Best bang-for-the-buck upgrades for my PC?

[nageov3t]

just looking for some suggestions! recently decided that instead of buying a PS4, I was going to upgrade my gaming PC (and after trying to run SWTOR in Ultra mode and having video start to stutter, I figured upgrades are justifiable)

here's my current box...

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 GAMING
CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHz DIMM PC3-10666
HDD Samsung 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive, 256GB (definitely need to upgrade, or at least add in an additional drive... I use this exclusively for my game installs and it's at about 90% capacity; I've got a same-model 128gb ssd that Windows is sitting on)
Video Card: Radeon HD 6950 (the oldest component in my desktop and the most in need of an upgrade)

thinking about using my PS4 money plus any Christmas gift cards to buy a GTX 980, just wanted verification that my line of thinking is sound or if I should also think about upgrading my CPU/RAM as well in order to play modern games on high/ultra settings.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

There was an R9 390 on sale for black friday/cyber monday for $230.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The only thing you would need to upgrade at all is your GPU. Overclock your CPU if you think you need more speed. I'm running a i5-2500k @ 4.2 for years and it is just fine for pretty much everything. Your memory is fine unless you are a tweaker. You wouldn't notice much difference in upgrading it - or unless for some reason you want 16GB, but there is very little reason to do that either.

Right now 980/980ti is a premium, you could go to AMD for much lower and not that much less performance, but that's really personal preference if you want to spend the cash.

 

[SunnyD]

Video card, hands down.

Next on the list would be more/faster ram.

 

[nageov3t]

The only thing you would need to upgrade at all is your GPU. Overclock your CPU if you think you need more speed. I'm running a i5-2500k @ 4.2 for years and it is just fine for pretty much everything. Your memory is fine unless you are a tweaker. You wouldn't notice much difference in upgrading it - or unless for some reason you want 16GB, but there is very little reason to do that either.

Right now 980/980ti is a premium, you could go to AMD for much lower and not that much less performance, but that's really personal preference if you want to spend the cash.

thanks!

limiting myself to Nvidia cards at the moment, because I bought my boyfriend a Shield for Christmas so I can secretly use it to stream games on in the living room when he's not home.

 

[Anomaly1964]

thanks!

limiting myself to Nvidia cards at the moment, because I bought my boyfriend a Shield for Christmas so I can secretly use it to stream games on in the living room when he's not home.

Get a 970, I got one 2 months ago and LOVE it...

 

[DigDog]

eh, the 6950 isn't even bad. is that 1Gb VRAM ? 2Gb?
maybe try Xfire?
you should be able to get a second one for $50, putting off the purchase of a new GPU for a year or so.

 

[XavierMace]

I've been quite happy with my GTX970 and I've seen a few under $300 new recently.

 

[Craig234]

After the graphic card, what about adding an SSD - which have been as cheap as like $60 for 250GB recently - depending on the game (I think very good for MMO's)?

 

[ImpulsE69]

I may have misspoke about your CPU though. Is that one overclockable? I'm really not up to speed on all of them, but I'm assuming since it isn't a K version it is locked? 3Ghz may be a bottleneck in some things especially if you get a bigger GPU.

 

[nageov3t]

After the graphic card, what about adding an SSD - which have been as cheap as like $60 for 250GB recently - depending on the game (I think very good for MMO's)?

my system is already running on 2 SSD's (128gb OS drive, 256gb game drive), but yeah... I'm probably going to get a third SSD, 500gb, and split my games between the two drives (probably move Steam onto the new drive, and leave everything else on the old one)

I may have misspoke about your CPU though. Is that one overclockable? I'm really not up to speed on all of them, but I'm assuming since it isn't a K version it is locked? 3Ghz may be a bottleneck in some things especially if you get a bigger GPU.

yup, it's locked as far as I know.

 

[crazzy.heartz]

Gtx 970 is your best bet. 980 doesnt justify its cost/performance compared to 970.. Rest all is fine.

Don't go for a 290/390 series GPU with an old power supply.. They'd consume 80-100 watts more and further strain the aging PSU.. However, if you have a high capacity / efficiency rating PSU, get the 8GB 390

 

[MongGrel]

Video card, hands down.

Next on the list would be more/faster ram.

This, I'd say.

GPU

I still use 1333 on the main rig myself but 12.

Bit more than 8 would probably help, but not sure faster would make a huge difference.

 

[Fallen Kell]

To be honest, hold off on buying a graphics card. The new ones coming out 2nd Quarter next year are going to be on the order of 100% faster (yes, double the performance) of the existing cards due to the process node improvements (finally getting off the 28nm manufacturing process that has been in use for 3 years now and moving to 14-16nm). If you can't get by another 5-6 months on your existing card, get something real cheap/used. Personally I would simply live with your existing card for a few more months, as you already made it this long.

 

[Blue_Max]

Your mobo supports crossfire, so a second 6950 would be a fun lark if you can snag one super cheap (and your power supply is +600w)

$50 would buy you the ~6 months for the new stuff to come out and really impress us all.

If not, go GTX 970 and don't look back.

 

[xxxkaliboyxxx]

Buy a used 290 for sub 200 dollars. I would say that is the best bang for you buck. I run ultra everything except with God rays off, shadow distance and detail to medium and I run with 60 fps.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

This, I'd say.

GPU

I still use 1333 on the main rig myself but 12.

Bit more than 8 would probably help, but not sure faster would make a huge difference.

Thirded.

16GB of DDR3 1600 is going for under $70 lately. May as well do it and do whatev with the 1333.

But yeah, GPU and ram are a cheap and effective upgrade. the 1TB WD black label is going for $65 on and off now too. Cheap for fast storage.