Looking to make upgrade(s?) to my rather old build, what should I do first?

[KOTORARC]

So the current rig I have I built with the help of folks here back in 2012. I have a current hard max of 300 dollars to help tweak it a little to keep it more up to date for playing newer games on a decent mediumish setting. I don't play any of the insanely demanding games, but I know my friends want me to pick up Monster Hunter and I doubt my current rig can run it, since State of Decay 2 is pretty rough, being the newest game I've purchased as of late. Anyways my current build contains these parts.

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W BX80623I52400

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (100314-3L )

C Power & Cooling Silencer Series 500 Watt 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular Active PFC Industrial Grade ATX PC Power Supply (PPCMK3S500)

WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch

I know everything is basically falling behind, but I was curious what would make the most impact. I was thinking of grabbing a 1050/1060 (gotta research a bit more), but i'm worried my cpu might bottleneck it, or that my psu might not be up to snuff.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I cannot keep up with tech like I used to. Again I realize 300 is not a lot to work with, but I have a fixed income, so it is what it is. Also if I need to add anymore info as I am sure I have forgotten something, please feel free to let me know and I will do so asap.

Thank you very kindly.

 

[jaslion]

So the current rig I have I built with the help of folks here back in 2012. I have a current hard max of 300 dollars to help tweak it a little to keep it more up to date for playing newer games on a decent mediumish setting. I don't play any of the insanely demanding games, but I know my friends want me to pick up Monster Hunter and I doubt my current rig can run it, since State of Decay 2 is pretty rough, being the newest game I've purchased as of late. Anyways my current build contains these parts.

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W BX80623I52400

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (100314-3L )

C Power & Cooling Silencer Series 500 Watt 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular Active PFC Industrial Grade ATX PC Power Supply (PPCMK3S500)

WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch

I know everything is basically falling behind, but I was curious what would make the most impact. I was thinking of grabbing a 1050/1060 (gotta research a bit more), but i'm worried my cpu might bottleneck it, or that my psu might not be up to snuff.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I cannot keep up with tech like I used to. Again I realize 300 is not a lot to work with, but I have a fixed income, so it is what it is. Also if I need to add anymore info as I am sure I have forgotten something, please feel free to let me know and I will do so asap.

Thank you very kindly.

Before you do any upgrade get a good quality psu. The current one you have is pretty bad.

 

[coozie7]

You may find this of interest: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/intel-sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600kthe-2018-review-time-for-an-upgrade,1.html

Now 6 years old the PSU is getting ready for retirement, Pc Power and Cooling were one of the top makers in the day but something from Tier one or two of between 550 and 650 Watts will be more than enough for a single GPU system and it'll transfer over very nicely into a new system or massive upgrade later on.

Yep, a 6Gb GTX1060 would make a very nice addition to the current setup and I wouldn't worry too much about a CPU restriction, it'll also transfer over to an upgraded system later on.

 

[KOTORARC]

Sorry for the slow reply, and thank you both very much! My only question is what you refer to as tier 1 and 2, is that something from a guide on here? Also thank you for the guru link. I really appreciate the assistance!

 

[coozie7]

Oops! Me bad!
PSU link here: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

 

[logainofhades]

Before you do any upgrade get a good quality psu. The current one you have is pretty bad.

It isn't bad, it's just old. Those were considered top models, back in the day. Yes, I would probably replace it, due to age, but it isn't a horrible model at all. As long as your system is stable as it is, now, then a GTX 1060 6gb will still be fine with what you have. That HD 6870 I am certain is more power hungry than a GTX 1060.

 

[pivodrums]

I would advice you to get SSD (maybe 860 evo 250gb sata), you can get it for around 70-80€. You would have to reinstall your OS on it, your PC would be much faster.
Also GPU needs to be updated.
With that CPU I would advice you GTX 1050Ti (around 180-200€).
If you can squeze GTX 1060 it would be even better but 1050 Ti at the least.

 

[KOTORARC]

Thank you guys so very much for the suggestions, it helps tremendously!