Upgrading an Alienware Aurora R4

Dougie1980

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Oct 19, 2015
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Hello,
First time posting so bear with me. So about three or so years ago, being a noob, I bought an Alienware Aurora R4. The beast is starting to show it's age, and at some point I would like to tackle a custom build, but in the short time, I am hoping an upgrade or two can keep this machine going for a bit longer. Being a relative novice here, I need to pick the brains of experts for advice. Here is some relevant info.

Power Supply: 825 watts
Motherboard: Alienware 07JNH0
Processor: Intel i7-3820 @3.6ghz (I believe it's overclocked slightly higher than that)
16gb Ram
Videocard: Geforce 560ti.

It appears to me, that a video card upgrade is needed, and I think with my current power supply, I have some options there. The question is "what do you recommend" considering the system I have. Are there other components that also "need" to be upgraded? As far as budget goes..... I don't have one per se, but I'm looking to upgrade, not get a new PC, so I would say $500, but I would love to spend less, but have the flexibility to do more also if needed. Games I currently play are mostly strategy (like Civ, Crusader Kings, Cities Skylines etc.. as well as the Total War series. This machine still handles those games pretty well, but I'd like to have the flexibility to play more demanding games as well. So, let's here some suggestions. If I posted this in the wrong forum, I apologize. Also, if any info is missing, let me know, and I will try and track it down. Thanks in advance, looking forward to obtaining more knowledge, so I can ultimately do my own build in a few years.
Thanks,
Doug
 

Zerk2012

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Get a GTX 970 for a single 1080p monitor their very good should be a 100% performance boost at the least and actually decrease your power draw.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g I would pay the few extra bucks and order from Newegg their a lot quicker and have a excellent RMA.
Generic benchmark. http://www.hwcompare.com/18081/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-geforce-gtx-970/
 
Solution
The GTX 970 will max out Ultra settings 1080p. If you had some plan to upgrade to triple 4K the extra $100 for the Fury would win out but even then I would just get the 970. You dont need an overpowered GPU. Strategy games are more CPU dependent. You are probably fine even with a R9 380 or a GTX 950.
 

Zerk2012

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Don't even say that a 950 is a small upgrade not even worth spending the money on.
http://www.hwcompare.com/20630/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-geforce-gtx-950/