[SOLVED] Recommendations on how to upgrade my PC from GT 730 Card

[squirrelproductions]

Current rig used mainly for light gaming (e.g. Minecraft, Skullgirls, TF2, etc.) but some lag starting to show (especially with some Minecraft mods). Current specs:

Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

CPU
Intel Pentium G3258 @ 3.20GHz:
Haswell 22nm Technology

RAM
8.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
MSI Z97 PC Mate(MS-7850) (SOCKET 0):

Graphics
CHHWJT* (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 (PNY):

Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-08M2NA0 ATA Device (SATA ):

Optical Drives
hp DVD-RAM GH40L ATA Device

Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio


Any suggestions?

 

[WildCard999]

Budget?

 

[squirrelproductions]

Less than $100 if possible. Used hardware ok.

Long term, I'm planning on an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 build but that's 12-18 months out.

 

[WildCard999]

Less than $100 if possible. Used hardware ok.

Long term, I'm planning on an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 build but that's 12-18 months out.

What PSU do you have?

 

[squirrelproductions]

Corsair 450 not sure which specific model though.

 

[WildCard999]

Corsair 450 not sure which specific model though.

If it's a newer CX grey label PSU then it's good enough to run a used RX 570 4gb which you should be able to find sub $100 online.

Besides that a used GTX 1050 ti should work with the system.

Note, I'm not really a fan of used GPU's so if it where me I'd probably snag a GT 1030 2gb new for your budget.

And if memory serves me correctly you should be able to overclock that CPU if you haven't yet.

 

[King_V]

If you're in the US:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/bxM323/sapphire-radeon-rx-570-4gb-pulse-video-card-11266-04-20g

Requires a single 8-pin connector.

It's notably better, performance-wise, than the GTX 1050 ti or the GTX 1650, and costs less than either of those. It does break your $100 limit, but it's new, and thus has a full warranty. Bang for buck, it's really hard to beat.

 

[geofelt]

For a cost of zero, you can overclock a G3258. your 3.2 processor can possibly go up as high as 4.5
Minecraft is one of those cpu intensive single threaded games.
All you need to do is change the multiplier in the bios from 32 to a higher number gradually.


Run this test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

If you are cpu limited, at least try a conservative overclock.

If you are graphics limited, a graphics card upgrade is in order.
For a budget of $100, I think you can find a GTX750ti that would be a nice boost.

 

[ryzengamer]

An RX560 card costs about 100 usd and is faster than 750ti.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

 

[King_V]

An RX560 card costs about 100 usd and is faster than 750ti.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

The cheapest RX560 is the cut down 896 core variant with 2GB VRAM, and goes for $109. It is the ONLY RX560 that costs less than the Sapphire RX570 I linked to. And the performance per dollar is WAY worse.

The cheapest RX560 with a full 4GB and the full 1024 cores is $129.99 - slower than the RX570 and more expensive.

An RX560 is a waste of money.

 

[tennis2]

I will agree, the RX570 4GB is an unbeatable value if you can swing it. They can dip to $110 from time to time (usually after MIR)

Not sure how you feel about gambling, but you could try your luck with this i7-4770K for dirt cheap which would be a drop-in upgrade for your system and probably get you another couple years.

 

[cryoburner]

An RX560 is a waste of money.

I agree. Considering an RX 570 can offer nearly double the performance of an RX 560 or GTX 1050 (when it's not limited by CPU performance), while costing about the same or just slightly more, it's a far better value. The only reason to consider one of those other cards would be for a prebuilt system with something like a 300-350 watt PSU that couldn't support an RX 570, and if upgrading the power supply wasn't a practical option. I suspect a 450 watt Corsair PSU would probably be "alright" for an RX 570 though.

If you absolutely had to remain under $100, a used RX 570 might be worth considering, but it may be worth paying a bit more for new hardware with a couple years worth of warranty coverage.

The CPU would be limiting performance in most newer games, but there probably isn't much you could do about that within that price range while still getting a decent graphics card, aside from overclocking the processor if you haven't already, as Geofelt pointed out. Still, having only a 2-threaded CPU will significantly hurt performance in most newer titles that tend to make heavy use of 4+ threads, though it would likely be fine in the games you listed. You could probably find a used i5-4670 on ebay for around $60 though, if you wanted to improve performance in newer games, but upgrading the graphics hardware would probably be more of a priority.

 

[tennis2]

As of the time of this post, 45minutes left on that i7-4770K auction, FYI.

 

[squirrelproductions]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Planning on overclocking current CPU to see if any gains possible with stock cooler. If not, then will look into a drop-in upgrade; decided against the linked auction since seller didn't know if functional or dead from blown PSU.

I bit the bullet and ordered the RX570 so that'll be my weekend plans.

Thanks again.

 

[tennis2]

Yeah, like I said, it was a gamble. I don't put much trust in people's technical abilities to perform troubleshooting on things of this nature. Who knows what "used" board the seller tried to stick the CPU into to "test" it. Could've been an OEM board that didn't support that CPU in the first place. At least none of the contacts on the bottom of the CPU were discolored.

Anyway, I think you'll be happy with that RX570. It's a nice performer for 1080p.