trying to upgrade to an ideal rig...sugestions wanted!

[Plainswalker]

Hello! 

I'd like some insight and/or sugestions on what i should upgrade first on my current rig.

the specs of my current "gaming" pc are as follows:

 

GPU: GeForce GT 740

CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) G3220 @ 3.00GHz 

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x4Gb @ 2133MHz (they run at a much lower MHz because of cpu i think 1333MHz)

Mobo: MSI Z87I Gaming AC

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

Case: Cooler Master's Elite 110series

PSU: 450Watt (couldnt find the brand sticker)

HDD: WD 1.5 Tera 

 

Now! First things first! I know this is not an ideal set up for a gaming pc but that is what i could afford at the time, making some sacrifices here and there or using existing parts to lower the overall cost. The case, HDD and power suply i owned allready so i opted for a good gaming type MoBo, a good set of DDR3 Ram and a mid to low range graphics card. I also ended up buying a cpu cause my old Core i5 wasnt LGA1150 compatible! I know its not the best cpu in the world but for the money and the purpose (gaming rig) i thought it was alright.

Now we come to the part of upgrading!

I have the following things in mind:

CORSAIR GRAPHITE SERIES 380T PORTABLE MINI ITX

PSU COOLERMASTER ELITE SERIES 600W

MSI GEFORCE GTX960 GAMING 2GB GDDR5

INTEL CORE I5 CPU (Dont really know which one)

 

I've saved up around 250 euros for the upgrade so i can only buy a few or one of the above components!

• the GPU with the PCU which is slightly over my budget but i think i could do it,
• i could go for the case and PSU in order to be ready for future upgrades (and also utilise a SSD - HDD combo since i got an SSD lying around) or
• i could go for the CPU upgrade which in turn would up my Ram clocks

 

What do you guys think is the best choice here keeping in mind that this build is intended to be my gaming rig and i want to be future-proofing as much as possible! 

Thanks in advance!

[duckwithanokhat]

I would prioritize CPU and GPU upgrades first, I'm sorry but the GT 740 is pretty bad and so is the CPU, but it seems to be working for you.

 

Try to get the GTX 960 4GB version, but if you absolutely can't afford it then just settle for the 2GB version. Also make sure your case is big enough to fit the GPU.

 

If you want to get an i5 CPU, I would suggest the i5-4960k and then save up money to get a decent air cooler or water cooler to overclock that.

 

Thanks to GPU power draw being so low these days, you won't need to upgrade your power supply unless you don't have the necessary cables for your GPU, which you should check first.

[Moonzy]

gpu (gtx 950, 960, or r9 380) -> cpu (i5 4460) -> psu (a decent one)

 

case is optional, and should be on the last on the list since it doesnt affect performance

[Moonzy]

also

welcome to the forumz  

 

remember to quote the person you're replying so they get a notification

[Plainswalker]

6 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

also

welcome to the forumz  

 

remember to quote the person you're replying so they get a notification

thanks a lot both for the welcome's and the sugestions!

[Laputacake]

Get a new psu. Antec high current gamer are good but if out of budget super flower make some cheap non modular power supplies. For GPU a R9 380 would be good and for the CPU a 4460 would be a good choice.

[Plainswalker]

15 minutes ago, duckwithanokhat said:

I would prioritize CPU and GPU upgrades first, I'm sorry but the GT 740 is pretty bad and so is the CPU, but it seems to be working for you.

 

Try to get the GTX 960 4GB version, but if you absolutely can't afford it then just settle for the 2GB version. Also make sure your case is big enough to fit the GPU.

 

If you want to get an i5 CPU, I would suggest the i5-4960k and then save up money to get a decent air cooler or water cooler to overclock that.

 

Thanks to GPU power draw being so low these days, you won't need to upgrade your power supply unless you don't have the necessary cables for your GPU, which you should check first.

im prety sure that my PSU doesnt have the 8-6pin conectors for the GPU, plus the 4Gb version is out of my reach atm :-( thanks a lot for the sugestions

 

[Plainswalker]

3 hours ago, Moonzy said:

also

welcome to the forumz  

 

remember to quote the person you're replying so they get a notification

If you know! Is it possible to change the Ram speed by enabling XMP, or my crapy CPU won't go for it? 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Plainswalker said:

If you know! Is it possible to change the Ram speed by enabling XMP, or my crapy CPU won't go for it? 

if your motherboard and cpu allows for xmp, go for it

if not, thats fine too lol

ram speed does affect your system but not by much tbh

[Moonzy]

btw i recommend getting a gtx 950 or 960, the r9 380 might blow your psu lol

unless you choose to upgrade your psu first, then go for the 380

[Plainswalker]

23 hours ago, Moonzy said:

btw i recommend getting a gtx 950 or 960, the r9 380 might blow your psu lol

unless you choose to upgrade your psu first, then go for the 380

Y I thought as much !  I found a small factor 960 gtx by gigabyte with 4Gb vram at 210€ and a CM 600Watt PSU at 50€ so I'm thinking of getting them and then save up some money to get a descent CPU at some point !

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Plainswalker said:

Y I thought as much !  I found a small factor 960 gtx by gigabyte with 4Gb vram at 210€ and a CM 600Watt PSU at 50€ so I'm thinking of getting them and then save up some money to get a descent CPU at some point !

which cooler master psu are we talking about?

i hope its a decent one

[Plainswalker]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

which cooler master psu are we talking about?

i hope its a decent one

PSU COOLERMASTER ELITE SERIES 600W

VGA GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX960 GV-N960IXOC-4GD 4GB DDR5

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Plainswalker said:

PSU COOLERMASTER ELITE SERIES 600W

does your case support this psu?

 

its not a very good psu tbh

i recommend getting a tier 1 or tier 2 psu from this list

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

its never good to buy a bad psu, a bad psu might kill some part of your system too when it dies

 

2 minutes ago, Plainswalker said:

VGA GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX960 GV-N960IXOC-4GD 4GB DDR5

get a larger card if it fits in your case

so you get lower gpu temp and can boost higher for more performance

[Plainswalker]

6 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

does your case support this psu?

 

its not a very good psu tbh

i recommend getting a tier 1 or tier 2 psu from this list

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

its never good to buy a bad psu, a bad psu might kill some part of your system too when it dies

 

get a larger card if it fits in your case

so you get lower gpu temp and can boost higher for more performance

Well I reside in Greece so I can't order from that site I could go for an 80+ bronze PSU I guess, I'll have to research more! The GPU im kinda sold on buying that model cause my case is a mini itx one and I can fit a GPU of 210mm max in there and it would be a tight fit !

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Plainswalker said:

I can't order from that site

its just a list, you can use that list to purchase your psu at a local shop or something

im not telling you to buy it there lol

 

did you even click that website

[Plainswalker]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

its just a list, you can use that list to purchase your psu at a local shop or something

im not telling you to buy it there lol

 

did you even click that website

Y I'll check the list and see what I can find on the local vendors, BTW the case can accommodate a full atx PSU so I'm not worried about that 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Plainswalker said:

Y I'll check the list and see what I can find on the local vendors, BTW the case can accommodate a full atx PSU so I'm not worried about that 

well just make sure you buy a smaller psu, ATX psu ranges from 160mm to 280mm or above lol