Graphics card upgrade help and problems: 5650 to R9 270x

[Patriarch v1]

I'm looking to upgrade from an AMD Radeon 5650 to a AMD R9 270x, I'm aware that's an enormous upgrade. My budget is $250 and that's the best card I could find [I prefer AMD]. My goal is to be able to play all games currently on the market on moderate to high settings, with a decent framerate, which I can hardly play DayZ on low 🙁

The new card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150686

Here are my current specs:

AMD Athlon II X2 215 2.7ghz
3.0 GB RAM [Will be upgrading to 4gb]
AMD Radeon HD 5670
M2N68-LA Narra5 [Motherboard]
400w Power Supply [Will be upgrading to 600w with card purchase]
2x 1600x900 Displays

My problem:

On the Narra5 motherboard it lists "PCI-e x16", which I assume is 1.0, and the card says it requires PCI-e 3.0. How severe would the "bottle-necking" be when I upgrade? Should I even bother upgrading? Is there any other issues when upgrading besides that?

Recommendations and opinions are greatly appreciated. I'm not a tech genius but I understand. Ty to everyone in advance.

 

[woltej1]

Your CPU will bottleneck anything you throw at it for the performance you want. You need to put the money into a CPU and mobo upgrade if you want better graphics. Plus you're running ddr2 RAM so upgrading that will be a waste of money. If you want to play current generation games at decent graphics your machine needs multiple upgrades.

 

[Patriarch v1]

Your CPU will bottleneck anything you throw at it for the performance you want. You need to put the money into a CPU and mobo upgrade if you want better graphics. Plus you're running ddr2 RAM so upgrading that will be a waste of money. If you want to play current generation games at decent graphics your machine needs multiple upgrades.

I'm only on a $250 budget. Any recommendations on what to do? Get a new comp maybe? All my hopes and dream are gone 🙁

 

[jessterman21]

You can probably find a used Phenom II X4 925, 945, or 955, but you absolutely must get the 95w version - your mobo does not support 125w CPUs. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01701270#N114

Unfortunately, if you don't upgrade your CPU, you'll only be able to use about 60-70% of your video card's potential. And most modern games do not run well on a dual-core. If you're only going to play 2010 and older games, then you'll be fine with your current CPU, but there's no reason to get that strong a GPU.

 

[Patriarch v1]

You can probably find a used Phenom II X4 925, 945, or 955, but you absolutely must get the 95w version - your mobo does not support 125w CPUs.

Would it be easier to simply scrap my computer, and get a new comp with a mobo with DDR3 Ram capable slots, a 3.0 PCI-e, and a decent processor already in it and upgrade the graphics/intergrated with a new card?

I'm looking to play next gen games. I wasn't aware how weak my processor was. I didn't think most games utilize quadcore+.

Is it better to upgrade my current comp or start fresh with a better mobo?

 

[woltej1]

Well the only stuff salvageable from your current set up is your PSU(which you plan on replacing anyways) and your HDD. Any modern 3d game is optimized for 4 cores which is why your 2 core cpu is such a problem. You can get a new cpu, mobo and RAM for $250 and just use your existing case and other parts for now. Unfortunately this won't up your graphics performance.