$480 to upgrade my PC. What to upgrade?

[ernmcburn]

Right now I have a Dell XPS 8700 with an I5 4460, GT 720, 8gb of ram, and a 1TB hard drive. With $480 what all should I upgrade? I know the gpu is bad, but I don't think there is a gpu in that price range. What do you think? Thanks in advance.

 

[djreedj]

you can get a 980 for that price, but if u get an 980 you might as well get a 980ti, and since you dont wanna spend 650 i would get a 970 or an amd r9 390 and have some money left over for another stick of ram, an ssd, or anything else you want

 

[rgd1101]

need to upgrade the psu too.

 

[X79]

Split the upgrade on your GPU and some for your PSU, which is likely inadequate.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $445.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 19:52 EST-0500

With a GTX 970, you'll have supreme gaming performance. An SSD will also make life more enjoyable, you know?
Then later on, you can upgrade your motherboard and CPU. Your 8GB RAM is fine for now. You could also invest
in a bigger and better (or just better) case. Cases are important.

 

[djreedj]

i dont even see your psu listed

 

[rgd1101]

i dont even see your psu listed

no need. a dell with a GT 720

 

[X79]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.98 @ Mac Mall)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $505.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 19:57 EST-0500

Over budget? Yes. But it's just to show you a case.

Or if you want to go cheap and get a GTX 960 instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.98 @ Mac Mall)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $375.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 20:00 EST-0500

There's plenty of options. Just tell me what you like.

 

[djreedj]

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Continuous-Crossfire-220-GS-0550-V1/dp/B00UVN20UO/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1457830990&sr=8-16&keywords=evga+supernova

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Installed-Backplate-Graphics-04G-P4-3967-KR/dp/B012NOWERC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457831036&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+960ti

and pick another stick of ram matching your brand of the other stick

 

[rgd1101]

8GB is good, if going to get 16GB better to get a 2x8GB kit.

 

[djreedj]

yea I still dont know if your intention is to game or not but a start would be those two links i sent

 

[ernmcburn]

Split the upgrade on your GPU and some for your PSU, which is likely inadequate.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $445.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 19:52 EST-0500

With a GTX 970, you'll have supreme gaming performance. An SSD will also make life more enjoyable, you know?
Then later on, you can upgrade your motherboard and CPU. Your 8GB RAM is fine for now. You could also invest
in a bigger and better (or just better) case. Cases are important.

Would the R9 390 be a better choice? I've heard so much about the Vram issue but I don't really understand it.

 

[ernmcburn]

yea I still dont know if your intention is to game or not but a start would be those two links i sent

Sorry about not mentioning that, I play at 1080p and I would like to get close to max settings or better with 40+ fps

 

[djreedj]

Yea the 390 will be nice for you with the extra headroom with vram. But the 970 is also a valid option even tho its 4gb. Both will provide nice gaming experience.

 

[XiPH3R]

Split the upgrade on your GPU and some for your PSU, which is likely inadequate.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($309.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $445.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-12 19:52 EST-0500

With a GTX 970, you'll have supreme gaming performance. An SSD will also make life more enjoyable, you know?
Then later on, you can upgrade your motherboard and CPU. Your 8GB RAM is fine for now. You could also invest
in a bigger and better (or just better) case. Cases are important.

Would the R9 390 be a better choice? I've heard so much about the Vram issue but I don't really understand it.

Well the gtx 970 has got the VRAM issue. In its case its total VRAM in 4 gb but its split into two parts one 3.5gb and other .5gb. The later one is much slower to access so its pretty much negligible. Basically you are getting only 3.5gb of VRAM.

Well you cant go wrong with a gtx 970, but i do recommend the R9 390. Its got full 8gb of VRAM and not to mention its better Dx12 support(well recent hitman benches prove it).

 

[djreedj]

what he said ^^ if you actually wanna upgrade to Windows 10 to use DX12 now 😛 But it will future proof you more.