Best GPU upgrade for current build?

[Dannykins]

Hey guys i am looking to upgrade my GPU, my build is currently very old and needs updating so i can keep up with the new games coming out, My Budget is £200 but if its a really good deal i might raise that budget a little maybe to £250.

My PSU is quite weak so i am not sure what the possibilities are for me at the moment.

 

i will be using this mainly for gaming and some video editing too.  

 

Current specs:

 

• CPU
  AMD FX-4100 Quad core 4.2GHz (OC)
• Motherboard
  MSI MS-7641
• RAM
  8GB
• GPU
  AMD Radeon HD 6670 (OC)
• Case
  Galaxy 3 Mid Tower Black
• Storage
  1 TB added Laptop HDD recently 
• PSU
  ATX-500B
• Display(s)
  LG M2232
• Cooling
  Stock
• Keyboard
  Corsair Raptor K30 Gaming Keyboard
• Mouse
  Logitech M705
• Sound
  Astro A40
• Operating System
  Windos 7 ultimate

[Samfisher]

It depends on what games you are talking about.  Some games may cause a CPU-bottleneck which a better GPU can't eliminate.  What are games you are hoping to play, or what games are you already playing but wished you could crank the settings higher on?

[Dannykins]

It depends on what games you are talking about.  Some games may cause a CPU-bottleneck which a better GPU can't eliminate.  What are games you are hoping to play, or what games are you already playing but wished you could crank the settings higher on?

GTA 5 is one that i am currently wanting to crank up the settings on and also mortal combat X, mortal combat is pretty much unplayable at the moment, i want to avoid bottlenecks as much as possible. 

[Samfisher]

GTA 5 is one that i am currently wanting to crank up the settings on and also mortal combat X, mortal combat is pretty much unplayable at the moment, i want to avoid bottlenecks as much as possible. 

 

Mortal Kombat is a total crap port, so unless you have a pretty high-end machine, getting that to work smoothly is out of the picture.  I don't know prices of GPUs in the UK so I can't really say, although in GTA V your CPU will star to bottleneck your GPU as well.  If only you were anywhere near Malaysia, I have 2 7950's lying around not being used.

[Dannykins]

Mortal Kombat is a total crap port, so unless you have a pretty high-end machine, getting that to work smoothly is out of the picture.  I don't know prices of GPUs in the UK so I can't really say, although in GTA V your CPU will star to bottleneck your GPU as well.  If only you were anywhere near Malaysia, I have 2 7950's lying around not being used.

So in general i need a big upgrade to avoid bottleneck from my CPU and to give an example of prices here, here are some current GPU sales, 

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-msi-radeon-r9-290x-twin-frozr-iv-28nm-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-1040mhz-2816-streams-dport-dvi-hdmi

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-364-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

 

and that is just teasing me lol i wish i had GPUs laying around everywhere haha.

[Samfisher]

So in general i need a big upgrade to avoid bottleneck from my CPU and to give an example of prices here, here are some current GPU sales, 

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-msi-radeon-r9-290x-twin-frozr-iv-28nm-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-1040mhz-2816-streams-dport-dvi-hdmi

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-364-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

 

and that is just teasing me lol i wish i had GPUs laying around everywhere haha.

 

So with your budget you can go 290x or a GTX 970.  Pretty good choices there, but you will be pretty badly bottlenecked by your CPU in GTA V.

[Dannykins]

So with your budget you can go 290x or a GTX 970.  Pretty good choices there, but you will be pretty badly bottlenecked by your CPU in GTA V.

Well those are currently on sale the gtx 970 price is a bit more i think, but yea i can go with a 290x and it will be within my budget but i do not want to if i am going to bottleneck, also i am not sure if my PSU can support such GPUs. 

 

This is also quite cheap  http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-r9-280x-gaming-3g-twin-frozr-oc-28nm-6000mhz-gddr5-gpu-1000mhz-boost-1050mhz-2048-str

[Samfisher]

Well those are currently on sale the gtx 970 price is a bit more i think, but yea i can go with a 290x and it will be within my budget but i do not want to if i am going to bottleneck, also i am not sure if my PSU can support such GPUs. 

 

This is also quite cheap  http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-r9-280x-gaming-3g-twin-frozr-oc-28nm-6000mhz-gddr5-gpu-1000mhz-boost-1050mhz-2048-str

If you could follow these steps to get the MSI Afterburner OSD working on your system, it's a good way to see which part of your system is causing the low FPS.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/352924-gta-v-pc-tweak-guide/#entry4810752

[Slayer1443]

I think you should buy an i5 cpu such as the 4460 and get a cheap mobo instead of a gpu upgrade

[Dannykins]

If you could follow these steps to get the MSI Afterburner OSD working on your system, it's a good way to see which part of your system is causing the low FPS.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/352924-gta-v-pc-tweak-guide/#entry4810752

okay i did this and on loading screens i get 100% cpu on all cores in game my GPU starts getting used but when i start to speed up in a car this was on GTA 5 btw, my CPU goes 100% on all cores again so i think i might be getting bottlenecked already by my CPU. it is not constant though it seems to switch between my CPU and GPU usage, but it does seem like its using my CPU more than my GPU. 

