Where to start?

Zureal · March 22, 2021

Budget (including currency): Less than i probably need

Country: Sweden

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Wow, Counterstrike, Battlefield maybe more if i could run it

Other details Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1055T, Graphics: Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 6770 OC 1024MB, got 8gb of ram and M3N78D Asrock motherboard. Want to add a 27" inch screen with higher refresh rate and 1440p to my existing 23" screen. Planning to buy bit by bit if its possible throughout the year.

Currently sitting on this budget rig i got as a graduation present somewhere about 10-12 years ago?

And its gets worse and worse to play on for every year that goes by.

I want to (atleast) imagine that the cpu is not my problem at the moment, I mean its not great but it should do for now right?

So my question is basically will I be fine with a gpu and psu for the moment and what gpu if so?

Or have I been out of the game for far to long that I need to change motherboard and therefore basically have to buy a complete system?

Would gladly appreciate your input.

IkeaGnome · March 22, 2021

Youre in a rough spot right now. GPU and PSU make sense to do first to push multiple monitors and 1440p. Good luck finding a GPU anywhere near MSRP currently though.

By the time it's said and done your best bet will be to do a full upgrade.

With current market, if it was me I'd go new mobo, cpu and ram first. Step over to an Intel with integrated graphics and 16 gigs ram. Then do PSU then whenever GPUs are in stock pick one up. I'd look into an i5 10600 or 10600k depending on prices there.

HQi88 · March 22, 2021

4 hours ago, Zureal said:

Budget (including currency): Less than i probably need

Country: Sweden

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Wow, Counterstrike, Battlefield maybe more if i could run it

Other details Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1055T, Graphics: Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 6770 OC 1024MB, got 8gb of ram and M3N78D Asrock motherboard. Want to add a 27" inch screen with higher refresh rate and 1440p to my existing 23" screen. Planning to buy bit by bit if its possible throughout the year.

Currently sitting on this budget rig i got as a graduation present somewhere about 10-12 years ago?

And its gets worse and worse to play on for every year that goes by.

I want to (atleast) imagine that the cpu is not my problem at the moment, I mean its not great but it should do for now right?

So my question is basically will I be fine with a gpu and psu for the moment and what gpu if so?

Or have I been out of the game for far to long that I need to change motherboard and therefore basically have to buy a complete system?

Would gladly appreciate your input.

Honestly 10 years is a long time for computer hardware. When the Phenom II 1055T was released, it was competing against first generation i5s and i7s. We are now on 11th gen intel chips.

The first thing you should replace would be the PSU. If you have not modified anything in the computer for 10 years then it is likely that your PSU is reaching the end of its lifespan.

Your motherboard is also very outdated. Theres no point keeping it as it dosent have modern feautures such as NVMe and PCIe 4.0 and your are stuck with older SATA II speeds for storage. Even buying a motherboard from 1 or 2 generations ago would be a huge step up as NVMe will decrease load times and bootup times hugely. Or any SSD for that matter.

You would have to buy a new compatible CPU and RAM as well, though. Because I don't know your budget, its hard to recommend anything right now.

If you are trying to get a current gen GPU, I would wait because prices are through the roof right now and they probably still will even into 2022.

Luckily your GPU is so outdated that something like a GTX 750Ti or R9 280 would be a major step up.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-hd-6770.c280

You can scroll down to the Relative Performance section and check other GPUs. Many of those, even up to 500% relative performance are considered to be old and may not have inflated prices. If you can find one for cheap locally, it could probably boost your FPS by quite a bit. Just make sure your PSU can handle it

That being said, there are a few more things that you could explain to help us:

- Did you ever clean out your PC? If not, dusting and replacing thermal paste can help the hardware run a bit faster as it wont thermal throttle

- What is your case like? Given that your computer is 10 years old, I doubt it was built with airflow in mind. You probably can replace this last or not at all if you are willing to drill some holes in it

Maybe post some pictures, it would help as well.

Zureal · March 23, 2021

20 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

Youre in a rough spot right now. GPU and PSU make sense to do first to push multiple monitors and 1440p. Good luck finding a GPU anywhere near MSRP currently though.

By the time it's said and done your best bet will be to do a full upgrade.

With current market, if it was me I'd go new mobo, cpu and ram first. Step over to an Intel with integrated graphics and 16 gigs ram. Then do PSU then whenever GPUs are in stock pick one up. I'd look into an i5 10600 or 10600k depending on prices there.

Thanks for the answer, will look into this and see whats possible.

16 hours ago, HQi88 said:

Honestly 10 years is a long time for computer hardware. When the Phenom II 1055T was released, it was competing against first generation i5s and i7s. We are now on 11th gen intel chips.

The first thing you should replace would be the PSU. If you have not modified anything in the computer for 10 years then it is likely that your PSU is reaching the end of its lifespan.

Your motherboard is also very outdated. Theres no point keeping it as it dosent have modern feautures such as NVMe and PCIe 4.0 and your are stuck with older SATA II speeds for storage. Even buying a motherboard from 1 or 2 generations ago would be a huge step up as NVMe will decrease load times and bootup times hugely. Or any SSD for that matter.

You would have to buy a new compatible CPU and RAM as well, though. Because I don't know your budget, its hard to recommend anything right now.

If you are trying to get a current gen GPU, I would wait because prices are through the roof right now and they probably still will even into 2022.

Luckily your GPU is so outdated that something like a GTX 750Ti or R9 280 would be a major step up.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-hd-6770.c280

You can scroll down to the Relative Performance section and check other GPUs. Many of those, even up to 500% relative performance are considered to be old and may not have inflated prices. If you can find one for cheap locally, it could probably boost your FPS by quite a bit. Just make sure your PSU can handle it

That being said, there are a few more things that you could explain to help us:

- Did you ever clean out your PC? If not, dusting and replacing thermal paste can help the hardware run a bit faster as it wont thermal throttle

- What is your case like? Given that your computer is 10 years old, I doubt it was built with airflow in mind. You probably can replace this last or not at all if you are willing to drill some holes in it

Maybe post some pictures, it would help as well.

-Thanks for the answer and some insight on just how bad my current setup is.

Got a samsung SSD 860 Evo, i guess i can use it for extra storage if i should shoot for an nvme.

Dont think my case is really bad regarding airflow. Its a Cooler Master Elite 430. and i clean it pretty regular since i got a compressor availble. Although i want to replace it since it really isnt made to hide cables. Budget is not to much of a worry although i would like to feel that i got what i paid for. But it seems that it is a bad time to upgrade or atleast try to find some older stuff to put together.