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Forums - PC Discussion - Help with PC upgrades on a moderate budget?

I currently focus mostly on console games on my leisure times, but now I may be getting review codes for games on steam/origin/uplay. I have my wife's old gaming rig, which was once pretty nice, but it's a over a year old now and when we sent it down here UPS was kind enough to make sure it no long worked. We seem to have remedied it with a cheap graphics card and processor among other things, but I'm not the one who takes care of the hardware. I just play the games and review them.

I just want the ability to run graphics intensive games on a setting that won't cause my eyes to bleed. Preferably I'd like to keep it under $600 for the time being if at all possible.

Is this possible on such a budget? Sorry for such a noobish question.



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Soo u just want to upgrade right? Not buy a new PC? What kind CPU do u have? Cause if u have a decent CPU, then an awesome GPU should be enough (provided u have at least 6-8gb of ram in ur PC and a 650 watt power supply) for you to max out all games



                  

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850

List what you already have (or what is still working).
A graphics card could be enough. Old Core2 Quadcores are usually still enough.



Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550

ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Those are some of the discount pieces put into it. It's working now but I don't think it's very powerful anymore. She told me not to get my hopes up when she fixed it. I can't find the receipt for the graphics card replacement, but it was a dirt cheap one on newegg apparently.



Experimental42 said:
Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550

ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Those are some of the discount pieces put into it. It's working now but I don't think it's very powerful anymore. She told me not to get my hopes up when she fixed it. I can't find the receipt for the graphics card replacement, but it was a dirt cheap one on newegg apparently.

Are you upgrading or just building a brand-new PC? Do you have $600 to spend outside of the parts you just mentioned, or is it including those parts?



                                                                                                               You're Gonna Carry That Weight.

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Those are replacement parts already in it. I want to upgrade the resulting Frankensteined computer. I have up to 600 dollars to work with,



Experimental42 said:
Those are replacement parts already in it. I want to upgrade the resulting Frankensteined computer. I have up to 600 dollars to work with,

In that case, get

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127757

as a videocard for $499 and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820721107

as an SSD for 69.99 (Much worth it)

Do you already have a case, fans, etc.? If not, downgrade the graphics to a 280x (~$299) and get a decent case and air cooler.

Also, do you already have Windows 8?



                                                                                                               You're Gonna Carry That Weight.

Xbox One - PS4 - Wii U - PC

Experimental42 said:
Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550

ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

Those are some of the discount pieces put into it. It's working now but I don't think it's very powerful anymore. She told me not to get my hopes up when she fixed it. I can't find the receipt for the graphics card replacement, but it was a dirt cheap one on newegg apparently.

That's what you already have and you still have a $600 budget?

CPU is totally enough, RAM should be fine, too. I have 16GB, but mostly for x264 video encoding with insane settings (can take up to 6GB alone).

Just buy a $250-300 graphics card like a R9 280X (good value for money) and maybe a SSD like the Crucial MX100 (not needed, but overall better experience).



GTX760 no less, at least if you want to play 1080p with good framerate.
CPU = anything Intel, usually we go with 1/2 $ of graphic card price, so a 230$ GC means 115$ CPU.
An i3 4130 would be in that price range and is good enough.

Otherwise go with a bit pricier i5 4430 (180$), totally worth it if you want some "future-proof"

Motherboard/case/ram/HDD/PSU for the remaining 255$ is really up to your choice of brand, as long as you get the right MB that is compatible with the right CPU.

I'd also go with a minimum of 8GB of ram, that's what I use for gaming and multi-task and it's more than enough.

SSD are a really good investment, but they are 100$ a piece (for 120GB) which wouldn't work with that budget.



Pillow said:
GTX760 no less, at least if you want to play 1080p with good framerate.
CPU = anything Intel, usually we go with 1/2 $ of graphic card price, so a 230$ GC means 115$ CPU.
An i3 4130 would be in that price range and is good enough.

Otherwise go with a bit pricier i5 4430 (180$), totally worth it if you want some "future-proof"

Motherboard/case/ram/HDD/PSU for the remaining 255$ is really up to your choice of brand, as long as you get the right MB that is compatible with the right CPU.

I'd also go with a minimum of 8GB of ram, that's what I use for gaming and multi-task and it's more than enough.

SSD are a really good investment, but they are 100$ a piece (for 120GB) which wouldn't work with that budget.

He already has the CPU, MB, HDD, and RAM. He could actually afford a 280x or even 290x, along with a cheap SSD for the OS. Depends on if he has an air cooler, case, and an extra copy of Windows 8.1 lying around though.

If not, going with a 280x and getting those components will still make for a pretty awesome build overall.



                                                                                                               You're Gonna Carry That Weight.

Xbox One - PS4 - Wii U - PC