Upgrading friends PC --$350--

[fallingrock95]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 weeks

Budget Range: $300.00-$350.00

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: GPU and RAM?

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:

Location: Wisconsin

Parts Preferences:

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1440x900

Additional Comments: My friend built this computer a couple years ago. He is looking to upgrade it and I am asking you guys for advice on what he should do.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($50.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($26.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 1GB Vapor-X Video Card
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: XFX TS 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $323.64

 

[Moldoror]

RAM: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbxm
GPU: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-video-card-gvr938xg1gaming4g or http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-strixgtx960dc2oc4gd5

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YfYpXL

 

[Eximo]

Well, a new GPU would be a good idea. Adding some ram (or replacing) would be a good idea.

Perhaps something like a R9-380 or R9-380X and another 2x2GB memory kit (Though it may be cheaper to just grab a 2x4GB kit)

 

[fallingrock95]

Is the Cpu a bottleneck on either card?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

maybe a little (It is a 2010 chip). for $350, I'd go this way:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($98.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 PLUS ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($26.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial BX200 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($63.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 370 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $356.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-08 17:39 EST-0500

this would give you a faster, 6-core cpu, 8 GB of ram, a good-sized SSD, and a GPU than can run most modern games on high settings.

alternately, the motherboard you have might run the 6300 with a BIOS update (though its FSB will throttle the CPU a bit compared to a 970 board) , and you could get a GTX 950 instead of the R7 370, which can run games between high and ultra

 

[Eximo]

Yeah it kind of is with some of the most recent titles. But the budget doesn't really allow for much more. You could drop in a FX-6300 or the like, but that would be nearly a sideways move. (3 dual core modules vs 4 discrete cores)

The GPU can be kept and moved to a new motherboard/processor later on, so it is not a poor investment. Should allow for very nice graphics settings in 1920x1080, the CPU might hold the framerate back in some games, but it will at least look good.

 

[Eximo]

Tom's has the FX-6300 and Phenom X4 965 on the same tier. General rule of thumb is that an upgrade isn't worthwhile until there is a 3 tier difference.

If you are still using the stock cooler, maybe throw a little money into a performance cooler and overclock the CPU as much as possible.

Really depends on how often you have money to spend on the system.