Should I upgrade my CPU or GPU first?

[LukeS]

Hey y'all, so I'm running a pre-built Desktop that I'm slowly upgrading (bought it all for $50 from a friend, upgraded to 8 GB of RAM total for $20, threw a Nvidia GT 730 in it for $70)... I'd love to upgrade it soon (once the GPU market becomes better/cryptocurrency stops), but I'm trying to decide what I should be looking for.

 

My specs right now are:
RAM: 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3

CPU: Intel i3 4130 3.40GHz

Graphics Card: Nvidia 730 GT (2 GB vRAM)

PSU: EVGA 500w (my grandparents got me this for Christmas to aid in my upgrade... I was at 300W before)

 

If I can recall when I looked up the specs to my motherboard, it can only go as far as an i5. Because it is DDR3 RAM, I'm wondering if it's best if I invest in a new board/new RAM in total to upgrade to DDR4, or am I fine where I'm at. Again, I'm a poor highschool/college kid making minimum wage and saving for my education. The only video games I really play right now are Rainbow 6 Siege and Stardew Valley. I'd love to be able to run Siege at ABOVE 30 FPS (That's 6 more frames than I'm getting atm) and at medium graphics sometime in the near future. Any ideas on what I should do? I was looking at the Nvidia 1050Ti, but now they're all $230... I'd also appreciate links if y'all have better solutions of hardware that I should look into. Thanks!

 

[LienusLateTips]

GPU and PSU. EVGA doesn't make a single 500W AFAIK that would be acceptable for even a mid range build.

[ExplosiveSloths]

I always say GPU, as it tends to be the thing that helps the most in games even if you do end up with a bottleneck or something.

 

[Jurrunio]

GT 730 for $70? That's a terrible deal. The card is worth $40 performance wise. The power supply is also questionable.

 

CPU: Xeon E3 v3 (performance closer to i7, supported in independently sold mobo but might not be supported with the prebuilt) or i5

 

GPU: used GTX 970/980, or new RX 560(1024) or GTX 1050 (the latter two are 30-40% slower than the former two)

 

In order: PSU --> GPU --> CPU

Of course if there's a good deal on some parts then you can buy that first.

[seon123]

6 minutes ago, JDE said:

GPU and PSU. EVGA doesn't make a single 500W AFAIK that would be acceptable for even a mid range build.

The BQ isn't that bad, is it?

[Starelementpoke]

2 minutes ago, seon123 said:

The BQ isn't that bad, is it?

Technically, no, but not the best decision. 

[Lineron]

People giving to much flack to the evga psu. I wouldnt say it is great but it isnt terrible. For you current needs it is fine, the same with cpu. 

I would get the something above a 1050 or 1050TI, that would be more then enough to get your Siege above 60.

[seon123]

4 minutes ago, Starelementpoke said:

Technically, no, but not the best decision. 

Yeah, but if it is, then he could save the PSU upgrade for later. If it's any other EVGA 500W, then a PSU upgrade should be fairly high, though

Edited January 24, 2018 by seon123
Something something

[seon123]

Just now, Lineron said:

People giving to much flack to the evga psu. I wouldnt say it is great but it isnt terrible. For you current needs it is fine, the same with cpu. 

You don't even know which PSU it is. EVGA has about a billion different series of PSUs, many of them being complete crap

[LukeS]

8 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

GT 730 for $70? That's a terrible deal. The card is worth $40 performance wise. The power supply is also questionable.

 

CPU: Xeon E3 v3 (performance closer to i7, supported in independently sold mobo but might not be supported with the prebuilt) or i5

 

GPU: used GTX 970/980, or new RX 560(1024) or GTX 1050 (the latter two are 30-40% slower than the former two)

 

In order: PSU --> GPU --> CPU

Of course if there's a good deal on some parts then you can buy that first.

Ah thanks. I'm not planning on running anything besides Siege (and going into my first full year of undergrad next year, probably won't be gaming much), so I'll check into the 980 (though iicr, they're $300+, which is wayyy out of my budget).

 

And in reply to everyone about my PSU: It was a Christmas present and I didn't have to pay for it. That's all that I needed.

[seon123]

4 minutes ago, LukeS said:

And in reply to everyone about my PSU: It was a Christmas present and I didn't have to pay for it. That's all that I needed.

Yes, that's fine, but if it kills all the components, then it would end up being the most expensive part of the system. 

Which model is it?

[LienusLateTips]

2 hours ago, LukeS said:

And in reply to everyone about my PSU: It was a Christmas present and I didn't have to pay for it. That's all that I needed.

And with higher loads, could kill your system depending on the model.

2 hours ago, Lineron said:

People giving to much flack to the evga psu. I wouldnt say it is great but it isnt terrible. For you current needs it is fine, the same with cpu. 

I would get the something above a 1050 or 1050TI, that would be more then enough to get your Siege above 60.

cough cough N1 EXISTS cough cough

[LukeS]

15 hours ago, seon123 said:

Yes, that's fine, but if it kills all the components, then it would end up being the most expensive part of the system. 

Which model is it?

EVGA 500w 80Plus certified PSU.