Need some advice on gaming rig upgrade

Thunderwaffe

Reputable
May 25, 2014
2
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4,510
Hi,

I'm upgrading my gaming rig shortly and I'm looking for some advice on what parts to upgrade, and what parts to leave alone for now. I'd like to spend around $600 or less on the new parts seeing how the current parts in my pc are brand new besides the gfx card

Right now I'm using
60Hz Single monitor with 1600x900 resolution
Motherboard - ASUS M5A97 R2.0
CPU - AMD FX 6300 Vishera
GPU - Geforce GT 640
RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 1600
PSU - Corsair CX430

What I had in mind was to upgrade the gfx card to something around $250 - $400 but from my understanding, I'd need to upgrade the PSU and possibly the CPU as well, but I'm not entirely sure what I'd need to upgrade to. Here's a few gfx cards that I was looking at that fit my budget and seem to be compatible with my current parts:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003622sr

or something like

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-video-card-r9290xedfd

As for the PSU, I'm not really sure. I'd like to have enough power to be able to throw in another gfx card down the road, but I also don't want to spend too much on one if I have to upgrade the CPU as well.

So if I get one of the gfx cards I listed above (Or a different one if you know of something that may run better with my rig), would a CPU upgrade be necessary or would it do? Keep in mind that I'm trying to run newer games at good fps with high settings (Eg I'd like to run watch dogs with the highest settings and keep 60+ fps)

Any advice is appreciated!
 
Solution
You're using a 900P monitor. Don't bother with super high end GPUs unless you are changing the monitor to a larger size. Plus, the R9 290X requires a 600w solution or higher and the 280X requires a 550w solution. Also, your CPU is great and all, but I recommend going higher to widen the bottleneck, something like an FX-8320.

The PSU I recommend for either GPU would be EVGA's G2 750w PSU. It is much higher quality and will support your chosen GPU without breaking a sweat.

dottorrent

Honorable
You're using a 900P monitor. Don't bother with super high end GPUs unless you are changing the monitor to a larger size. Plus, the R9 290X requires a 600w solution or higher and the 280X requires a 550w solution. Also, your CPU is great and all, but I recommend going higher to widen the bottleneck, something like an FX-8320.

The PSU I recommend for either GPU would be EVGA's G2 750w PSU. It is much higher quality and will support your chosen GPU without breaking a sweat.
 
Solution

Thunderwaffe

Reputable
May 25, 2014
2
0
4,510


Thanks for the reply! So would the 280X be the gfx card for me, to play these new games coming out at max settings? Or could I go cheaper and still get a great experience seeing how I'm using a 900p monitor?
Also, would that PSU support x2 GPU's (Maybe x2 280X's?), I'd like the build to be easily upgrable in the future if possible
 

dottorrent

Honorable


You will get a great experience with even the 270X with the monitor.