[SOLVED] Potential upgrade question

[SterileLisa]

Good evening,

I have a wee and slightly old computer to run the odd game on. Its really struggling nowerdays and I am considering upgrades. I am not wanting anything special - I am more than happy to play games on very low settings, but lag has become problematic. Games aiming for - Divinity Original Sin 2, perhaps Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (I played a few worlds on this before it got unbearable). I have perhaps £200 - maybe a spot more.

I have used CPU-upgrade to establish that the i7-4790 could be a potential cpu upgrade. And that perhaps a GTX 970 could help me out. No idea if these would really work with what I have got. Perhaps, I am buggered - any help appreciated?! Current specs below -


Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Pentium G3258 @ 3.20GHz 38 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
MSI Z97 PC Mate(MS-7850) (SOCKET 0) 32 °C
Graphics
SAMSUNG (1360x768@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (ASUStek Computer Inc) 28 °C

 

[tennis2]

An i7-4770K or 4790K would be the best while keeping your motherboard and RAM. You'll have to find that in the used market.

What used marketplaces are there in the UK? We'll need to know how much the CPU is going to cost before we can make decisions on the GPU.

What Make, model, and wattage power supply do you have?

 

[SterileLisa]

The power supply is a Super Flower SF350P14XE(HX). 80W.

In terms of marketplaces - a used 4790 is around £100 on ebay - e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/218706663?iid=303508916689

 

[tennis2]

Looks like you can get an RX580 4GB for around £100 also.

Those two would EASILY saturate your monitor.

You'd be sitting around 250-275W system power draw with that.

 

[SterileLisa]

Monitor saturation and power draw - unsure what these refer to? Is it that my power supply is inadequate?

or that a RX580 4GB and i7-4790K is the way to go?

 

[tennis2]

Your monitor isn't a very high resolution, so it's not going to be hard for a GPU to produce high frame rates (far in excess of 60FPS) at that resolution.

Power draw = how many watts your system consumes. You only have a 350W PSU (yes, true 350W, and for some reason, it has two 6+2 pin cables for GPUs...which is alarming), it's also 80+ Gold efficiency, so that tells me it's not junk, but you need to be careful about how many watts your system consumes with this PSU. Your current G3258 and GTX750Ti don't use much power at all by comparison, probably 120W.

 

[SamirD]

You'll get a serious kick in the pants from moving to a 4790 or better yet a 4790k:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...el-i7-4790-vs-Intel-i7-4790K/2267vs2226vs2275

Coupling that with a 1060 or a 970 will definitely help too:
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-750-ti.c2548
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-970.c2620
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-1060-6-gb.c2862

 

[tennis2]

If you go for a GTX1060, make sure you go for the 6GB version if possible. The 3GB version isn't just missing some VRAM, it's got less SPs, so it's slower.

 

[SterileLisa]

Excellent stuff. Right thanks for the help - much appreciated. Will have a look at what prices I can get on these recommendations.

 

[Vic 40]

Don't forget with a 4770K/4790K you will need to get a better cooler as well. Think the psu will be fine.

 

[tennis2]

^True, but then again, I'd recommend NOT using the G3258 cooler on a non-K i7 either.

 

[SterileLisa]

Oh ok. What cooler might one recommend?

 

[Vic 40]

For under $30,-,

RAIJINTEK THEMIS Evo 65.68 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler vs. ARCTIC Freezer 33 CPU Cooler vs. ARCTIC Freezer 33 eSports ONE (Black/Yellow) CPU Cooler vs. Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 Blue 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler - PCPartPicker