Solid upgrade path?

[TristenM]

Hey guys, I'm looking at upgrading my current PC(NOT within 3 days). I'm fairly tech savvy but not entirely sure on compatibility of all the parts. Thanks for your time and help.
My current PC I got from my older brother, he used it before he built his own pc and bought a gaming laptop so it was free to me.
Internals are

- Intel core I3 550 @ 3.20 Ghz 3200 Mhz

- 8GB of DDr3 Samsung RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 520GT *Would also like to stay with Nvidia's graphic card options.
- Three HDD's, 335GB, 153GB, 105GB

- Gateway DX4840 Motherboard

- CoolerMaster 460w powersupply with 180MM fan

- Wifi card/Antenna but as of right now using an Ethernet connection.

1. Budget & Location

West coast of Canada and looking for cheapest possible price with largest gain to performance, 200$~
2. Aim

I currently use my PC for gaming not for any video editing or audio editing/content creation.
I don't currently plan on buying a ton of brand new PC games, I've got League of Legends, Minecraft, Tomb Raider, Metro 2033 etc.
Mostly don't have newer PC games because I do have an Xbox One and my computers lack of performance has turned me off of buying brand new titles.
Check compatibility for more RAM, and possibly upgrade to at least a 250GB SSD
3. Monitors
I've got two monitors running, one is a Dell ST2321L 23" W 1080p HD using a VGA connection. 1920x1080
The other monitor is a Dynex using a DVI-D adapter to VGA 1366 x 786 pixel resolution 720p using this as my secondary monitor

4. Peripherals

Won't need any peripherals at all. Logitech G710 Keyboard with Cherry Mx blues, Logitech G35 7.1 Dolby Digital Surround Headset, and SteelSeries Sensei Raw mouse.

5. Why are you upgrading?
Needing better performance for gaming and faster speed for general computer use.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this guys, appreciate all feedback and suggestions. <3
I also used this format because it was the first one I saw in the pinned post, in future I'll use the other one!

[Zyndo]

11 minutes ago, TristenM said:

Snip

Find a cheap GPU used like a gtx 750ti or 950. maybe even a 960 (or a 1050/1050ti if it doesn't break your budget, but its going to be tough to find one brand new) if you can. then get an SSD for your OS. these two upgrades would make your computer feel like a whole new animal.

[Jurrunio]

$200 is only enough for GPU upgrade, but the CPU is quite weak as well, so maybe a 750ti or 660?

[LienusLateTips]

You won't get much. I would recommend a R7 370 or 750 Ti.

[Javier Ewe]

get an intel xeon x3480 for $90 : 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Intel-Core-Xeon-X3480-8M-Cache-2-93-GHz-SLBJH-LGA1156-P55-H55-equal-i7-870/32730349827.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_5400015_10307_10137_10060_10155_10154_10333_10334_10056_10335_10055_10336_10054_5370015_10059_10332_100031_10099_5380015_10103_10102_5410015_5430015_10052_10053_10107_10050_10142_10051_9987_10326_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_5390015_10110_10175_10111_10112_10113_10114_10312_10313_10314_10078_10079_10073_5420015-9987,searchweb201603_18,ppcSwitch_4&btsid=975e2e6a-6157-48db-8411-2b3d408a729f&algo_expid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a-0&algo_pvid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a

try to find your local craigslist for a gtx 770 or similar

[TristenM]

8 minutes ago, Javier Ewe said:

get an intel xeon x3480 for $90 : 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Intel-Core-Xeon-X3480-8M-Cache-2-93-GHz-SLBJH-LGA1156-P55-H55-equal-i7-870/32730349827.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_5400015_10307_10137_10060_10155_10154_10333_10334_10056_10335_10055_10336_10054_5370015_10059_10332_100031_10099_5380015_10103_10102_5410015_5430015_10052_10053_10107_10050_10142_10051_9987_10326_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_5390015_10110_10175_10111_10112_10113_10114_10312_10313_10314_10078_10079_10073_5420015-9987,searchweb201603_18,ppcSwitch_4&btsid=975e2e6a-6157-48db-8411-2b3d408a729f&algo_expid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a-0&algo_pvid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a

try to find your local craigslist for a gtx 770 or similar

Really worth it to lose .20 ghz for the upgrade to an i7?

[TristenM]

40 minutes ago, JDE said:

You won't get much. I would recommend a R7 370 or 750 Ti.

Would a 660ti provide a solid bump? Nothing in my local area for sale at the moment except a 660ti for 65$

[Javier Ewe]

17 hours ago, TristenM said:

Really worth it to lose .20 ghz for the upgrade to an i7?

? sorry i dont get what u said. the i3 has 2 cores/4 threads, i7 has 4c/8t and the xeon i linked u has 4c/8t but made from better silicon and would overclock better should u decide to upgrade your motherboard.

