[SOLVED] Trying to push old "Core 2 Quad" PC for gaming

[Alquídreo]

Hi everyone, this is my first post in here so I hope I don't mess it up too badly.

As I said in the title, I currently own an old gen PC and right now I can't afford the money needed to change it right now because I only have a budget of 70€ (around 85 USD $), so I'm trying to improve it as much as I can within its limitations.

The specs of the computer are in my profile but I'll upload an image to make it more easy:

Computer Type: Dell Optiplex 380 Mini-Tower
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q9650
Motherboard: Dell 0HN7XN A01
Memory: khx1600c9d3/4gx (2 slots) (8Gb total)
Current GPU: GeForce GT 730
Monitor: LG 24MK600M
Screen Resolution: 1920x1080
Hard Drives: Toshiba tr200 (240Gb), wdc wd10ezex 08wn4a0 (1Tb)
Current PSU: 305W
Cooling: Fans
PCIe type: 1.0 (seen in this pages: Optiplex 380 info, Dell Optiplex 380 TECHNICAL GUIDEBOOK)

The games I usually play and the ones I'd like to play are as follow.

Current games I play: Guild Wars 2, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Black Desert Online, BlazBlue: Central Fiction

Games I'd like to play (if possible): Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XI, Fallout 4, Dark Souls 3, Granblue Fantasy Versus

I normally run my games in low to medium settings.

I saw here and in other forums that it could do well with the GTX 750 Ti and I used a bottleneck online calculator to find some reasonable choices (I also saw that those online calculators were not that accurate but I thought I could use them to have a general idea of the possible compatibility), ending up with a choice between the aforementioned GPU or the GeForce GTX 950.

Here are the bottleneck references I took:
(Q9650 / GTX 750 Ti): Core2 Quad Q9650 & GeForce GTX 750 Ti | Bottleneck calculator | PC Builds
(Q9650 / GTX 950): Core2 Quad Q9650 & GeForce GTX 950 | Bottleneck calculator | PC Builds

Changing the PSU could be possible as friend of mine have some spare ones (we 'd have to go and search if there's one with enough power) but before buying anything I would rather have the opinion of more knowlegdable people than me as I'm rather new into this (my current computer was given to me for free, so I don't think I can complaint at all). Also, waiting a few more years (3-4) until I have enough money to make the change would be better?

I initally don't have plans on overclocking because I don't feel confident enough to try that type of stuff.


All help is welcome, and I apologize for any bad writing I could have done (english is not my native language).

 

[siaan312]

Well, a gpu upgrade might help in some games, but others that are more cpu intensive might be bottlenecked by it, or atleast slow down your gpu somewhat.

The 950 is the highest end gpu I would put there, but I guess it's a good choice for you.

 

[CDDogg]

I think you should shoot a little higher, mostly because I assume you're going to be upgrading other components in the future.

Looking at the prices of the GTX 750ti, I can tell you that a better card to get for the same price would be a 1050ti. It's newer, better, and draws power directly from the board just like the 750.

It'll play all those games just fine, and be a good card to keep as you upgrade other components. That is to say that you will have a CPU bottleneck at first, but it's not really that big a deal.

EDIT: It seems I was mistaken, the price of a 1050ti went up alot since I last looked into it.

 

[Alquídreo]

Thanks a lot for the quick answers.

So, as of now the best shot would be at the GTX 950 (with the needed change of PSU) since the 1050 Ti went so up in the price right and if we end up not finding the PSU the 750 Ti would be the better choice. Is this right?

 

[spentshells]

The 750ti is not a good choice, it is however a decent match for your processor and power supply.

If you look you might find a new rx550 that would sit well in your machine. The are pretty cheap and better than the 750ti

 

[nofanneeded]

Thanks a lot for the quick answers.

So, as of now the best shot would be at the GTX 950 (with the needed change of PSU) since the 1050 Ti went so up in the price right and if we end up not finding the PSU the 750 Ti would be the better choice. Is this right?

you dont need to change the PSU for GTX 1050 ti at all . Dell 300 watts is more than enough for this.

it is just a 75 watts card.

 

[Alquídreo]

How much better is the RX 550 compared to 750 Ti? I'm seeing some pages and sometimes they say the 750 Ti will have better FPS and overall performance while others claim the RX 550 is more optimized and achieves better results in several areas , so I can't find a precise reasoning on why is it better.

Regarding the 1050 Ti, I could wait a bit of time to buy it but my end goal will probably be making a PC that can run more recent games (like "The Witcher 3" and "Baldur's Gate 3") with low to medium settings moderately well, so I'm questioning if I would really end up squeezing all the capabilities that this GPU has.

Once again, thank you all for commenting here, it really helps me since I'm basically a rookie when it comes to going so thoroughly with PC improvements.

 

[RTX 2080]

How much better is the RX 550 compared to 750 Ti? I'm seeing some pages and sometimes they say the 750 Ti will have better FPS and overall performance while others claim the RX 550 is more optimized and achieves better results in several areas , so I can't find a precise reasoning on why is it better.

Regarding the 1050 Ti, I could wait a bit of time to buy it but my end goal will probably be making a PC that can run more recent games (like "The Witcher 3" and "Baldur's Gate 3") with low to medium settings moderately well, so I'm questioning if I would really end up squeezing all the capabilities that this GPU has.

Once again, thank you all for commenting here, it really helps me since I'm basically a rookie when it comes to going so thoroughly with PC improvements.

The GTX 1650 is faster than the 1050 Ti and also doesn't require any external power connectors either.

 

[Alquídreo]

I have given the GTX 1650 a look and, while being a really good GPU, I can say it's definitely out because it goes beyond double the budget I gave myself, I can think about increasing it a bit more but not that much.

As of now since it seems my friend doesn't have a PSU that I could use for the GTX 950 I'm looking at the 750 Ti/RX 550 (spentshells said the RX 550 is better but I'm still unsure why after trying to look it up) or the 1050 Ti (and follow CDDogg advice about keeping it for the time when I make "the big jump").

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have given the GTX 1650 a look and, while being a really good GPU, I can say it's definitely out because it goes beyond double the budget I gave myself, I can think about increasing it a bit more but not that much.

Your budget is too low for GTX 750 ti. GTX 1650/ti,GTX 1660/ti also out of question because of the same issue.
GT 1030 - is the only thing that fits in there. Performance similar to GTX 750 ti.

 

[Alquídreo]

I have found some second hand GPU offers looking around: GTX 750 Ti/RX 550 from 50 to 70€ (60-85 USD $) and some GTX 1050 Ti around 100€ (120 USD $) so the prices are somewhat reacheable (specially the 1050 Ti price, is as high as I can currently go)

 

[Lee-Am]

I have the same pc, if you want a gpu upgrade you can choose those gtx (as long as theyre low profile) but its kinda rare (or maybe in our country), and for me sounds above 70$ im getting Inno3D GT 1030 i suggest you that just 65to70$ depends on brand cuz mine is 61$ but if thats still low for games you like, yeah a low profile gtx as long as you dont need any 6pin connector or anything

Edit: also an Yeston RX 550 2Gb low profile, ive heard its better than mine but i cant afford maybe around 75$ add 6$ for 4gb. Thats what i saw online