Replace or add GPUs and other bits

[olibrew]

Hi all,
Recently my PC has been struggling to run Star Wars: Battlefront 2 without some serious frame rate lag. When looking at my PC's perfomance, my Disk, GPU & CPU are all struggling, despite the fact that my specs are above the minimum requirement.

This has led me to considering upping my rig, but I don't know exactly what to do. I'm pretty certain I'm long overdue an SSD, but my main focus is whether or not I should double up by getting a second GPU or just go for a complete replacement. I don't really want to fully replace it because I'm not made of money, but I'll do whatever is best. I don't care for ultra graphics, just to be able to play smoothly on new games at medium settings.

tl;dr: 2 decent GPUs or 1 good one for maximum cost efficiency

My rig:
Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Speed: 3192 Mhz

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
Number of Monitors: 2
No SLI or Crossfire Detected

Memory:
RAM: 8118 Mb

Storage:
Seagate ST1000DX001 1TB SSHD

PSU:
Corsair 650 Watt VS650

I'm welcome to any suggestions. If you need any more details, just ask.

Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

I would ask you to change the PSU, it's an expensive paper weight and you can get a better unit than that. I would highly suggest you turn your attention tot eh single most powerful card your wallet will allow but the cost of GPU's due to cryptocurrency mining has a lot of enthusiastic builders sore from yelling(for help). Yeah I would also suggest getting an SSD.

What's your budget and where would you like to purchase them from?

 

[delaro]

A used 980 GTX $250-$300 or a 1060 6gb $280-$400 would benefit you the most. My guess is your running a 960 2gb? Reddit Hardware swap is a better place to look for used cards over Ebay since the prices are not overly inflated, sticking with EVGA used cards means you can still get a warranty. There is also the EVGA site and the B grade GPU's with a 1 year warranty.

A small SSD and a better power supply would be beneficial overall but not necessarily needed at the moment.

 

[olibrew]

Thanks for the replies, both of you! I'm from the UK and I wouldn't want to spend much more than £200 right now, really. As for where I'd get them, I'd rather go through something reputable (at least to me) like Amazon or eBay than a hardware swap site. Personally, if I were going to replace my GPU with another, I'd prefer to buy it new.

As for a PSU or SSD, what sort of things might you suggest?

Thanks

Edit:
If you head over to this Amazon page and scroll down a bit, you can see any of those cards would be in my price range. Thoughts? Would my current GPU suffice for something like that?

 

[delaro]

£200 on a new card gets you the following, Amazon prices suck.

1050 TI.............. About the same as your 960.. not really worth upgrading
1050 GT.............. Slower than your 960 not worth upgrading
R9 380................ Slower than your 960 not worth upgrading
RX 560 1024.......Slower than your 960 not worth upgrading

To see something faster you need to look here
1060 3Gb
1060 6gb
RX 570
RX 580

Used
970 GTX "Used"
980 GTX "Used"
780 GTX "Used"
780 TI "Used"

Amazon is one of the worst priced places you can buy a GPU right now, click on the link then the GPU model and check what is in stock. Goto that store site and call them to verify and place your order.

1060 3gb 40% faster than a 1050 TI £214.80 and up
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#X=0,37320&sort=price&R=5,4&c=378

1060 6gb £263.99+
RX 570 £248.99+
RX 580 £274.80+

 

[olibrew]

If I were going to get a 1060 6GB, my current rig would be able to run it? I'm worried I'll be buying something that's not going to fit / won't work with my stuff lol
Sorry for being a pain

 

[delaro]

A i5 6500 + 1060 6gb pairs quite well together. With that combo you can do High/Utra settings 1080p and stay above 60 fps in most all games. BF1 and GTA V for example both stay above 70 fps in Ultra.

Your PSU isn't fantastic or terrible and you have the needed connectors to run a 1060, your not going to be pushing it so you should be fine.

 

[olibrew]

Thanks so much!