Small stop gap upgrades

[Tuloth]

Hey guys,  

 

I had been planning on doing a full dramatic upgrade to a super rig, but I decided the finances on that were a little dodgey and to push it back.  That said, the performance on my current rig really isn't cutting it.  My current set up is:

 

Intel Core i5 760 @ 2.8Ghz

ASUS P7P55LX Mobo

2x2GB , 1x4GB = 8 GB RAM (I got the 1x4GB RAM stick today for basically nothing, it gave me a noticeable performance increase)

Nvidia GeForce GTX 460

 

After the RAM upgrade, I feel like I'm good on RAM until I do a rebuild, but I'm wondering what should be the next upgrade?  I think the fan on my graphics card is starting to die, but the processor is also quite lacking, but then if I upgrade the processor the Mobo will likely need to be replaced as well.  Trying to spend a little bit of money to keep my PC functional, but not blow anything out of the water.

 

Also, my current display setup is 2x 60Hz 1080p.

 

Thanks for reading!

[ZetZet]

Cpu would still be okay with something like r9 280.

[Tuloth]

Bump.  Hoping to get a little more feedback.  

[TheCaptain53]

Bump.  Hoping to get a little more feedback.  

If you're budget minded, an R7 260X, R9 270X or GTX 750Ti would definitely be worth considering. They're not super expensive and should give a noticeable performance increase. However, if you're PSU is a little weak, I would defintiely consider the GTX 750Ti over the other two as it consumes very little power.

 

You should be able to keep your CPU for the time being, just be prepared to change out the motherboard and processor when the time comes. If this processor can be overclocked (I don't know if it can), why not try that? It should give your PC a little more life.

 

Another thing I'd consider is ditching the 2x2GB sticks and getting yourself another 4GB DIMM. This will allow your 2x 4GB DIMMs to run in proper dual channel mode.

Also, if you're not gaming on two monitors at the same time, adding more screens doesn't really impact performance negatively.

 

The main things to consider are what games do you play and how much budget do you have to spend on upgrading your rig? This will sway your component choice.

[Tuloth]

This is a detail I should have provided.  Power is of no concern, I have a 750 Watt Corsair PSU. 

 

I know the 2x2 and 1x4 is not ideal, but I ran into a 2x4GB RAM deal for basically nothing on Friday (the 2x2 has been in my system for 5 years).  When I get them home one of the 4s didn't work.  Given the price I paid, i'm not terribly concerned but I just haven't had time to replace the dead stick.

 

I'm honestly surprised a processor running at 2.8Ghz is still okay, I really expected that to be considered a bigger problem.  I had been looking at something like an i3 but I suppose I'll put that on the bench for now.  A quick google has told me it is possible to OC, so I will see about getting something like a hyper 212 and seeing what I can do (running stock now).

 

Based on what you guys have said it looks like a Radeon card is the way to go, think it's a good idea to wait for the 390X release for the other cards to drop in price?  I would like to upgrade but it isn't exactly an "emergency" so I could wait a few weeks to get a better deal. 

 

As for price I'm looking to spend probably ~150 - 200 per component upgrade, but it's not set in stone, I do have wiggle room.  As for games I mainly play online multiplayer games, such as CS:GO, LoL, Mortal Online etc.  

[TheCaptain53]

This is a detail I should have provided.  Power is of no concern, I have a 750 Watt Corsair PSU. 

 

I know the 2x2 and 1x4 is not ideal, but I ran into a 2x4GB RAM deal for basically nothing on Friday (the 2x2 has been in my system for 5 years).  When I get them home one of the 4s didn't work.  Given the price I paid, i'm not terribly concerned but I just haven't had time to replace the dead stick.

 

I'm honestly surprised a processor running at 2.8Ghz is still okay, I really expected that to be considered a bigger problem.  I had been looking at something like an i3 but I suppose I'll put that on the bench for now.  A quick google has told me it is possible to OC, so I will see about getting something like a hyper 212 and seeing what I can do (running stock now).

 

Based on what you guys have said it looks like a Radeon card is the way to go, think it's a good idea to wait for the 390X release for the other cards to drop in price?  I would like to upgrade but it isn't exactly an "emergency" so I could wait a few weeks to get a better deal. 

 

As for price I'm looking to spend probably ~150 - 200 per component upgrade, but it's not set in stone, I do have wiggle room.  As for games I mainly play online multiplayer games, such as CS:GO, LoL, Mortal Online etc.  

Definitely chuck an overclock on your CPU. It should be a significant difference in keeping your GPU fed with data.

The first thing to upgrade would be your graphics card, though. That thing would have been great in its day, but it's not really relevant anymore. Sure, it'll be able to run CS:GO and Skyrim, but you'll struggle in the latest AAA titles. 

The prices of the R7/9 2xx series probably will go down in price. But also consider this. They will probably stop manufacturing the 2xx series very soon after the 3xx series has been released. Now you're stuck with a rebrand and a new, higher price tag. I wouldn't wait around too long.

I've noticed my local PC hardware store isn't stocking as much of the AMD cards as of recent.