[Herman Mcpootis]

5 hours ago, Javier Ewe said:

get an intel xeon x3480 for $90 : 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Intel-Core-Xeon-X3480-8M-Cache-2-93-GHz-SLBJH-LGA1156-P55-H55-equal-i7-870/32730349827.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10068_5400015_10307_10137_10060_10155_10154_10333_10334_10056_10335_10055_10336_10054_5370015_10059_10332_100031_10099_5380015_10103_10102_5410015_5430015_10052_10053_10107_10050_10142_10051_9987_10326_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_5390015_10110_10175_10111_10112_10113_10114_10312_10313_10314_10078_10079_10073_5420015-9987,searchweb201603_18,ppcSwitch_4&btsid=975e2e6a-6157-48db-8411-2b3d408a729f&algo_expid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a-0&algo_pvid=448b08cf-8bd1-4ba0-ae94-5ea3f7257c6a

 

shipping to canada costs $20, it's $100 for him instead of $90.

[Herman Mcpootis]

get this for $21.50 USD:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-X3450-Quad-Core-2-66GHz-8MB-CPU-LGA1156-SLBLD-used-/282633388229?epid=1222832035&hash=item41ce4340c5:g:Nq8AAOSwKnVZqP9N

and bid for a used gtx 970 over at ebay. sell off your old gear and get a cryorig m9i to overclock the xeon if you want.

[Herman Mcpootis]

5 hours ago, TristenM said:

Really worth it to lose .20 ghz for the upgrade to an i7?

that xeon has 2 extra cores, the negligible clock speed difference isn't gonna help the i3 beat out the xeon.

[Javier Ewe]

18 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

get this for $21.50 USD:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-X3450-Quad-Core-2-66GHz-8MB-CPU-LGA1156-SLBLD-used-/282633388229?epid=1222832035&hash=item41ce4340c5:g:Nq8AAOSwKnVZqP9N

and bid for a used gtx 970 over at ebay. sell off your old gear and get a cryorig m9i to overclock the xeon if you want.

his motherboard cant overclock i believe

[LienusLateTips]

10 hours ago, TristenM said:

Really worth it to lose .20 ghz for the upgrade to an i7?

But it has 2 more cores and 4 more threads

 

10 hours ago, TristenM said:

Would a 660ti provide a solid bump? Nothing in my local area for sale at the moment except a 660ti for 65$

That's a ok price

[TristenM]

1 hour ago, Javier Ewe said:

his motherboard cant overclock i believe

You're right, I've also never dealt with any overclocking and I'm not very smart with cores/threads that's why I was confused, thanks for your help, though.

[TomR]

i7 off eBay for $70

750ti off eBay for $65

and a SSD of your choice

[LienusLateTips]

Just now, TomR said:

i7 off eBay for $70

750ti off eBay for $65

and a SSD of your choice

Xeon would be better

[TristenM]

1 hour ago, TomR said:

i7 off eBay for $70

750ti off eBay for $65

and a SSD of your choice

Why the 750ti though? My 520gt is also 1GB dedicated video and the 660ti in my area is 2GB for the same price

[Herman Mcpootis]

6 hours ago, TristenM said:

You're right, I've also never dealt with any overclocking and I'm not very smart with cores/threads that's why I was confused, thanks for your help, though.

if you can change the bclk frequency on the mobo then you should be able to overclock the Xeon.

[Javier Ewe]

20 hours ago, herman mcpootis said:

if you can change the bclk frequency on the mobo then you should be able to overclock the Xeon.

he is probably a beginner and doesn't want to overclock. i wouldn't recommend it for a beginner user anyways

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, Javier Ewe said:

he is probably a beginner and doesn't want to overclock. i wouldn't recommend it for a beginner user anyways

it's not very hard to overclock, just look up a few lynnfield bclk overclocking guides and don't be stupid with the settings. hard to argue with free performance.

[TristenM]

4 hours ago, Javier Ewe said:

he is probably a beginner and doesn't want to overclock. i wouldn't recommend it for a beginner user anyways

I would prefer not to ocerclock you're right.

[TristenM]

So, in need of some help here...

i ended up buying a gtx GeForce 660ti because I was able to waddle down a guy on the price. But failed to realize my psu only has one 6pin PCI-E and the 660ti requires two, anyway to work around this or did I just blow my money away?

[Herman Mcpootis]

17 minutes ago, TristenM said:

So, in need of some help here...

i ended up buying a gtx GeForce 660ti because I was able to waddle down a guy on the price. But failed to realize my psu only has one 6pin PCI-E and the 660ti requires two, anyway to work around this or did I just blow my money away?

you can use a molex to 6-pin adaptor but I'd recommend you get you upgrade your PSU soon, I'm guessing that coolermaster is a elite which are pretty shitty in quality.

[TristenM]

On 2017-09-05 at 5:37 PM, herman mcpootis said:

you can use a molex to 6-pin adaptor but I'd recommend you get you upgrade your PSU soon, I'm guessing that coolermaster is a elite which are pretty shitty in quality.

Well, molex is in and both 6pins are in the gpu and now I'm having issues getting display to post.. any ideas? Both six pins are in the gpu and it's fan is running so it's obviously got power but I can't get display on either of my monitors, tried a dvi to vga adapter to both monitors and tried hdmi from the monitor straight to the gpu

[Herman Mcpootis]

Just now, TristenM said:

Well, molex is in and both 6pins are in the gpu and now I'm having issues getting display to post.. any ideas? Both six pins are in the gpu and it's fan is running so it's obviously got power but I can't get display on either of my monitors, tried a dvi to vga adapter to both monitors and tried hdmi from the monitor straight to the gpu

spend some money on a better psu.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/FQ648d/corsair-power-supply-cp9020101na