Question Upgrading a gaming PC

[Velorien]

What's my best upgrade for a gaming PC with a £400 budget? Posting in GPUs since it's my best guess. I'm curious about advanced features like ray tracing, but they're not my top priority.
Currently:

Intel i-5 10400F Processor
GeForce GTX 970 GPU
ASRock B460M Pro4 Motherboard
16 GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM
Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB SSD
Corsair RM750i RMi Series 750 Watt PSU (6 years)
IIYAMA - ProLite XUB2493HSU-B1 24" Full HD LCD IPS Monitor (60 Hz)

 

[Lutfij]

You forgot to mention the make and model of your PSU and it's age.

 

[GarrettL]

What's my best upgrade for a gaming PC with a £400 budget? Posting in GPUs since it's my best guess. I'm curious about advanced features like ray tracing, but they're not my top priority.
Currently:

Intel i-5 10400F Processor
GeForce GTX 970 GPU
ASRock B460M Pro4 Motherboard
16 GB 3200MHz DDR4 RAM
Samsung 850 Evo 250 GB SSD

PSU info is needed as well as your current monitor and refresh rate.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

hey there,

Something like this will give you a huge bump:
PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: XFX Speedster QICK 319 Core Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB Video Card (£409.00 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £409.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 0223-02-17 15:16 GMT+0000

As is already mentioned, a PSU upgrade might also be required for more powerful cards. This card could also be overkill, but the price is soo good.

 

[geofelt]

Your most effective upgrade will depend on the kinds of games that you play.
Some games are graphics limited like fast action shooters.
Others are cpu core speed limited like strategy, sims, and mmo.
Multiplayer tends to like many threads.

Try this simple test:
Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
This makes the graphics card loaf a bit.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

For a graphics upgrade, check Tom's gpu hierarchy chart:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
Something like a RTX3060 should fit your budget.
I generally advise sticking with nvidia if you are upgrading from a nvidia card.
There is less of a learning curve.(ditto for amd upgrades)

 

[Velorien]

You forgot to mention the make and model of your PSU and it's age.

PSU info is needed as well as your current monitor and refresh rate.

Added, thanks.

 

[GarrettL]

Added, thanks.

Your gpu is getting a bit long in the tooth and a 1660ti or similar would be a decent upgrade over your current gpu considering your current monitor.

Ray tracing takes a lot of horsepower. Maybe the yet to be released RTX 4060 or RTX 4050 could handle it but we don't know. And Nvidia pricing has been quite high the last few years.

You may want to think about a monitor upgrade. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have a gpu that outperforms what your monitor is capable of displaying.

 

[Velorien]

Your gpu is getting a bit long in the tooth and a 1660ti or similar would be a decent upgrade over your current gpu considering your current monitor.

Ray tracing takes a lot of horsepower. Maybe the yet to be released RTX 4060 or RTX 4050 could handle it but we don't know. And Nvidia pricing has been quite high the last few years.

You may want to think about a monitor upgrade. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have a gpu that outperforms what your monitor is capable of displaying.

What do I need to look for in a new monitor?

 

[GarrettL]

What do I need to look for in a new monitor?

That depends on you and what you want.

The investment it takes to play pc games at 1440p with smooth frame rates and all the eye candy turned on is not cheap.



Your monitor was not a bad choice, I prefer IPS panels as well and they do tend to cost more than a VA or TN. But it is a 60Hz monitor and is not Free Sync or G-Sync compatible. Doesn't mean you can't use it to play games but the motion quality may be lacking. And once again, no reason to buy a gpu that delivers extremely high FPS when your monitor is limited to 60Hz. At 60Hz fast motion can become quite blurry and that's why you see monitors for gaming with 144Hz and higher refresh rates. This reduces the blurr during fast movement.

The GTX 1660ti would suite your set up. A 2060 would exceed your monitors ability but would be a good choice as well.

I have an X Box S, the 1440p version, and the graphics are quite stunning considering it's very low cost. The X Box X can pull of some good quality 4k as well.

A good 1440p monitor and gpu to run it will cost far more than an X Box X or PS5. Just food for thought if budget is an issue.

 

[logainofhades]

GPU would definitely be the best option here. A monitor wouldn't be a terrible idea, but I would spend as much as you can on a GPU now, and worry about monitor later. Today's 1440p card can easily become tomorrow's 1080p card. Games are always advancing, and require more and more HP to run. This would be my pick.


PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: ASRock Challenger D OC Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Video Card (£371.99 @ Newegg UK)
Total: £371.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-02-17 19:26 GMT+0000

 

[Velorien]

That depends on you and what you want.

The investment it takes to play pc games at 1440p with smooth frame rates and all the eye candy turned on is not cheap.



Your monitor was not a bad choice, I prefer IPS panels as well and they do tend to cost more than a VA or TN. But it is a 60Hz monitor and is not Free Sync or G-Sync compatible. Doesn't mean you can't use it to play games but the motion quality may be lacking. And once again, no reason to buy a gpu that delivers extremely high FPS when your monitor is limited to 60Hz. At 60Hz fast motion can become quite blurry and that's why you see monitors for gaming with 144Hz and higher refresh rates. This reduces the blurr during fast movement.

The GTX 1660ti would suite your set up. A 2060 would exceed your monitors ability but would be a good choice as well.

I have an X Box S, the 1440p version, and the graphics are quite stunning considering it's very low cost. The X Box X can pull of some good quality 4k as well.

A good 1440p monitor and gpu to run it will cost far more than an X Box X or PS5. Just food for thought if budget is an issue.

If I want to go for a monitor upgrade as well, would something like the Gigabyte G27F2 do the job?

 

[GarrettL]

If I want to go for a monitor upgrade as well, would something like the Gigabyte G27F2 do the job?

I wouldn't. While it is larger and is geared for gamers it is only 1080p. On a 24" monitor 1080p looks ok but at 1440p you tend to start seeing the indivual pixels.

For monitors you need to go to a store and look at them. That is an indiviual eyeball test that varys from user to user.

 

[Why_Me]

If I want to go for a monitor upgrade as well, would something like the Gigabyte G27F2 do the job?

You can save a few quid with this.

https://pricespy.co.uk/computers-accessories/monitors/gigabyte-g24f-24-gaming-full-hd-ips--p5825210

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Monitor/G24F-2#kf