandisk, cheap, reliable, just what ever is on sale, 500 gig is good enough, 240 gig will do, with a 1 tb hdd for storage. ssd life has come a long way.
ram, 1866-2133 should be fine, amount depends on how much you use, modern games I use 16 gigs.

Okay! So the 1050TI plus 480Gb SSD it is.

The only thing I am not sure about is the RAM.
I have 1333Hz 2x4, So it will be cheaper for me to buy another 1333hz 2x4 stick to get in totall 16GB.
Or should I buy 1x8 stick with 1333Hz?

I am not sure how critical for the RAM to be matched.
I do know that asymmetrical ram cause performance hit.

 

[caddi daddi]

you will need 2 sticks of ram, the only things I have found that matter with ram are, they all work, they all run at rated speed and timings, they run at the correct configuration, dual, triple or quad channel and you have enough.
you need to run at dual channel.
try it with what you have first, if the rig runs out of ram space it moves to using the page file, with an ssd it is much faster than a spinner and you might not notice it.
if you want another kit, just find some that matches the specs of what you have, with fx I have had issues with kingston and crucial working with fx.

 

[Crow846]

The Ram I have is rated at 9-9-9-24 1.5V and 1600hz 2x4gb.
The Ram I can buy is rated at 11-11-11-28 1.5v 1600hz 2x4gb.

Will they work together?
Or should I buy mew 2x8gb RAM?

 

[caddi daddi]

go twox8 1866 if the cost is not to bad.

 

[trents]

Crow846, with your stated use purpose for the computer, I'n not sure I would spend money on anything but the SSD. Has some existing component failed? Is it not playing those old games at acceptable frame rates? Do you need to upgrade or do you just have the itch?

 

[caddi daddi]

actually, pay attention to trents, he is the man.

and on ram, do neither, keep the ram you have.

 

[Crow846]

The GPU is too be load and hot as hell.
Also the RAM is not enough for me anymore, few word pages open with PDF files plus Chrome and the computer barely responding.
(Chrome has to run despite eating resources. "
So it is a good to upgrade as any other.
I wanted to buy a fresh PC but I would buy the same components either way so why not buy them now and let future me buying a new CPU with Motherboard.

I"ll buy a new ram, better be safe then sorry. especially for just $60 difference.

 

[caddi daddi]

fx likes tighter timings like the sticks you have so just get two more of those.

 

[trents]

The GPU is too be load and hot as hell.
Also the RAM is not enough for me anymore, few word pages open with PDF files plus Chrome and the computer barely responding.
(Chrome has to run despite eating resources. "
So it is a good to upgrade as any other.
I wanted to buy a fresh PC but I would buy the same components either way so why not buy them now and let future me buying a new CPU with Motherboard.

I"ll buy a new ram, better be safe then sorry. especially for just $60 difference.

I have a fast new laptop with 16 gb of RAM and I find Chrome still eats it up after a few days of use and I have to restart it. Chrome has a memory leak problem and no matter how much RAM you have it will gobble it up. Have you tried the new FireFox Quantum? I've been using it for the last several days and it's snappier than Chrome. And there are as many or more plugins/extensions available for FF as there are Chrome.

My biggest concern is that with your plans you are putting a lot of money into old technology that could give up the ghost anytime.

 

[EarthDog]

I Agree with trents on his last line......



RE: Chrome... maybe it's with some of the web pages you visit?

Recently (the past few months), I typically leave a couple of Chrome instances up each with several tabs in it for a couple of days. I typically do not see RAM use increasing in chrome over time without any changes and certainly doesn't cause a reboot situation to free it either. That said, I have seen it eat RAM up, but this is normally because of an updating web page or something that runs in the background. If I close that tab, its all good.

 

[trents]

I Agree with trents on his last line......



RE: Chrome... maybe it's with some of the web pages you visit?

Recently (the past few months), I typically leave a couple of Chrome instances up each with several tabs in it for a couple of days. I typically do not see RAM use increasing in chrome over time without any changes and certainly doesn't cause a reboot situation to free it either. That said, I have seen it eat RAM up, but this is normally because of an updating web page or something that runs in the background. If I close that tab, its all good.

