Upgrade AMD Radeon 200

Chris609

Honorable
Apr 19, 2014
24
0
10,510
HI there hoping someone can help here,
Due to a new release I would like to upgrade my pc so it can run the game on high settings comfortably.

Looking for a GPU upgrade but willing to upgrade supporting components.

Here is my Current Specs

System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7693
BIOS: V22.2
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor (6 CPUs), ~4.1GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16332MB RAM
Page File: 7394MB used, 11369MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DxDiag Version: 10.00.16299.0015 64bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
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Card name: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6810)

If You need anything else give me a shout


Thanks in advance

Chris
 
Solution
Any new game you play, or old game for that matter, is going to be hamstrung by that CPU. As far as the graphics card is concerned, 200 series doesn't tell us much. There are MANY 200 series cards, from weak to fairly powerful even still today.

Basically, just about any modern graphics card that you can afford will work in that system so long as there is physically room inside the case and it's not too long and doesn't interfere with the drive cages or side panel. Also, based on the capabilities of your power supply. There are already a great many discussions regarding power supplies on this site to help you make that determination but knowing what model of PSU you have would go a long way towards knowing what cards might realistically...
What exact model of the Radeon GPU do you have? You can do this by pressing *windows key+r*, typing dxdiag, and press enter. Then select "yes" if the option appears and select the display tab. If you have something like a 290, then I'd actually advise a CPU upgrade here more than anything else.

EDIT: Come to think of it, you have an R9 series GPU, so that means AT MINIMUM you have the r9 270 which is fairly weak. If you have the R9 280 or above (preferably the 290), then I'd go for an upgrade to an i5 8400 along with a good B360 board. Pair that with 16GB of DDR4 and you'll be good for a couple more years @1080p.
 
Any new game you play, or old game for that matter, is going to be hamstrung by that CPU. As far as the graphics card is concerned, 200 series doesn't tell us much. There are MANY 200 series cards, from weak to fairly powerful even still today.

Basically, just about any modern graphics card that you can afford will work in that system so long as there is physically room inside the case and it's not too long and doesn't interfere with the drive cages or side panel. Also, based on the capabilities of your power supply. There are already a great many discussions regarding power supplies on this site to help you make that determination but knowing what model of PSU you have would go a long way towards knowing what cards might realistically be used in that system or if you need a new PSU as well.
 
Solution
The 270X is a fairly weak card, but I don't think it's harming your gaming experience nearly as much as that outdated FX platform.

Here's what I recommend for an upgrade:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($82.00 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $415.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-22 12:58 EDT-0400

If you're still having problems down the line, just throw in something like a 1060 6 GB. I think it's a better idea to update your platform as of now. Be sure that you're ready to reinstall windows should you choose to upgrade the CPU first.
 
That's not going to fix your problem. If you are trying to play 3A titles at "high" settings, that 270x isn't going to work. It's completely true that the FX CPUs are definitely reducing your gaming experience in a variety of ways, but simply replacing the CPU and motherboard with something newer isn't going to solve that problem.

You are better off replacing the GPU card with a higher end, newer model, and seeing how that does for you first. Then, if the problem is not resolved or does not improve enough for you to live with, THEN you want to think about moving to a newer platform which of course you can then bring the new graphics card to. In any case, things WILL improve with your current CPU and motherboard with a better card even though they might not improve as much as with an entirely new platform AND a new graphics card. Still, some improvement is better than none and with that 270x if you just replace the CPU, motherboard and memory I don't think you're going to see much improvement at all without also upgrading the graphics card.
 
I agree, dark. My rationale for upgrading the CPU platform was due to me not being aware of what games the OP wanted to play. If you are looking to play a big-title game such as BF5, you will indeed need a better GPU. My advice depends on what games you want to run, though the 270X DEFINITELY is limiting your experience as well. You can still get a playable experience (with a few non-essential settings turned down) with the 270X in some older games such as Overwatch and GTA V, but if you're hunting big game, a GPU upgrade will be necessary as well.
 
I generally assume that most who are asking gaming questions are trying to play AAA games. Lower end games don't generally bring a lot of performance issues to the table especially with an actual discreet gaming card even if it's several generations old. Possible, yes, but not usually.
 

Chris609

Honorable
Apr 19, 2014
24
0
10,510
The game in question is Farming simulator, on high it struggles to run the game, where as Id like it to run high with ease, so your saying I should upgrade the gpu first ?
 
How, exactly, does it struggle? Are there issues with frame rates? Are there crashes? Are there display anomalies like visual corruption etc?

Does it freeze, lag or have long slow spots where it seems to not be doing anything? Slow loading on maps and textures?

Need to know what exactly it's doing that you feel could be better.

First thing you might try to do is this, and see if it helps at all. Skip no steps. Do it exactly as outlined.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/perform-clean-install-video-card-drivers.html
 
Try the driver clean install first.

Do other games or applications show any problems, ever?

How long has it been since you did a clean install of the operating system? What OS version are you running?

Likely, you'll want to upgrade everything at some point, but for now I believe a higher end card will help alleviate a lot of the problems if a clean install of the drivers or OS doesn't.

How much RAM is installed?
 
I recommend going with whatever card is powerful enough for your intent based on benchmarks and tiering data, as well as what kind of price you can get it for. Also, you may want to take a look at the power requirements for any given card you are looking at. Nvidia cards of a relatively equal performance capability to it's AMD equivalent tend to usually have a somewhat lower power draw so the capacity of your power supply, and also, more importantly, it's quality, may and probably should be a factor in card selection as well.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm


What is the exact model number of your current power supply?

In fact, it's highly possible that problems with your power supply could be the entire reason you are having issues with your card at higher settings. Higher settings tend to create a bigger draw on the power supply which could be just enough to take it past the point where it is still capable of powering the card and system without issues, especially on lower quality units.