UPGRADE: Looking to upgrade graphics!

[Tim0ne]

I am just looking to upgrade to have better performance while playing eso and other games. I am open to upgrading more than just graphics card, but i feel like its the primary problem

Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

CPU
Intel Core i5 2500k @ 3.4GHz
Sandy Bridge

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
8.00GB dual-Channel DDR3 @ 802MHz (11-11-11-29)

Motherboard
Gigabyte z68x-UD3H-B3

23" Monitor -
Acer 23 inch monitor 60 hz refresh

Video Card
ATI Radeon HD 5770

Storage
SAMSUNG 840 EVO 500GB (SSD)

Power supply
Antec BP550 Plus 550W

Budget
Flexible around 700 ish

If you need any more information please let me know! I am not the best at computer stuff, but I know a decent amount about it, maybe 7/10 on a scale of 1-10. I am open to doing more than just the graphics card and am also open to extending budget if upgrading more than just graphics in order to have greatly higher performance (but lets not get too carried away)

Thank you!

EDIT: oh and I basically just did my best to pull my computer information from CPU-Z so hopefully I did things correctly

 

[TemjinGold]

700 is a pretty big budget for what you want. Are you upgrading your monitor too?

 

[Tim0ne]

monitor is something idont feel the need to upgrade since 1980x1020 is good for me. But i left my self a large budget to have as many options from suggestions as possible

and to also let people suggest upgrading other things as well that they feel is too out of date.

 

[Yuriman]

$700 is really quite a crazy huge budget for what you're looking to do.

For about $110 you can double your GPU power with an HD7850, which would let you run new games on medium-high, or slightly older games (2-3 years) all maxed out. A 7850 has no problems with ESO, from my experience, and should max it and give a great experience.

If you'd really like to spend closer to the $700 mark, a R290x is close to 3x faster than a 7850 and can be had a little north of $500. The 780Ti is a hair faster and runs about $650 - it's the fastest single GPU you can get, but is often considered a poor value. I'm thinking a happier middle would be a GTX760 or R280 in the $250-$300 range.

23" is not a very large screen and I'd bet your Acer is a TN panel with poor colors and bad viewing angles. You can get a 27" IPS screen (great viewing angles, vibrant accurate colors) with the same 1920x1080 resolution for around $250. Pair that with a GTX760 or R280 and you'll thank me for the recommendation.

EDIT: The rest of your system looks fine. An overclock on your CPU might help, but a 2500K is still respectable.

 

[Tim0ne]

THank you so much for the input. I may look into going with a new monitor and the GTX760/R280 options. The large budget was for this very reason, you gave me an alternative from JUST graphics upgrade

 

[Techhog]

$700 is really quite a crazy huge budget for what you're looking to do.

For about $110 you can double your GPU power with an HD7850, which would let you run new games on medium-high, or slightly older games (2-3 years) all maxed out. A 7850 has no problems with ESO, from my experience, and should max it and give a great experience.

If you'd really like to spend closer to the $700 mark, a R290x is close to 3x faster than a 7850 and can be had a little north of $500. The 780Ti is a hair faster and runs about $650 - it's the fastest single GPU you can get, but is often considered a poor value. I'm thinking a happier middle would be a GTX760 or R280 in the $250-$300 range.

23" is not a very large screen and I'd bet your Acer is a TN panel with poor colors and bad viewing angles. You can get a 27" IPS screen (great viewing angles, vibrant accurate colors) with the same 1920x1080 resolution for around $250. Pair that with a GTX760 or R280 and you'll thank me for the recommendation.

EDIT: The rest of your system looks fine. An overclock on your CPU might help, but a 2500K is still respectable.

This is all good, except that I would say to go for the R9 290. Great performance, and should still leave enough money for a new monitor. And yeah, OC that CPU. The 2500K is one of the best overclockers ever, so go ahead and squeeze some juice out of it.

 

[Majcric]

OP, at 27" I wouldn't go 1080p (maybe that's just me) I would grab a GTX 770/280x to couple with a 1440p monitor.

If you just want a GPU recommendation only, the GTX 780

 

[Yuriman]

OP, at 27" I wouldn't go 1080p (maybe that's just me) I would grab a GTX 770/280x to couple with a 1440p monitor.

I'd opt for a higher res screen too, given the choice, but it's not so clear-cut for everyone. I recently replaced my wife's screen and decided on 1920x1080 for her. She wears glasses (low prescription) and is able to use it comfortably without wearing her glasses because of the increased text size, plus it's a better resolution for her HD7850.

 

[toyota]

OP just stick with your screen if you like it. there is no reason to upgrade your monitor just for the heck of it.

since you are coming from a 5770 I would get a 7870,270 or 760 and been done with it.

