Upgrade advice please!

[ignomike]

Hi, I recently broke my graphics card (don’t ask) and it’s about time to upgrade so I was just looking for some advice on how best to use my money.

I’m looking for a good enough system to run latest games (witcher 3, GTA5, MGS5) comfortably around medium settings which should hopefully tie me over for 3-4 yrs and I’ve got about £350 to spend but I don’t have to use it all!

My current Specs:

2 x 2Gb Ram

650W PSU - have 2x6 pins and a 2 pin spare

Intel i3-2100 3.10Ghz Processor

Asus P8H61-M Motherboard - 1 PCI Express 2.0 x16



I was expecting to need 2x4Gb ram (only 2 sockets) and a graphics card (970?) but maybe I need to upgrade more or maybe don’t need more ram? Any advice would be great,

Thanks.

 

[jboydgolfer]

the 750ti is a good GPU, that can run GTA5 @ respectable FRates with the right settings, as well as the r7 370. both are Far less than what your budget is, and will perform admirably. Id use the left over to invest in other components. cpu,psu(no name listed).

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I'd go with one of these options-

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pTGrjX

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/CVR7gs

 

[marmiteonpizza]

If you're only looking to run games at medium settings, I'd follow @jboydgolfer 's advice and spend the rest of your money on 8GB of RAM and maybe a slightly higher wattage PSU, or keep the leftover to save for a better CPU. The choice is yours, but I recommend getting 8GB of RAM as well as one of the GPU's @jboydgolfer mentioned.

 

[Devon68]

Well you didn't specify the resolution you will be playing these games, but Barbaric souls both suggestions seems pretty good but I would go with the first one with the R9 390.

 

[ignomike]

Thanks alot guys, I've got a lot of options there. I think I'll get that RAM and one of those cheaper GPUs then save the rest for a future upgrade on CPU and maybe PSU. Is there a card somewhere inbetween the R9 390 and 750ti - say around £200 that might help get me slightly higher settings and keep me going for a little longer at 1080p?

 

[marmiteonpizza]

Is there a card somewhere inbetween the R9 390 and 750ti - say around £200 that might help get me slightly higher settings and keep me going for a little longer at 1080p?

GTX 960 (4GB VRAM) is currently £195.80 on Amazon at the time of this post
MSI Nvidia GTX 960

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Is there a card somewhere inbetween the R9 390 and 750ti - say around £200 that might help get me slightly higher settings and keep me going for a little longer at 1080p?

You realize there is a HUGH performance gap between the 750ti cards and the R9 390 cards right? The 390 gives about 44% more performance than the 750 ti does. 390=higher end gaming card, great for 1080p gaming. 750ti= barely adequate for 1080p gaming. And the 390 I listed is only £225. Next step down would be the R9 380.

 

[ignomike]

Yeah... I think my perception was skewed in this area from reading elitist posts on the net, I thought I'd be needing a £300 card to barely run modern games! I've gone for that r9 380 as I realized I want to save some cash for a roomba as my house is a mess and I'm expecting to be glued to my computer for the next month. Less than £200 for the lot with next day delivery seems nice. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Frick]

It will serve you well. If anything the CPU will hold you back a bit, in some games anyway. You could keep an eye out for used i5's/Xeon's, with a bit of luck you can get one cheap.

EDIT: If you want to max out everything in every game, with AA in various forms, and maybe even play around with dynamic resolutions, and maintain 60FPS at all times you need some serious grunt. But spending hundreds of currency just so the Witcher 3 and GTA V stays at 60FPS instead of occasionally dropping to, I dunno, 40's maybe? (I haven't played the games so I'm guessing here), is to me just plain silly. Most games will fly anyway.