Need good advice on upgrading my PC

[FuzzRocket9]

Hello again all. I've decided to upgrade my PC. I want to be able to keep some of the hardware that may still be relevant to keep prices low. I know I said I want a beastly PC, but I kinda would love it to be a budge build. Below are my specs:

 

Mother Board: Asus M4A88T-M AMD 880G/SB710; GbE, DDR3 1866OC; ATI HD 4250, Hybrid xFire; SATA3Gb/s
CPU: AMD Phenom II x2 560 Blk 3.3GHz Dual-Core (This allowed me to unlock to a Quad-Core)
2X RAM - DDR3 4GB 1600MHz Corsair (2X2GB)Dominator
GPU: PALIT GTX460 1GB Sonic GDDR5, Direct X11 SLI Ready
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 RX 650w, Ultra Quiet 140mm Fan, Single +12V Up to 44A

 

Now, for preferences, I'd love to just be able to run Skyrim at 60fps and keeping a high resolution. Currently, I can run 60fps, with fps drops come in cities and towns, and I can't keep any nice texture packs and adding Alternity's texture packs make very little difference in improvement, showing how my rig has aged. Another request is, I'd like to be able to also run any games that came out last year, well nevermind as I'm sure my current rig can run them all if they're console ports, but I'd like to run the PC exclusives nicely.

 

Thanks all. Let me know if you need any other information. About the Alienware Alpha, it was a bust. So I'll have to pass on it unless he fixes it and lowers the price some more so I don't get buyer's remorse, but that won't happen anytime soon.

 

Spending Budget: 400 USD plus 50 if I have to. Please if you could tell me exact model names for me to search. Links would be the best option, but you don't have to :). I'm very hesitant to upgrade, because I'm unsure what is compatible with my mobo and so on that I don't want to ruin anything.

 

Overclocking, I prefer not to. The more I read of how safe it is to OC, the more I feel it's not :) If it's already overclocked by the tech folks to a safe amount, then that's fine, so long as it's the best option for me.

Edited July 11, 2015 by FuzzRocket9

[TechAngel85]

I'd make three upgrades.

 

1. CPU upgrade to quad-core.

2. RAM upgrade to 8GBs total. Dual-channel if possible.

3. GPU upgrade to GTX 770. It'll do what you want but won't cost as much add the latest cards.

 

Those are the lowest budge upgrades I'd make.

[Greg]

If you're on a budget, I think the most bang for your buck is to upgrade the memory to 8GB to give yourself a lot more breathing room with ENBoost and upgrade the video card to a more recent model with 3GB or 4GB VRAM.

 

Upgrading to 8GB using a set of four 2GB DDR3 1600 SIMMs runs about $100 and is an excellent investment if you're using a 64-bit operating system because it allows ENBoost to offload a lot of meshes, textures, and so forth into a separate process. If you're using a 32-bit operating system, you need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system.

 

The video card is probably in the $200 to $400 range using the Nvidia GTX960 as the baseline at the bottom end. You'll probably also want to check the power specs on the video cards, but I don't think you'll need more than the 650 watt power supply you already have. The GTX960 requires a minimum 400 watt power supply, for example. For specific recommendations, I'll let one of the Nvidia gurus chime in.

I'd make three upgrades.

1. CPU upgrade to quad-core.
2. RAM upgrade to 8GBs total. Dual-channel if possible.
3. GPU upgrade to GTX 770. It'll do what you want but won't cost as much add the latest cards.

Those are the lowest budge upgrades I'd make.

I thought about the CPU upgrade as well, but I don't see any AM3 socket processors on Newegg. I do see AM3+ socket processors, but I don't know if these are compatible.

[Pretendeavor]

Getting Skyrim to run at 60 FPS (consistently) with a decent ENB and a lot of mods is really tough, even with high specs. Just don't expect too much! Getting 40-50 FPS in exteriors and 60 in interiors is probably more realistic. Although it really depends on the quality of your ENB/mods. FPS drops in towns are still common as long as ENBoost needs to swap memory to avoid reaching Skyrim's memory cap. It probably doesn't matter what rig you have, if you use too many textures FPS drops will happen. Above recommendations sound good. About the power supply, I'd like to note that I have a 630W one (with ~88% efficiency) and have not run into any trouble yet with the setup shown in my signature.

 

If you want to be able to run the latest games nicely, I would recommend one of the 900 series cards if you're going for nVidia. Just don't buy unoptimized stuff like AC Unity (might be been patched by now), Watch Dogs or Arkham Knight (is that one even for sale anymore? lol). I'd look at other places on the internet to find out how your future rig will handle modern optimized games like GTA V and The Witcher 3. I think that will give a decent indication of how strong and how future proof it will be.

[paradoxbound]

A budget min and max would help.

[kylhwch]

Consider the nVidia 750ti Super Clocked. It's about $140. I've had one for a year and it runs like a champ. It's got a ridiculously low power draw, so it runs quiet & cool, plus it's small enough that it will fit into almost any case. The SC version is factory clocked.

 

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-750Ti-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B00IDG3IDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436627318&sr=8-1&keywords=nvidia+750+superclock

 

This is the card that Falcon NW is putting in its budget boxes (which still costs $1700.) I wouldn't swap my 750ti card if I found a 9xx in my Christmas stocking.