That could be. It just seems to be worse with Chrome than with other browsers.

 

[EarthDog]

Maybe. After days though, I don't see much change and it isn't stuffing 4GB with these particular tabs up, none the less the 32GB possible.

In fact, Memory use in Chrome did go up by around ~30MB since that last post to this one. I have a total of 3.3GB used with the same tabs up. 30MB is what, .1%? I'll see if it keeps growing, but at this pace, it would take a while for a 'leak' to fill up 16 GB at that rate and 30MB is pretty negligible.

 

[trents]

Crow846, I would suggest you put some money down on a new GPU and an SSD and let it go at that until you do a general upgrade to newer technology. Spending money on DDR3 RAM has no future. The SSD and upgraded GPU does.

 

[Crow846]

Thank you all for your suggestions, they helped me a lot.
At the end I went to the store and bought nVidia 1050TI, 480gb Kingstone SSD, and 2x4 RAM 1600 sticks.
The RAM was not that expensive so I thought my self why the hell not, it won't make things worse.

I do have a 2 questions left.
Do I need to divide my SSD into 2 partitions?
Since I made only one (Disk C)

Also I have found Windows 10 PRO license on eBay for $15, the seller has a lot of positive ratings.
Is this legit? or a scam?

 

[trents]

Thank you all for your suggestions, they helped me a lot.
At the end I went to the store and bought nVidia 1050TI, 480gb Kingstone SSD, and 2x4 RAM 1600 sticks.
The RAM was not that expensive so I thought my self why the hell not, it won't make things worse.

I do have a 2 questions left.
Do I need to divide my SSD into 2 partitions?
Since I made only one (Disk C)

You would only need to divide the disk (term is "partition", i.e. create a second partition) if you are running two different OS's or two versions of the same OS.

Also I have found Windows 10 PRO license on eBay for $15, the seller has a lot of positive ratings.
Is this legit? or a scam? At that price, probably pirated. Better to go with Kinguin.net and get what is likely a legit OEM license key for about $40.

 

[EarthDog]

I do have a 2 questions left.
Do I need to divide my SSD into 2 partitions?
Since I made only one (Disk C)

Also I have found Windows 10 PRO license on eBay for $15, the seller has a lot of positive ratings.
Is this legit? or a scam?

That is up to you. You do not NEED to do it, but you CAN if you would like (it does not require you running multiple OSs to do so!!!). I prefer to partition (you said it right) my OS drive so just in case I have to format and reinstall. This way I don't have to worry about my games or other data that is placed on the other partition.

It may be legit, but, that is the chance you have to take, or get it at kinguin.net for double that, but will be legit.

 

[Crow846]

I had to partition the SSD since some apps can't be installed on Windows protected partition.
So a second partition is required.

Also I bought the WIn10 CD-key for the giggles, it is only $10 so I decided to try it out.
Microsoft recognized the CD-key but the origin of that CD-key is sketchy at best.
Doubt it is stolen or pirated because no reason for them to drop price.
More Logical to assume that those CD-keys are time limited, and will expire in the near future.
Maybe tomorrow or maybe in the next few years.
Either way I can always buy a new key from the Penguin site.

Thank you all once again for your help.
I am very happy with the result of my upgrade, even if it is a small one it still noticeable.

 

[trents]

I had to partition the SSD since some apps can't be installed on Windows protected partition.
So a second partition is required.

Also I bought the WIn10 CD-key for the giggles, it is only $10 so I decided to try it out.
Microsoft recognized the CD-key but the origin of that CD-key is sketchy at best.
Doubt it is stolen or pirated because no reason for them to drop price.
More Logical to assume that those CD-keys are time limited, and will expire in the near future.
Maybe tomorrow or maybe in the next few years.
Either way I can always buy a new key from the Penguin site.

Thank you all once again for your help.
I am very happy with the result of my upgrade, even if it is a small one it still noticeable.

Can you be more specific? What apps? That doesn't sound right to me. Did you write protect the Windows partition accidentally somehow?