 

[Frenetic Pony]

Looking at budget graphics cards, best bang for the buck is an AMD R9 270. I kept hearing it was the GTX 760, but looking at benchmarks while making a build for a friend, that's not the case at all.

Or, as people have stated, if you've got the budget just go big for the GPU and an R9 290 is about as fantastic a card for the price as there's ever been. Should easily get you through ESO as well as Fallout 4 (probably next year) and even the next proper Elderscrolls game, probably at maxed settings for all of them.

 

[24601]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk..."R9+280x"&_nkw=R9+290+-"R9+280x"&_sacat=27386

Ebay R9 290 absolutely shatters the Price/Performance charts.

 

[kawi6rr]

I purchased an R9 280x and a 27 inch IPS monitor and it looks great, highly recommned the combination.

 

[SlickR12345]

Get a GTX 780 or R9 290 and be done with it. You may want to get a 700W PSU as well though, since 550W might me a bit too little with a R9 290 and even GTX 780

 

[moonbogg]

Damn, look at all those R9 290's on Ebay for around $250 LOL. I guess that bubble burst hard, didn't it? I'd seriously buy one of those and feel GREAT about getting such performance for so cheap. What a steal.

 

[2is]

23" is not a very large screen and I'd bet your Acer is a TN panel with poor colors and bad viewing angles. You can get a 27" IPS screen (great viewing angles, vibrant accurate colors) with the same 1920x1080 resolution for around $250. Pair that with a GTX760 or R280 and you'll thank me for the recommendation.

EDIT: The rest of your system looks fine. An overclock on your CPU might help, but a 2500K is still respectable.

Eh, as someone with experience with the types of monitors you're discussing, I don't think I'd be thanking anyone if I went from 23" TN to 27" IPS and kept the same resolution. At 27" 1080p just isn't enough pixels IMO. Colors are better, but image/text isn't as sharp. Viewing angles are better but refresh rate/input lag will be worse. I see it as more of a side-grade than an upgrade

 

[Zardnok]

For $700 I would buy a 27" 1440p monitor from Monoprice or Ebay for $300ish and pick up an R9 290 either new for $400 or get a deal on a used one from a miner that is trying to recoup some sunk cost for $300ish. That would give you $100 left to double your RAM and buy a decent cooler for your CPU so you can overclock that bad-boy up to 4.2ish.

Moving from a 24" 1080p monitor up to a 27" 1440p was the absolute best upgrade I have ever done for my gaming experience and should definitely be included in whatever upgrade you decide on.

 

[ZippyBanger]

$700 ='s GTX 780 ti. No brainer, on a 1080p screen enjoy all games played at max settings for the next few years.

 

[toyota]

$700 ='s GTX 780 ti. No brainer, on a 1080p screen enjoy all games played at max settings for the next few years.

lol you cant even run full max settings now in all games and get 60 fps so good luck if even more demanding games come out

 

[ZippyBanger]

lol you cant even run full max settings now in all games and get 60 fps so good luck if even more demanding games come out

Sure you can. The few games that don't average 60fps, are still close to the mark, and that's normally with heavy AA. TUrn down the AA a bit and 60fps on even the most demanding games is no issue.

 

[toyota]

Sure you can. The few games that don't average 60fps, are still close to the mark, and that's normally with heavy AA. TUrn down the AA a bit and 60fps on even the most demanding games is no issue.

you said "max settings".

 

[2is]

you said "max settings".

And you said "full max settings"

 

[toyota]

And you said "full max settings"

yes to point out that people throw around the word max when they dont actually mean it.

 

[2is]

yes to point out that people throw around the word max when they dont actually mean it.

You know, as well as I do that PC gamers WAY more often then not, list their AA levels as a separate metric. Anytime a new game comes out, or there are benchmarks being done AA is listed as a separate setting. Even when reviewers review games and video cards, including the ones here at AT, AA is listed as a separate metric. Just as resolution is listed as a separate setting.

You have a bad habit of nitpicking when it is absolutely not necessary. Sounds like a superiority complex to me.

 

[TheGoat Eater]

I would think that splitting the money between an MSI 270X/280X GAMING and a new quality monitor would be a great idea. A great monitor does make a huge difference as you use it all the time, not just for gaming. I got a 27' HP 1440 IPS and I love it when I am on my desktop, for gaming and photo editing. I also have a 3K panel in my MSI GT60 2OD notebook.

 

[toyota]

You know, as well as I do that PC gamers WAY more often then not, list their AA levels as a separate metric. Anytime a new game comes out, or there are benchmarks being done AA is listed as a separate setting. Even when reviewers review games and video cards, including the ones here at AT, AA is listed as a separate metric. Just as resolution is listed as a separate setting.

You have a bad habit of nitpicking when it is absolutely not necessary. Sounds like a superiority complex to me.

and what exactly do you think you're doing right now? Just a little bit ironic isn't it?