Edited July 11, 2015 by kylhwch

[TechAngel85]

I highly recommend a 4GB graphics card if the budget allows. It's hard to make recommendations without knowing the general budget goal.

[FuzzRocket9]

I edited my OP. I'm willing to spend 400 USD. I'd like to upgrade RAM first. I assume you just replace them without installing software and done, so long as they're compatible with everything, which is something I need help figuring out. Also edited that my mobo or CPU allowed me to go to Quad-Core, and I've had it with all 4 cores ever since. I read that when you buy a dual with 2 locked cores, those 2 cores unlocked may become unstable, which is why they're cheap. Everything's been fine, but I guess I could upgrade to make sure.

 

That GPU kyl linked is a good price, but unsure if it's compatible with my motherboard. I hope you guys can help me get through this hurdle. I'm ready to upgrade for real :)

 

I forgot to mention one important request. If I could get hardware that doesn't have OC'ing options. So I don't have to mingle with that stuff for extra $$$. I don't want to, if they come OC'ed as kyl's GPU, that fine, someone else can do it for me and I'll pay for it :)

Edited July 11, 2015 by FuzzRocket9

[Audley]

I definitly give the 750Ti a plus one from me. I have only ever heard good things about it. Granted it won't give you that Ultra settings 60 FPS at 1080p 100% of the time, but I think at medium-high settings (with a performance ENB) it should hold its own fairly well at 40-60 FPS. On the Nvidia side that is probably going to be your best bet in you price range. It is compatible with your motherboard as far as I can tell.

[Greg]

Here's a video that demonstrates how to upgrade RAM in a computer. It's a very simple process and you typically don't need to anything other than replace the DIMMs. Note that your ASUS motherboard may alert that it detected new memory when you first turn it on. If it does, boot into BIOS (usually just press DEL at the prompt or at the BIOS logo) and save changes. If everything goes well, you should boot into Windows normally and magically have access to all that shiny new memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9g4t2426A

 

Deciding which memory modules to purchase is actually very easy. Browse to the Crucial website (or which memory manufacturer you desire), change the combo boxes to something like Motherboard, Asus, M4A88T-M, and click Go/Find/Search/Whatever, and then scroll through the list to pick the size and speed you want. I always use Crucial because of the lifetime guarantee, I've been using Crucial for many years, and I don't feel comfortable switching brands without a really good reason.

 

You pretty much already know you need DDR3 1600 so you could just go straight to Newegg or Amazon and search for DDR3 1600 and select an appropriate manufacturer, size, speed, and price.

[FuzzRocket9]

Thanks all, I'll start with the RAM, then I'll look around for the GPU.

[TechAngel85]

I can highly recommend these: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148486

 

Very low CAS and great overclocking potential if you every do that. I have these and they are great!

[Greg]

This is funny because I have the DDR3 1866 version of the Crucial Ballistic Tactical. I'm not convince the speed difference is noticeable, but it was only a couple bucks more.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148560

 

Another nice thing about this specific memory is that it supports the XMP Profile, so it's a simple matter of flipping the BIOS to the XMP Profile to get all timings and voltage set correctly.

[TechAngel85]

And the reviews on those Crucials are nothing but positive when you start researching. Speaking of researching, do it before deciding on a video card! The GTX 750ti price is good, but you'll start noticing it doesn't perform as well as other options because it's meant as a cheap low to mid grade option. The GTX 760, for example, wipes the floor with the GTX 750ti. It's well worth the extra $100 and it's well within your budget. But get the GTX 770 if possible. In fact, I'd just skip upgrading the CPU for now unless you're seeing it maxed out during gameplay in any of your games.

 

Use this site for quick and dirty compares: https://gpuboss.com/compare-gpus

[Spock]

Personally, I would highly recommend getting the r9 380 with 4gb over any Kepler GPU. The reason is that Kepler has very few shader units to begin with and lacks important architecture features. Maxwell and GCN shader units start work on the next instruction in the shader when they have to wait for the Vram. That is probably the reason Kepler sucks at Witcher 3 and I would expect more titles in the near future requiring those features for decent performance.

 

Another argument for the r9 is, that post processing in games is the future. If two cards are comparable, I'd always go with the one with more shader power. Not to mention other non game related applications like madVR/SVP.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Spock

[FuzzRocket9]

Yeah, shaders always wore down my GPU when playing Shogun 2 waaay back..

 

I'll get the Crucial RAM for sure, but not sure of the differences between 1600 and 1866. Speed is the difference, right? Both are compatible with my Mobo and everything else? Thanks guys, you all rule!! GPU is now the next one to hit. PSU, do I change it if I'm going to upgrade? I heard elsewhere that it's good to replace PSU when you upgrade, in case it blows up from age and ruins your new hardware.

 

Lastly, I won't think about OC'ing, I rather pass on it, too scary :) if you guys give me other choices that are great that won't let you OC for a lower price with maximum power heheh, and I'll look at the GPUboss site you posted TechAngel, just don't know what GPU is compatible as I'm a novice in all this.

 

I'm listening and reading, so thanks for everyone's help!