Need parts to play certain games but no idea what to upgrade! Please help!

[notoriousss]

Hi all!

My friend was nice enough to give me one of his old PC builds because he wants me to join in on the fun of playing games with him like the good ol days. The issue is, when he provided me with the PC, it is missing it's ram + PSU so I need to buy parts but do not know what I really need in terms of which ram or PSU...(I'm not very good with customizing builds).

I am NOT looking for a top tier rig to play games that requires much more than I need. I will most likely only play certain steam games like dota2 and CS:GO. However, for these games, I would like to play at high to max settings!

I was thinking of the following parts to buy but would like some input from you all!
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
GPU: I was thinking of either Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X OC Video Card or getting a r9 280x
PSU: I have no idea how much power I will need...

Here are the specs of the computer:

Case & Power Supply: RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEBP 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply

Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100258-1GHDMI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb Quad-Core 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Processor HDZ955FBGIBOX

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ

Western Digital WD Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM

Any input and/or advice would greatly be appreciated! Have a great day everyone!

Thanks!

 

[logainofhades]

For that CPU, I wouldn't bother going beyond a R9 270/270x. You are going to start to bottleneck the GPU, at that point. Now if you intend to upgrade later, go ahead and get the fastest you can afford. The 290 is still a great card. For PSU, the Evga B2 750w, or the Antec High Current Gamer 750w, would be great choices, for the money. Both are semi modular, and not much more than the Antec High Current Gamer and Seasonic M12II 620, right now.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/antec-power-supply-hcg620m%2Cantec-power-supply-hcg750m%2Cevga-power-supply-110b20750vr%2Cseasonic-power-supply-m12ii620bronze/

 

[notoriousss]

For that CPU, I wouldn't bother going beyond a R9 270/270x. You are going to start to bottleneck the GPU, at that point. Now if you intend to upgrade later, go ahead and get the fastest you can afford. The 290 is still a great card. For PSU, the Evga B2 750w, or the Antec High Current Gamer 750w, would be great choices, for the money. Both are semi modular, and not much more than the Antec High Current Gamer and Seasonic M12II 620, right now.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/antec-power-supply-hcg620m%2Cantec-power-supply-hcg750m%2Cevga-power-supply-110b20750vr%2Cseasonic-power-supply-m12ii620bronze/

Hey! thanks for the feedback.

Since I am not too familiar with this CPU, I wasn't sure if that would have been an issue hence why I posted this question and appreciate your input.

Just to clarify, you're stating that since my CPU isn't as powerful, the 290 wouldn't live up to its potential correct? but If I were to go with a 290, would I still be able to play without issues? In case I do want to upgrade the CPU in the near future.

Also, how bad is this CPU? does it even compare to say...an i3? I will do my research on it but thought I'd ask here as well. If you were to upgrade the CPU for this PC setup, which do you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[logainofhades]

Yea, the 290 would not live up to its potential, with that CPU. It is not as powerful as an i3. With a decent aftermarket cooler, there is the possibility of some overclocking, to help you out. Any worthy upgrade would require a new CPU and motherboard. The 955 and 965 are very close in performance, so this should give you a rough idea where you stand, against older ivy bridge i3 and i5. The games you mentioned should be playable though. Newer titles are going to give you problems, on the CPU side. The GPU can always be reused. Keep in mind AMD will be releasing new graphics cards soon.

 

[SaintSe7en]

I would just say to make certain that everything is compatible, especially concerning the RAM and mobo. I also agree 100% that you're going to bottleneck really anything beyond a 290. It honestly might be worth buying an i5 to go with it, but if you're staying away from graphics intensive games you may be able to get away with what you have. It's just going to take a little more fiddling to get what you want out of your games performance wise

 

[tiny voices]

I ran SLI 660ti's (about as powerful as a gtx780) on a 956BE overclocked to 4.0 and had only small bottle-necking issues.

Yes you will bottleneck the 290 some for sure, but it will be a HUGE improvement for you while you save for a CPU/mobo upgrade.


But before anything, get a new quality PSU in there.