Upgrading a desktop.

[Bright_Midnight]

I have a hp pavillion elite m9400f that runs games alright. Can get semi playable fps on world of Warcraft and playable fps on Minecraft. I would like to upgrade this pc to become a gaming pc. I am looking to spend around 200 dollars right now to get the biggest leap in gaming performance I can. Eventually I will have another few hundred dollars to upgrade further. The obvious thing to do first would to upgrade the video card. Should I spend my budget on just that and a case. Im looking for opinions on the best way to get the largest performance boost with the 200 dollars immediately. Even if the performance is bottle necked by the other components. To get the best performance now with the 200 - 300 dollars and later with another 400 dollars what would be the best way to go? What should I buy now with the money I have now and with the money that I will gain later.

 

[Iron124]

Grab yourself a 270x, an excellent card that will no doubt improve performance incredibly.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131571&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[zeyuanfu]

I have a hp pavillion elite m9400f that runs games alright. Can get semi playable fps on world of Warcraft and playable fps on Minecraft. I would like to upgrade this pc to become a gaming pc. I am looking to spend around 200 dollars right now to get the biggest leap in gaming performance I can. Eventually I will have another few hundred dollars to upgrade further. The obvious thing to do first would to upgrade the video card. Should I spend my budget on just that and a case. Im looking for opinions on the best way to get the largest performance boost with the 200 dollars immediately. Even if the performance is bottle necked by the other components. To get the best performance now with the 200 - 300 dollars and later with another 400 dollars what would be the best way to go? What should I buy now with the money I have now and with the money that I will gain later.

You should get a R9 280 or 290 if you have the money. What CPU do you have? You don't want it to bottleneck the GPU.

 

[Bright_Midnight]

I have a hp pavillion elite m9400f that runs games alright. Can get semi playable fps on world of Warcraft and playable fps on Minecraft. I would like to upgrade this pc to become a gaming pc. I am looking to spend around 200 dollars right now to get the biggest leap in gaming performance I can. Eventually I will have another few hundred dollars to upgrade further. The obvious thing to do first would to upgrade the video card. Should I spend my budget on just that and a case. Im looking for opinions on the best way to get the largest performance boost with the 200 dollars immediately. Even if the performance is bottle necked by the other components. To get the best performance now with the 200 - 300 dollars and later with another 400 dollars what would be the best way to go? What should I buy now with the money I have now and with the money that I will gain later.

You should get a R9 280 or 290 if you have the money. What CPU do you have? You don't want it to bottleneck the GPU.

The processor is an AMD PHenom(tm) 9750 Quad-core Processor at 2.40 GHz

 

[zeyuanfu]

I have a hp pavillion elite m9400f that runs games alright. Can get semi playable fps on world of Warcraft and playable fps on Minecraft. I would like to upgrade this pc to become a gaming pc. I am looking to spend around 200 dollars right now to get the biggest leap in gaming performance I can. Eventually I will have another few hundred dollars to upgrade further. The obvious thing to do first would to upgrade the video card. Should I spend my budget on just that and a case. Im looking for opinions on the best way to get the largest performance boost with the 200 dollars immediately. Even if the performance is bottle necked by the other components. To get the best performance now with the 200 - 300 dollars and later with another 400 dollars what would be the best way to go? What should I buy now with the money I have now and with the money that I will gain later.

You should get a R9 280 or 290 if you have the money. What CPU do you have? You don't want it to bottleneck the GPU.

The processor is an AMD PHenom(tm) 9750 Quad-core Processor at 2.40 GHz

OK. Unless it's really old, it (probably) won't bottleneck the GPU. Also, if the Phenom has an IGP, don't Crossfire it with the GPU. It will actually be kind of counterproductive.

 

[Calnin]

The r9 270/270x like iron suggested is one good investment for now. Throw in a new psu while you're at it. It'll open up more room for upgrades later on when you have more money to upgrade. I don't think your 350w would be able to support the r9 270/270x if you decide to get one.

Next upgrade after this might just be redoing the rest of the build.

 

[boosted1g]

To get any half decent graphics card you will have to upgrade the power supply to one that can handle the wattage. It would also be wise to get a case that can acutlaly provide decent airflow for that higher end graphics card. The case can come with the latter upgrades, but you will need a decent power supply. 550w will be fine for any gpu < $400.

A 270x is a good card for your budget, then just get a 80 plus rated PSU from seasonic, xfx, antec, corsair (not cx series as they use cheap capacitors) or rosewill hive or capstone series.

 

[Guest]

Yes, you guessed right, a GPU will give you the biggest performance boost if you have:

a)A PSU that can handle it

b)Enough RAM

c)A CPU thats not too old

d)A case with OK airflow.

Your CPU vs i5 4440 things aren`t really bright on the CPU side either.

Please post your COMPLETE build including PSU HDD GPU RAM and CASE.

Good luck 😀