Components that increase graphical power

[pumaaaah]

spec--
Processor AMD Phenom 9850 Quad core
Ram 4gb
GPU- 2 Nvidia GeForce 9500gt 1gb each
Motherboard- SLI ASUS M3N72-D Nvidia nForce 750a SLI chipset.
OS- Windows Vista 32-bit
PSU-600 Watts
Hardrive-Seagate barracuda 1tb


I bought this computer a few weeks ago and recently turned it on to see how it ran. Im mostly going to use this pc as a gaming/school computer. My question is, since I am on a budget, what components can I upgrade first that would increase performance in some contemporary games? Medium to high range pc performance

As a reference Counterstrike source runs at 100~150 fps steady, CSGO runs at 50fps steady in lowest quality.
Just wondering if I can upgrade the GPUs and be fine, or if I should replace the cpu, motherboard, and Gpus all at once?
Thanks

 

[4745454b]

Everything needs to be upgraded. I hope you didn't spend a lot on this.

 

[Wisecracker]

Are you in the United States?
A used Phii 965BE C3-stepping is $90-$100 on eBay and will pull less watts than an old original Phenom 9850. It will push most any graphics card you care to pair it with.

 

[4745454b]

Will a 965 work with 750a? Nvidia hasn't made chipsets for a long time.

 

[rockie_]

the mobo has PCI-E x16 gen 2.0 slot , so any modern card will fit
for 300W PSU , GTX 750 ti
for 500W PSU : R9 270(X)

the CPU is not so bad
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M3N72D/specifications/

 

[pumaaaah]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. What i think I will do is upgrade the gpu first then see for myself how it changes the performace (maybe the GTX 750 ti). I heard though if the cpu sucks wont it bottleneck some performance aspects of the GPU?

My only concern is the mobo and the cpu at this point then.
my budget is not so tight but anywhere from 250~400 for cpu, mobo, and gpu is where im at currently.

 

[rockie_]

Thanks for the quick responses guys. What i think I will do is upgrade the gpu first then see for myself how it changes the performace (maybe the GTX 750 ti). I heard though if the cpu sucks wont it bottleneck some performance aspects of the GPU?

My only concern is the mobo and the cpu at this point then.
my budget is not so tight but anywhere from 250~400 for cpu, mobo, and gpu is where im at currently.

GTX 750 ti is 5x faster than 9500GT . Phenom 9850 can handle it.
So at least 2x faster than 9500GT SLI
R9 270X or R9 280 are faster but 9850 might bottleneck them

if upgrading

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($77.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $403.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-20 14:04 EST-0500

 

[TechsavvyAMD]

I think u should go for AMD R7 260X............combined with AMD phenom quad core processor,will give u better performance and can play games like need for speed rivals,fifa15 above 40Fps @ max settings.............but bottleneck can be your RAM as the motherboard has DDR 2 slots so they have lesser memory bandwidth than DDR3 to support for GDDR5 memory bandwidth............

 

[rockie_]

Might get even R9 280 , regardless of the little bottleneck by the Phenom , for more future proof.Or even R9 270 , which is 30-40% faster than GTX 750 ti

 

[4745454b]

This is a first gen Phenom guys. Keep that in mind.

 

[pumaaaah]

This is a first gen Phenom guys. Keep that in mind.

will those gpus cause issues? can you elaborate more?
thank you

 

[rockie_]

9850 has about 3000 points , Passmark .It s not so bad .Also the mobo has PCI-E x16 gen 2.0 slot . R9 280 is for more future proof !

 

[4745454b]

They were slow. Slower then even the C2Ds. No way a 280 will run right with that as the CPU.

 

[4745454b]

What does 3000 passmark points him? I remember reading when when those CPUs were new how the x2 6000 CPUs were faster. Trust me, old and slow.

 

[rockie_]

He could try Pass Mark 8.0 and see the results .
http://www.passmark.com/download/pt_download.htm
i could say that Pass Mark has never mislead me .

3000 points means , multi core :
"Phenom 9850 = Core 2 Quad Q8300 = Athlon X4 620=Pentium G2030