How best to upgrade my PC from GT 730 Card

[gussy2000]

I was given a (2015?) Lenovo K450E – 57331555. It has an NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 graphics card with 2GB dedicated video memory. The CPU is a 4th Gen Intel Core i5-4460, 3.2GHz processor. The system currently has 8GB DDR3 memory, expandable to 32GB.

I pretty much play Guild Wars 2 and nothing else on it (though I may get Sea of Thieves as well). It runs GW at around 24-30 fps at modest to lower graphics settings. I would like to improve that (while also spending the least amount of money).

My questions are: Should I upgrade the video card? Max out the RAM? Do both?

I thought upgrading the card alone would do the trick but I’ve read in other posts that the CPU can limit how much of a performance bump you get so now I’m not so sure. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Upgrading the RAM wont do anything for you unless you are using all 8gb of ram you currently have, which is certainly not happening in guild wars. Not sure how much sea of thieves uses. Regardless you would see a MUCH bigger improvement in gaming performance by upgrading the GPU. Something like a 1050 ti would be a good fit, if your power supply can handle it. A 1050 ti is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500% more powerful than a GT 730, so you should see a significant upgrade in gaming performance.

An i5 4460 should be enough to fully utilize a 1050 ti in the majority of games.

The iGPU in your i5 4460, is very close to the GT 730 in performance, in fact the i5 4460's iGPU may outperform it in some situations.

 

[jay32267]

Your processor can work with a much more powerful video card.....so you can definitely get an improvement by upgrading it. 8 Gig of RAM is probably fine for now.

I'd go with something like a GTX 1060.

 

[drkatz42]

advise you to open the case and see what is powering your PC(ie how many watts/brand etc) prior to purchasing a new gpu.

 

[boosted1g]

The rest of your system specs (i5 and 8gb of ram) will certainly support a better GPU, but your PSU will likely not.

You can run a GTX 1030 with your stock psu, but at $80 the gain may not be high enough to be worth it.

A GTX 1050 ti or 1060 will be a big step up, but you will most likely need a new psu for the 1050 ti, and most definitely need it for the 1060.

Best budget option would be a corsair cx550 or seasonic s12 520w for PSU .

 

[gussy2000]

Upgrading the RAM wont do anything for you unless you are using all 8gb of ram you currently have, which is certainly not happening in guild wars. Not sure how much sea of thieves uses. Regardless you would see a MUCH bigger improvement in gaming performance by upgrading the GPU. Something like a 1050 ti would be a good fit, if your power supply can handle it. A 1050 ti is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500% more powerful than a GT 730, so you should see a significant upgrade in gaming performance.

An i5 4460 should be enough to fully utilize a 1050 ti in the majority of games.

The iGPU in your i5 4460, is very close to the GT 730 in performance, in fact the i5 4460's iGPU may outperform it in some situations.

Thank you SO much. That is exactly the information I wanted. The 1050 Ti is around $170 so that is good news.

 

[gussy2000]

A GTX 1050 ti or 1060 will be a big step up, but you will most likely need a new psu for the 1050 ti, and most definitely need it for the 1060.

Best budget option would be a corsair cx550 or seasonic s12 520w for PSU .

Yah I factored in needing a new PSU which is why I didn't want to spend a ton of money on the card. I just don't play that much or intensely.

 

[Badaxel87]

I also have a GT 730 and am looking to upgrade but I only have and AMD A6-3620 CPU and a 220W DC power supply.

 

[DSzymborski]

I also have a GT 730 and am looking to upgrade but I only have and AMD A6-3620 CPU and a 220W DC power supply.

Start a new thread with all your specs rather than simply necro-ing someone else's question about a completely different PC from a year and a half ago.