Don't have that much money, even this $240 is pushing it for me (I still have car parts/tools to buy for my house),
Currently I have:
HD Radeon 5850
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Processor (4.17ghz)
4GB ram DDR2


I'm thinking of getting the Radeon R7 370 for $119, issue is I'm not sure if it's a good deal.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131670

There's a selection of 30 for Radeon R7 370 parts, and to be honest I built this computer back when the Phenom II just came out, and I've lost all touch with how to tell which is a better GPU for the price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?N=100007709%20600565503&IsNodeId=1&Submit=ENE

I have 4 slots for ram, so not sure if I should go for 2 sticks of 4GB ram, or 4 sticks of 2GB ram. I don't even remember how to tell the Hertz of my ram (or whatever it's called) for compatibility.

Thanks for any opinion and help.

This post was edited by Arcolithe on Jun 9 2016 02:19pm

We need to know make and model of motherboard for the RAM question...if you don't know it off hand, then do this...



Get SPECCY here: http://www.piriform.com/speccy/download ...get the FREE version from the: Piriform Link ...Speccy is a really nice system hardware/temperature, information Utility....simply install it...and run the program...then post a screen shot of the main page of the program, when posting a problem/question on these forums.

oh right I have speccy, Im at work right now though (office jobs yey)

oh dude thank you so much for that tip, lifesaver =)
I owe you a beer for that.

also the AMD Phenom II was such a great choice for me, no issues with having too many windows up at all yet. Will start looking at the GTX 950 and the new GPU. But I may jump the gun and just buy a gpu now, the prices being pushed down may not happen till 1 month+ after it gets released.



edit: annnnd didnt took long to review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAdbt_ew3eg

AVG fps for the GTX 950 seems to be higher than the R7, not sure what the other specs of his computer is, but overall it seems better

This post was edited by Arcolithe on Jun 11 2016 01:11am

sooo, installed the new GPU and RAM and monitor won't turn on.

doing this for 3 hours now, heres a list of what I have done chronologically


Installed/Updated drivers CD that came with radeon, it auto-installed.
Powered off computer, flipped power switch in the back
Installed 4x 4GB DDR3 crucial sticks replacing the 2x2GB DDR3 sticks
Installed R7 370 GPU over the Radeon HD 5800

Turned on computer, computer detected drivers and installed (probably memory sticks)

Restarts and this is where the issues come

Monitor doesn't turn on, just noticed the debug code A2 on motherboard. " Problem related to IDE or SATA devices. Please re-install IDE and SATA devices. If the problem still exists, please clear CMOS and try removing all SATA devices. "

Tried turning and, removing/adding the GPU.
Tried removing GPU and using old GPU

Monitor doesn't turn on still


Anyone can help me debug?

additional info:
computer runs when i remove 2 sticks of ram, maybe my PSU is old and doesnt work like it used to anymore?

If it works with 2x4GB of RAM, it might be a limitation of the IMC on your C3 CPU. What speed is your RAM?

it's 4gb DDR3 1600, came in sets of two. should I have bought a set of 4 instead of two sets of 2?
Brand is crucial.

AMD 965 ...Memory controller or IMC

The number of controllers: 1
Memory channels: 2
Channel width (bits): 72
Supported memory: DDR2-1066, DDR3-1333
DIMMs per channel: up to 2
Maximum memory bandwidth (GB/s): 21.3

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X4%20965%20Black%20Edition%20-%20HDZ965FBK4DGM%20(HDZ965FBGMBOX).html



/e So, it kinda depends on what motherboard you have at this point. In your 1st post you stated you were running DDR2 RAM, and in your 6th post you stated you bought DDR3 RAM.
Your motherboard and it's BIOS version could also be the culprit here.


/ee Generally, back in the AMD 965 days, a SET of two sticks or RAM, or a SET of 4 sticks of RAM, seemed to work better more often, than two SETS of two sticks of RAM.

This post was edited by Ghot on Jun 26 2016 12:12pm