Looking to build a new PC with a budget of $800

Tucker Skelton

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May 22, 2015
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Hey guys..I have two questions, my first being...would it be better to upgrade the current PC if that i possible to something better in order to get a faster PC I currently have a
i5-4430 CPU @ 3.00Ghz and 8gb of ram with a GeForce GT 630...so would it be easier for me to just buy an upgrade in parts and put them in as a replacement and what should I replace them with??..if that is possible?? Also what would I need to upgrade to get a better gaming pc??

Also another route would be to just build a new PC ground up...and what would be a good PC for playing games like DayZ, Arma 2 and 3 (i know muliplayer is on their side for the FPS loss) and also GTA 4 and GTA 5...I mean I just want some decent settings and good FPS..so let me know about both questions and what route I should take please!
 
Solution
For now I'd stick with what you have and upgrade the graphics card. That gt 630 is really holding you back and the i5 is strong enough to handle a much better gpu. It also depends on what your current power supply is, brand, model, watt rating. With that sort of budget I'd look into something like a gtx 970. 8gb of ram should be plenty and even though the i5 is locked at 3ghz, should still perform nearly as well as the higher end i5's.

These are just synthetic benchmarks, but gives at least an idea of relative performance differences.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+630

gt 630 scored 743 while the gtx 970 scored 8,646.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1132?vs=1355

If you have a decent enough power...
For now I'd stick with what you have and upgrade the graphics card. That gt 630 is really holding you back and the i5 is strong enough to handle a much better gpu. It also depends on what your current power supply is, brand, model, watt rating. With that sort of budget I'd look into something like a gtx 970. 8gb of ram should be plenty and even though the i5 is locked at 3ghz, should still perform nearly as well as the higher end i5's.

These are just synthetic benchmarks, but gives at least an idea of relative performance differences.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+630

gt 630 scored 743 while the gtx 970 scored 8,646.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1132?vs=1355

If you have a decent enough power supply with 500-550w, the gtx 970 would be a 1 piece substantial upgrade for around $350. You need to make sure your case will support the length of any video card upgrade to make sure it won't hit any fixed hard drive cages if they're not removable. Even if you need a new power supply, a good quality psu in the 550-650w range plus the 970 would still be well under $500.
 
Solution

Tucker Skelton

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May 22, 2015
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4,510

So basically I should just keep the i5-4430 and upgrade the graphics card and possibly the power supply..that would work :)