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Thinking of upgrading my system

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Andrewc43

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So my PC is about 3 years old now and I'm thinking of maybe upgrading some parts so I can play some next gen games. I mainly use it for gaming and I'm not sure what I will need to upgrade to up my performance in games. My specs are:

Intel Core i5 2500K 4x 3.30GHz
Mainboard 1155 MSI Z68A-G43 (G3) Z68 (7750-011R)
NVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti Superclocked 1GB GDDR5, 2xDVI
RAM: 8192MB DDR3 Dual Channel 1600MHz NANYA
Hard Disc Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6GB/s
Power Supply Cooler Master GX-Lite Series 600W ATX 2.3
CPU cooler: Standard Cooler Box
Win10 64 bit
120mm FAN Super Silent

I honestly don't know much about PC parts and upgrading so any help is much appreciated. If I left out some info then just ask me. Budget around 300 euro. Hoping to play/mod games such as fallout 4 and hopefully es6 when they come out and others like that.
Might not upgrade for another while though
 
take new videocard, gtx970/r9 290x prefered.
 
This^^

After that, get yourself a real CPU cooler. :laugh:
 
Ok GTX 970 sounds good and is upgrading the CPU cooler necessary or not? Oh and also, how long would a gtx 970 last? I'm hoping to not have to upgrade it for a while after.
 
some games are cpu demanding and you need nice cpu cooler to OC you cpu if there will be some lack of horsepower
ssd will improve your overall px expirience with fast loading in new games
you got good cpu and mobo - why you havent OCed it?
so go for new videocard and check games that you play with some monitoring software - if your cpu will handle the load - no need to OC.
970 will last for at least 1-2 years(not all ultra but high settings)
 
At 1080p a 970 should be good at least 2 years, to answer your question. If you get a decent cpu cooler and overclock that 2500k it will certainly help minimum frame rates.
 
EarthDog said:
New GPU for sure... and an SSD would help overall snappiness of the OS (not FPS in games).

I assume 1080p? Go 970/980 or R9 390x or wait for the Nano.
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this !

Andrewc43 said:
Ok GTX 970 sounds good and is upgrading the CPU cooler necessary or not? Oh and also, how long would a gtx 970 last? I'm hoping to not have to upgrade it for a while after.
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gtx 970 will last several years, gaming on 1920x1280?
 
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+1 to upgrading to a GTX 970, cant go wrong with it.
 
Andrewc43 said:
No I've got 2 monitors but neither are 1920x1280. 1 is 1440 x 900 and the other is 1366 x 768.
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there should be a mid res in common on both ... no worries
 
...and yet no one recommends a 390? I like mine and it seems to keep up well. Probably overkill if the OP doesn't have a 1080p display though.
 
I wonder if op can upscale the monitor to hit a different variant of 1080p while keeping quality.
 
I would clone that 500GB drive to a 480GB/500GB/512GB SSD using Macrium Reflect Free if you need the entire capacity. They run in the $130-150 range and the improvement over your mechanical drive will be nothing short of astonishing in everyday use.

I'd be worried with the GX Lite 600W PSU running a 290/390(x). Even though 600W is plenty the PSU doesn't have dedicated voltage regulation and is a very primitive model, then there is its age.

I would be more comfortable recommending a 280/380(x), or a GTX 970 as mentioned already.
- You could buy the GTX 970 new, but I would also take a look at EVGA's B Stock GTX 970 with 1-year warranty for $255. These are typically perfectly good like-new cards being tested and re-sold after original owners "traded up" with EVGA's upgrade program.
- There is also an R9 280 on TigerDirect for $160 AR.

This performance summary right here from TPU may be useful in your GPU decision,
perfrel_1920.gif


So that way you have a few options!
 
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Your Mobo has dos SATA 3 ports, so an SSD would be a definite upgrade. The GPU would be nice to I would say whatever is within budget, like many have been saying the 970 would be a good choice, the GTX 960 if you don't have a $350 budget......
ETC, that's where I would start.
 
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