[Dannykins]

I think you should buy an i5 cpu such as the 4460 and get a cheap mobo instead of a gpu upgrade

Yes i am thinking the same i need a new mobo and CPU it seems, shame really going to be more effort to upgrade  

[Samfisher]

okay i did this and on loading screens i get 100% cpu on all cores in game my GPU starts getting used but when i start to speed up in a car this was on GTA 5 btw, my CPU goes 100% on all cores again so i think i might be getting bottlenecked already by my CPU. it is not constant though it seems to switch between my CPU and GPU usage, but it does seem like its using my CPU more than my GPU. 

 

Then that is a good sign that it's your CPU holding your GPU back.  What's your GPU usage like?

[Dannykins]

Then that is a good sign that it's your CPU holding your GPU back.  What's your GPU usage like?

my GPU you was not really reaching 100% but i was only on it for like couple mins 

[itachipirate]

R9 280, then upgrade that processor ASAP!

[Dannykins]

R9 280, then upgrade that processor ASAP!

upgrade it to what ? any suggestions? i mean since its asap, i may have to stick with the motherboard i got for the time being and just get a CPU that will not bottleneck a R9 280, unless their is a cheaper option. 

[itachipirate]

upgrade it to what ? any suggestions? i mean since its asap, i may have to stick with the motherboard i got for the time being and just get a CPU that will not bottleneck a R9 280, unless their is a cheaper option. 

If you can get an i5 eventually that would be great, but an i3 would be better than what you have now. I don't suggest buying any other AM3+ processor, so just get a new CPU when you can afford a new motherboard as well

[Dannykins]

If you can get an i5 eventually that would be great, but an i3 would be better than what you have now. I don't suggest buying any other AM3+ processor, so just get a new CPU when you can afford a new motherboard as well

Yea that is exactly my thoughts, change to intel as soon as i can, i might wait until i can afford a mobo, CPU, and GPU, and just buy them all together. if i got a R9 280 now, am i really going to get much more performance than i am now? i think i will still be getting bottlenecked and wasting the cards potential not to mention its life. 

[itachipirate]

Yea that is exactly my thoughts, change to intel as soon as i can, i might wait until i can afford a mobo, CPU, and GPU, and just buy them all together. if i got a R9 280 now, am i really going to get much more performance than i am now? i think i will still be getting bottlenecked and wasting the cards potential not to mention its life. 

No get a 280 first you'll be okay I have an FX-6300 and 970 and it doesn't bottleneck that often. GPU first

[Dannykins]

No get a 280 first you'll be okay I have an FX-6300 and 970 and it doesn't bottleneck that often. GPU first

okay thanks i will get my gpu first then work on the rest after.

[kronickiller]

get the best video card u can get, no sence on skimping

then work on cpu upgrades

[TidaLWaveZ]

Go get a solid state drive and a GTX970.  I just upgraded my i7 920 to a Xeon x5675 yesterday.  With the i7 920(comparable to your CPU) and the GTX 970 I was running MKX maxed out at 1080p without so much as a stumble in performance.  There's always going to be parts that hold better parts back, but everyone is blowing this "bottlenecking" way out of proportion.

[Dannykins]

Go get a solid state drive and a GTX970.  I just upgraded my i7 920 to a Xeon x5675 yesterday.  With the i7 920(comparable to your CPU) and the GTX 970 I was running MKX maxed out at 1080p without so much as a stumble in performance.  There's always going to be parts that hold better parts back, but everyone is blowing this "bottlenecking" way out of proportion.

this is not in my budget i may just wait a while and get a gtx 970 i have wanted one for a long time however, i am not sure if my current PSU will support my build if i add that. 

[TidaLWaveZ]

this is not in my budget i may just wait a while and get a gtx 970 i have wanted one for a long time however, i am not sure if my current PSU will support my build if i add that. 

 

Try ebay. I got my Evga GTX 970 with the original reference cooler a while back for around $280.  The card should run on a 500watt PSU if it's of decent quality.

[Dannykins]

Try ebay. I got my Evga GTX 970 with the original reference cooler a while back for around $280.  The card should run on a 500watt PSU if it's of decent quality.

okay i will look on eBay thanks for the help, if your on about the PSU quality i am pretty sure it is not a very good quailty PSU, if your on about the GPU quality have no fear i intend on getting the best quality i can, more than likely a EVGA 970 or maybe MSI

[Darthiss]

Hi i´m in the exactly problem. I have a really similar pc but it cant found a gpu for it.  So if you buy a new gpu please told me how it goes for you.

I'm thinking on: GTX 750 TI-R7265-R9270-GTX 960.
 

-Mother: Gigabyte GA-880gm-Usb3l 

-CPU: AMD FX 4100 Overclocked to 4400mhz

-Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+ 

-I used to have a xfx hd6770 but it died last january by a tunderbolt.

-Memory: 2x4gb 1600Mhz ddr3 Hiper x 

-PW: Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 550w