Need advice on my upgrade on my prebuilt PC

[Tonsauce]

I've recently been thinking on upgrading my Prebuilt Gateway desktop (DX4380). This is the first time I've done this so I appreciate the help

Anyways I'm gonna be upgrading the PSU and GPU and maybe the fan. I'm not planning on buying high end stuff so I am on a budget. But I'm not super picky when it comes to hardware, just something that can get me by.

My current specs are: 8 GB RAM
Quad-core A8-6500 APU - 3.5ghz
AMD Radeon HD 8570D
300W PSU
Windows 8.1 64bit

I want to get an R7 260x as it's pretty decent being so cheap, If you guys have any other suggestions feel free to give me a suggestion. Although I'm not sure what psu I should get as I don't know which will fit inside my PC. Is there a way to tell or will most of them generally fit inside what ever medium sized pc there is? Other than that, Id' be fine with 600W or around there.

Also the fan. Not sure whether or not it'd be worth it. I'm afraid it'll get too hot with just my regular PC fans so I'll be willing to buy a fan if necessary.

Thanks again.

 

[Dblkk]

you'll have to upgrade the power supply if your going to upgrade your gpu to anything worth upgrading to

 

[Tonsauce]

you'll have to upgrade the power supply if your going to upgrade your gpu to anything worth upgrading to

Yes, I already know that. That's obviously why I'm upgrading the PSU as well.

 

[Dblkk]

Alright, just checking. Most people in your situation try and run better cards off their stock units. And even at 300w, its not an efficient or strong 300w nor do they often have the right cables to connect to a graphics card.

But looking at your specs, the big limiting factor is going to be your a8. Which, even though is a quad core, isn't very strong at all. Which isn't a huge bad thing just wouldn't recommend dropping $300+ into a graphics card and running ultra settings. But you'll be able to get 1080p high settings for most games.

Your looking at the r7 260x, which isn't a bad card and it is cheaper. But it really isn't that big of a step up in terms of longevity, and id really suggest looking into the r9 cards especially. They'll be able to run mantle and direct x 12 when it comes out, which will give big advantages with tougher games. Best low budget r9 card I would suggest going to would be the r9 270x. But yes I realize this is double your 260x price. But would really keep you gaming for longer.

Either way though, the 260x is a good low end card, and I wouldn't suggest anything lower than it as an 'upgrade' to your system.

But you should look for the older 7850/7878 cards, theyre really cheap now since the r7/r9 series that replaced them, and in terms of performance are barely lower than the cards that took over. I'd keep my eye open for a 7870, Ive seen them go for $120 and would be a pretty big jump over the 260x while at that same price. I used to run two of them in my system before getting my sli 770's. They didn't work well crossfired, but running the single 7870 it was a great card. Although the 770 is better my 7870 oc better and played same settings, if it weren't for crossfire being crap, I would've 100% been happier with my 7870's. I still have them in case something happens and I need them, as they are great cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5
$159.99 with 30 rebate card making $129.99

260x vs 7870
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R7-260X-vs-Radeon-HD-7870
http://www.hwcompare.com/15502/radeon-hd-7870-vs-radeon-r7-260x/

You'll see almost double the specs in several areas with the 7870

** I'll note that my 7870's were xfx as well, but the black edition (not to sure if big difference there except small performance and price) But for brand wise, their dual fans cool the card well, and I haven't had a single problem other than a doa unit in which I got immediate replacement of with reimbursed shipping from xfx not newegg. Newegg sucks for returns or customer service in general in my opinion.

 

[Tonsauce]

Thanks for the suggestions, although the only thing I'm worried about so far is the size. My PC isn't that large, only medium sized, so I'm afraid of buying the PSU and the card and not being able to fit it in. And from what I've read about the 7870 is pretty large. Power supplies will generally be able to fit in case right? Or do I actually have to take the dimensions of what will fit in the case?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You didn't list your budget for the upgrade, so it's hard to make recommendations... If you're looking for a R7 260X and a PSU that will power it then I would suggest the following:

Gigabyte GV-R726XOC-2GD REV2 $129.99 - $20 MIR = $109.99

SeaSonic S12II 520 $59.99

I know you said you would like a 600W PSU, but even a quality 450W PSU is plenty for the system.

 

[Dblkk]

Depending if your psu is top or bottom mounted in your existing case would make a difference, as most newer and better psu's are all bottom mounted. And are often larger in size than traditional oem supplied units. But if this is all the 'case' (haha), you could just pick up a decent mid size case for $30-40 and not have to worry.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

There is no such thing as a bottom mount PSU. The PSU can be turned whichever way required by the case. The OP listed the model number of his system so a Google search shows that the case takes a standard ATX PSU.

 

[Dblkk]

There is no such thing as a bottom mount PSU. The PSU can be turned whichever way required by the case. The OP listed the model number of his system so a Google search shows that the case takes a standard ATX PSU.

Thanks, didn't know that, but it makes sense.