Seeking upgrade recommendations, especially a graphics card

[Geosurface]

Hi all!

Sorry to bother, but I love getting advice from other human beings as opposed to just reading sites. So if anyone is willing to suggest something, I'd be grateful.

I have an older homemade PC that is getting long in the tooth, especially in certain components.

Money's fairly tight so I have to be somewhat calculated in what I do, but I feel like maybe a new graphics card is my best bet for a single component right now, or at least to start with. Been playing some MechWarrior Online lately and I find myself wishing it was running more smoothly. I'd also like to be able to get a 4K monitor for my PC at some point and actually have a graphics card that can output at that res, though I understand that newer games at that res will be tough to pull off. Even if it can just run Windows well at 4K and some older games, that might be enough. I had a lot of fun recently with Quake 1 in 4K, believe it or not! I temporarily hooked this PC up to my 4K TV to fiddle around with it. Didn't run great, but well enough to get a taste for it!

So here are my current specs. I'm open to suggestions about other components, but for now my primary focus is on a new video card that will represent a significant jump in power over what I've got, but which won't break the bank. There may be a tiered approach to this recommendation. I know I'd have to shell out serious cash to get something really nice which would truly prepare me for 4K gaming on recent titles. I also know that I'd have to follow up with other component upgrades to do that, too.

So perhaps a second form of recommendation would be for a card that isn't very expensive because it's a bit older, but not as old as what I've got. Enough of a power boost to notice a real jump up from what I have, but still something that would ultimately need to be replaced also before any serious 4K gaming in future.

In other words, if anyone wants to respond with "here's what I'd get as a really beefy card which is pretty pricey, but not totally outrageous... and then here's what I'd get as a more budget choice which will still show you a lot of improvement over your current card" - Does that make sense?

Anyway, here are my current specs:

MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Integrated RAMDAC 4095 MB
Monitor: Dell 2707WFP 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
16384MB RAM (CORSAIR XMS3 SDRAM DDR3 1600)
DirectX 11

 

[dontlistentome]

That motherboard has a UEFI bios, which will help in using new cards. I'd use the Asus tool to make sure you have the latest bios. I'd also run a couple of benchmarks, like 3dmark, to make sure you're system is running normally. Using a game, and an online multiplayer game at that, to judge performance is a bad idea. For all you know, everyone is having performance issues with that game.

All that said, you have the makings of a good 1080p budget system. Yes you can add a videocard that can handle old games at 4k, but you won't really have a 4k gaming system. If you can keep your expectations in check and play old games, you might be happy with it. I bring this up because if I had a dollar for every time I helped someone with a build and they said they had low demands for it, then they 'changed their mind' after the money is spent and now wanted to play the latest games, I'd be a rich man.

I just have a hard time believing someone wants to buy a 4k monitor to play games with low res models and textures.

Right now, 1080/1080 Tis are the 4k gaming cards of choice for modern games. One of those is worth more than your entire computer. That gives you an idea of how bad a match that would be if you wanted to play newer games.

My advice is add a 6gb 1060 and enjoy the 1080p gaming experience you get from your upgraded system. A 1060 will run old games at 4k if you're serious about that.

If real 4k gaming is something you honestly want, then save up for a new build while using your current build as is. By the time you have the money, all the 4k related components will be better/cheaper.

 

[maxalge]

Hi all!

Sorry to bother, but I love getting advice from other human beings as opposed to just reading sites. So if anyone is willing to suggest something, I'd be grateful.

I have an older homemade PC that is getting long in the tooth, especially in certain components.

Money's fairly tight so I have to be somewhat calculated in what I do, but I feel like maybe a new graphics card is my best bet for a single component right now, or at least to start with. Been playing some MechWarrior Online lately and I find myself wishing it was running more smoothly. I'd also like to be able to get a 4K monitor for my PC at some point and actually have a graphics card that can output at that res, though I understand that newer games at that res will be tough to pull off. Even if it can just run Windows well at 4K and some older games, that might be enough. I had a lot of fun recently with Quake 1 in 4K, believe it or not! I temporarily hooked this PC up to my 4K TV to fiddle around with it. Didn't run great, but well enough to get a taste for it!

So here are my current specs. I'm open to suggestions about other components, but for now my primary focus is on a new video card that will represent a significant jump in power over what I've got, but which won't break the bank. There may be a tiered approach to this recommendation. I know I'd have to shell out serious cash to get something really nice which would truly prepare me for 4K gaming on recent titles. I also know that I'd have to follow up with other component upgrades to do that, too.

So perhaps a second form of recommendation would be for a card that isn't very expensive because it's a bit older, but not as old as what I've got. Enough of a power boost to notice a real jump up from what I have, but still something that would ultimately need to be replaced also before any serious 4K gaming in future.

In other words, if anyone wants to respond with "here's what I'd get as a really beefy card which is pretty pricey, but not totally outrageous... and then here's what I'd get as a more budget choice which will still show you a lot of improvement over your current card" - Does that make sense?

Anyway, here are my current specs:

MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Integrated RAMDAC 4095 MB
Monitor: Dell 2707WFP 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
16384MB RAM (CORSAIR XMS3 SDRAM DDR3 1600)
DirectX 11

make and model of your power supply?


+1 a gtx 1060 6gb, a very beefy 1080p gpu that should be able to play most old stuff at 4k

you should also overclock that cpu to 4.5ghz ( or swap in a i7 3770k after a bios update )

 

[Geosurface]

Thanks very much for this good input, guys!

The power supply is a CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD